It’s Here! Dip And Squeeze Ketchup

As promised more than a year ago, Heinz has now put out its new Dip & Squeeze® ketchup. The packaging has gone on a year-long road trip, but the big question: who are the dippers and who are the squeezers?

After trying Dip & Squeeze Ketchup with French fries on the Heinz Ketchup Road Trip, more than 1,000 people were surveyed about their ketchup eating habits. The findings? Sixty-three percent of people said they were “dippers,” while 37 percent considered themselves “squeezers.” If you’re a double dipper, you’re not alone! A majority of ketchup lovers weren’t embarrassed to admit …

Majority Opposes Taking Away Collective Bargaining Rights

A new New York Times/CBS poll has a majority of Americans saying they “oppose efforts to weaken the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions and are also against cutting the pay or benefits of public workers to reduce state budget deficits.” (via Political Wire)

…the nationwide poll found that embattled public employee unions have the support of most Americans — and most independents — as they fight the efforts of newly elected Republican governors in Wisconsin and Ohio to weaken their bargaining powers, and the attempts of governors from both parties to cut their pay or benefits.

Americans …

On Monday’s Radio Show…

• Alan debates Dick Morris, whose new book is Revolt!: How to Defeat Obama and Repeal His Socialist Programs.
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), author of The Speech, discusses the impact of corporate greed on America’s working families.
• “Winning”? Alan analyzes the latest statements from troubled actor Charlie Sheen.…

Wisconsin Voters Have Buyers’ Remorse

A Public Policy Polling survey shows that if Wisconsin voters had it to do over, they’d elect Democratic nominee, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett over Scott Walker. (h/t Political Wire)

…if voters in the state could do it over today they’d support defeated Democratic nominee Tom Barrett over Scott Walker by a a 52-45 margin.

The difference between how folks would vote now and how they voted in November can almost all be attributed to shifts within union households. Voters who are not part of union households have barely shifted at all- they report having voted for Walker by 7 …

Calling Their Bluff

by Sandi Behrns

Republican governors have been grumbling about provisions of the Affordable Care Act ever since its passage last March. Their arguments include the supposed “unconstitutionality” of the individual mandate (originally a Republican idea) and the fact that they believe a magical combination of tort reform and health savings accounts (HSAs) would be the better route to controlling costs and making health care more accessible. Today President Obama called their bluff.

Speaking to the winter meeting of the National Governors’ Association, President Obama announced he will support amending the ACA legislation to allow states to opt-out of provisions such …

A Governor Who Gets It

by Stuart Shapiro

With all of the insanity coming out of statehouses recently it is refreshing to see some genuine insight.  Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana is guilty of rationality and fairness as he describes in an interview with Politico.

Let me tell you what I did a few years ago. I sat down and I negotiated with our public employee unions and I said to them, ‘Look, I don’t have a good feel about where the economy’s going right now. I think there may be a downturn and I don’t want to be in a position where we …

Wisconsin Repubicans Angered At Any Hint Of Compromise With Democrats And Workers

Allies of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker want no part of accommodation with labor, Democrats, or any Republican who wants to work towards a solution, reports Greg Sargent.

I’m told that some Republicans in the state senate were so angry at fellow Republican senator Dale Schultz for proposing a modest compromise with unions and senate Dems that they actually threatened at a private meeting to kick him out of the state senate GOP caucus…

The proposal by Schultz that so angered fellow Republicans was, after all, a modest one: He suggested that unions agree to have their bargaining rights rolled …

TMZ’s Charlie Sheen Interview

TMZ live streamed an interview with Charlie Sheen by Mike Walters.
Sheen blasted CBS honcho Les Moonves for not firing “Men” creator Chuck Lorre … and then scoffed at the studio for giving him wayyyy too much money.

Sheen also ripped a false report that he checked himself into rehab this morning — because he obviously isn’t at a rehab facility — and the at-home interview is all the proof he needs.

Among the hits – Charlie explained that he “hopes” his 5 kids ask him about all of the drug use one day … so he can fill them …

Former Utah Senator Bob Bennett: Reagan Held Views “Aboslutely Anathema” To Tea Party

Former Utah GOP Senator Bob Bennett, who believes the tea party movement cost Republicans control of the Senate, told Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren that Ronald Reagan’s philosophy was not at all in keeping the the tea party (h/t Think Progress).

BENNETT: And people talk about Ronald Reagan, but I remember Ronald Reagan very well. … But Ronald Reagan would probably not recognize the description of Ronald Regan that is coming out of a lot of the tea party blogs. Ronald Reagan, yes he was very conservative, yes he was a man of principles, and he wouldn’t budge …

GOP Spending Plan Could Cost 700,000 Jobs

A report by Mark Zandi at Moody’s Analytics indicates that the Republican plan to cut spending by $61 billion over seven months would cost 700,000 jobs by 2012.

Zandi, an architect of the 2009 stimulus package who has advised both political parties, predicts that the GOP package would reduce economic growth by 0.5 percentage points this year, and by 0.2 percentage points in 2012, resulting in 700,000 fewer jobs by the end of next year…

“Significant government spending restraint is vital, but given the still halting economic recovery, it would be counterproductive for that restraint to begin until the economy …

A $363,053 Tax Bill Convinced Obama To Stop Defending DOMA

It was a tax bill for $363,053 to Edith Windsor (pictured) upon the death of her partner Thea Spyer two years ago that led to the Obama administration deciding it couldn’t defend the Defense of Marriage Act. The couple was engaged for 40 years and married for two, after a wedding in Canada recognized by the state of New York. But a tax bill for $363,053 that would not apply to a straight married couple came Windsor’s way, enforceable by DOMA.

Windsor’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the act was one of two cited by the Obama administration to justify …