“Parker Spitzer” Over; Spitzer To Stay On; Show To Be Called “In the Arena”

Kathleen Parker will not continue on CNN’s “Parker Spitzer” but Eliot Spitzer will remain. Brian Stelter at the New York Times reports the show will be renamed “In the Arena” with Spitzer hosting what is described as an “ensemble” show.

Ms. Parker will appear on CNN occasionally, a CNN spokeswoman said. It was unclear whether Ms. Parker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post, was being demoted or whether she was choosing to step down. She did not respond to a request for comment Friday…

Mr. Spitzer did not respond to a request for comment Friday. But he said …

Missouri State Senator Wants To Eliminate Child Labor Laws

Republican Missouri State Senator Jane Cunningham wants to eliminate child labor laws, saying they prevent parents from teaching their kids good work ethics.

Cunningham wants to revoke the parts of current state labor law that say kids under age 14 can’t work and kids age 14 and 15 can’t work more than three hours a day on school days, more than eight hours on non-school days or before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m. She thinks teens should be able to work late-night jobs at resorts, restaurants and motels. And she’s sponsored a bill, S.B. 222, referred to the …

GA Rep. Paul Broun Asked By Consituent: “Who Is Going To Shoot Obama?”

Republican Congressman Paul Broun was asked at a town hall meeting in Athens, GA, “Who is going to shoot Obama?” The audience laughed. The congressman didn’t seem to have a problem with the question, answering by hoping Obama is voted out of office:

The thing is, I know there’s a lot of frustration with this president. We’re going to have an election next year. Hopefully, we’ll elect somebody that’s going to be a conservative, limited-government president that will take a smaller, who will sign a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.

The Secret Service took the question far more seriously…

What The Republican Assembly Did To Wisconsin; Don’t Let Them Do It To America

By Yashwanth Manjunath

Early Friday the Wisconsin Assembly voted to strip away collective bargaining rights for most public employees. The controversial bill now heads to the Wisconsin Senate, where 14 Democratic Senators are missing. The Democratic minority left for Illinois to prevent the Republican majority from having enough votes for a quorum, and effectively shut down operations in the Senate. The fight isn’t over yet, but the clock is ticking.

Curiously left out of Scott Walker’s union-busting bill are the Republican-leaning unions that supported him during his campaign: police officers, state troopers, and firefighters. Walker’s weak excuse for this obvious …

Cleaning The Air And Job Loss: By The Numbers

by Stuart Shapiro

The first claim from those who oppose cleaning up our environment is that it costs “jobs.”  EPA recently put out a report on the issue and concludes the following:

EPA’s paper contradicts the widespread notion that pollution abatement costs are a huge burden on manufacturing. Citing surveys of manufacturers, the paper reports abatement costs are less than one percent of total manufacturing costs and that these costs consistently represent less than 0.3 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (a measure of the nation’s overall economic activity).

These costs are the costs of all EPA clean …

CBS Pulls Plug On Charlie Sheen’s Show After Incendiary Radio Interview

After an interview with radio host Alex Jones, where Charlie Sheen blasted his producers and made comments possibly interpreted as anti-Semitic, CBS has pulled the plug on his television show for the season.

The decision was based on the “totality of Charlie Sheen’s statements, conduct and condition,” the companies said in a joint statement Thursday. The show’s future was not addressed.

Sheen made pointed barbs about “Two and a Half Men” producer Chuck Lorre, whose real name is Charles Levine.

In his interview with Jones, Sheen repeatedly evoked violent images and ideas. He also derided Lorre in an attack that …

How A Bill Becomes A Law.

by Stuart Shapiro

Many of us learned this during Saturday morning commercials when we were kids (see video below).  But apparently at least 22% (and possibly 48%) did not.  According to a new tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 22% believe that the Affordable Care Act has been repealed and another 26% are not sure. This isn’t lost on Kaiser President Drew Altman.

No matter how this plays out, we might need a new installment of “Schoolhouse Rock” to explain the legislative process a little better to the public.  As a part time pollster I should not be too …

Madison Police Chief Concerned That Walker “Thought About” Sending Agitators Into Crowd

Madison, WI Police Chief Noble Wray is concerned about a comment made by Governor Scott Walker during the prank phone call that was from a David Koch impostor.

Caller: “What we were thinking about the crowds was planting some troublemakers.“

Governor: “We thought about that. The problem, or my only gut reaction, to that would be right now the lawmakers I talked to have just completely had it with them. The public is not really fond of this. The teachers union did some polling and focus groups, I think, and found out that the public …

Teacher Confronts Black Tea Partier At Denver Pro-Union Rally

Tommy Christopher at Mediaite has great video of a passionate discussion between Leland Robinson, a black tea partier, who was sadly subjected to some racist heckling, and a pro-union teacher.

As you can see, things start out with a good old-fashioned, spirited-as-hell debate between Leland and a schoolteacher, and if you leave out the racially-charged stuff, this conversation crackles with the energy of democracy. I really wanted to hear Leland’s second choice for teachers (after “Quit your job”), and I was fine with his suggestion that teachers all be “f***ing fired,” and with the teacher’s response that you don’t know …

On Thursday’s Radio Show…

• Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) joins Alan to discuss his support for embattled union workers.

• Why are many prominent Republicans refusing to endorse Scott Walker’s efforts to end collective bargaining? Alan analyzes the reasons.

• Climate Change Credible: Alan examines a new report debunking claims that scientists manipulated data.…

Investigation Proves Climate Scientists Did Not Manipulate Data

“Climategate” has been a rallying cry for conservatives who don’t believe in global warming. The claim was that government scientists purposely shaped data to reflect a view in keeping with those who concur with the notion of global warming. But an investigation by a Commerce Department inspector general finds that scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration did not manipulate data.

“In our review of the CRU emails, we did not find any evidence that NOAA inappropriately manipulated data comprising the [Global Historical Climatology Network] dataset or failed to adhere to appropriate peer review procedures,” said the report, which …