Crimea, Sevastopol officially join Russia as Putin signs final decree

Crimea, Sevastopol officially join Russia as Putin signs final decree

Deregulation

"The United States subsidizes agriculture because it believes the food supply is too critical to the Nation's well-being to be governed by uncontrolled market forces." Ha, Ha! They don't want food to go uncontrolled so they subsidize it. Yet everything else is worthy of Reagan style deregulation because those "things" are not that important. Dear Mr. Clay: Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding farm subsidies. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue. Farm subsidies are government programs providing benefits to farmers for the purpose of stabilizing food prices, ensuring plentiful food production and guaranteeing farmers' basic incomes. The United States subsidizes agriculture because it believes the food supply is too critical to the Nation's well-being to be governed by uncontrolled market forces. To maintain a steady food supply, farmers' incomes must be somewhat stable, or many farms would go out of business during difficult economic times. Roughly every five years, Congress reauthorizes the Farm Bill, which governs federal farm and food policy. The Agricultural Act of 2014, or the Farm Bill, was passed by the Senate on February 4, 2014 with a vote of 68-32. President Obama signed the bill into law on February 7, 2014. The 2014 Farm Bill eliminates direct payments, ends farm payments to millionaires and makes other reforms to agricultural subsidies. I understand that while some people strongly support farm subsidies, other people strongly oppose them. As I continue to work on agricultural issues, I will continue to keep both views in mind. As always, I appreciate your views, thoughts and concerns as they assist me in understanding what is important to the people of Pennsylvania. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you. For more information on this or other issues, I encourage you to visit my website, http://casey.senate.gov. I hope you will find this online office a comprehensive resource to stay up-to-date on my work in Washington, request assistance from my office, or share with me your thoughts on issues that matter most to you and to Pennsylvania. Sincerely, Bob Casey

9 Reasons Pennsylvania Rocks The Capitol

Senator Toomey took it upon himself to identify important Pennsylvanians except that someone noted that there wasn't one woman.

Just goes to show you how a typical conservative WASP thinks.

The real reason Ukraine is important.

The US wants to export our natural gas to them. Which as I understand it is currently illegal since the energy crisis of the 70's to export any unrefined fossil fuels. Of course this would have the effect of dramatic increases in prices for all this fracking that's currently being burnt off in flares because they don't even have the pipelines to service the oil let alone the cheaper gas. But this could alter the equation. Below is the letter from Senator Toomey: March 21, 2014 Dear Mr. Clay, Thank you for contacting me about the political situation in Ukraine. I appreciate hearing from you. Like you, I am very concerned about the situation in Ukraine and value your input. I believe that the U.S. should strongly oppose Russian efforts to undermine the freedom and sovereignty of Ukraine. I am strongly in favor of freezing assets of senior Russian officials and imposing sanctions against this country. Further, as we consider a response to Russia's actions, we should be mindful that this nation derives much of its wealth from gas exports to nations, such as Ukraine, that have no other options than importing energy from Russia. As such, to the extent that we can aggressively advance the development and export of our gas resources around the world, we can undermine Russia's economic and geopolitical clout, not to mention boost economic growth and job creation here at home. Accordingly, I support easing restrictions on exporting natural gas, both as a means of countering an expansionist Russia in Eastern Europe and as sound domestic economic policy, independent of the situation in Ukraine. While we may not always agree on this issue, I value your input and I will be certain to keep your views in mind. Thank you again for your correspondence. Sincerely, Signature Pat Toomey U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania

Second baby possibly 'cured' of HIV - CNN.com

Second baby possibly 'cured' of HIV - CNN.com

GOP Senator Warns of a US Intelligence Community 'Drunk with Power'

I have no interest in seeing Rand elected however if he wants to continue the siege against the intelligence community have at it.