The Washington Post reports that a shorted version of the above video, produced by the National Congress of American Indians, will air in select cities during tonight's meeting of the NBA's Miami Heat and the San Antonio spurs.
Atlanta isn't one of the targeted markets, so this may be your only chance to see it. From the Post:
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Over the weekend, Gov. Nathan Deal hosted valedictorians from Georgia high schools at a banquet at the Governor's mansion in Buckhead. Among the proud parents was state School Superintendent John Barge, a critic of the governor who was vanquished in last month's Republican primary, who was there to celebrate his daughter's achievements.
Our grades weren't good enough to attend, but we are told that hugs and handshakes were exchanged and the meeting was surprisingly conciliatory. We'll let this picture tell the rest of the story:
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President Barack Obama this morning is to sign into law HR 3080, the Water Resources Reform & Development Act of 2014 – and the last hurdle that stands between the Port of Savannah and a $650 million deepening.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who played a crucial role in the money-chase, will not be there. But Vice President Joe “Hell or High Water” Biden will be.
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You can't call it a surprise, but former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich, whom Jack Kingston would certainly number among his mentors, endorsed the Savannah congressman in his Republican runoff for U.S. Senate against David Perdue.
Gingrich, from the press release:
"I counted on Jack Kingston to help me implement the Contract with America, enact welfare reform, and balance the budget for the first time in a generation. I can say from first hand experience that he is a tireless reformer dedicated to advancing our conservative values."
Interestingly, Kingston has pitched what he calls a new Contract with America – the manifesto that brought Gingrich to power in 1994. But last month, Gingrich threw cold water on the idea. "I don't know that's necessary this year," he said.
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Jason Carter's visit to a roundtable discussion at a failed Montezuma hospital was designed to address healthcare issues. But he also got an earful on his vote in favor of a broad expansion of gun rights.
At one point during the discussion, Marshalville Mayor Bill Massee said he worried that his town's meetings would become more dangerous come July when the changes take effect. He talked of having to bring his own "Big Bertha" to meetings.
Carter said there was a lot of "misinformation" about the law and tried to reassure him that it wasn't as far-reaching as it seemed. After the event, he hewed to his line that his race against Gov. Nathan Deal won't be won or lost based on his vote for the bill.
"I don't think it's a major issue in the election," he said.
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Jason Carter's public ruminations about backing an Arkansas-style compromise over Medicaid expansion led to a bruising response from Gov. Nathan Deal's camp.
The Arkansas plan, known as a "private option," uses federal Medicaid funds to purchase insurance for the poor after state leaders struck a deal with the White House. Jen Talaber, Deal's campaign spokeswoman, called the idea an "unmitigated disaster."
Says Talaber:
"Senator Carter also criticizes any discussion of Obamacare's harmful longterm effects as "the worst of Washington politics." In reality, Arkansans are the ones living with the worst of Washington politics, and patients and taxpayers paying the price. We've only begun to see the consequences of this costly mistake. It is one that Georgians can't -- and won't -- repeat."
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Georgia isn't the only state where Medicaid expansion has become more than a hot-button issue. From the Associated Press:
Sen. Phil Puckett's resignation gives the GOP a 20-19 majority in the chamber to go with their control of the House. Senate Democrats had linked passage of the state's $96 billion biennial budget to expanding Medicaid, creating the threat of a government shutdown on July 1 if Republicans wouldn't relent.
Puckett said he was resigning so that his daughter, Martha Ketron, could be approved as a state judge. Republicans in the Senate had blocked Ketron's appointment to serve as a juvenile and domestic relations judge in southwest Virginia earlier this year because of a policy of not appointing immediate family members to judgeships. Ketron had been temporarily appointed by circuit court judges and is now working as a substitute judge.
"At this point in my life, I feel that I cannot allow my political career to hamper my daughter's future and her desire to serve the families and children of our area," Puckett said in a statement. He added that his "family is dealing with several difficult issues that need our attention."]
Phillip P. Puckett's surprise exit from the Senate could doom [Gov. TerryMcAuliffe's legislative agenda for his remaining three-and-a-half years, political observers said.
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Politico reports that a former aide to President Richard Nixon says his boss helped deep-six the 1968 peace negotiations over U.S. involvement in Vietnam to give himself a leg-up in that year's presidential elections:
Nixon's campaign manager, John Mitchell, "was directly involved," Huston tells interviewer Timothy Naftali. And while "there is no evidence that I found" that Nixon participated, it is "inconceivable to me," says Huston, that Mitchell "acted on his own initiative."
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