1) RICK ‘I SAID BLAH PEOPLE’ SANTORUM

Santorum denies calling Obama the n-word — Speaking to a group of voters in Janesville, Wisconsin on Wednesday, the candidate seemed to catch himself before using a word that sounds like “n*gger” to describe the president. (The original video of the speech is available here. The remarks in question take place at about 34:50.) “We know the candidate Barack Obama, what he was like – the anti-war government nig… America was a source for division around the world, that what we were doing was wrong,” Santorum said. “Oh, come on!” Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley told Raw Story when asked for comment. “Give me a break. That’s unbelievable. What does it say about those that are running with this story that that’s where their mind goes. You know, I’m not going to dignify that with [a response].” “That is absolutely ridiculous.”

• Santorum meant to say… (yeah, no)

2) THE FACSIST PARTY OF TEA & THEOCRACY

Arizona law would criminalize being lewd or annoying on the Internet — As summarized by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, “The bill is sweepingly broad, and would make it a crime to communicate via electronic means speech that is intended to ‘annoy,’ ‘offend,’ ‘harass’ or ‘terrify,’ as well as certain sexual speech. Because the bill is not limited to one-to-one communications, H.B. 2549 would apply to the Internet as a whole, thus criminalizing all manner of writing, cartoons, and other protected material the state finds offensive or annoying.” The bill is currently awaiting Governor Jan Brewer’s signature, and the Media Coalition, which defends first amendment rights in the media, has sent her a letter outlining some of the problems with the legislation.

Arizona again. NATURALLY.  And the Arizona GOP is now taking panty-snifffing to an entirely new level, demanding that “the gestational age of the fetus should be ‘calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman.’” So in order to get an abortion, you now have to provide a bunch of old perverts a calendar with your menstrual cycle highlighted. These people are sick and evil. We’re seriously one or two bills away before women will be required to go to the well of the Arizona Senate and tell these old white perverts their favorite sexual position and how old they were when they lost their virginity.

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3) THE GOP’S ONGOING INCOME REDISTRIBUTION SCHEME

Reality Check: Effective U.S. Corporate Tax Rate Much Lower Than Most Other Developed Nations — “The United States is a world leader in countless ways. ‘World’s Highest Taxes’ is a title we should give up as soon as possible,” wrote Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) in a Fox News op-ed.  “This isn’t an April Fool’s Day joke; as of April 1, the United States of America will have reached the inauspicious position of having the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) in a statement “I want America to be number one in many things, but having the highest corporate tax rate is definitely not one of them.” This is constant refrain from Republicans, who then blame the supposedly high U.S. corporate tax rate for discouraging job creation. But as we’ve noted time and time again, while the U.S. has a high statutory corporate tax rate (meaning the rate on paper), U.S. corporations actually pay incredibly low taxes due to the ever-proliferating loopholes, credits, and deductions in the tax code and the use of overseas tax havens.

4) MAYBE THERE’S STILL HOPE

Joe Scarborough Discovers ‘Disgusting’ Daily Caller Racism (VIDEO) — We wonder who Joe Scarborough is talking about here, when he calls out rightwing websites for being “beneath contempt” in their treatment of Trayvon Martin! (No we don’t. He is talking about Tucker Carlson’s Daily Caller.) Noting that the Daily Caller had breathlessly presented Trayvon Martin’s Twitter feed as fodder for the poor oppressed whites of the world to note what a bad bad boy Trayvon Martin was, Scarborough practically throws up at the disingenuousness of presenting something so “innocuous … I can show you a lot of white kids, from suburban neighborhoods … come on.” Here, Tucker, here is just a tiny bit of what Joe Scarborough thinks of you now. “Some out there are marginalizing themselves, making fools of themselves. I guess it’s because the President actually said something to comfort the parents, and I guess they just can’t handle that. I guess in their warped, twisted, distorted, political worldview, that makes this dead 17-year-old boy [...] I guess that makes it okay?”

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GM pulls funding from climate-denying Heartland Institute — In a statement, GM said that it now runs its business “as if climate change is real and believe we have a role to play in developing new cars, trucks and technologies that can make a difference”. The funding cut – just $15,000 a year – is small beer for the institute, which has a multi-million dollar turnover, largely from a single anonymous donor. But it is a blow to the standing of the thinktank and to the leading role it plays as an advocate of climate change scepticism. The thinktank has long been an incubator of ideas casting doubt that the world is warming as a result of man-made pollution. In 2009 it held a conference in New York under the title “Global warming: was it ever really a crisis?” Kert Davies, head of research for Greenpeace US that tracks the Heartland Institute, lauded the GM move. “It is a further indication that the Heartland Institute’s misinformation about climate change is not something that corporations want to have anything to do with. It has become toxic.”

Obama urges Congress to pass ‘Buffett Rule’ for rich — Named for billionaire investor Warren Buffett — who pays a lower tax rate than his secretary — Obama said a minimum tax rate for the wealthy would insure that more Americans pay their “fair share” for the nation’s needs. “We don’t envy success in this country, we aspire to it. But we also believe that anyone who does well for themselves should do their fair share in return, so that more people have the opportunity to get ahead — not just a few.” Obama said every member of Congress should “go on record” when it comes to the Buffett rule. “And if they vote to keep giving tax breaks to people like me — tax breaks our country can’t afford — then they’re going to have to explain to you where that money comes from. Either it’s going to add to our deficit, or it’s going to come out of your pocket.”

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