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Some people have this idea that running for president is expensive. For example, Bernie has already raised more than $185 million. Hillary has raised about the same amount, with superPACs standing by to add another $76 million. Expectations are that the general election phase will be much more expensive, with the Democratic candidate expected to burn through something like President Obama’s record $1.1 billion effort.

But hey, not everyone has to spend the big bucks. In winning the Republican primaries, Donald Trump had an outlay of only $44 million. That’s a little more than half of what Ted Cruz ran through. It’s only two-thirds of what Ben Carson spent (attention, FEC: If there was ever a “where did that $68 million go” worth investigating). 

Trump isn’t shy about explaining how his campaign can fly around on only the best jets, have only the best campaign locations, and still do it on the cheap.

I've spent zero on advertising because you and Fox and all of the others, I won't mention names, but every other network, I mean they cover me a lot, to put it mildly.

Yeah. That must be nice. Plus, Trump’s vaunted “self-funding” is actually in the form of a loan he gave himself, a loan that can always be paid back later, should Trump’s campaign gather in funds from elsewhere. Which is exactly what he's doing.

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is building a finance operation that will raise money for the general election, two people familiar with the plan said. ...

Despite some conflicting emotions about their controversial new presumptive nominee, Republicans are already lining up to open their wallets to help the billionaire businessman.

Don’t you worry—the billionaire boys club will be there for Trump.

Planned Parenthood won a court victory in Missouri on Wednesday, the same day that it sued the state of Ohio. The fact that the previous sentence refers to court battles in two different states over two different laws attacking Planned Parenthood says a lot about the broader war on women’s health care in Republican-controlled states. 

Missouri officials had tried to take away a Planned Parenthood clinic’s abortion license the same day its doctor lost hospital privileges, without giving the clinic a chance to come back into compliance with the requirement.

The agency's actions "likely were the result of political pressure being exerted by Missouri legislators and the Department's perception that if it did not act in accordance with the legislature's desires, its budget would be cut," [U.S. District Judge Nanette] Laughrey said in the ruling.

She went on to say that "disparate treatment" of the clinic "cannot be justified by political pressure or public opposition." She ordered that the license cannot be revoked before its expiration in June.

Political pressure? You think? Meanwhile, in Ohio, Planned Parenthood is suing to block a law signed by Gov. John Kasich in February that blocks funding for organizations that provide abortions, even though the funding is for services completely unrelated to abortion. The lawsuit charges retaliation, which is kind of undeniable, as is the fact that the law’s ultimate effect will be to make it harder for low-income women to get care.

North Charleston police officer Michael Slager was indicted by a federal grand jury this week on charges that include violating civil rights law and lying to investigators. The decision to charge Officer Slager in federal court is an unusual one, and may signify a new way of ensuring that law enforcement officers are held responsible for their criminal acts.

Last year, Slager, who is white, shot unarmed black man Walter Scott five times in the back as he was running away from the officer. Scott had been stopped for a broken tail light and ran after he was unable to provide documentation for the car.

From the Post and Courier:

Chief among Slager’s three charges is a count of deprivation of rights under color of law. Public officials are barred under federal laws from using their powers to violate personal “rights, privileges or immunities.” The indictment alleges that Slager was acting with his authority as a policeman when he used unreasonable force — a violation of the Constitution — by shooting Scott five times from behind.

He also was indicted on counts of using a firearm in a violent crime and obstruction of justice. He’s accused of misleading state investigators by saying he fired as Scott came at him with his own Taser; a video showed Scott running away.

Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, head prosecutor in the state case, supports federal involvement.  

“The civil rights aspect of the killing of Walter Scott has always been important,” she said in a statement. “It is essential that law enforcement and our community see the federal government address such an important aspect.”

Slager can be tried in two courts for the same incident without violating his constitutional right against double jeopardy, since they are in separate and sovereign jurisdictions. These charges provide an opportunity to hold Slager responsible, even if he is found innocent in state court.

Scott's family noted the larger importance of the indictment.

“This is history,” said Chris Stewart, a Scott family attorney. “It could be a turning point in history that the federal government is no longer going to sit on the sidelines. They’re going to make police officers face federal justice.”

Meanwhile, Slager's lawyers blamed past wrongdoings by law enforcement and the political climate for the indictment.

“It seems very extreme, and the timing is very interesting,” the statement said. “It really feels as if officer Slager is carrying the burden of many past cases that were handled differently.”

If convicted, Slager faces a possible life sentence.

Hope Tyler of Raleigh offered a glimpse of the human cost of HB2 on Wednesday, when she said it was “painfully obvious” that Gov. Pat McCrory never thought about the consequences the bill would have on transgender kids. (Yes, Pat, all the children matter in responsible governance, not just the ones you prefer.) Tyler, the mother of a transgender son, teared up at times as she revealed during a press conference that her son had “comfortably begun to settle in” to his identity until passage of the statewide law requiring transgender individuals to use the bathroom that matches the sex assigned to them at birth.

“This bill is emotionally killing our children and it must be repealed,” she concluded. Here’s a partial transcript (with video below):

"In the short time that Pat McCrory decided to pass HB2, it’s painfully obvious that he did not think about how this would affect our transgender children. Calls doubled into suicide hotlines from the trans community. This fact was presented to Gov McCrory in a letter signed by more than 200 mental health care workers.

From here in North Carolina alone to the transgender children all over the United States, you need to know that you are loved and that change is coming…

Fifteen years ago, I gave birth to a beautiful blue-eyed blond-haired little girl who never liked dolls or girl’s clothes. By eight, she was the only girl on her flag football team and she was awesome. Age nine, 10, and 12 were filled with years of anxiety attacks only remedied by trips to the ER. Therapist after therapist couldn’t figure out my daughter’s issue until age 12, on the day puberty hit. My daughter collapsed in the closet and could not feel her legs. She was diagnosed with conversion disorder—that is when you are so emotionally traumatized that your body loses all feeling in the arms and legs. My daughter said that she felt trapped in her body…

Public Policy Polling continues its groundbreaking scientific research into finding out what Republican voters are forever going on about. We haven't yet been able to open a stable portal to the Republican voter dimension, but we are learning more about it!

There continues to be a lot of misinformation about what has happened during Obama's time in office. 43% of voters think the unemployment rate has increased while Obama has been President, to only 49% who correctly recognize that it has decreased. And 32% of voters think the stock market has gone down during the Obama administration, to only 52% who correctly recognize that it has gone up. In both cases Democrats and independents are correct in their understanding of how things have changed since Obama became President, but Republicans claim by a 64/27 spread that unemployment has increased and by a 57/27 spread that the stock market has gone down.

Our task here, should we choose to accept it, is to interpret that little oddity. So do Republican voters believe unemployment has gone up on Obama's watch simply because they don't like Obama and presume everything is worse under him, or do they not like Obama because they falsely believe unemployment has gone up and are therefore blaming him?

Hmm. We know people who watch Fox News are gloriously uninformed about whatever "issues" Fox News chooses to pontificate on. Perhaps this is mere side effect of the leading Republican news outlet enforcing a strict partisan code of stupidity?

Or maybe two-thirds of Republican voters have a pretty good idea that unemployment is not in fact worse, but are just saying so anyway? Because reasons?

The Obama administration on Thursday announced its final rule governing methane emissions from new oil and gas wells. These are the first rules targeted at methane, which has a “global warming potential” 86 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period and, because it moves out of the atmosphere much faster than CO₂, a global warming potential 34 times greater than CO₂ over a 100-year period. The new rule also calls for reductions in volatile organic compounds like benzene, well known as a potent carcinogen. Technical information on the rule can be read here.

The rule is part of a larger plan that seeks to cut methane emissions from the U.S. gas and oil sector by 40 to 45 percent over its 2012 levels by 2025. By the end of this year, the Bureau of Land Management is slated to cut methane emissions from oil and gas drilling and hydraulic fracking on public lands. That’s only a small proportion of overall gas and oil production, however.

The rule does not affect existing wells. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working on another rule dealing with those, but this won’t be completed until well after President Obama leaves office in January. All this matters in terms of implementing the Paris climate agreement, under which the United States has committed to reducing its overall greenhouse gas emissions 26 to 28 percent by 2025. 

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy stated:

Today, we are underscoring the Administration’s commitment to finding commonsense ways to cut methane—a potent greenhouse gas fueling climate change—and other harmful pollution from the oil and gas sector [...] Together these new actions will protect public health and reduce pollution linked to cancer and other serious health effects while allowing industry to continue to grow and provide a vital source of energy for Americans across the country.

The Koch brothers have picked a fight with former Sen. Russ Feingold, current candidate for his old seat, that they just keep losing. They've already had one deceptive ad pulled by Wisconsin television stations in which they accuse Feingold of ignoring a whistleblower's 2009 report of problems with overprescription of opioids at the Tomah VA Medical Center that led to the preventable deaths of several veterans. The problem for the Kochs is that the memo was never sent to Feingold. 

The Kochs recut the ad to try to keep the accusation alive, but are still lying. This time they're showing a memo from 2008 that has a handwritten notation saying it was hand delivered to Feingold (no indication that it was received), but that memo doesn't have anything to do with the opioid problem—instead it accuses the hospital's then-chief of staff, David Houlihan, of creating a hostile work environment. 

What they keep doing with these deceptive ads is opening up Sen. Ron Johnson, the Republican they're backing, to further attacks from Feingold. Because, as Feingold happily continues to point out, Johnson’s staff did receive the memos about the painkillers and the dead veterans and Johnson has admitted that they were ignored. And he has a really lame excuse for it. That's the focus of yet another ad from the Feingold campaign, talking about how the ad from the Kochs was pulled, and featuring a Wisconsin vet who says "on veterans, Ron Johnson is not telling the truth." (Watch the whole ad below the fold.)

Narrator: "On Tomah, it was Johnson who failed. Veteran complaints changed hands from one Johnson aide to another in a congressional black hole. Johnson just made excuses."

Johnson: "had this not occurred during an election cycle… when there's an awful lot of turnover… when people are looking at doing job interviews and stuff…"

It's that "and stuff" that is really the killer here.

Taco salads aren’t just for Donald Trump anymore. They just happened to be on the menu in the House cafeteria Thursday when Trump and Paul Ryan were trying to be all kissy-kissy, so immigration activists made sure all the key GOP congressional members could partake in one of the most racist Trump schemes to date: operation Hispanic outreach (aka #TacoGate). 

Senate targets included GOP leadership and all the 2016 favorites: Sens. Richard Burr, Rob Portman, Pat Toomey, John McCain, Roy Blunt, Kelly Ayotte, Chuck Grassley, Mitch McConnell, Ron Johnson, John Cornyn, Mark Kirk, and Cory Gardner.

Some House members, including Speaker Paul Ryan, also got the taco treatment, which included a message saying Latino and immigrant voters would “never forget” who stood with Trump.

Democratic Rep. Luis Gutiérrez had some fun with Taco Salad Thursday from the House floor, saying, “The Republicans love the Hispanics so much that they put taco salads on the menus so that we can honor the love and affection that their presidential nominee feels for each and every one of us: The Hispanics!”

​Video below:

​Please donate $3 to turn the Senate blue. The future of the Supreme Court depends on it.

Donald Trump’s repeated racial slurs and promises of mass deportations aren’t going to do Sen. John McCain any favors with Arizona’s Latino voters. And just in case they have forgotten who wanted to “complete the danged fence” in 2010, People for the American Way is out with a new radio ad linking McCain and Trump, reports Carl Hulse.

In a new Spanish-language radio ad to begin airing on Thursday, the liberal advocacy group takes Mr. McCain and Senator Jeff Flake, Mr. McCain’s fellow Arizona Republican, to task for refusing to act on President Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick B. Garland to the Supreme Court.

“Is it because they want to see Donald Trump — the man who called Mexican immigrants rapists and drug dealers — get to name our next Supreme Court justice?” the announcer asks in the ad that will run for a week on Spanish-language stations in the state. The radio spot goes on to say that the senators need to “stop doing Donald Trump’s bidding.”

The ad appears to be the first aimed specifically at Latinos over the court vacancy and Mr. Trump.

And it surely won’t be the last, as Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick gives John McCain what he’s called “the race of my life.”

There’s scum, there’s dirty rotten scum, and there's these guys.

A Chevy Chase company that reaped millions of dollars from deals with poor, disabled victims of lead-paint poisoning in Baltimore has been accused of committing fraud and deceiving court officials, according to a lawsuit filed this week by the Maryland attorney general’s office.

You’ve probably seen the ads offering to buy structured settlements for a one-time up-front payment. Like taking the cash option on the lottery, selling a settlement can provide a larger payment to meet immediate needs, but it does so at a cost. A big cost. The reason those ads are so prevalent is that companies that buy out settlements generally pay out less than a quarter of the full value of the settlement.

That’s bad enough when it’s a company coming after a worker desperate to make ends meet after being disabled by an on-the-job accident. But it’s even worse when the target is people who got settlements expressly because they were victims of a problem that left them unable to work through the details of what they’re being offered.

The civil suit alleges that Access Funding violated state law when it aggressively pursued scores of mentally impaired lead-poisoning victims, persuaded them to sell the settlements they received in personal injury lawsuits for a fraction of their worth and then withheld vital information from the courts that approved the deals.

They “aggressively pursued” mentally impaired victims and got them to sign over settlements for a song, then hid both the details of the transactions and their own business relationships from the courts.

Excuse me, Keith, are you using that Worst Person in the World Award? I think I found a winner.

It seems a little early for Donald Trump to start pivoting to "general election" mode, but apparently somebody's gotten through to him that he needs to turn the knob down a little if he intends to sell himself to people who do not base their lives around obsessive hatred of immigrants and Muslims. So it's switcheroo time!

Donald Trump, who issued a December press release "calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States," said Wednesday such a ban "hasn't been called for yet" and it was "only a suggestion."

Yes, while his previous statements were very clear about "calling for" the complete ban, now he says it was just a suggestion and that he wasn't "calling for" it at all. That is the way Donald rolls. Donald does not constrain himself to the plane of reality that you and I inhabit, but switches between them at will.

Which is especially surprising because as of this very Monday, it wasn't a suggestion at all. He was asked about his ban and how it would relate to the newly elected—and Muslim—mayor of London, Sadiq Khan: Trump merely averred that "there will always be exceptions" to his ban. And just as Trump was cooking his latest waffle, the fabulously wealthy T. Boone Pickens, a new Trump backer, was defending Trump's Muslim ban to reporters.

"Cut them off so we can figure out who they are coming in," Pickens told reporters at the conference.

It's all right to throw your own supporters under your golden bus, Donald, but I don't know that you should be making T. Boone Pickens look like a chump.

Any wagers on how long it'll take Donald Trump to re-switch his position? Softening his grossly repulsive rhetoric against all Muslims, anywhere, probably won't sit well with his base, but then again his base probably knows by now not to put too much faith in anything Donald Trump says during any given interview.

Now if he says he's no longer committed to deporting 11 million people, that will be news.