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Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Cheat Sheet - The Battle for Kiev Begins

Today: U.S. May Sweeten Swap for POW , $10 Min. Wage Would Kill 500K Jobs , Tea Party Takes on Boehner
Cheat Sheet: Morning

February 19, 2014
ONLY THE START

With at least 25 dead and 240 injured since Tuesday's clashes between protesters and police, Ukraine's violence is set to get worse as both sides form paramilitary units, Oleg Shynkarenko reports. Opposition groups are forming militias in response to greater police brutality, which is spurring pro-government forces to raise armies to counter the militias.

COMING HOME?

Although a formal offer has yet to be made, the Washington Post, following up on a story that The Daily Beast's Josh Rogin first broke, reports that the U.S. is renewing its efforts to bring its only living prisoner of war home before the majority of the country's military exits Afghanistan. The Obama administration is offering to exchange five Taliban members from Guantanamo in exchange for the safe release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. This offer has been on the table for the past two years, but instead of stipulating that the Taliban members be released one or two at a time to make sure the men did not return to militancy, the U.S. is now offering to return all five at once.

NO FREE LUNCH

The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that President Obama's proposed minimum-wage hike would destroy some jobs but also take people out of poverty. Raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 by 2016 would move 900,000 people above the poverty line, raise overall real income for all by $2 billion, but potentially destroy 500,000 jobs. The CBO stressed this is just a prediction. "As with any such estimates, however, the acutal losses could be smaller or larger."

CANNIBALISM

Republicans who back John Boehner for Speaker of the House will face primary challenges from a new Tea Party group, reports Patricia Murphy. The Madison Project will use a candidate's support for the GOP leadership as a litmus test for support. Other conservative groups are similarly miffed at the Speaker after he said they had "lost all credibility" and were "using our members" for their own goals.

numbers game

A clearer picture of the prevalence of sexual violence emerged in the FBI's recently released Uniform Crime Report, unburdened by excess descriptors. The Bureau no longer defines rape as "forcible" and, under that new definition, rates of rape surged to 14,400 reported cases in the first half of 2013, up from 13,242 during the January to June period of 2012. For 90 years, forcible rape was defined as "the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will," but the definition has now been broadened and no longer uses a gender reference. The report counts 272 cities, encompassing about a fourth of the American population.


FUGETABOUTIT
Christie Staffer Ignores Subpoena
Claiming Constitutional protections.
NOT SORRY
U.K. Court Upholds Detention for Greenwald Partner
Court stands by the police.
MY BAD
Obama: Sorry I Mocked Art History
Writes letter to college professor.
SHUTTING THE DOOR
$13M Settles L.A. Priest Sex Abuse
$740 million spent in litigation.
HYPOCRITICAL
Ai Weiwei: Wrong to Smash Vase
Though he also smashed a Han Dynasty vase.
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