Source: NYTimes

WASHINGTON — President Obama, facing angry reprisals from parents and from lawmakers of both parties, will drop his proposal to end popular college savings accounts known as 529s, but will keep an expanded tuition tax credit at the center of his college access plan, the White House said Tuesday.

The decision came just hours after House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio demanded the proposal be withdrawn from the president’s budget, due out Monday, “for the sake of middle-class families.” But the call for the White House to relent also came from top Democrats, including Representatives Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the ranking member of the Budget Committee.

Ms. Pelosi pressed the case to senior administration officials on board Air Force One as she flew with the president from India to Saudi Arabia, according to Democratic aides familiar with the discussions.

“Given it has become such a distraction, we’re not going to ask Congress to pass the 529 provision so that they can instead focus on delivering a larger package of education tax relief that has bipartisan support, as well as the President’s broader package of tax relief for child care and working families,” a White House official said.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/us/politics/obama-will-drop-proposal-to-end-529-college-savings-plans.html?rref=politics&module=Ribbon&version=context®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Politics&pgtype=article

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Looks like someone came to his senses.

Source: AFP/Yahoo

New York (AFP) - The lives of the poor will improve faster in the next 15 years than at any time in history, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates and his wife Melinda say.

In their annual letter released Thursday, the couple laid out their upbeat vision for a technology-driven wave of change that will lift hundreds of millions out of poverty by 2030.

The major breakthroughs will be most noticeable in health, but also in agriculture, digital banking and online education, where the Gates Foundation is planning to pour in resources.

"Our big bet is that in the next 15 years, the lives of the poor are going to improve more than at any time in the history of the world," Melinda Gates told AFP in an interview.

Child deaths are predicted to be cut by half, polio will be wiped out while the fight against malaria, a major killer in Africa, will make strides with vaccines and a single-dose cure.

Africa can achieve food security by 2030 with access to innovation in agriculture to help farmers, the Gates said in their letter, a vision statement that has been released annually since 2009.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/worlds-poor-headed-better-lives-2030-gates-042202519.html

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So there ya go. Problems solved.

Source: NYTimes

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has begun work on a legal memo recommending no civil rights charges against a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., who killed an unarmed black teenager in August, law enforcement officials said.

That would close the politically charged case in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The investigation by the F.B.I., which is complete, found no evidence to support civil rights charges against the officer, Darren Wilson, the officials said.

A broader civil rights investigation into allegations of discriminatory traffic stops and excessive force by the Ferguson Police Department remains open, however. That investigation could lead to significant changes at the department, which is overwhelmingly white despite serving a city that is mostly black.

A broader civil rights investigation into allegations of discriminatory traffic stops and excessive force by the Ferguson Police Department remains open, however. That investigation could lead to significant changes at the department, which is overwhelmingly white despite serving a city that is mostly black.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/22/us/justice-department-ferguson-civil-rights-darren-wilson.html?_r=0

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Well, there ya go.

Help me in the middle class?

I admit I skipped the speech last night and I understand he probably doesn't have a chance in hell of doing it but WTF?

It's one of the few things Bush did right.

Can't these MORON repukes come up with anything original?

Source: CNN

A Russian spy ship has docked in Cuba's Havana Harbor, one day before a delegation from the U.S. State Department is set to arrive. Patrick Oppman reports.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/01/20/sot-lv-russian-spy-ship-docks-in-havana-cuba.cnn

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Vladimir?

What are you doing?

The comments section is an absolute riot!

Pot-heads calling for lower taxes and less government regulation.

They all sound like a bunch of TeaBagging Republicans!

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Too-much-pot-Growers-struggle-with-glut-of-legal-weed--288787991.html#comments

And take down the social media websites of the Jihadist murderers?

Looks like someone beat them at their own game.

U.S. military social media accounts apparently hacked by Islamic State sympathizers



Anonymous my wrinkled old white ass. How embarrassing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/01/12/centcom-twitter-account-apparently-hacked-by-islamic-state-sympathizers/

Once again the tin ears at the White House apologise for nothing.

The Associated Press @AP · 9m 9 minutes ago
BREAKING: White House says it erred in not sending higher level official to anti-terror march in Paris.
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