Today’s edition of quick hits:
* In a remarkable development, a woman in Bangladesh was rescued from the rubble today, even as the death toll from the recent factory collapse topped 1,000.
* In a sleazy twist, the National Republican Congressional Committee is using the terrorist attack in Benghazi as a fundraising ploy.
* Texas: “A volunteer paramedic in West, Texas, has been arrested for possession of an explosive device, but federal law enforcement officials said it’s too soon to say if there’s a connection to the explosion at a fertilizer plant there last month.”
* ACA sales pitch: “President Obama made a public pitch for his health care law on Friday, emphasizing its benefits for women and promoting the opportunity for people to sign up for subsidized health insurance in five months.”
* This seems relevant: “Republican members of Congress raised no objections when they first saw internal emails detailing the evolution of the administration’s talking points on Benghazi almost two months ago, senior administration officials said in response to a question from Salon today.”
* We don’t have a deficit problem: “The Federal government collected more tax and other revenue in April than in any other month on record, the Treasury department reported Friday.”
* Good idea: “President Obama is ordering the federal government to look at how it can reduce pay disparity among its more than 4.4 million employees.”
* The rhetoric is wildly hyperbolic, but the calls for an investigation are certainly reasonable: “House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said Friday that the IRS’s admission that low-level staffers targeted conservative groups last year brings to light one of the ‘most shameful abuses of government power in 20th-century American history.’” * The sequester is hurting us for no reason: “The secretary of the Army and the Army chief of staff have told senators that sequestration could hurt efforts to deal with sexual assaults within their branch of the military.” * Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) is the latest governor to endorse Medicaid expansion. It’s especially important in the Bluegrass State given its struggling population that will benefit. * And while much of the Fox News hysteria surrounding Benghazi is predictable, I do wish the network’s personalities would leave the president’s children out of their arguments. Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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