Subject: Daily News Clips 3/27/14
From: "Sam Losow" <[email-masked]>
To: "undisclosed-recipients:"
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 10:32:05 -0400

*National News:*

*Government says Northwestern players have the right to unionize*
In a move that is rekindling the debate over amateurism in NCAA sports, the
National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday
declared<http://theweek.com/article/index/255659/will-college-sports-become-unionized>
that
Northwestern University football players on full scholarships are in
essence school employees, so they have the right to unionize. The NLRB said
it would supervise the vote. If the majority backs a union, athletes at
other private schools could follow.
[*Reuters*<http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/26/us-usa-employment-football-idUSBREA2P1YF20140326>
]

..........................................................................................

*Egyptian military chief quits to run for president*
Egypt's Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi announced on state TV that he
was resigning as head of the country's military to run for president later
this year, a move that many had long expected. Field Marshal Sisi was the
one who yanked Egypt's elected Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, from
office in July. His supporters see him as the key to ending Egypt's
turmoil, but opponents say he has presided over widespread
abuses.<http://theweek.com/article/index/258073/speedreads-ex-egyptian-prime-minister-strongman-abdel-fattah-el-sisi-will-fix-all-the-ballot-boxes>
 [*BBC News* <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26747101>]

..........................................................................................

*The number missing in Washington's mudslide drops to 90 *
The number of people listed as
missing<http://theweek.com/article/index/258628/speedreads-more-than-100-people-still-unaccounted-for-after-deadly-washington-mudslide>
after
Washington's massive mudslide dropped to 90 on Wednesday, from 176 the day
before. Some names were believed to be duplicates. Twenty-five people have
been confirmed dead, but several bodies have yet to be recovered from the
mud and wreckage, which is 40 feet deep in some places. Firefighter Jan
McClellan said the likelihood of finding survivors is dwindling, but that,
"We live for that hope."
[*CNN*<http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/26/us/washington-landslide/>
]

..........................................................................................

*Charlotte mayor resigns after his arrest on corruption charges*
Mayor Patrick Cannon of Charlotte -- North Carolina's largest city --
resigned Wednesday night after being arrested and accused of taking tens of
thousands of dollars in bribes. The 49-year-old Democrat, who took office
just four months ago, allegedly accepted a briefcase stuffed with $20,000
in his office last month, and was scheduled to meet undercover FBI agents
posing as businessman for another payoff in exchange for his
influence. [*Charlotte
Observer*<http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/03/26/4797153/mayor-cannon-resigns-after-corruption.html#storylink=cpy>
]

..........................................................................................

*Obama meets with Pope Francis*
President Obama met Pope Francis for the first time on Thursday at the
Vatican. The talk came after several years of tensions between the Obama
administration and Catholic church leadership over the Affordable Care
Act's coverage of contraception and other issues. The White House said the
meeting would focus on area's where the two leaders agree, such as their
"shared commitment to fighting poverty."
[*CNN*<http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/26/politics/obama-pope-meeting-politics/>
]

..........................................................................................

*Judge declares Oklahoma's execution law unconstitutional*
A judge in Oklahoma ruled the state's capital punishment law
unconstitutional on Wednesdaybecause it prevents death-row prisoners from
knowing what drugs will be used in executions. The challenge was filed by
lawyers for two convicted murderers, Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner,
who were scheduled to be executed this spring. The state maintained secrecy
to protect suppliers, who have been running short of the drugs. [*The
Associated Press*<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/26/oklahoma-execution-law_n_5035557.html?utm_hp_ref=politics>
]

..........................................................................................

*Chicago train operator fell asleep before crash*
The operator of commuter train that crashed at Chicago's O'Hare
International Airport reportedly told investigators she dozed off. "She did
not awake until the train hit," National Transportation Safety Board
investigator Ted Turpin said Wednesday. Thirty people were injured when the
eight-car train jumped onto the platform at the end of the track and
crashed part of the way up an escalator and staircase leading into the
airport on Monday. [*The Associated
Press*<http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Train-operator-in-Chicago-crash-had-fallen-asleep-5350542.php>
]

..........................................................................................

*Bank of America settles mortgage bond lawsuit for $9.3 billion*
Bank of America has agreed to pay $9.3 billion to settle a lawsuit filed by
the Federal Housing Finance Agency claiming that the bank sold faulty
mortgage bonds to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The deal, announced Wednesday,
ends one of the bank's main legal problems left over from the financial
crisis. The bank and its former CEO, Kenneth Lewis, also settled another
suit alleging it misled investors about losses at Merrill Lynch & Co. [
*Reuters*<http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/27/us-bankofamerica-settlement-fhfa-idUSBREA2P23720140327>
]
*2016 Presidential News:*

Rand Paul organizing like it's almost
2016<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rand-paul-building-national-network-courting-mainstream-support-for-presidential-bid/2014/03/27/568b06de-b50d-11e3-b899-20667de76985_story.html>
Sen. Rand Paul has become the first Republican to assemble a network in all
50 states as a precursor to a 2016 presidential run, the latest sign that
he is looking to build a more mainstream coalition than the largely ad hoc
one that backed his father's unsuccessful campaigns.

Paul's move, which comes nearly two years before the 2016 primaries, also
signals an effort to win the confidence of skeptical members of the
Republican establishment, many of whom doubt that his appeal will translate
beyond the libertarian base that was attracted to Ron Paul, the former
Texas congressman.

Rand Paul's nationwide organization, which counts more than 200 people,
includes new backers who have previously funded more traditional
Republicans, along with longtime libertarian activists. Paul, of Kentucky,
has also been courting Wall Street titans and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs
who donated to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and Mitt
Romney, attending elite conclaves in Utah and elsewhere along with other
GOP hopefuls.
*Opinion:*

Updated Warnings for Generic
Drugs<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/opinion/updated-warnings-for-generic-drugs.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>

Generic manufacturers should be made responsible for alerting the public to
risks discovered after their drugs are on the market.

*DE News:*

*Congress eyes online gambling ban*
Members of both parties in Congress are supporting a ban on online gambling
just months after Delaware's system went live and weeks after officials
here struck a deal with Nevada to allow online gambling across state lines.

Delaware officials are hoping that revenues from online poker, blackjack
and slots will help boost sagging revenue in the state's three
brick-and-mortar casinos, where traffic has dipped significantly because of
competition from new facilities in surrounding states.

State officials still rely on more than $170 million in annual casino
revenue to balance the budget.

Las Vegas casino mogul and billionaire Sheldon Adelson is backing a ban on
online gambling. Republicans Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Rep. Jason
Chaffetz (Utah)introduced legislation on Wednesday that would ban virtually
all forms of online gambling, reversing a 2011 Justice Department ruling.

Online gambling is legal in Delaware, New Jersey and Nevada.

"To have gaming on every smartphone on the country, I just think it's a bad
idea," Chaffetz said at a press conference, The Hill reported.

The bills in Congress have the support of some Democrats in the House but
in a letter Wednesday the Democratic Governors Association said it would
have "a severe and disastrous impact on state governments."

Delaware officials had predicted that online gambling would generate $5
million in state tax revenue in its first year, but have since scaled back
that forecast after some technical difficulties and slow take-up online.

Gov. Jack Markell joined with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Repubican, in
February to announce the country's first online gambling compact allowing
residents in the two states to gamble against each other online.

The rating agency Fitch said recently that the it believes the "interstate
online poker agreement signed by Delaware's and Nevada's governors on Feb.
25, 2014 will accelerate state-by-state proliferation of online gaming."

..........................................................................................
*Delaware Senate passes election legislation*

The Delaware Senate voted 11-8 to give final approval Wednesday to
legislation that would prohibit politicians from campaigning for more than
one office in the same election cycle.

Sen. Colin Bonini, a Dover Republican, questioned the constitutionality of
the measure and accused Democrats of targeting him with the bill. Bonini
faces re-election to his Senate seat in November and is still considering a
concurrent general election challenge to Treasurer Chip Flowers.

"It's not constitutional to restrict people's right to run for office,"
said Bonini, who says he will make a decision on the treasurer's race by
the end of April. "No question, this is the Colin Bonini bill."

The legislation would apply to state, county and municipal, though not
federal, elections.

It would not have prevented Joe Biden from running for U.S. Senate and vice
president in 2008. It would also not prevent politicians from seeking
office while holding another. Gov. Jack Markell won his first term as
governor in 2008 with two years left in his third term as state treasurer.

House lawmakers voted in June to pass the bill. It now heads to Markell for
his signature. Jonathon Dworkin, a Markell spokesman, said "the governor
looks forward to reviewing the legislation."

Democrats did not target Bonini with the legislation, said Sen. Margaret
Rose Henry, a Wilmington Democrat and the bill's Senate sponsor. She said
Elections Commissioner Elaine Manlove lobbied for the legislation to avoid
election-year complications.

The bill does not prevent Bonini from running for treasurer or Senate - he
just must choose one, Henry said.

Bonini lost the statewide treasurer's race to Flowers by two percentage
points in 2010. Flowers already faces a Democratic and Republican
challenger this fall.

-- 
Sam Losow
*Finance Assistant*
Beau Biden, DE Attorney General
Office: (302) 295-8340
Cell: (202) 821-3399
[email-masked]