City of Rochester, NY and Huntington Long Island town to join Obama's Better Buildings Challenge + Half of U.S. Hispanics Identify as Political Independents

Posted at: 07/03/2012 8:10 AM
By: Ken Preston | WHEC.com

City of Rochester, NY and Huntington Long Island town to join Obama's Better Buildings Challenge

The Town of Huntington, New York, is the only Long Island entity and the city of Rochester the only other New York State municipality among 36 new states, local governments, and school districts to join President Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge. These new commitments total nearly 300 million square feet in job-creating building energy upgrades, equivalent to more than 130 Empire State Buildings.  http://exm.nr/N46Pdw

Half of U.S. Hispanics Identify as Political Independents

But more than half identify as or lean Democratic
PRINCETON, NJ -- A majority of U.S. Hispanics identify as political independents (51%) rather than as Democrats (32%) or Republicans (11%). However, once their partisan leanings are taken into account, most Hispanics affiliate with the Democratic Party (52%) rather than the Republican Party (23%). Both sets of numbers shift more decisively in the Democrats' favor among the roughly half of U.S. Hispanics who are registered to vote.
http://bit.ly/Mn5Ln8

W.H. gets unexpected backup: Romney camp says it's a penalty, not a tax

Prominent Dems including White House chief of staff Jack Lew and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have repeatedly argued in recent days that the fee for not buying insurance under the health care law is in fact a penalty and not a tax.

They got support from an unexpected quarter on Monday: the Romney campaign.

Mitt Romney's senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom told Chuck Todd on MSNBC's Daily Rundown that he agrees - the fee is a penalty and not a tax, as the Supreme Court ruled last week. http://politi.co/N40SJZ

Obama Will Seek To Scale Back Drug War In Second Term: Report

President Barack Obama will take steps to draw down the nation's decades-long war on drugs if he wins a second term, Marc Ambinder reports Monday in GQ.

According to Ambinder, Obama's "aides and associates" say that the president is looking to prioritize reform, a reflection of the president's long-held beliefs that strict drug prohibition and enforcement policies have done greater damage to society than good. http://huff.to/MOuhcA
 

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