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UNC-Chapel Hill Offers MPA Program in Online Format

April 25, 2013 at 11:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sponsored Post:

The online Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at the top-ranked School of Government at the University for North Carolina at Chapel Hill aims to shape leaders in public service, a field that is expected to grow in visibility and importance over the next decade and beyond. The MPA@UNC program is designed with working professionals in mind, offering the accessibility and flexibility of online education with the best of UNC’s on-campus experience, including a virtual classroom setting, to effectively teach tomorrow’s public service leaders.

“There is a critical need for leadership in government and public service throughout our country,” said Todd Nicolet, associate dean for operations and director of MPA@UNC. “With an online format, we are able to reach students regardless of their geographic location–creating an even more diverse student body. As part of MPA@UNC, students gain a unique opportunity to interact with classmates in different parts of the country, offering new perspectives in addition to classroom learning, which they bring back to benefit the organizations and communities in which they work.”

To request more information, visit http://requestinfo.onlinempa.unc.edu.

Top GOP Consultant Blames Rush Limbaugh

April 25, 2013 at 10:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Frank Luntz told a group of college students that Rush Limbaugh and right-wing talk radio are “problematic” for the Republican party and partly responsible for the nation’s polarization.

Mother Jones notes he “only dared to speak so candidly about Limbaugh and other conservative hosts off the record. A secretly recorded video, though, captured Luntz’s remark.”

[Read more…]

Schock Will Not Run for Illinois Governor

April 25, 2013 at 10:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) has opted not to run for the Republican Illinois governor nomination and instead will seek a fourth term in Congress next year, the Chicago Tribune reports.

“Schock’s decision removes from the potential field a youthful former state legislator with a demonstrated ability to raise money.”

Senate Moves to Fix Flight Delays

April 25, 2013 at 9:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Senate unanimously approved a patch to fix the deep cuts that have furloughed air traffic controllers and delayed flights across the country, NBC News reports.

“The House could take the bill up tomorrow and pass it with 2/3 support of that chamber. All of this was a last minute scramble to avert a crisis that was becoming more and more politically problematic by the day.”

Bush’s Retrospective Approval is Near Worst

April 25, 2013 at 8:32 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Harry Enten: “Bush’s retrospective approval is the second worst among presidents in the last 50 years ago. To save you doing the math, Carter’s 52% approval rating is higher than Bush’s 47%. Only the Watergate-tainted Richard Nixon recorded a lower retrospective approval than Bush… Thus, not only did Bush tie for the second worst final approval rating while in office, but he is also has the second worst retrospective job approval rating.”

Greuel Surges in Los Angeles Mayor’s Race

April 25, 2013 at 5:32 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Survey USA poll in Los Angeles finds Wendy Greuel has surged into a small lead over Eric Garcetti, 45% to 42%.

Bonus Quote of the Day

April 25, 2013 at 3:34 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“From the day I asked Dick to run with me, he served with loyalty, principle and strength. Proud to call you friend.”

— Former President George W. Bush, in remarks about former Vice President Dick Cheney.

11 Nice Things Said About Bush

April 25, 2013 at 3:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Week lists the nice things President Obama and Bill Clinton said about George W. Bush today at the dedication of his presidential library.

The Daily Beast has a photo gallery of the festivities.

Bush Approval Bounce Expected

April 25, 2013 at 2:47 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

David Leonhardt: “The rise in approval ratings of former President George W. Bush has received some attention this week, in advance of the opening of his presidential library in Dallas. But that rise is exactly what one would expect, based on the history of other ex-presidents’ approval ratings.”

What Could Fracture the Democratic Base

April 25, 2013 at 1:36 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ron Brownstein: “What could dissolve the powerful electoral coalition that powered both of President Obama’s victories? The latest Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll points to the greatest risk: continuing economic dissatisfaction.”

House Will Do Immigration Reform Piece-by-Piece

April 25, 2013 at 1:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

House Republicans “will take on the immigration issue in bite-size pieces, shunning pressure to act quickly and rejecting the comprehensive approach embraced in the Senate,” the AP reports.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) also “declined to commit to finishing immigration legislation this year… The approach Goodlatte sketched out was not a surprise, but it was a sign of the obstacles ahead of congressional passage of the kind of far-reaching immigration legislation sought by Obama and introduced last week in the Senate by four Republican and four Democratic lawmakers.”

The Biggest Financial Scandal Yet

April 25, 2013 at 1:29 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Matt Taibbi: “Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an apology. You were right. The players may be a little different, but your basic premise is correct: The world is a rigged game. We found this out in recent months, when a series of related corruption stories spilled out of the financial sector, suggesting the world’s largest banks may be fixing the prices of, well, just about everything.”

“You may have heard of the Libor scandal, in which at least three – and perhaps as many as 16 – of the name-brand too-big-to-fail banks have been manipulating global interest rates… That was bad enough, but now Libor may have a twin brother. Word has leaked out that the London-based firm ICAP, the world’s largest broker of interest-rate swaps, is being investigated by American authorities for behavior that sounds eerily reminiscent of the Libor mess. Regulators are looking into whether or not a small group of brokers at ICAP may have worked with up to 15 of the world’s largest banks to manipulate ISDAfix, a benchmark number used around the world to calculate the prices of interest-rate swaps.”

Clinton Jokes About Bush’s Painting

April 25, 2013 at 1:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

During his speech at the dedication of the George W. Bush presidential library, Salon notes Bill Clinton joked about Bush’s dog and landscape paintings – as well as those nude paintings of Bush himself in the shower.

Said Clinton: “I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m going to anyway. Your mother showed me some of your landscapes and animal paintings and I thought they were great. Really great. And I seriously considered calling you and asking you to do a portrait of me until I saw the results of your sister’s hacked e-mails. Those bathroom sketches were wonderful, but at my age I think I should keep my suit.”

U.S. Suspects Syria Used Chemical Weapons

April 25, 2013 at 1:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The White House said that U.S. intelligence agencies now assess, with “varying degrees of confidence,” that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons, the New York Times reports.

Barbara Bush Doesn’t Want Jeb to Run

April 25, 2013 at 10:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

While former President George W. Bush says he wants his brother Jeb to run for president in 2016, their always-blunt mother told CNN she feels differently.

Said Mrs. Bush: “He’s by far the best qualified man, but no. I really don’t. I think it’s a great country. There are a lot of great families, and it’s not just four families or whatever. There are other people out there that are very qualified and we’ve had enough Bushes.”

GOP Handing Another Seat to Democrats?

April 25, 2013 at 9:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Stu Rothenberg looks at Mark Sanford’s flailing comeback attempt in South Carolina and concludes, “Republicans are on quite a streak when it comes to throwing
away elections.”

“This tossup contest tilts toward the Democrat.
If Colbert Busch wins the seat next month, it won’t be because most
voters wanted her to represent them in Congress. It will be because many
voters — Republican voters — concluded that Sanford was unacceptable.”

Congress Caught Off Guard by Sequester

April 25, 2013 at 9:42 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“With Congress and the flying public up in arms over airline delays
caused by Federal Aviation Administration furloughs, lawmakers seem
somehow caught off guard by the extent of the problem caused by the
sequester,” Roll Call reports.

Obama Hits Fundraiser Before Bush Library Event

April 25, 2013 at 9:39 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A day before sharing the stage with his Republican predecessor, President Obama raised money for Democrats at a supporter’s sprawling home in Texas, the AP reports.

“Even as he sought to build up his party on Wednesday, Obama hinted at a more bipartisan tone set to envelop Dallas on Thursday, when the Obamas attend the dedication ceremony for former President George W. Bush’s presidential library. He vigorously defended the Republican whose record as president he derided in both of his presidential campaigns.”

First Read: “Meanwhile, are we the only ones surprised that Obama decided to hit a fundraiser in Dallas last night… It’s an odd tone.”