By The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 18 other media organizations filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s challenge to the National Security Letters program.
The media brief argues that the non-disclosure provision on the National Security Letter statute is classic prior restraint on speech, and the Northern District of California’s failure to term it as such threatens an important protection on which journalists rely.
Under the National Security Letter Statute, the FBI can demand personal information about anyone from phone companies, Internet service providers and other institutions. The government has issued tens of thousands of NSLs annually in recent years, and nearly 100 percent of these letters have a non-disclosure order which gags recipients from discussing them.
The media brief also argues that the gag provision violates the public’s First Amendment right to receive information about this government program.

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Posted on April 12, 2014

By Charles Ornstein/ProPublica

Last week, federal health officials celebrated two milestones related to the Affordable Care Act. The first, which got considerable attention, was that more than 7 million people selected private health plans in state and federal health insurance exchanges. The second, which got less attention, was that some 3 million additional enrollees had signed up for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (public health insurance programs for the poor), many as a result of Medicaid’s expansion.
But there are growing signs that Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion is a victim of its own success, unable to keep up with demand. While about half the states have refused to expand their Medicaid programs’ eligibility, among those that have, some can’t process applications fast enough.
Media reports from New Jersey, Illinois and California (states that have expanded their Medicaid programs) show that hundreds of thousands of consumers who may qualify for new Medicaid coverage aren’t getting it.

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Posted on April 10, 2014

By Jon Markel

Over the weekend I attempted to find all of the schools whose LSC voting districts I live within and ended up uncovering blatant incompetence in the ranks of the CPS central office.
Why does a simple exercise in the practice of representative democracy have to turn into a soul-crushing experience that has me wondering yet again how these people are in charge of educating Chicago’s children?

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Posted on April 9, 2014

By RT

“Boeing just gifted the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum $30 million, and for that, they are getting the main hall named after them.
“Boeing hasn’t paid taxes in years – they actually got a $199 million refund for 2013. They also lobbied in Washington for $15 million and received $20 billion in government contracts.”

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Posted on April 8, 2014

By Kara Brandeisky/ProPublica

Ten months after Edward Snowden’s first disclosures, three main legislative proposals have emerged for surveillance reform: one from President Obama, one from the House Intelligence Committee, and one favored by civil libertarians.
All the plans purport to end the bulk phone records collection program, but there are big differences – and a lot they don’t do. Here’s a rundown.

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Posted on April 4, 2014

**MEDIA ADVISORY**MEDIA ADVISORY**MEDIA ADVISORY**

WHO: President Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee
WHAT: The President will be in town Wednesday, April 2, to host a roundtable at Chicago Cut Steakhouse. The roundtable will be hosted by Mesirow Financial Chairman and CEO Richard Price, benefitting the Democratic National Committee. Later that evening, the President will be hosting a dinner at the Lincoln Park home of Craig Freedman and Grace Tsao-Wu.
WHERE: CHICAGO CUT STEAKHOUSE
300 N. LaSalle Street
Chicago IL 60654

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Posted on April 1, 2014