Wednesday, February 19, 2014    Published Weekday Mornings   To see the full version of today's cartoon, click on the preview graphic of the cartoon (below the Commentary) to be taken to the full version in your favorite web browser. Congress Bites   Congressional Repubs focused on calming divisions likely to ignore any major legislation this year Steve Benen: Congress doesn't lack the votes to get things done, they lack the will Two more Dems join bipartisan exodus from U.S. Congress Wave of Capitol Hill retirements may force lobbyists to rebrand Minimum Standards   CBO Official Report: Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income CBO: Minimum-wage hike would help alleviate poverty, but could kill jobs Steve Benen: Republicans try - and fail - to put a 'thumb on the scale' in minimum-wage fight Jared Bernstein: The Real Impact of a Minimum-Wage Increase Ezra Klein On CBO Report: Media Ignore Finding That Minimum Wage Increase Would Boost Net Income By $2 Billion Jonathan Chait: The CBO and the Bizarre, Partisan Jobs Debate Election Season Begins Now    New political TV ads can target individual homes Pandora Opens Box of Targeted Political Advertising For 2014 Races How 'microtargeting' now works in political advertising Brian Beutler: The GOP's pitiful, non-existent agenda - Can these cowards win in '14 by failing? ObamaDerangementSyndrome Jonathan Cohn: Karl Rove Accuses Obama of Doing Everything Bush Did - Especially on Deficits Arkansas GOP Lawmaker Admits He Just Wants Fewer Uninsured People To Sign Up For Health Care GOP Congressman Slams Obama For Medicare Cuts - That He Voted For Three Times Kevin Drum: The Latest Right-Wing Screed?Obama the Wimpy Tyrant... Or the Pathetic Autocrat... Or Something Olympics 2014   Ted Ligety captures gold medal in giant slalom; First ever men's Olympic giant slalom gold for U.S. American David Wise wins freestyle skiing gold on halfpipe Russian skating legend Yevgeny Plushenko changes mind about retirement Russia eliminated from Sochi Olympic hockey tournament in stunning loss to Finland Health Care Checkup    Obamacare advocates struggling to find the remaining uninsured Arkansas House of Representatives Fails to Pass 'Private Option' Health Law Anna Wilde Mathews: Health Insurance Reform Law's Impact Has Only Begun Steve Benen: Republicans Now Celebrating 'Job Lock' Is An Incredibly Stupid Move Energy, Climate & Environment Coal Ash Piles Up As High As 5 Feet In North Carolina River, Endangering Aquatic Life Company Being Investigated For Massive Coal Ash Spill Finally Issues An Apology  Nations In Turmoil Kiev Protesters Set Square Ablaze to Thwart Police In violent turn, Ukraine fighting kills at least 25 Ukrainian president accuses protesters of coup attempt; E.U. leaders considering sanctions Venezuelan opposition leader surrenders, protesters flood streets Beirut suicide car bombs target Iranian cultural center The War Over There Gallup: More Americans Now View Afghanistan War as a Mistake; Republicans Still In Denial International News Looking for options to help Syrians, U.S. remains cool to using force Worldwide, News Networks Call For Release Of Al Jazeera Staff From Egyptian Jail Midwest Roundup Prominent Neb. economist, in opposition to Legislature's tax plans, says property taxes are local, not state issue Iowa Legislators making another attempt to relax state laws for "sexting" between teens who are dating Being In Congress Bites Increasingly over the next few weeks, if you haven't already heard or seen political advertising for primary races in the 2014 midterm elections, we can almost guarantee you will. Avoiding being bombarded in that kind of situation will be like trying to handle snakes without getting bitten - a task crazy snake-handling preacher Jamie Coots just proved isn't exactly realistic. In short, the 2014 election races have begun. While the data-driven accurate political journalism of both Nate Silver's new team, and Ezra Klein's new group aren't yet ready for the 2014 elections, there is already some data - both scientific and anecdotal - that's already available. In short, for both Democratic and Republican politicians, the information we're seeing now could have some serious bite for this fall's elections, if the data continues through this fall as it is now. To start with, Congress' current job approval rates, for both Democratic and Republican politicians, is still hovering near it's worst levels ever. To most thinking people, that level of disgust might spur members of Congress to pass a nearly universally popular bill, so they had some kind of achievement to sell voters come next autumn - for example, raising the federal minimum wage. Conveniently, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a report on Tuesday that focused on what the impact would be of raising the federal minimum wage. The result was positive, if not a bit confusing... To continue reading... click here. And now, for your Daily Felltoon preview for February 19, 2014 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) Jobs & The Economy U.S. consumer debt rises in fourth quarter of 2013 by most since 2007 Ryan Cooper: Why the government should help the unemployed even if it might not work Wall Street Watch Homeowner Complaints Of Banks With Bad Loan Practices Rising Again Fed Closes Loophole Forcing U.S. Operations of Foreign Banks to Follow Same Rules as American banks Celebrating Success Paul Krugman: The Fifth Stimulus Anniversary | Phillip Swagel: The Bank Rescue, Five Years Later Workers Fight Back VWs Says It's Council May Block Any Further VW Investment In Deep South If Workers Not Unionized Ana Marie Cox: If the 1% wants class warfare, maybe it's time to start fighting back | Lydia DePillis: Tennessee was afraid of the United Auto Workers. Here's why it shouldn't be. Libertarian icon Jesse Ventura: "Guess we shouldn't be so quick to destroy the unions, should we?" Guns & America The iPhone of guns: Will smart guns transform the gun industry? William Saletan: Handling snakes is crazy. Owning guns is crazier. Immigration: Reform Coming? Gallup: In U.S., Border Security, Immig. Reform Equally Important Sargent:On immigration, Republicans and conservatives are all alone The Spying Game Homeland Security Dept. seeking national license plate tracking system Josh Hicks: A few reasons the public might care about license-plate tracking Intolerance in America Noose Found Around The Neck Of Statue Honoring Civil Rights Icon At Ole Miss NV GOP Cong. Candidate, Compares ENDA To 'Segregation Laws' Communications Breakdown Feud Over Netflix Traffic Leading to Video Slowdown For Millions Already | David Cay Johnston: Comcast's most costly package yet Did You Miss It On Monday? Here It Is Again! Your HuskerNutz Preview for February 19, 2014 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) White House Update President Obama Orders New CAFE Fuel Efficiency Standards for Big Trucks Obama meets with civil rights leaders, vows action on jobs, wages | As Obama heads to meeting with Canada and Mexico, several agenda items are stalled Pres. Obama Apologizes To Professor For Knocking Art History Majors News From Capitol Hill A Good Start: Billionaire plans $100 million campaign for Democrats | Time For The IRS To Change the Rules on Secret Money On The Left Dana Milbank: Obama can help Dems all the way to the bank in '14 Alex Seitz-Wald: How John Boehner Spared Democrats Their Own Civil War On The Right Republican Senator Who Voted To Defund NPR Says He Listens To NPR Wisconsin extremist GOP Gov. Scott Walker, eyeing 2016, faces serious fallout from investigations We hope you enjoy "The Daily Felltoon" every business day. Thanks for continuing to be a member! Paul Fell Shawn "Smith" Peirce Paul Fell Cartoons, Inc.