Tuesday, April 08, 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. Keeping Democracy Big Turnout in Afghan Election, As India Begins World's Largest Election Ever Citizens of India begin voting in first phase of giant general election Early tallies show at least 60% cast votes in Afghan election Bomb kills Afghan election workers, destroys ballot papers Richard Engel: Think Afghanistan Is a Failed State? You're Absolutely Wrong. G.O.P. Bid to Limit Voting in U.S. Swing States Continues Jamelle Bouie: Republican voter suppression rationales - Why "voter integrity" is nonsense. Weigel: If Republicans Are Proud About the Early-Voting Cutback, Why Don't They Talk About It? Steve Benen: Voter outreach is hard; voter suppression is easy Vice President Biden urges Democrats: Stand up for voting rights Equal Pay Day Pres. Obama's Actions Today On Gender & Pay Could Have More Impact than the Lilly Ledbetter Act Vox Media: Obama's executive order on equal pay for men and women, explained Conservatives Push Back Against Equal Pay Efforts Irin Carmon: Why the GOP is wrong about the pay gap Pew Research Center: On Equal Pay Day, everything you need to know about the gender pay gap Paul Waldman: On equal pay issue, Republicans are boxed in Russian Roulette Pro-Russian separatists proclaim independent republic in eastern Ukraine Ukrainian members of Parliament brawl as nationalists are accused of playing into Russia's hands Vox Media: A Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine just got more likely. Here's why. Drum: Ignorant Americans Say 'Let's Invade Ukraine!' (As Soon As We Can Figure Out Where It Is) Immigration: Reform Coming? Greg Sargent: Pressure intensifies on Obama over deportations In interview, Boehner warns Obama not to push too hard on immigration reform Energy, Climate & Environment Southeast Hit By Heavy Rains, Major Flooding Butterfly Becomes Fastest Of Its Kind To Adapt To Climate Change Report: Fox News Was Accurate On Climate Science Just 28 Percent Of The Time In 2013 NBC Hits Hard With Solid, Accurate Climate Change Special Nations In Turmoil Syrian aid pledges not being fulfilled by Western and Arab nations Fund crunch forces UN to cut Syrian food aid International News Philippine top court defies church to back birth control Windows XP users face end to Microsoft support worldwide Libya parliament asks PM to form new cabinet National Politics Greg Sargent: Why 2014 looks so bad for Dems, and what they can do about it Democratic Turnout Seen As Key To Party's Retaining Senate Control in '14 Midwest Roundup Sexual orientation anti- discrimination bill fails to overcome filibuster in Neb. Legislature Neb. Leg: Historic horse racing bill passes upon reconsideration Power outage at Iowa statehouse causes temporary confusion Other Notable News UConn defeats Kentucky 60-54 for men's NCAA basketball title UConn Star Shabazz Napier: College Athletes 'Have Hungry Nights That We Don't Have Enough Money To Get Food' Shabazz Napier's One Shining Moment Of Truth UConn's other dirty secret? They barely graduate their players. Keeping Democracy Even before Jon Stewart and the team at The Daily Show pointed it out last night, our staff had been struck over the last few days by a stark contrast in world politics. Even as the world's largest election in India was beginning, the vote for a new President to replace the outgoing Hamid Karzai was finishing this weekend in Afghanistan. While some journalists were less surprised than others, the election itself was generally without major acts of violence. There were a few reports of scattered violence after the election - including at least one incident that killed some election workers and destroyed some ballots. Even though Afghanistan's citizens were literally threatened by the Taliban with death if they showed up at the polls, their voter turnout rate looks to have exceeded 60%. We had to ask each other: When was the last time Americans turned out for ANY election like that? For the record, America hasn't exceeded 60% turnout in a presidential election since 1968 - and we haven't exceeded 40% turnout in a midterm election since 1970. That's an incredibly embarrassing record for a nation that's spent the greater part of the last four decades trying to "promote democracy" around the world - sometimes, at the point of a gun.... To continue reading... click here. And now, for your Daily Felltoon preview for April 08, 2014 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) Jobs & The Economy Good News: Labor Data Suggests Job Gains Will Continue Win For Workers: Maryland set to increase its minimum wage to $10.10 by 2018 Wall Street Watch Fallout From High-Frequency Trading Now Hitting Brokerages Robert Barbera: Forecasts of massive U.S. debt & fiscal Armageddon are wrong - and harmful Economic Inequality Paul Krugman: Oligarchs, Money, And Who's Screwing Up Our Economy Again Catherine Rampell: America's safety net now catches the middle class more than the poor Budget Battles House extremist conservatives offer even more austere alternative to Ryan budget House Democrats Offer Significantly Different Budget Path Than Republicans Health Care Checkup Obama administration reverses proposed cut to Medicare plans J. Bernstein: It's a Fact - Thanks To Obamacare, More Americans Now Have Health Insurance Sarah Kliff: The best Obamacare data comes from a home office in Michigan | Brian Beutler: House Republicans Are Quietly Giving in to Obamacare Kilgore: Obamacare Data: Watch For the Conservative Fallback Position Juan Williams: The facts surrounding ACA data leave GOP exposed for 2014 elections Media Matters Barbara Walters' Final Scheduled Television Appearance Announced | Al-Jazeera journalists mark 100 days in Egyptian jail amid calls for release And now, for your Weekly OK Gazette Toon preview for April 08, 2014   (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) News From Capitol Hill Senate Passes Unemployment Insurance Extension Unemployment insurance looks dead in the House. Here's how Democrats are trying to change that. | House Democrats release alternative to Ryan budget Senate passes Ted Cruz-backed bill to bar Iran's U.N. ambassador from entering the U.S. On The Left DNC Revives Joe Biden's Twitter Account on Behalf of Midterm Dems Steven Rosenfeld: 12 Key Progressive Politicians to Watch in the 2014 Elections Moira Campion McConaghy: Bring Back Congressional Earmarks - But the Right Way On The Right In the 'credentials caucus,' GOP's 2016 hopefuls study policy and seek advisers Rand Paul in 2009: Dick Cheney pushed Iraq war to benefit Halliburton Ed Kilgore: Conservatives, Race, and "Winners" and "Losers" States Of Confusion Washington state mudslide death toll rises to 33 Heavy Rain, Flash Flooding Hit Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi Jonathan Cohn: Mississippi's Sex-Ed Classes Now Teaching Kids That Homosexuality Is Illegal | Maryland set to decriminalize marijuana After 3 Months Of Legal Pot Sales, Denver Still Not A Crime-Filled Hellscape Residents Chase Westboro Baptist Cult Members From Oklahoma Town 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.