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defense_and_security | 2013-07-25 | NSA, Defense And Security | left | Advertisement Supported by By Jonathan Weisman WASHINGTON β A deeply divided House defeated legislation Wednesday that would have blocked the National Security Agency from collecting vast amounts of phone records, handing the Obama administration a hard-fought victory in the first Congressional showdown over the N.S.A.βs surveillance activities since Edward J. Snowdenβs security breaches last month. The 205-to-217 vote was far closer than expected and came after a brief but impassioned debate over citizensβ right to privacy and the steps the government must take to protect national security. It was a rare instance in which a classified intelligence program was openly discussed on the House floor, and disagreements over the program led to some unusual coalitions. Conservative Republicans leery of what they see as Obama administration abuses of power teamed up with liberal Democrats long opposed to intrusive intelligence programs. The Obama administration made common cause with the House Republican leadership to try to block it. House members pressing to rein in the N.S.A. vowed afterward that the outrage unleashed by Mr. Snowdenβs disclosures would eventually put a brake on the agencyβs activities. Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York and a longtime critic of post-Sept. 11 counterterrorism efforts, said lawmakers would keep coming back with legislation to curtail the dragnets for βmetadata,β whether through phone records or Internet surveillance. Advertisement At the very least, the section of the Patriot Act in question will be allowed to expire in 2015, he said. βItβs going to end β now or later,β Mr. Nadler said. βThe only question is when and on what terms.β Representative Mike Rogers of Michigan, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, promised lawmakers that he would draft legislation this fall to add more privacy protections to government surveillance programs even as he begged the House to oppose blanket restrictions. Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like. Charlie Savage contributed reporting. Advertisement Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Times. See subscription options | http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/us/politics/house-defeats-effort-to-rein-in-nsa-data-gathering.html?ref=politics&_r=0 | New York Times (News) | House Defeats Effort to Rein In N.S.A. Data Gathering | f252e013f6f1a812 | 0 | [
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white_house | 2013-10-07 | White House, Barack Obama, Politics | right | * * Want FOX News First in your inbox every day ? Sign up here . * *
TEN MORE DAYS OF CLIFF DIVING - President Obama is standing by his refusal to negotiate over the ongoing partial government shutdown and the looming debt-limit bust , so House Speaker John Boehner and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew took their talks on the fiscal crisis to the airwaves in dueling Sunday show appearances . The conclusions : The partial shutdown is bound to last for at least another 10 days and the stakes are growing by the hour as Americans come to believe Obama is serious about not budging . Boehner and House Republicans are unified behind a pressure play : They keep passing bills to provide funding for popular programs and Democrats β sacred cows , particularly retroactive pay guarantees to government workers . If Obama remains aloof from the process , things are going to get very dicey on Wall Street and Main Street . To wit : Markets were already hitting the skids this morning .
[ β The president has taken many steps over the last several years to show his willingness to negotiate . He β s done it with Democrats saying he β s too eager to negotiate ! β β Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on β Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace β defending President Obama β s refusal to negotiate in the current fiscal impasse . ]
Boehner β s ballet - Boehner went on ABC β s β This Week β to explain his position on the debt limit . Boehner didn β t dispute reports that he was adamant about not allowing a debt breach , which would block the government from borrowing the more than $ 3 billion a day it needs for regular functions and also likely send interest rates through the stratosphere . But that doesn β t mean he β s got nothing to bargain with . Boehner could allow a Democrat-led vote for an unconditional debt hike at the 11th hour and lift the limit for just a very short period . If Obama is looking for stability and a lasting bargain , he β ll have to deal . Boehner added β the votes are not in the House to pass a clean debt limit . And the president is risking default by not having a conversation with us. β And Boehner is rightβ¦ so far . Democrats are feeling the squeeze on funding bills that fund vital services or are helpful to their party β s most important political patrons : unionized government workers .
[ Watch Fox : Sen. Mike Lee , R-Utah , appears in the 9 a.m . ET hour ]
October heat - The tacit admission from Boehner and Lew is that this partial shutdown will drag on until there β s a deal on the debt limit . Obama may be strengthening his hand by his refusals to negotiate , but the crisis is deepening as Americans begin to take the president seriously on his claim . And if the president β s really not bluffing this time ? Washington β s problems will soon become the world β s problem .
HARRY REID : MEDIA CRITIC - β You and other journalists have a real shortcoming in that you are trying so hard to be fair that you are unfair ... Democrats have had almost nothing to do with the problems here . It β s all Republicans. β β Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in an interview with Politico to tout his 2016 re-election bid . Reid would be 76 years old seeking a fifth term .
SELECTIVE SHUTDOWN - Amber Alert less important than union reps ? - Washington Examiner says the national missing-child warning system , Amber Alert , has shut down its web site . This , despite only 17 percent of the government being shut down and the Obama administration β s move to allow union representatives for government workers to return to their posts . The Justice Department cites the shutdown in the online message directing people away from Amber Alert . Breitbart points out letsmove.org , the web site for first lady Michelle Obama β s initiative to combat childhood obesity is still fully functional .
Americans jump barricades to enter parks - The Daily Caller looks at how Americans are accessing national parks and monuments despite the partial government shutdown . Some officials are joining in the civil disobedience : β In Wisconsin , Gov . Scott Walker defied the federal edict , and cleared away barriers hindering Americans . The state β has clarified areas where the federal procedures are over-reaching , β said an email from Cathy Stepp , secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources . β
[ Watch Fox : Sen. John Barrasso , R-Wyo. , head of the Senate Republican Policy Committee , discusses the partial government shutdown in the noon ET hour ]
β Republicans now have what liberals are supposed to admire , which is diversity . Except liberals do n't want diversity in thought , and that β s what the Republicans now have and it makes them rather interesting. β β George Will in his debut appearance on β Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. β Watch Panel Plus here .
LEW DODGES ON OBAMACARE NUMBERS - On β Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace , β Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said β it β s the wrong question , β when asked how many people had signed up for ObamaCare β s exchanges . Wallace pressed Lew saying , β Do you not know how many people have signed up , which would seem to indicate another major software glitch , or is it that the number is embarrassingly small ? β Lew dodged saying , β it β s obviously not my primary area of responsibility. β Watch the full interview here
ObamaCare web site β sloppy β - WSJ : β β¦ [ T ] he federal government acknowledged for the first time Sunday it needed to fix design and software problems that have kept customers from applying online for coverageβ¦Information technology experts who examined the healthcare.gov website at the request of The Wall Street Journal said the site appeared to be built on a sloppy software foundation .. β
ObamaCare costing 66,000 jobs in Illinois - The Illinois Policy Institute , a free-market think tank , has found β Since 2011 , Illinois has lost the equivalent of about 66,000 jobsβ¦through reduced work hours β more than the number of jobs added , β due to ObamaCare . The Washington Free Beacon has the story .
KERRY DEFENDS WEEKEND RAID - Fox News - Secretary of State John Kerry defended the capture of an Al Qaeda leader in Libya long wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa and subsequent activities . Kerry told reporters that Abu Anas al-Libi was a β legal and appropriate target β for the U.S. military and will face trial . The Libyan government called the raid by the U.S. Army 's Delta Force a β kidnapping. β National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin is reporting the latest on the manhunt and what β s next for al-Libi .
[ WSJ : β The raids are a tacit admission that Mr. Obama has been overselling victory [ over al-Qaeda ] , but we 're nonetheless glad to see the U.S. going back on offense . β ]
BAIER TRACKS : TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COINβ¦ β Two stories on the front page of the Wall Street Journal depict the two sides of executive branch decision making : One that can plan and then make things happen with precision , the other that despite time and repeated warnings can not seem to prepare for reality when the moment hits .
First this story about the raids in Somalia and Libya over the weekend by U.S. Special Operations commandos - Navy Seals in Somalia and Delta Force in Libya . They managed to kill and capture two bigwigs in the terrorist line-up . ( Maybe Delta Force can hang around Libya and also get the head of Ansar al Sharia who is said to have been behind the Benghazi attack and who has been talking to reporters there ad nauseum ) . This shows that despite significant risk , with planning , and precision execution , the U.S. is unstoppable .
The other story is this one : After three years and billions of dollars , the ObamaCare website is not β structurally designed β to handle the people who want to sign up β β Such a hastily constructed website may not have been able to withstand the online demand last week , they said . β
The difference in the two stories couldn β t be starker , showing the best of executive branch decision making β firm , decisive action executed with precision β and the worst β stubborn unpreparedness moved forward in order to make a political deadline . Here β s to more of the first kind. β β Bret Baier .
NEW SUPREME COURT TERM BEGINS TODAY - AP - The Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments today in the start of its new term . The high court is set to hear cases on campaign finance laws , racial preference policies , protests at abortion providers and religious liberty . Correspondent Shannon Bream previews the big cases on the docket .
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE ... UCLA Law Professor Adam Winkler considers how Justice Elena Kagan is poised to become the most influential liberal member of the Supreme Court for Slate , in The Coming of the Kagan Court : β β¦she had earned [ President Obama β s ] trust as an adviser . And when she was selected to be dean of the Harvard Law School , it wasn β t because she was the most prolific and influential scholar . β
Obama Job Approval : Approve β 44.1 percent//Disapprove β 50.3 percent
Direction of Country : Right Direction β 27.0 percent//Wrong Track β 63.6 percent
OFF TO THE RACESβ¦Shutdown air wars in Arkansas - Rep. Tom Cotton , R-Ark. , launched an ad over the weekend tying Sen. Mark Pryor , D-Ark. , to the shutdown , blasting him for casting the , β β¦deciding vote to make you live under ObamaCare. β Pryor continues to blame Republicans and what he calls β hyper-partisanship β in the House for the shutdown .
VA College Republicans : McAuliffe a β catfish β - Daily Caller : Virginia β s College Republicans are lampooning Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe in a new web ad . The ad , β TerryFish , β parodies the popular MTV show β Catfish β about bogus online daters . The spot points to several of McAuliffe β s controversies , with a female actress saying β I met this guy named Terry online , and he β s been making a lot of promisesβ¦ he β s just too good to be true . I just need to know the truth . β
Huma β s Choice : Hillary or Hubby ? - Sources told the NY Post β s Page Six that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , β β¦has issued an ultimatum to [ Huma Abedin ] that the doting wife must dump [ her husband , self-portrait hobbyist Anthony Weiner ] if she wants a top role in her campaign and administration . β
BUT IF HE WOULD HAVE HAD A POCKET KNIFEβ¦AP : β A 9-year-old runaway went through security , boarded a plane at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport without a ticket and flew to Las Vegas , an airport spokesman said Sunday . β
NEVER TOO LATE TO MAKE AMENDS - World War II veteran Jim Williams of Springfield , Ill. , stole a picture of Ruby Ruff in 1943 from her parents β home in Portland , Ore. And now she has it back . As the Daily News of Longview , Ore. reported , Williams was invited to Ruby β s home as part of her family β s effort to make servicemen from nearby Depoe Bay feel at home . Though he and Ruby were just friends , Williams said he envied his bunkmates who had pictures of their sweethearts and took the photo . He regretted doing so , but said he was shipped out before he could give it back . During a recent vacation to the West Coast , Williams tracked down the now Ruby Hazen to return the photo , saying it β survived torpedo attacks , aircraft strafing , shore battery firings and 30 consecutive nights of bombing , two wives and a typhoon in the China seas. β He sent her six roses as thanks for β sharing his war years β and six yellow roses for her husband β in case [ Williams ] had caused him any embarrassment . β
HEY , I KNOW THAT POLAR BEAR ! - Army Specialist Justin May made a surprising return to Kentucky after an 11-month deployment in Afghanistan . May disguised himself as the Bracken County High School polar bear mascot , surprising his father Ronald and brother Ryan who were unaware when he removed the costume head on the field . Watch the family share the moment .
AMERICA β S STRONGEST PRIMETIME LINEUP , ANYWHERE - Fox News Channel β s new evening programming schedule premieres today , with Megyn Kelly joining cable news β top-rated lineup . β On the Record with Greta Van Susteren β will air at 7 p.m . ET , followed by β The O β Reilly Factor , β continuing in its 8 p.m. slot . Megyn Kelly then debuts her new show , β The Kelly File , β at 9 p.m. , followed by β Hannity β at 10 p.m. Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes said that with the top 13 shows in cable news , β Fox News already redefined prime-time viewing to extend well beyond the antiquated 8-11 p.m. format . We β ve developed a deep bench of engaging and thought-provoking personalities that have grown with Fox News as it has evolved into the most influential and successful cable network in television . These changes will enable the network to continue setting the industry standard for years to come . β
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News . Want FOX News First in your inbox every day ? Sign up here . To catch Chris live online daily at 11:30 a.m . ET , click here . | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/07/obama-digs-in-raising-worries/ | Fox Online News | Obama digs in, raising worries | cf6adba86955c6aa | 2 | [
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democratic_party | 2016-11-26 | Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, Politics | right | A very nice liberal broadcaster asked me earlier this week whether I am worried about the future of the Republican party .
There are 25 states in which the state legislatures and governorships are controlled by Republicans , and two states with executive/legislative divides in which there are Republican legislative majorities large enough to override a veto from the Democratic governor . Sixty-eight of the country β s 98 partisan state legislative chambers are Republican-run . There are only four states with Democratic governors and legislatures ; it is true that these include one of our most populous states ( California ) , but the majority of Americans live in states in which there are Republican trifectas or veto-proof legislative majorities . Two-thirds of the nation β s governors are Republicans ; more than two-thirds of our state legislative houses are under Republican control . Republicans control both houses of Congress and have just won the presidency .
And Democrats have responded to their recent electoral defeat with riots , arson , and Alex Jonesβlevel conspiracy theories . Progressives have just raised $ 5 million to press for a recount in several states . Clinton sycophant Paul Krugman , sounding exactly like every well-mannered conspiracy nut you β ve ever known , says the election β probably wasn β t hacked , β but β conspiracies do happen β and β now that it β s out there β β ( who put it out there ? ) β β an independent investigation is called for . β
Maybe it isn β t the Republican party whose future needs worrying about .
In one sense , what is happening in American politics is a convergence of partisan styles .
Beginning with the nomination of Barry Goldwater , and thanks in no small part to the efforts of many men associated with this magazine , the Republican party spent half a century as a highly ideological enterprise . But highly ideological political parties are not the norm in the English-speaking world , especially not in the United States , and the conservative fusion of American libertarianism , social traditionalism , and national-security assertiveness probably is not stable enough to cohere , having now long outlived the Cold War , in which it was forged . Trump β s lack of conservative principle is unwelcome , but it points to an ideological looseness that is arguably more normal , a return to the model of party as loose coalition of interest groups .
As in the Republican party , the Democrats have a restive base that is more radical than its leadership , more aggressive , and in search of signs of tribal affiliation .
The Democrats , on the other hand , are becoming more ideological , or at least more openly and self-consciously ideological , as the party β s progressivism becomes more and more a catechism . This has the effect of making the Democratic party less democratic . American progressives have a long and genuine commitment to mass democracy , having supported not only various expansions of the franchise but also many instruments of direct democracy such as the ballot initiative , but they also have a long and genuine commitment to frustrating democracy when it gets in the way of the progressive agenda , which is why they have spent the better part of a century working to politicize the courts , the bureaucracies , and the non-governmental institutions they control in order to ensure they get their way even when they lose at the ballot box . Democrats did not pay much attention when they started suffering losses at the state level , because they were working against federalism and toward a unitary national government controlled from Washington . And they did not fight as hard as they might to recover from their losses in Congress while Barack Obama sat in the White House , obstructing Republican legislative initiatives and attempting to govern through executive fiat β an innovation that the Democrats surely are about to regret in the direst way .
For the moment , the stylistic convergence β the Republicans becoming a little more like the selfish-coalition Democratic party , and the Democrats becoming a little more like the ideological Republican party β works to the Republicans β advantage , though there is no reason to believe that always will be the case . The GOP had a very good run of it as a highly ideological enterprise .
The longer-term problem for the Democrats is that they are finding out that they have to play by their own rules , which are the rules of identity politics . This is a larger problem for the Democratic party than is generally appreciated . The Democratic party is an odd apparatus in which most of the power is held by sanctimonious little old liberal white ladies with graduate degrees and very high incomes β Hillary Rodham Clinton , Elizabeth Warren , Randi Weingarten β while the manpower , the vote-power , and the money-power ( often in the form of union dues ) comes from a disproportionately young and non-white base made up of people who , if they are doing well , might earn one-tenth of the half-million dollars a year Weingarten was paid as the boss of the teachers β union . They are more likely to be cutting the grass in front of Elizabeth Warren β s multi-million-dollar mansion than moving into one of their own . They roll their eyes at Hillary Rodham Clinton β s risible β abuela β act , having actual abuelas of their own .
# related # As in the Republican party , the Democrats have a restive base that is more radical than its leadership , more aggressive , and in search of signs of tribal affiliation . The Democratic base is not made up of little old liberal white ladies with seven- , eight- , and nine-figure bank balances , but the party β s leadership is . It is worth noting that in a year in which the Republican candidate painted Mexican immigrants with a rather broad and ugly brush , Mrs. Clinton got a smaller share of the Hispanic vote than Barack Obama did in 2012 . She got a significantly smaller share of the black vote , too . Interestingly , Mrs. Clinton β s drop in the black vote came exclusively from black men . Many black Americans had very high hopes that an Obama administration would mean significant changes in their lives and in the state of their communities , but that has not come to pass . There is nothing about Mrs. Clinton that inspired similar hopes . β She β s not right , and we all know it , β the comedian Dave Chappelle said .
It is far from obvious that Senator Cherokee Cheekbones or anyone standing alongside Debbie Wasserman Schultz will feel more β right β to Democratic voters who have almost nothing in common with them . A coalition in which elderly rich white faculty-lounge liberals have all the power and enjoy all the perks while the work and money come from younger and browner people is not going to be very stable .
Especially when it has been stripped of the one thing that has held that coalition together so far : power . | http://www.nationalreview.com/article/442474/democratic-party-lost-governors-state-legislature-seats-2016-election | National Review | Progressives without Power | d97d08355d4639e6 | 2 | [
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ebola | 2014-11-11 | New York, Public Health | left | NEW YORK ( AP ) -- An emergency room physician who has recovered from Ebola said Tuesday as he left the hospital that he was living proof that early detection and isolation can stop the spread of the deadly virus , and he called for a better focus at the center of the outbreak in West Africa .
Dr. Craig Spencer was released from Bellevue Hospital during a joyous news conference where medical team members were cheering , hooting and hugging . Mayor Bill de Blasio , his wife and most of the medical team embraced the doctor .
Spencer thanked the team for his recovery and said he received excellent care . He was diagnosed Oct. 23 , days after his return from Guinea , where he had been working with Doctors Without Borders treating Ebola patients .
`` While my case has garnered international attention , my infection represents but a fraction of the more than 13,000 reported cases to date in West Africa , the center of the outbreak , where families are being torn apart and communities destroyed , '' he said .
During his time there , he said , he cried as he held children not strong enough to survive the virus and was overjoyed when patients he treated were cured .
`` Within a week of ? my diagnosis ? , ? many of these same patients called ? my personal phone to wish me well and ask if there was any way they could contribute to my care , '' he said .
He said his Guinean colleagues are the heroes no one is talking about : `` Those who have been on the front lines since Day One and saw friends and family members die continue to fight to save their communities with so much compassion and dignity . ''
With his recovery , there are no Ebola patients currently under treatment in the U.S. Spencer 's fiancee is still under quarantine until Nov. 14 . Officials continue to monitor nearly 300 people , including hospital workers and recent travelers from West Africa .
Praise was doled out at the news conference for the medical team that treated Spencer and the administration , which prepared swiftly and entirely for the eventual landing of the virus in the nation 's most populous city . New York health officials said good planning and preparation was behind the containment of the illness .
De Blasio also cheered New Yorkers , who resisted panicking over the diagnosis of one individual .
Health officials have stressed that Ebola is not airborne and can only be spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person who is showing symptoms . Still , news of Spencer 's infection set many New Yorkers on edge , particularly after they learned that he rode the subway , dined out and went bowling in the days before he developed a fever and tested positive .
New York Gov . Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie responded by announcing a mandatory 21-day quarantine for travelers who have come in close contact with Ebola patients .
The Ebola epidemic in West Africa has killed thousands of people , but only a handful of people have been treated in the United States .
Besides Spencer , they include American health and aid workers and a journalist who fell ill in West Africa , a Liberian man diagnosed with the virus during a visit to Texas and two nurses who contracted it from him . The man , Thomas Eric Duncan , died ; the rest have recovered . | http://www.salon.com/2014/11/11/doctor_recovers_from_ebola_leaves_nyc_hospital/ | Salon | Doctor recovers from Ebola, leaves NYC hospital | 9cadfdc0c4ee3b25 | 0 | [
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violence_in_america | 2012-07-22 | Violence In America | right | As the country continued to mourn last week β s mass shooting in Colorado β President Obama visited victims β families there Sunday β lawmakers reignited the debate about whether stricter gun-control laws would have prevented the movie theater massacre that left a dozen people dead .
Colorado Gov . John Hickenlooper dodged a question by ABC β s George Stephanopoulos on β This Week β about whether Colorado should revisit its gun laws , saying that shooting suspect James Holmes would have found a way to create β horror β even if he hadn β t been able to acquire guns .
β This wasn β t a Colorado problem . This is a human problem , β said Mr. Hickenlooper , a Democrat . β Even if he didn β t have access to guns , this guy was diabolical , he would have found explosives , he would have found something else , some kind of poisonous gas . He would have done something to create this horror . β
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Sunday that Mr. Obama β s views on gun-control laws hasn β t changed .
β The president β s view is that we can take steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them under existing law , β Mr. Carney told reporters traveling with the president aboard Air Force One to Colorado . β And that β s his focus right now . β
But gun-control advocates pointed to the types of weapons allegedly used by Mr. Holmes , a 24-year-old doctoral student at the University of Colorado , when the gunman in an Aurora theater at a Thursday midnight showing of the β The Dark Knight Rises β opened fire , killing 12 people and wounding 58 others .
He was dressed in protective clothing that moviegoers assumed was a costume β a common thing to do at superhero movies on opening weekend β and was armed with a 100-round rifle magazine , along with other weapons .
β Weapons of war don β t belong on the streets , β Sen. Dianne Feinstein said on β Fox News Sunday , β adding that the country needs to have a β sane β debate about banning military-style assault weapons .
One of Washington β s strongest advocates for gun control , the California Democrat led the effort to ban assault weapons in 1993 . She tried to extend the ban for another 10 years when it expired in 2004 , but the measure failed in Congress .
β This is a powerful weapon . It had a 100-round drum , β Mrs. Feinstein said . β This is a man who planned , who went in , and his purpose was to kill as many people as he could in a sold-out theater . We β ve got to really sit down and come to grips with what is sold to the average citizen in America . β
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy , who became a leading gun-control advocate after her husband was killed and son injured in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting , said mass shooters have one thing in common : a gun that can be loaded with lots of ammunition .
β Police responded in 90 seconds and yet he was able to take down 70 people , β the New York Democrat said .
But like Mr. Hickenlooper , Sen. Ron Johnson , Wisconsin Republican , insisted the issue wasn β t about guns , but about an individual who would have found a way to carry out acts of violence no matter what tools were available to him .
β This isn β t an issue about guns , this is an issue about sick , demented individuals , β Mr. Johnson said . β I wish I could wave the magic wand and pass a law to prevent something like this in the future , but I don β t think there β s a solution in Washington . β
While the Colorado shooting has reinserted gun control into the political debate , little is known about what motivated the suspect , described by authorities as seemingly normal .
Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan said on ABC β s β This Week β that Mr. Holmes hadn β t given any hint of the rampage he is suspected of embarking on .
β He just by every standard appeared normal , β Mr. Hogan said . β He did have friends . He had made connections . He had people he went drinking with on Friday nights . β
Calling his state β heartbroken , β Mr. Hickenlooper called Mr. Holmes β clearly deranged , twisted , demonic in some way , β saying his goal was to create terror . | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/22/aurora-shooting-revives-gun-control-debate/ | Washington Times | Shootings renew fire at gun-law adequacy | 056530b9acc2db25 | 2 | [
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elections | 2012-08-27 | Medicare, Presidential Elections, Elections | left | The Republican ticket is flooding the airwaves with commercials that develop two themes designed to turn the presidential contest into a racially freighted resource competition pitting middle class white voters against the minority poor .
Ads that accuse President Obama of gutting the work requirements enacted in the 1996 welfare reform legislation present the first theme . Ads alleging that Obama has taken $ 716 billion from Medicare β a program serving an overwhelmingly white constituency β in order to provide health coverage to the heavily black and Hispanic poor deliver the second . The ads are meant to work together , to mutually reinforce each other β s claims .
The announcer in one of the Romney campaign β s TV ads focusing on welfare tells viewers :
In 1996 , President Clinton and a bipartisan Congress helped end welfare as we know it by requiring work for welfare . But on July 12 , President Obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping the work requirement . Under Obama β s plan , you wouldn β t have to work and wouldn β t have to train for a job . They just send you a welfare check . And welfare-to-work goes back to being plain old welfare . Mitt Romney will restore the work requirement because it works .
Web sites devoted to examining the veracity of political commercials have sharply criticized the ad .
The Washington Post β s fact checker , Glenn Kessler , gave the welfare ads his lowest rating , four Pinocchios . The Tampa Bay Times β s Politifact was equally harsh , describing the ads as β a drastic distortion β warranting a β pants on fire β rating . The welfare commercial , according to Politifact , β inflames old resentments about able-bodied adults sitting around collecting public assistance . β
Sharp criticism has done nothing to hold back the Romney campaign from continuing its offensive β in speeches and on the air β because the accuracy of the ads is irrelevant as far as the Republican presidential ticket is concerned . The goal is not to make a legitimate critique , but to portray Obama as willing to give the β undeserving β poor government handouts at the expense of hardworking taxpayers .
Insofar as Romney can revive anti-welfare sentiments β which have been relatively quiescent since the enactment of the 1996 reforms β he may be able to increase voter motivation among whites whose enthusiasm for Romney has been dimmed by the barrage of Obama ads criticizing Bain Capital for firing workers and outsourcing jobs during Romney β s tenure as C.E.O . of the company .
The racial overtones of Romney β s welfare ads are relatively explicit . Romney β s Medicare ads are a bit more subtle .
β You paid into Medicare for years β every paycheck . Now when you need it , Obama has cut $ 716 billion from Medicare , β the ad begins , with following picture on the screen :
Why ? To pay for Obamacare . The money you paid for your guaranteed health care is going to a massive new government program that is not for you .
In essence , the ad is telling senior voters that the money they paid to insure their own access to Medicare after they turn 65 is going , instead , to pay for free health care for poor people who are younger than 65 .
The Romney Medicare ads have a dual purpose . The first is to deflect the Obama campaign β s attack on the Romney-Ryan proposal to radically transform the way medical care for those over 65 is provided . The Associated Press succinctly described the Romney-Ryan proposal :
Starting in 2023 , new retirees on the younger side of the line [ those younger than 55 in 2012 ] would get a fixed amount of money from the government to pick either private health insurance or a federal plan modeled on Medicare .
Those going on Medicare after 2022 would have to choose between β premium support β β in other words , a voucher program β to pay for private health care coverage or an option to enroll in a program similar to existing Medicare but without specified funding levels β which means an end to the guaranteed medical coverage currently provided for those over 65 .
The liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities sums up the likely future of health care for seniors under the Ryan proposal for reform :
The C.B.O . estimates that by 2030 the House Budget Committee plan would increase the out-of-pocket share of health care spending for a typical Medicare beneficiary from the current 25-to-30 % range to 68 % . By 2050 , the House plan would cut federal health care spending by approximately two thirds . Both plans would place substantial administrative burdens on the most vulnerable and infirm of Medicare β s enrollees . And both would surrender the considerable leverage that Medicare can bring to bear on providers to reduce spending and improve quality .
Polls in key swing states and nationally show that , at present , voters trust Obama more than Romney to deal with Medicare , and strongly prefer to leave the Medicare program as is .
Asked whether β Medicare should continue as it is today β or β should be changed to a system in which the government would provide seniors with a fixed amount of money toward purchasing private health insurance or Medicare insurance β voters in Florida , Ohio and Wisconsin decisively chose to keep Medicare unchanged β by 62-28 in Florida , by 64-27 in Ohio , and by 59-32 in Wisconsin .
When asked whom they trust more to handle the Medicare issue , Florida voters in a Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News poll , reported on August 23 , picked Obama over Romney by a 50-42 margin . In Ohio , Obama β s margin was 51-41 ; in Wisconsin , it was 51-42 .
A separate Pew Research Center survey released on August 21 found that 72 percent of voters had heard β a little β or β a lot β about what Pew described as β a proposal to change Medicare into a program that would give future participants a credit toward purchasing private health insurance coverage. β Of those familiar with the proposal , a plurality , 49 percent , opposed it , while 34 percent favored it .
The bipartisan Battleground Poll conducted August 5-9 by the Tarrance Group , a Republican firm , and Lake Research Partners , a Democratic firm , found that voters trusted Obama over Romney to handle Medicare and Social Security by a 49-45 margin . The same survey found that voters trusted Congressional Democrats over Congressional Republicans to handle Medicare and Social Security by a 48-40 margin .
Romney β s Medicare ad is designed to undermine that relatively modest but potentially crucial advantage . It is artfully constructed to turn the issue of health care into a battle over limited tax dollars between a largely white population of seniors on Medicare and a disproportionately minority population of the currently uninsured who would get health coverage under Obamacare .
Medicare recipients are overwhelmingly white , at 77 percent ; 10 percent of recipients are black ; and 8 percent Hispanic , with the rest described as coming from other races and ethnicities .
Obamacare , described in the Romney ad as a β massive new government program that is not for you , β would provide health coverage to a population of over 30 million that is not currently insured : 16.3 percent of this population is black ; 30.7 percent is Hispanic ; 5.2 percent is Asian-American ; and 46.3 percent ( less than half ) is made up of non-Hispanic whites .
Romney β s claim gives the impression that the law takes money that was already allocated to Medicare and funds the new health care law with it . In fact , the law uses a number of measures to try to reduce the rapid growth of future Medicare spending . Those savings are then used to offset costs created by the law β especially coverage for the uninsured β so that the overall law doesn β t add to the deficit . We rate his statement Half True .
Politifact also rated a claim Romney made later on the stump β that β there β s only one president that I know of in history that robbed Medicare , $ 716 billion to pay for a new risky program of his own that we call Obamacare β β as β mostly false . β
The Romney campaign β s shift of focus toward welfare and Medicare suggests that his strategists are worried that just disparaging Obama β s ability to deal with the struggling economy won β t be adequate to produce victory on November 6 .
The importance to the Romney-Ryan ticket of two overlapping constituencies β whites without college degrees and white Medicare recipients β can not be overestimated . Romney , continuing the Republican approach of 2010 , is banking on a huge turnout among key white segments of the electorate in order to counter Obama β s strengths with minority voters as well as with young and unmarried female voters of all races .
There is extensive poll data showing the depth of Republican dependence on white voters .
On August 23 , Pew Research released its latest findings on partisan identification , and the gains that the Republican Party has made among older and non-college whites since 2004 are remarkable .
Just eight years ago , Pew reports , whites 65 and over were evenly split in their allegiance , 46 percent Democratic , 46 percent Republican . In the most recent findings , these voters are now solidly in the Republican camp , 54-38 , an eight point Republican gain . Elderly women were 9 points more Democratic than Republican in 2004 , 50-41 , the opposite of where they are now , 51-42 Republican . Older men , who were 51-41 Republican in 2004 , are now 59-33 Republican .
Similarly , white voters without college degrees , of all ages , have gone from 51-40 Republican in 2004 , to 54-37 in 2012 , according to Pew .
Most importantly , the Pew surveys show that 89 % of voters who identify themselves as Republican are white . Faced with few if any possibilities of making gains among blacks and Hispanics β whose support for Obama has remained strong β the Romney campaign has no other choice if the goal is to win but to adopt a strategy to drive up white turnout .
The Romney campaign is willing to disregard criticism concerning accuracy and veracity in favor of β blowing the dog whistle of racism β β resorting to a campaign appealing to racial symbols , images and issues in its bid to break the frustratingly persistent Obama lead in the polls , which has lasted for the past 10 months .
The result is a campaign run at two levels . On the trail , Paul Ryan argues that β we β re going to make this about ideas . We β re going to make this about a positive vision for the future. β On television and the Internet , however , the Romney campaign is clearly determined β to make this about β race , in the tradition of the notorious 1988 Republican Willie Horton ad , which described the rape of a white woman by a convicted African-American murderer released on furlough from a Massachusetts prison during the gubernatorial administration of Michael Dukakis and Jesse Helms β s equally infamous β White Hands β commercial , which depicted a white job applicant who β needed that job β but was rejected because β they had to give it to a minority . β
The longer campaigns go on , the nastier they get . Once unthinkable methods become conventional .
β You can tell they β β the welfare adsβ β are landing punches , β Steven Law , president of the Republican super PAC American Crossroads , told the Wall Street Journal . Law β s focus group and polling research suggest that the theme is not necessarily going to work . β The economy is so lousy for middle-income Americans that the same people who chafe at the rise of welfare dependency under Obama don β t automatically default to a β get-a-job β attitude β because they know there are no jobs . β
As the head of a tax-exempt 501 ( c ) 4 independent expenditure committee , Law can not coordinate campaign strategy directly with the Romney campaign . Nonetheless , he is sending a warning . The welfare theme , Law said , β needs to be done sensitively . Right now it may be more of an economic issue than a values issue : In other words , more people on welfare is another disturbing symptom of Obama β s broken-down economy , rather than an indictment of those who are on welfare or the culture as a whole . β
Will the Romney campaign heed Law β s advice to keep it subtle ? The principal media consultant for the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future , which will be running many of the anti-Obama ads over the next ten weeks , is Larry McCarthy , who produced the original Willie Horton ad .
An earlier version of this column misstated the name of the newspaper that produces Politifact . It is the Tampa Bay Times , not the Tampa Bay Tribune .
Thomas B. Edsall , a professor of journalism at Columbia University , is the author of the book β The Age of Austerity : How Scarcity Will Remake American Politics , β which was published earlier this year . | http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/making-the-election-about-race/?ref=opinion | New York Times - News | Opinion: Making the Election About Race | 1bd0195b845a699a | 0 | [
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world | 2019-12-27 | Benjamin Netanyahu, Middle East, Elections, Corruption, Israel, World | right | This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Share This article Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue to lead the Likud party after a stunning victory in a snap primary election. In his victory speech Friday, Netanyahu thanked all those who had braved stormy weather to go out and vote for him. βI fought for them and they fought for me,β Netanyahu said in a speech that was broadcast live on Israeli television. βThey know that I give my life for the country and my victory is their victory,β he said. βThis is a tremendous victory because we also overcame the fake polls and fake news that is already trying to dwarf the victory,β Netanyahu added. Netanyahu won 72.5 percent of the vote to Gideon Saβarβs 27.5 percent. Out of 106 polling stations across the country, Netanyahu won 99 of them. Netanyahu talked about his international tenacity over the last 11 years. βI stood strong and alone in opposition to the whole world against the Iranian nuclear deal that endangered not only our security but also actually our existence,β Netanyahu said. He mentioned how he had gone to Congress and spoke against the deal before then-President Barak Obama agreed to it. And he thanked President Trump for the historic decisions he made regarding Israel. βIβm asking you to see what we obtained in just the last three years,β Netanyahu said. β2017 β the American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel; 2018 β the moving of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and their exit from the nuclear agreement; 2019 β American recognition of our sovereignty in the Golan Heights,β he said. Netanyahu did not mention his challenger. After it was clear Saβar had lost, he phoned Netanyahu to congratulate him. He said he and his supporters would back Netanyahu in the upcoming general elections. For Netanyahu, this was only the first hurdle. He still faces serious legal charges of fraud and bribery. And twice in this past year neither Netanyahu nor the opposition Blue and White leader Benny Gantz succeeded in forming a government. Israeli expert Prof. Eugene Kontorovich of the Kohelet Policy Forum thinks that will be the case again. βSo no matter who wins these primaries, it seems the results will be the exact same, which is that nobody can still form a coalition,β Kontorovich told CBN News. βIn other words, the results (will be) the exact same as the two previous inconclusive elections.β Israelis went to national general elections in April and again in September. Still, it was a big victory for Netanyahu. He now has two months to try to shift Israelβs political landscape before voters return to the polls on March 2, 2020. Share This article You are signing up to receive general newsletters from CBN. By signing up, you are consenting to our privacy policy. You can specify preference after sign-up and opt out at any time. You are signing up to receive general newsletters from CBN. By signing up, you are consenting to our privacy policy. You can specify preference after sign-up and opt out at any time. Β© 2024 The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., A nonprofit 501 (c)(3) Charitable Organization. We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience. By clicking βAccept Allβ you are giving your consent for us to set cookies.CBN Cookie Policy | https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2019/december/netanyahu-wins-landslide-victory-in-likud-primary | CBN | Netanyahu Wins Landslide Victory in Likud Primary, Touts Trump Ties and Historic US-Israel Moves | 0f6f3e52ad6a931f | 2 | [
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healthcare | 2017-12-19 | Healthcare | left | Alabama is the latest state to bear bad news to recipients of the Childrenβs Health Insurance Program (CHIP), warning families Monday that it will no longer enroll children starting Jan. 1, 2018 and will terminate the program entirely on Feb. 1, 2018 if Congress fails to act. Congressional lawmakers have yet to renew federal funding for CHIP since the program expired on Sept. 30. Since then, state officials have had to relay devastating news of funding shortages to families of modest incomes right around the holidays. CHIP provides low-cost health coverage to nearly nine million children nationwide, and provides insurance to roughly 150,000 Alabama children, 84,000 of which are at risk of losing coverage through the stateβs CHIP, dubbed ALL Kids. (In 20 states, CHIP also covers pregnant women.) The state-administered program is jointly financed, and federal money accounts for more of the share β between 65 to 85 percent. Sixteen states that serve 4.9 million children are expected to exhaust funds by the end of January. Officials in six states β Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Utah and Virginia β have said theyβll end the state programs if Congress fails to reauthorize funding. Two states β Colorado and Virginia β have already directly notified parents of this news by mail. The letters prompted panic in one Denver school. Parents came to Goldrick Elementary School βfreaking out,β asking staff for advice. βMy families are affected and Iβm really concerned,β Goldrick special education teacher Silvia Stantcheva recently told ThinkProgress. βAnd I feel like I canβt do much.β Alabama is reportedly the first state to freeze enrollment: Alabama is the first state I am aware of that has announced a freeze in CHIP enrollment. Kids living in States with separate CHIP programs are most at risk of losing coverage. See list here in Appendix 1 of our report https://t.co/w8H8M7pct2 https://t.co/m7oiVlqaAG β Joan Alker (@JoanAlker1) December 18, 2017 According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, historically, βmost freezes in CHIP enrollment have a fairly short lifespan (less than one year), but research shows that they can have a long-term chilling effect on enrollment for years after they are lifted.β Prior to an Obamacare requirement, states were able to freeze and restrict enrollment. In response to the 2001 economic recession, some cash-strapped states β including Alabama β froze enrollment to save dollars. In 2003, Alabama stopped enrolling children in CHIP for about eight months, and had uninsured kids wait for coverage. By the fall 2004, enrollment declined by 12 percent. βItβs different this time,β Cathy Caldwell, the director of the Bureau of Childrenβs Health Insurance Programs in Alabama, told ThinkProgress. βThis time, the freeze is to stop the flow of incoming children.β Later this month, officials will notify affected families that the program may terminate. βThis is such a wonderful, valuable program. I absolutely hope Congress will act soon.β Caldwell said. βOne in five children [in Alabama] were uninsured prior to CHIP.β Alabamaβs contingency plan is predicated on Congressional action. Political bickering jeopardizes the health care of millions of low-income families. Members on both side of the aisle agree that funding CHIP is critical; however, Republican and Democratic lawmakers donβt agree on the pay-fors. A stopgap measure introduced last week funds the program for five-years by charging wealthier Medicare beneficiaries higher premiums and making significant cuts to the Obamacare Prevention and Public Health Fund (which accounts for 12 percent of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention annual budget). | https://thinkprogress.org/alabama-first-freeze-enrollment-to-childrens-health-insurance-program-89b1c019335f/ | ThinkProgress | Alabama is first state to freeze enrollment to Childrenβs Health Insurance Program | 83d7aa03a4791a16 | 0 | [
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race_and_racism | 2020-03-11 | World, Canada, Rural America, Race And Racism, Native Americans | left | This is the first in a five-part series in which βββ explores racism and reconciliation in rural Canada , unearthing stories of a traumatic past and a troubled present .
St Paul , Alberta , Canada - A map of embedded sorrow seems to crisscross the weary face of 55-year-old Howard McGillvery . But when he smiles - a close to toothless grin - there is a warmth in his dark brown eyes ; a sparkling of optimism and unpretentiousness that draws people to him .
He is known in the town of St Paul , Alberta , as the leader of the `` Back Streeters '' - a name the homeless and transient here use for themselves .
St Paul looks like many other prairie towns built primarily on agriculture and the service industry . There is only one main street , about three kilometres long . But it has the staple Canadian coffee franchise , Tim Hortons , typical `` mom and pop '' stores and a small retro-looking movie theatre . Outside the town 's post office , a bronze statue of a First Nations man in traditional garb holds out a peace pipe .
But there has not always been much in the way of peace here .
The post office in St Paul , Alberta [ Amber Bracken/βββ ]
Recent headlines in the local and national media have captured the simmering racism of non-Indigenous residents towards Indigenous locals , like Howard .
For him , being targeted because of the colour of his skin is a daily reality .
`` It 's rough , eh , '' he says , sitting in a meeting room at the Mannawanis Native Friendship Centre ( MNFC ) in St Paul . `` We have fights with the White Boys you know⦠''
Screen grabs from the Canadian press covering racism in the area between 2005 and 2019 , including reports of a 70-year-old man from Ashmont who allegedly threatened to 'shoot up ' a school and two First Nations near St Paul in November last year [ βββ ]
Howard hangs out at the MNFC , in an industrial-style building just a block off the main street , every day . It is a welcoming place to socialise with other Back Streeters , access social services and get a hot meal .
There are hundreds of Native friendship centres across urban Canada . They help Indigenous people navigate life in the city , providing spiritual support , cultural guidance , ways of connecting with other Indigenous people and help finding housing .
The roots of this area are entwined with the history of the Metis , who first settled here in the late 1800s . The Metis are sometimes referred to in Canada as `` mixed bloods '' - descendants of Indigenous people and European settlers .
According to Canada 's Census Program , in 2016 St Paul had a population of 5,827 people . It is encircled by three First Nations communities and two Metis settlements - each within roughly 100km of the town . Saddle Lake Cree Nation and its sister reserve , Whitefish Lake , together account for the second-largest reserve population , with a total 11,006 residents . Approximately 6,300 nation members live on Saddle Lake , the closest reserve to St Paul .
Kehewin Cree Nation , located 46.8km from St Paul , is home to just under 1,000 Crees . Kikino Metis Settlement has a population of 934 and the Fishing Lake Metis Settlement has 446 residents ; both are about an hour 's drive away . St Paul is one of the closest urban areas to them .
In Canada , urban Indigenous people experience homelessness at a disproportionate rate , according to the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness , which curates the Homeless Hub resource library . A 2013 study found that one in 15 Indigenous people in urban centres experience homelessness compared to one in 128 for the general population .
According to Homeless Hub , homelessness among Indigenous people today is a consequence not only of contemporary racism , discrimination and oppression , but has its roots in other factors , too . These include historical trauma , from colonialism to the Indian Act , residential schools - government-sponsored religious schools established to force Indigenous children to assimilate - and the Sixties Scoop , a practice that lasted from the late 1950s to the 1980s and involved `` scooping up '' Indigenous children and placing them in foster care or adoption .
Howard estimates that there are around 90 Back Streeters in St Paul .
According to the MNFC Executive Director Hinano Rosa , 90 percent of the homeless population of St Paul are Indigenous .
Howard is a father of seven . He is soft-spoken , enjoys carpentry and good conversation , and has a keen street sense . Some nights , in the winter , he camps out behind the local co-op grocery and hardware store in a cattle shelter with other Back Streeters .
What makes him their leader , he says , is that he looks out for everyone ; they respect him and go to him for advice because he is older , knows the ins and outs of street life and is the sort of friend they can share a swig of whisky with .
Howard is a father of seven and leader of the Back Streeters , a name for the homeless and transient in St Paul [ Amber Bracken/βββ ]
For the past 13 years , on and off , Howard has walked the alleyways of St Paul , rummaged through main street rubbish bins for bottles to cash in , and bunkered down somewhere inconspicuous to sleep in the shadows of this small prairie town .
He has battled an addiction to hard liquor since he was young . He drinks most days - not always enough to get drunk , but just enough to dull his heartache .
Three years ago , the lifeless body of Howard 's 19-month-old grandson , Anthony Raine , ( the son of Howard 's daughter Dalyce Raine ) was found propped up against the side of a church in Edmonton , Alberta 's capital city . The toddler 's father Joey Crier and his girlfriend Tasha-Lee Doreen Mack were convicted of his manslaughter in early January .
There are other memories that Howard `` drinks to survive '' , like those of his 16-year-old daughter , Linda Raine-McGillvery .
She was shot and killed in their home on a Saddle Lake Cree Nation reserve in 2006 , he says .
Howard claims the shooters were his former coworkers from the reserve housing department . He says they were upset with him for turning them in for fraud after they initially accused him of stealing lumber and selling it .
He believes they wanted to shoot him , but hit Linda instead .
βββ has been unable to verify Howard 's account of his daughter 's death with the police , but a social worker who works closely with him at the MNFC says she believes his word to be reliable .
`` My daughter was shot by the window upstairs , '' he says , his eyes widening . `` We did n't know where she was , looked all over for her . ''
A bewildered expression settles on his face , and he lifts his hand as if to emphasise the intensity of the memory .
`` Then I heard my wife yelling for me - she was standing there over my baby daughter ; she was shot in the head β¦ . I went outside β¦ I could n't even think who I was . ''
Two weeks later , Howard 's wife , Ursula , hung herself in their home .
`` I drink from 5am to 1am every day now , '' he says .
He recalls his early days with Ursula ; the young love , the breaking up and making up . They always found their way back to each other , he says .
When she died , Howard felt as though a part of him died , too .
The grief was too heavy . So Howard turned to alcohol for solace , and left his other children for the streets of St Paul .
There , he adopted a different family - a family of wanderers , addicts , outcasts and others running from some sort of trauma or tragedy .
Howard , right , with another of the Back Streeters [ Amber Bracken/βββ ]
Surviving on the streets is a skill quickly picked up , Howard insists . But it is hard to blend in with brown skin and the added stigma of being homeless .
For Howard , who speaks with a lisp due to a few too many lost teeth , it is just the way it is and always has been .
Racism is `` a normality '' , he shrugs , casually leaning back in his chair .
On one wall of the room hangs a large , hand-painted copy of a poem called Reconciliation by Rebeka Tabobondung .
`` We are waking up to our history / from a forced slumber / We are breathing it into our lungs / so it will be part of us again / It will make us angry at first / because we will see how much you stole from us / and for how long you watched us suffer / we will see how you see us⦠'' the poem reads .
At Howard 's feet sits a tattered backpack filled with his belongings and a bottle of liquor .
The Back Streeters know they should stick together - in groups of at least two or three , Howard explains .
The `` White Boys '' prowl the town , waiting to pounce on any one of the Back Streeters they catch alone , he adds .
The White Boys , as Howard and other Back Streeters describe them , are local white men between the ages of 15 and 30 who gang up on homeless First Nations here .
It is the White Boys who prey on Back Streeters , beating them up and driving them out of town for fun , Howard says . But he is not scared of them ; he has learned to stick up for himself .
Mitchell Soosay 30 , goes looking for useful or valuable items in St Paul [ Amber Bracken/βββ ]
`` It 's rough , '' he says . `` The White Boys come around cruising ... in their trucks . They throw things at us . In summer it 's rocks , in winter it 's snow with rocks inside . ''
He knows of more than a handful of Back Streeters it has happened to , he says , sometimes more than once . He includes himself among them .
Throwing things out of trucks at Indigenous people is not without precedent . Brayden Bushby has been charged with second-degree murder after allegedly throwing a metal trailer hitch from a passing vehicle in January 2017 in Thunder Bay , Ontario . Thunder Bay , a remote city , rich in history of Indigenous and settler relations , is almost 2,000km southeast of St Paul , but the racial tensions there are palpable , too .
The hitch hit 34-year-old Barbara Kentner , an Anishinaabe woman of the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation . Her small intestine was punctured . She died six months later . Bushby was allegedly heard yelling , `` I got one , '' after Kentner was hit . He has pleaded not guilty and is due to stand trial this spring .
Back Streeter Steven Cardinal , 42 , is a friend of Howard 's and also Cree from Saddle Lake . He agrees that there is discrimination against Indigenous people in St Paul , particularly if they are homeless . He and others are called names like `` savage '' , `` wagon burners '' and `` dirty Indians '' all the time , he says . And he is fed up with it . But his tough stance and solid build are enough to hold them off , he explains , adding : `` I 'm a big guy , eh ? I 'm not scared . ''
`` They [ the White Boys ] have no business at all trying to mess around with us First Nations , '' says Steven as he warms up with a steaming cup of coffee inside the MNFC on a biting cold -20C ( -4F ) afternoon . He laughs at the mention of other people being unable to handle more than a few minutes outside in this kind of weather . He has built up such a tolerance over the past four years living on and off the streets that the cold does not bother him much anymore . With a couple of layers under a hoodie pulled up over his head , he is ready to endure the elements for hours on end , he says .
He is not so sure how to handle the racism he encounters , however .
`` We do n't know how to solve it , it 's always been like that . So , should we kick the s * * * out of each other , or what ? That does n't help anything . ''
A statue of the Indigenous Catholic saint , Kateri Tekakwitha , outside the St Paul Roman Catholic Cathedral [ Amber Bracken/βββ ]
Royal Canadian Mounted Police ( RCMP ) Sergeant David Graham , the acting detachment commander for St Paul , says he is not aware of the White Boys and seems surprised to hear of them . It is something the RCMP would investigate and take seriously , he says , but as far as he is aware , no one has reported anything about them .
He may not have heard of the gang of white men who allegedly target homeless Indigenous people , but the sergeant , who has worked at the St Paul detachment for the past four years , acknowledges the racism that Indigenous people face here .
`` Racism always comes up , '' he explains at the St Paul RCMP headquarters . `` Just read the [ local ] paper . We have people come in and discuss this [ racism ] all the time . ''
There is also a history of discord between the RCMP and First Nations .
According to the RCMP Heritage Centre , the RCMP ( which was formerly known as the North West Mounted Police or NWMP ) `` created by an Act of Parliament in 1873 , was formed to establish friendly relations with the First Nations , to enforce Canadian authority , pave the way for settlers , and maintain law and order on the western frontier . ''
But many First Nations view the mandate of `` friendly relations '' as a farce .
In her book , Severing the Ties that Bind : Government Repression of Indigenous Religious Ceremonies on the Prairies , author Katherine Pettipas writes that the RCMP helped governments enforce oppressive laws , enable land grabs and ban cultural practices .
Although there has been a growth in relationship-building with local First Nations communities , Sergeant Graham accepts that there is still a lot of mending to do .
`` Our historical relationship with Indigenous Peoples comes up , and there 's a lack of trust in us [ the RCMP ] and sometimes a lack of trust in [ First Nations ] communities , '' he reflects , pointing out that he has taken steps towards gaining a greater personal understanding of First Nations communities by attending a Saddle Lake powwow celebration with his wife and children , and participating in sweat lodge and smudging ceremonies .
But the gulf between the RCMP and Canada 's Indigenous remains great . The RCMP serve as a conduit for incarceration rates that are off the charts .
On January 21 , Canada 's prison ombudsman Ivan Zinger announced in a statement that the number of Indigenous people in federal custody has hit a record high . More than 30 percent of prisoners are Indigenous despite the fact that they make up only five percent of Canada 's population .
Zinger called for the Correctional Service of Canada to do more to resolve the spiralling problem in a system that seems `` unresponsive to the needs , histories and social realities behind high rates of Indigenous offending '' .
Sixty-year-old Judy Pasquayak is a social worker and volunteer at the MNFC and also Cree from Saddle Lake . She has heard about the White Boys around town , she says .
`` They [ Back Streeters ] have to stay together or run . You ca n't walk alone here , '' she warns .
It is not surprising to her , because she grew up dealing with racism in St Paul .
She still has the scar on her knee from when she was in sixth grade and a white classmate pushed her over . Judy says the bully buried her face in the ground .
She is passionate when she speaks , and passionate about her work at the MNFC . Taking a break from her paperwork , collating statistics to advocate for more MNFC funding , she recalls the painful childhood memory .
`` They said , 'dirty squaw ' . I was crying . I had a bloody knee . I felt humiliated . The teachers were there , and they did nothing . ''
She thinks there is growing animosity from locals towards the Indigenous population here , the most recent example being the case of Andy Sydora , a 70-year-old resident of the nearby Hamlet of Ashmont , who in November 2019 was charged with three counts of uttering threats . He allegedly threatened to shoot children at the Ashmont school , where 90 percent of the pupils are Indigenous , as well as to attack the Saddle Lake Cree Nation and the Whitefish Lake First Nation .
Sydora is due to appear at the St Paul courthouse on March 19 to enter a plea . His case has been adjourned several times since the charges were issued due to Sydora 's request for additional time .
The racism here also takes other forms . A photograph of two Back Streeters sleeping in the inner doorway of the Service Credit Union bank recently drew comments of racist and discriminatory disdain on Facebook . The post has since been removed at the request of the men 's families .
There are other complaints - made by townspeople to the RCMP or the MNFC - about Back Streeters panhandling at the 7-Eleven and public intoxication , according to Judy , Hinano and the RCMP .
Howard thinks the townspeople want to get rid of the homeless Natives .
Steven agrees . `` They 're trying to kick us out of this town , but they ca n't , '' he says .
`` First Nations are the ones that built this town up , '' she says . `` It 's us that are purchasing goods - to keep them [ townspeople ] sustainable . It 's a reciprocal relationship . ''
Ericka Cardinal , 49 , a distant relative of Steven , knows only too well that many white townspeople do not see things as Judy believes they should .
In June 2017 , she was shopping in the local Giant Tiger store near the main street , looking for T-shirts for her husband and son to wear to her 17-year-old daughter Chelsea 's Ashmont school graduation that was taking place that afternoon .
She got a ride into town from her home in Saddle Lake that day because it is the closest place to shop .
At first , Ericka , who is sitting on a couch in the room designated for elders at the Saddle Lake Cree Nation administration building , is cautious and quiet . But as she describes the events of that day , her dark , furrowed brows convey her anger . Then comes the shame , the hurt and the sadness .
Ericka says she and her husband were singled out by a customer at the store who accused them of stealing her mobile phone . The woman called the RCMP and pointed them out as Back Streeters , she says , because they are First Nations .
Within a few minutes , Ericka and her husband had been patted down , handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car .
`` We kept telling them 'we do n't steal , we do n't have the phone , ' '' she recalls , breaking down in tears .
Erika , a receptionist at the Saddle Lake finance department , recounts what an RCMP officer then said to her .
`` He said to just admit to it . That I wanted to steal it so that I could pawn it , go buy alcohol and crack cocaine , '' she says .
Ericka remembers praying to God to help them make it to her daughter 's graduation .
The couple were released two hours later , after police reviewed the store 's security footage . Ericka says the woman who accused them found her mobile phone in the store .
They missed their daughter 's graduation ceremony , but were able to make it to the dinner reception afterwards . Their daughter wrote an impact statement and submitted it to the police .
Part of Chelsea 's statement to the RCMP , provided to βββ by Ericka , reads : `` This day was my graduation day , so it was pretty important to me β¦ . [ It ] sucked because I really wished they [ my parents ] were there . When hearing that they 've been accused of stealing I thought it was stupid for someone to think that . My parents both raised me never to steal and I thank them for raising us [ Chelsea and her siblings ] with morals and values β¦ . My parents deserve an apology because all they were doing was picking up last minute outfits for grad . Maybe even I should receive an apology because it affected my high-school graduation and it made it a saddening experience . ''
Ericka says she has requested an apology from the RCMP via telephone and was told that the officers were `` just doing their job '' .
Howard says he does not steal , either , and that people should not fear him or other Back Streeters . He minds his own business , except when he is panhandling ; the townspeople are usually generous in their giving of spare change , he adds .
In 2005 , in response to a comment by St Paul town Councillor Guy Germain , published in the local newspaper , calling a `` small percentage '' of Saddle Lake residents `` the problem '' behind crime in the town , the Saddle Lake leadership organised a year-long boycott of St Paul businesses .
Former Chief of Saddle Lake Ed Makokis estimates that the boycott cost local businesses more than 20 million Canadian dollars ( about $ 15m ) .
Residents of all the nearby Indigenous communities descend upon St Paul 's businesses because there are few businesses on the reserves and those that are there , like small petrol stations , tend only to provide limited essentials at more expensive prices than in the towns .
`` They [ First Nations ] spend millions upon millions of dollars in this community , '' explains the 61-year-old , who is Indigenous to Hawaii and familiar with the negative impacts of colonialism faced there .
`` Without them , do you think the farmers can keep this town going ? ''
Judy believes the townspeople ought to honour the First Nations , even those who are down and out like Howard , instead of treating them like a burden .
`` We [ First Nations ] were the people that walked the land before . We never stood there waiting at the edge of the field saying 'we want welfare , we want trauma , ' '' Judy says .
`` They 're [ the Back Streeters ] so lost . They 've never had the proper help they need . ''
Hinano says town officials will not help the homeless because they think it is the reserve 's job . The reserve is a federally funded entity , run separately from the municipality .
However , Maureen Miller , the mayor of St Paul , says the town council is working toward finding a facility for a shelter and accessing funding for it . In the meantime , the town has started an initiative to provide outreach for the homeless .
`` We are trying to take care of all those on the streets , '' the mayor explains , in between sips of tea on a cold morning at the St Paul golf course on the edge of town . `` The RCMP offer help and services to people discharged from custody . In the summer , the town trucks carry water bottles to give away to people on the streets on hot days . ''
The MNFC is one of the main gathering spots for Back Streeters in town . Located a block south of the movie theatre on the main street , the MNFC is in an old industrial building with concrete floors and poor heating . But the space is warmed by walls decorated with colourful native art , the smell of sweetgrass burning in smudge bowls and laughter .
There are only a few paid staff and many funding shortfalls . But there is bread available every day and a sense of community that binds together workers , volunteers and the mostly transient population that the centre serves .
The MNFC is open for people to share stories in the style of a traditional sharing circle . Also known as a talking circle , this is a sacred practice that has been utilised by many Indigenous cultures - including that of the Cree - for thousands of years . Sharing circles are used for multiple purposes , including problem solving and healing . But they are not just for members of Indigenous tribes ; anyone is invited and encouraged to participate .
Howard at the MNFC in St Paul ; the town has no overnight shelter , but the MNFC provides a warm place to be during the day [ Amber Bracken/βββ ]
One thing that ought to be shared between the Indigenous and white population is the need for truth before reconciliation , says Hinano .
`` They [ the white residents of St Paul ] need to put the cotton ball in their mouth and take it out of their ear so they can hear , '' he explains , referring to the systemic racism , discrimination and trauma embedded in Canadian society .
It is this , he believes , that has led to the overrepresentation of Indigenous people among the homeless in St Paul - the ones left in limbo , caught in the middle of a complicated , ongoing conflict .
`` It 's a horrific story , '' he says , sitting among Back Streeters in the large , open foyer of the MNFC building .
The story of colonisation and the horrors of everything it brought to the Indigenous of Canada is one that needs to be told to the masses , he explains .
The ripple effects of colonisation are alive and well , he continues , nodding to the room full of homeless Indigenous people .
For his part , Howard dreams of wandering in the sun someday . He wants to move to Albuquerque , New Mexico , the home of the Pueblo , Apache and Navajo Nations . He would not have any trouble fitting in , he reasons . It is warm and friendly with lots of brown people ; a place where he can grow old and live out the rest of his days . | https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/streeters-white-boys-racism-rural-canada-200301074007683.html | Al Jazeera | The Back Streeters and the White Boys: Racism in rural Canada | 0c6708c4b21c2b1a | 0 | [
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joe_biden | 2021-09-01 | Joe Biden, US Military, Afghanistan, Kabul, Terrorism, Middle East | left | clockThis article was published more than 3 years ago President Biden made his way on Sunday around a quiet room at Dover Air Force Base, a chamber filled with couches and chairs, with dignitaries and grieving families huddling together as the president came to speak to them privately, one family at a time. Mark Schmitz had told a military officer the night before that he wasnβt much interested in speaking to a president he did not vote for, one whose execution of the Afghan pullout he disdains β and one he now blames for the death of his 20-year-old son Jared. | https://washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-meeting-fallen-americans-families/2021/08/30/07ecff7c-09ac-11ec-a6dd-296ba7fb2dce_story.html | Washington Post | βDonβt you ever forget that nameβ: Bidenβs tough meeting with grieving relatives | 1dee6fb626895f0d | 0 | [
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culture | 2020-04-28 | Coronavirus, World, United States, Public Health, Life During Covid-19, Culture | center | As America continues to fight the COVID-19 virus it seems increasingly likely that when we look back , the pandemic of 2020 β like 9/11 and the 2008 financial crash β will be a time when the world around us changed in sudden and profound ways . It will affect everything from where we live and work to how we communicate with and relate to others , and even what counts as patriotic service , worthy of the nation β s salute .
That does not mean the post-coronavirus world will be different beyond recognition . The pandemic will not change the basic direction of history so much as accelerate it , according to Richard Haass , president of the Council on Foreign Relations . The importance of the United States to other nations may decline , while that of China increases ; but that is happening in some form already . Our screen time may skyrocket along with reliance on Zoom , FaceTime , and other video connectors ; but that basic trend preexists . Manufacturers may diversify suppliers to create redundant globalized production chains ; but far-sighted managers have pushed this for some time .
Nor are coming changes completely predictable . The influenza epidemic of 1918 turned the world upside down and ravaged the U.S. population . What followed was not a new seriousness of national purpose , but the Roaring β 20s , a free-spending decade remembered today as one of the shallowest eras of American life .
But crises can shake up the status quo . They override tendencies toward inertia , open room for the consideration of new ideas , and push aside past impediments . The ideas for the big government programs that became the New Deal had been bouncing around U.S. politics for years before Franklin Roosevelt became president , says Margaret O β Mara , a professor of history at the University of Washington in Seattle . It took the shock of the 1929 stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression to make them law .
β Great crises can change the rules of the game and people β s attitudes about political possibility really fast , β Dr. O β Mara says .
Mark J. Terrill/AP A cyclist rides with an American flag as the USNS Mercy docks at the Port of Los Angeles . The 1,000-bed Navy hospital ship was brought in to help take the load off Los Angeles area hospitals as they treat coronavirus patients .
If there β s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic is almost certain to shift into hyperdrive , it β s the movement of more and more of our activities online .
The most obvious of these changes are occurring in the midst of the outbreak as tens of millions of people struggle to keep up some semblance of their old routines . Virtual schooling is now part of the curriculum for many of the 124,000-plus U.S. schools affected by a coronavirus shutdown , for instance . In the past , many school systems have resisted widespread online learning or found it difficult to integrate into existing lesson plans . Now they have little choice .
But today β s basic diet of Zoom lectures and student show-and-tells don β t fully reflect what online education can do , say its advocates . For instance , a more sophisticated integration of virtual and live instruction could help high schools match the achievement gains primary education has made in recent years .
Meanwhile , telemedicine is exploding . Right now , doctors are still struggling with such basic questions as how online health care fits into existing billing practices , but in the future it could allow much greater collaboration among diverse team members and health organizations . And of course , online ordering of everything from soup to bolts is for many people the new normal .
Related to this acceleration of the digital is the increasing importance of big tech to the national welfare . If this moment in history is the moral equivalent of war , are Microsoft , Amazon , Google , Facebook , and Twitter emerging as the new arsenals of democracy , as GM , Ford , and Chrysler did during World War II ?
After all Bill Gates , shed of his corporate responsibilities at Microsoft , is increasingly outspoken about fighting all manner of health crises . Amazon is America β s delivery backbone . Facebook is the new radio , the way an isolated society communicates and receives news . President Donald Trump turned to a Google division to construct a website for locating COVID-19 test sites β though that hasn β t progressed much so far .
β The tech companies are really part of this now , β says Dr. O β Mara , author of the recent book β The Code : Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America . β
This could mean a significant shift in big tech β s image , Dr. O β Mara notes . Until recent years Silicon Valley has largely ignored politics as well as any concerns about the more unsavory aspects of its impact on society . Then tech itself became a political headline , with Mark Zuckerberg hauled before Congress to defend Facebook policies on issues such as data sharing and election security .
β It became very clear that tech was not only not adequate to address some of our most complicated social problems ... but that it was not changing the world in the right way , β says Dr. O β Mara .
Then America was struck by a grave public health threat whose effect on society is unmatched by any crisis since World War II , and perhaps could surpass even that for its sheer breadth . Leadership at the top of government , with some exceptions , has struggled to meet the challenge . The economic fallout will ripple through every sector of the economy , devastating some , such as airlines , hotels , and restaurants .
β The only sector that may come out of this with more money in the bank is tech , β says Dr. O β Mara .
With their global workforces and global reach , tech firms are uniquely situated to provide moral leadership and a global perspective , she says . Yet their preexisting problems remain : worries about the privacy of personal data and the little-checked spread of false information .
It β s also important to remember that a continuing digital revolution will leave many people behind . Laptops and Wi-Fi connections are expensive ; many low-income families can β t reliably connect for telework or virtual education . Some 42 million Americans , and a quarter of all rural residents , don β t have access to broadband internet , according to a recent report from BroadbandNow Research .
JL/SIPA/AP Jayen , a 13-year-old student in Miramar , Florida , participates in a virtual class from her bedroom . Schools in Florida β s Broward County , like elsewhere across the country , are shut down .
Life in American cities may not be the same after the coronavirus recedes . At the least , things probably won β t return to anything resembling the old normal for a long time .
Many urban areas have been shrinking for decades as their populations migrate to inner-ring suburbs and more distant areas . It β s possible the pandemic will accelerate this movement as people flee to the perceived safety of larger open spaces .
Some wealthy Americans packed up and left New York and other central cities for second homes or hotels in the Hamptons , or the Catskills , or on Cape Cod . A percentage of these may not return if their work and family situations allow . Similar dispersions may happen elsewhere around the globe , say some experts .
β We may now be witnessing the outlines of a new , and necessary , dispersion of population , not only in the wide open spaces of North America and Australia , but even in the megacities of the developing world , β wrote Joel Kotkin , executive director of the Urban Reform Institute , in an article in the publication Quillette in late March .
But this may not mean cities per se are set to wither , or that their attributes will become less attractive to people drawn to the pulse of urban life . The terrible flu pandemic of 1918 did not destroy hard-hit cities , after all . Pittsburgh was ravaged , as was Detroit . Both thrived afterward .
β The point is that no pandemic in history β and many have been worse [ than COVID-19 ] β has been enough to derail the force of urbanization , β says Richard Florida , an urbanist and professor at the University of Toronto β s Rotman School of Management and School of Cities . β The clustering of people , clustering of ideas , and trading with one another have made the world a more productive and innovative place . β
What the coronavirus will do is reshape the way people work and interact in cities at a micro level for a midrange period of time , until a vaccine is able to bring it under control , says Dr. Florida . It β s hard to anticipate exactly what these changes will be , he says . People may be worried about returning to city offices and taking mass transit , so it β s possible they will opt to live in center cities and walk , or resume driving to work , creating more traffic congestion . Small businesses will look different , with restaurant tables placed farther apart , hair salon chairs dispersed or divided from one another , and so forth .
Children will return to very different schools , Dr. Florida predicts , with temperature checks at the door and social distancing in the lunch room . Other changes that he believes will need to take place before cities reopen for business include retrofitting airports , convention centers , and other infrastructure for screenings and personal separation , and financial support for arts and cultural institutions that help provide urban areas with vitality .
β We have to prepare our communities , our playgrounds , our arenas to get up and running safely , β Dr. Florida says .
In the post-pandemic world some types of urban areas might do better than others . Los Angeles , a big world-class city built around the concept of sprawling neighborhoods of single-family homes , could benefit from people β s desire to insulate themselves in a bit of space . So could smallish cities that offer some cultural amenities but are close enough to bigger places to serve as a type of satellite .
One example of this might be Hudson , New York , up the river from New York City . People can experience different degrees of density , despite living in the same city , based on their relative wealth and class , Dr. Florida says .
About a third of the workforce nationwide is wealthy enough to afford extensive deliveries of food and other staples , and to carry out much of their jobs through telework . Another third is composed of blue-collar workers who stock the produce aisles , drive delivery trucks , and otherwise are at risk on the pandemic front lines . The last third are poor people , who have little choice but to hunker down .
Yes , the richest of the rich can jet to their second or third homes , moving to physically distance themselves from any health threat . But could they actually root themselves in their chalets ? If they have school-age children , they might not find local educational options attractive . In any case , the isolation they see as a buffer might be illusory . Rural health care options are often limited β and rural counties with attractive recreational amenities , such as the ski slopes of Colorado , have had a high per capita incidence of COVID-19 , Dr. Florida points out .
Coronavirus refugees have also sparked fear and resentment among those who live in rural areas full time . In one infamous incident on the Maine island of Vinalhaven , a group of locals cut down a tree on March 27 in an attempt to forcibly barricade several New Jersey residents inside the home they were renting . Dr. Florida says such conflicts could become bitter if they pit states against states . β One of the things that worries me is these border battles in general , β he says .
John Locher/AP Medical student Claire Chen ( right ) tests for virus cases at a makeshift camp for the homeless in Las Vegas . Officials opened part of a city parking lot as a temporary homeless shelter .
The nation β s sense of what constitutes patriotic service may enlarge and change after COVID-19 . For years many of America β s red-white-and-blue rituals have centered on celebrating the military . There β s the honor guard for the national anthem , the F-22 flyovers for home openers , the line of greeters saying β thank you for your service β to the troops disembarking at airports for leave .
It β s meant to honor people who have agreed to risk their lives to protect the larger community . Some of it derives from the memory of the Vietnam years , when protesters in a bitterly divided U.S. turned their backs on veterans , and worse .
But not all heroes wear camo . In the coronavirus pandemic it is everyday Americans , from doctors and nurses and EMTs to grocery workers and delivery drivers , who are putting their health and lives at risk to protect and provide for everyone else .
β Hopefully we β ll have maybe a more inclusive sense of patriotism β after the pandemic , says Mark Lawrence Schrad , an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University and author of β Vodka Politics : Alcohol , Autocracy , and the Secret History of the Russian State . β
Dr. Schrad says he β s come to this conclusion a roundabout way . One of the things he teaches his students about is nationalism . And a part of nationalism , he says , is constructing the β we β that defines the nation , against the β them β that stand outside it .
Patriotism is one aspect used in building that β we. β But in the current situation , the β them β isn β t the Soviet Union , or Al Qaeda , or humans at all . It β s amorphous and as dangerous to our geopolitical adversaries as it is to us .
Dr. Schrad believes that , if the nation is in such a new place , maybe it needs a new kind of patriotism . Election monitors serve the country β and in Wisconsin recently , working amid the pandemic , bravely so . Teachers serve the community . And now , so do UPS drivers , and postal workers , and agricultural field hands , and hospital orderlies , and a whole range of people whose jobs require them to continue to work with others despite the dangers and lockdowns .
Maybe grocery workers will be honored at halftime during NFL games when the league restarts . Maybe the nurses of community hospitals will march at the front of small town July Fourth parades .
But even before then we can all start thanking them for their service . β They didn β t sign on for this , β Dr. Schrad says .
Alex Gallardo/Reuters Joseph Alvarado makes deliveries for Amazon in Costa Mesa , California . Shopping online for everything is becoming part of the new normal as much of the world remains on lockdown .
The coronavirus crisis is certainly bringing us closer together , in some ways , but also pushing us apart .
Technology has ensured that everybody remains booked β at least , everybody who has high-speed internet and wants to remain connected to friends and relatives . Zoom this , Zoom that , it β s the book club on Mondays , conversations with grandmother on Tuesdays , then the parents group and the church rummage sale committee . That doesn β t even include all the work-related videoconferencing . Isolation has never seen such togetherness , noted Sherry Turkle , a professor of the social studies of science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , in a recent appearance on the public radio show β On Point . β
Online communication has long meant trying to present our best selves β pictures cropped and filtered , subjects curated to make our lives look as exciting as possible . But the new online look is more of a human experience , all of us striving to maintain the authentic connections developed in real life , according to Dr. Turkle , author of β Reclaiming Conversation : The Power of Talk in a Digital Age . β
But online meetups can be exhausting . It β s hard to say no β excuses to avoid online chats are more limited than for getting together in real life . And there β s something about them that is just more restrictive . They can β t really duplicate the full experience of personal connection .
And real-life conversation has more to it . There are things you can β t duplicate via video screen . There are subtle pauses , looks , being quiet together without saying anything . Dr. Turkle calls these communication extras β friction. β In this sense , friction refers to the β messiness of politics , of the dinner table , the intimate conversation , the playground , the public square . β
When the pandemic is over , we may come out of it , not hooked on the ease of transferring all our conversations to the infosphere , but missing and honoring the small glitches and unspoken connections that real life entails . | https://www.csmonitor.com/Daily/2020/20200428#1107186 | Christian Science Monitor | How coronavirus will change US | 07c7ddbe35c2c9dc | 1 | [
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politics | 2018-11-16 | White House, Politics | right | President Trump has picked a deep-pocketed luxury handbag designer who is a member of his exclusive Mar-a-Lago club to be the US ambassador to South Africa, the White House announced. Lana Marks, 65, of Palm Beach, Florida, is the founder and CEO of an eponymous fashion brand that counts royalty and Hollywood celebrities among clients willing to shell out big bucks for her bags, Newsweek reported. The South Africa native, who has no political experience, attended the University of the Witwatersrand and the Institute of Personnel Management in Johannesburg, according to the White House. She speaks both Afrikaans and the Xhosa language. Marksβ handbags are noted for being crafted with exotic animal skins, such as ostrich and alligator, with one clutch creation costing a staggering a $400,000. Her website features photos of stars such as Jennifer Aniston carrying her wares and says her accessories have become a favorite among βroyalty and entertainment style makers.β The Palm Beach Post has described her as βLike Trump, a relentless self-promoter.β βThe idea for a luxury exotic leather fashion brand came in 1984, when Lana Marks and her husband were invited to a birthday celebration for Queen Elizabeth II aboard the royal yacht Britannia,β according to the bio on her website. βA fruitless search for a red alligator handbag to match her suit led Marks to conclude that a niche existed in the marketplace for luxury, exotic leather fashion handbags in fabulous colors.β Marks βserved on the Womenβs Leadership Board at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Womenβs International Forum for more than a decade,β the White House said. In an interview with The Sun, she described her friendship with Princess Diana and revealed that the royal should have been on vacation with her when she was killed in Paris in 1997. The vacation was canceled when Marksβ father had a heart attack, so Diana went to the French capital with her partner, Dodi Fayed, instead. βFor the next few years I was in shock. I still feel the pain of it all. I constantly think, βWhat if sheβd been with me?β All that might not have happened,β Marks told the UK newspaper. βI feel terrible when I have that thought but canβt get rid of it. Iβm thinking of her more than usual now due to the anniversary and it definitely still plays on my mind.β Marks is the fourth member of Mar-a-Lago β which costs $200,000 to join β to be tapped by the president for an ambassadorial posting, according to Business Insider. The others were Robin Bernstein, as ambassador to the Dominican Republic; Patrick Park, who declined the honor of being the ambassador to Austria; and Brian Burns, who cited health reasons for turning down an ambassadorship to Ireland. The post in South Africa has been vacant since the departure of Patrick Gaspard in December 2016. Unknown | https://nypost.com/2018/11/15/handbag-designer-tapped-to-be-ambassador-to-south-africa/ | New York Post (News) | Handbag designer tapped to be ambassador to South Africa | baee98e9704ba9a7 | 2 | [
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federal_budget | 2014-02-12 | Debt, Budget, Senate, Federal Budget, Economy And Jobs | right | * * Want FOX News First in your inbox every day ? Sign up here . * *
β’ Time to walk the plank on Senate debt vote
β’ Baier Tracks : Hell hath no fury like a Clinton scorned
At least five Republicans will have to walk the plank today as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid brings forward a vote to lift the federal credit limit well beyond the current $ 17.3 trillion debt load . The vote could have been a 51-vote majority to push through a House-passed measure that unconditionally extends government borrowing authority through the middle of March 2015 . But Sen. Ted Cruz , R-Texas , and other conservatives who have consistently opposed no-strings-attached debt hikes will insist on a 60-vote supermajority to move the debt bill forward . Which five Republicans will take the plunge in the vote scheduled for midday ? Potential GOP crossovers include : retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss , R-Ga. , Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska , a bipartisan centrist , and GOP moderates , Sen. Susan Collins , R-Maine , and Sen. Mark Kirk , R-Ill. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was cagy with Reporters on House Republicans letting the no-cuts debt lifter to move ahead on mostly Democratic votes . While Cruz & Co. will hold their colleagues β feet to the fire today , it β s a winter chill that may move things along . A massive snow and ice storm is bearing down on the capitol and the Suburbans are already lined up outside the Capitol to whisk lawmakers away to the airport . It may be easier for McConnell to whip votes with a blizzard on the way .
Cruz not enthused - β Historically , the debt ceiling has proven the most effective leverage for reining in spending ; 28 times , Congress has attached meaningful conditions to debt ceiling increases . We should do so again to address the real problem. β βSen . Ted Cruz , R-Texas , in a statement explaining his move to block a simple-majority vote .
Tactical withdrawal - β When you don β t have 218 votes , you have nothing . We β ve seen that before , we see it again. β That was how Speaker John Boehner explained his decision to withdraw from the debt-limit battlefield . The debt-ceiling bill passed on a 221-201 vote after conservative Republicans in the House failed to reach an agreement among themselves over what to demand in exchange for granting the president more borrowing authority . Boehner and other GOP leaders were among those joined Democrats and voted yes . The speaker announced before the vote that that was the strategy . β We β ll let the Democrats put the votes up . We β ll put a minimum number of ( GOP ) votes up to get it passed , β Boehner said . β We 'll let his party give him the debt ceiling increase that he wants. β More .
Daily Caller : β Democrats claim three million people have enrolled in private health insurance through Obamacare . But how many have actually paid for their plans ? Several state exchanges have begun reporting the number of customers that did pay their first premiums , and some results are as low as 51 percent . β
[ Watch Fox : Sen. Kelly Ayotte , R-N.H. , discusses ObamaCare in the 10 a.m . ET hour ]
Obama keeping his pen warm - Fox News : President Obama signaled Tuesday he 'd be open to more changes in the implementation of his signature health care law , as he defended a newly announced delay in the requirement on companies to provide insurance . Obama said the latest delay was meant to help employers operating in β good faith β so that no one is β unnecessarily burdened β or punished . β This was [ an ] example of , administratively , us making sure that we 're smoothing out this transition , β Obama said . Without going into detail , the president suggested the administration would continue to be flexible on the law .
CGI gets ObamaCare Web site blameβ¦ and new contracts - NYT : β After denigrating the work of CGI and replacing it as the largest contractor on the federal health care website , the Obama administration is negotiating with the company to extend its work on the project for a few months . And the new prime contractor , Accenture , is trying to recruit and hire CGI employees to work under its supervision . β
Sen. Rand Paul , R-Ky. , will file a class-action lawsuit against the National Security Agency over domestic spying today . In a Web video encouraging Americans to join the suit , Paul says β Our founders never intended for Americans to trust their government , our entire Constitution was predicated on the notion that government was a necessary evil to be restrained and minimized as much as possible. β Paul will be joined by lead attorney Ken Cuccinelli , the former Virginia attorney general to announce the lawsuit this afternoon . βWatch Fox : Chief Intelligence Correspondent Catherine Herridge has the latest on the suit .
Zut alors ! Virginian Charles Hurt was not impressed by the twin presidential visit to Thomas Jefferson β s Monticello . β It is easy to imagine Jefferson β s soul , which lurks around every doorway , in every boxwood bush at Monticello , weeping at President Obama β s words . But more likely , he chuckled β if mournfully . This always is how tyranny hatches , and nobody warned us of it more starkly than Jefferson . Touring alongside Mr. Obama was French President FranΓ§ois Hollande , who looks more like a dirty little man in a short trench coat than a president . Oh my , how far we have fallen since Gen. George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayetteβ¦ β
Obama Job Approval : Approve β 43.1 percent//Disapprove β 52.3 percent
Direction of Country : Right Direction β 29.1 percent//Wrong Track β 63.3 percent
Generic Congressional Ballot : Democrats β 40.7 percent// Republicans 41.7 percent
After putting over $ 2 million behind Democratic San Diego Councilman David Alvarez , unions suffered a stinging loss in the city β s mayoral race . With all precincts reporting , Republican Kevin Faulconer beat Alvarez , 54.5 percent to 45.5 percent to replace disgraced former Democratic Mayor Bob Filner , who was forced out of office over sexual misconduct . The result is a boon to Southern California Republican House candidates hoping the midterm climate will help the GOP reclaim some of their lost ground in the formerly Republican-friendly region . Fox News reports .
Filner got shady cash from Mexican tycoon - Foreign Policy : β In a first of its kind case , federal prosecutors say a Mexican businessman funneled more than $ 500,000 into U.S. political races through Super PACs and various shell companiesβ¦ Local newspaper UT San Diego traced the contributions and identified the candidates as former [ Democratic ] San Diego Mayor Bob Filner , [ Republican ] District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis , [ Democratic ] mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher and a U.S. congressman believed to be Juan Vargas ( D-CA ) . β
Washington Examiner : β In a move certain to stoke further speculation that he is seriously weighing a bid for the presidency , Ohio Gov . John Kasich will speak at a Republican Jewish Coalition leadership meeting in March , the group announced in an email to members Monday . Wisconsin Gov . Scott Walker and former Ambassador John Bolton , two other potential Republican presidential contenders , are also slated to speak during the three-day meeting in Las Vegas . β
BAIER TRACKS : HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A CLINTON SCORNED
β When it rains , it pours , at least that seems to be the case for not-so-flattering , behind-the-scenes moments for the Clintons . Now , a new memoir by Congressman Jim Clyburn , D-S.C. details how former President Bill Clinton reacted to his wife 's South Carolina primary loss to Barack Obama in 2008 . Clyburn recounts receiving an explosive 2 a.m. phone call from the former president . US News has the eye-opening excerpt . Bottom line : One has to wonder how many more interesting , still unrevealed stories of Clinton power moves are yet to come β even before there is officially a candidate Hillary Clinton. β β Bret Baier
Bubba pitches for Ross - Former President Bill Clinton is lending a hand today to Arkansas Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Mike Ross . In an email to Ross supporters , Politico reports , Clinton writes : β When I was running for governor of Arkansas in 1982 , a talented and energetic young man named Mike Ross was a big help to me and my campaign . Mike drove me all over the state and I became close friends with him . I even had a hunch that someday he might run for governor himselfβ¦ β Clinton adds : β Take it from someone who knows a thing or two about being governor of Arkansas : Mike Ross will be a great one. β This is the Big He β s first foray into a gubernatorial contest since stumping for longtime fundraiser Terry McAuliffe β s successful campaign in Virginia last year . The race to replace term-limited Gov . Mike Beebe , D-Ark. , is shaping up as a narrow contest between Ross , a former House member , and Republican frontrunner Asa Hutchison , a former congressman and head of the DEA .
Sunshine State News : β Gov . Rick Scott [ R-Fla. ] brought in a campaign haul four times larger than former Gov . Charlie Crist [ now a Democrat ] did in the month of January , according to campaign finance reports . Scott β s β Let β s Get to Work β political committee raked in $ 3.4 million for the month of January . When coupled with $ 743,000 in contributions to his campaign account , the governor brought in $ 4.1 million in the first month of 2014 . Charlie Cristβ¦ brought in $ 637,000 through his β Charlie Crist for Florida β political committee and $ 375,000 from his own campaign , totaling $ 1,012,000 -- only a quarter of what Scott raised . So far , Gov . Scott severely outpaces Crist in the fundraising game β he β s raised $ 32,263,000 so far while Crist , who announced he β d be running for governor in November , has raised a total of $ 5,048,000 . β
Republican businessman Bruce Rauner is the clear frontrunner in Illinois β GOP primary leading his challengers by 20 points in a Chicago Tribune/WGN poll .
β During a lengthy discussion with Philadelphia Weekly on Monday , U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz [ D-Pa. ] revealed that not only is she in favor of medical marijuana at the state level , but she β d be open to decriminalizing simple possession of the plant , as well , if she were governor . β
The GOP needs to pick up six seats to wrest control of the Senate from Democrats . Which six seats currently held by the blue team could go red ? Based on Fox News First reader emails and tweets the consensus is : Arkansas , Montana , Louisiana , South Dakota , North Carolina and Alaska . But reader Scott Donaldson of Keller , Texas reminds us that Democrats would be hugely helped by potential GOP losses in either of the two races β Georgia and Kentucky β where nasty Republican primary fights give Democrats a chance to offset expected losses elsewhere . β I think the general consensus is pretty much right on , β but notes that β with all the Hollywood money pouring into Kentucky , I think [ Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ] could lose . β
The Madison Project , a conservative group led by former Rep. Jim Ryun β s , R-Kans. , announced its support Rep. Paul Broun , R-Ga. β It is not an exaggeration to say that Congressman Paul Broun ( R-GA ) has sustained the most conservative voting record over the longest period of time of any sitting Republican in Congress , β states the Madison Project press release announcing the endorsement . β Even the fiercest conservative fighters tend to succumb to the establishment meat grinder after a few years . Paul Broun has been inviolable. β Broun faces colleagues Reps. Phil Gingrey , R-Ga. , and Jack Kingston R-Ga. , former secretary of state Karen Handel , and businessman David Perdue in a May 20 primary .
With four months left until South Carolina β s GOP Senate primary , Sen. Lindsey Graham , R-S.C. , is spending big to burnish his conservative credentials . The Palmetto State senator just launched a six-figure radio and television ad campaign . The ad praises Graham for opposing ObamaCare β from day one , β leading the β fight on Benghazi , β and for being β a conservative leader who gets things done. β Five Republicans are in the running to replace the two-term incumbent .
A new poll conducted by the Republican Firm Harper Polling for the conservative American Action Forum finds Republican Ed Gillespie narrowing Sen. Mark Warner β s , D-Va. , lead . According to the survey , Warner now leads the former Republican National Committee chairman 44 percent to 38 percent . Earlier polling showed Warner leading Gillespie by over 20 points . Politico reports .
β President Barack Obama will host a fundraiser for House Democrats at the home of former NBA star Alonzo Mourning . That 's according to an invitation to the event obtained by The Associated Press . The event in Miami on March 20 will benefit the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee . House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers will also attend . β
President Obama β s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Norway , George Tsunis , is a big-time political patron of the president β s but not much of an expert on the Scandinavian nation . T. Michael Davis of the Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce is pleading for the Senate to reject Tsunis , who operates a 10-motel chain in the Northeastern U.S. On Davis β list of complaints : β Well , he acknowledged he has never even been to Norwayβ¦ He repeatedly referred to its prime minister as a β president , β apparently unaware Norway is a parliamentary democracy . He attacked Norway β s governing center-right coalition by disparaging the nation β s third-largest political party β a key player that holds no less than seven minister posts β mistakenly characterizing it as a group of β fringe elements β that β spew their hatred. β β¦ Norwegians of all political stripes were deeply insulted , causing one member of Parliament to demand an apology from President Obama . β¦The headline of a Norwegian daily smoldered : β Future US envoy displays total ignorance of Norway , β characterizing Tsunis as β faltering β and β incoherent β and committing β a jaw-dropping diplomatic blunder before he even begins. β β Of course , this shouldn β t be much of a surprise . Noah Bryson Mamet , also an Obama political contributor , admitted he β d never been to Argentina , the country he β s been nominated to serve as U.S. ambassador .
[ New at Fox News Opinion - John Stossel considers Privileged People : β For the first time in history , six of the richest counties in the U.S. surround D.C . When a small group of people gets to dispense $ 3.6 trillion and set rules that can help or kill your idea , you want to suck up to them . β ]
Better than tote bags and coffee mugs - Slate offers a cool map to show what President Obama β s top donors have given to be rewarded with diplomatic postings . It takes more than $ 1 million to get a prime spot like Britain or Thailand that brings the connections and prestige to get even richer , but you can slide into the sunny Dominican Republic for a cool half-million dollars .
β You talk about the bailout of insurers : There β s an overwhelming majority of Americans who will say β no β β¦ and I would have liked to see the Democrats defend the bailout and risk the debt ceiling . But , there weren β t enough Republicans in the House who would do that , and thus , [ House Speaker John Boehner ] had no cards , and thus , he had to fold . It was the right thing to do , given his circumstances. β β Charles Krauthammer on β Special Report with Bret Baier . β
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News . Want FOX News First in your inbox every day ? Sign up here . To catch Chris live online daily at 11:30 a.m . ET , click here . | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/12/time-to-walk-plank-on-senate-debt-vote/ | Fox Online News | Time to walk the plank on Senate debt vote | c224685c19d3feca | 2 | [
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privacy | 2018-04-08 | Facebook, Privacy | center | SAN FRANCISCO β Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told βββ he 's leaving Facebook out of growing concern for the carelessness with which Facebook and other Internet companies treat the private information of users .
`` Users provide every detail of their life to Facebook and ... Facebook makes a lot of advertising money off this , '' he said in an email to βββ . `` The profits are all based on the user β s info , but the users get none of the profits back . ''
Wozniak said he 'd rather pay for Facebook than have his personal information exploited for advertising . And he heaped praise on Apple for respecting people 's privacy .
`` Apple makes its money off of good products , not off of you , '' Wozniak said . `` As they say , with Facebook , you are the product . ''
His surprise announcement marks the latest development in back-and-forth corporate sniping by tech leaders as Facebook copes with a scandal over the potential misuse of user data by political targeting firm Cambridge Analytica . In an update last week , Facebook estimated as many as 87 million people , mostly in the United States , may have had their data improperly shared .
Apple CEO Tim Cook started the unusual public criticism in late March . During a joint interview with Recode and MSNBC , he was asked what he would do about the crisis if he were in Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg 's position .
He added that Apple reviews apps to confirm that each one meets the privacy standards his company has required for users .
`` We do n't subscribe to the view that you have to let everybody in that wants to , or if you do n't , you do n't believe in free speech , '' said Cook . `` We do n't believe that . ''
Cook also questioned the practice of social media platforms monetizing the personal data of their users .
Zuckerberg hit back in a subsequent interview with Vox , calling Cook 's comments `` extremely glib . ''
`` If you want to build a service which is not just serving rich people , then you need to have something that people can afford , '' said Zuckerberg .
Championing his own company 's business model , Zuckerberg also said : `` At Facebook , we are squarely in the camp of the companies that work hard to charge you less and provide a free service that everyone can use . I don β t think at all that that means that we don β t care about people . ''
Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before congressional committees in Washington this week about the Cambridge Analytica episode and Facebook 's response .
Starting Monday , the 87 million users whose data might have been shared with Cambridge Analytica will get a message in their news feeds . Most of the affected users β more than 70 million β are in the U.S . In addition , all 2.2 billion Facebook users will get a link so they can review what apps they use and what information is shared with those apps .
The Cambridge Analytica affair has n't dented user engagement , according to Jefferies analyst Brent Thill .
`` We analyzed Facebook 's traffic over the course of March and believe that recent headlines around Facebook 's data policies have not meaningfully impacted engagement on the platform , '' Thill wrote in a research note .
According to a survey of 750 U.S. Internet users , Facebook and Instagram are still tops , Thill found , with 93 % using Facebook and about 50 % using Instagram .
Wozniak is one of the prominent users who have called it quits . On Sunday , he deactivated his Facebook account after posting the following message : `` I am in the process of leaving Facebook . It 's brought me more negatives than positives . Apple has more secure ways to share things about yourself . I can still deal with old school email and text messages . ''
More : How to delete all those Facebook apps you probably have
In an email to βββ , Wozniak said he was taken aback by the extent of Facebook 's data collection when he changed and deleted some of his information before deactivating his account .
`` I was surprised to see how many categories for ads and how many advertisers I had to get rid of , one at a time . I did not feel that this is what people want done to them , '' he said . `` Ads and spam are bad things these days and there are no controls over them . Or transparency . ''
Still , breaking up with Facebook is n't easy . Wozniak chose not to delete his Facebook account . He did n't mind bidding farewell to his 5,000 Facebook friends , many of whom he says he does n't know . But he did n't want to give up his `` stevewoz '' screen name .
`` I don β t want someone else grabbing it , even another Steve Wozniak , '' he said .
Wozniak 's latest comments are n't the first time he 's thrown shade at Internet giants . Speaking at an international business conference in Montreal last year , Wozniak said he tries to `` avoid Google and Facebook . ''
He cited the companies ' use of widescale data-collecting operations that are used to help sharpen ad targeting of the social media platform 's users , online magazine The Drum reported .
Follow βββ reporter Kevin McCoy on Twitter : @ kmccoynyc Follow βββ reporter Jessica Guynn on Twitter @ jguynn | https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2018/04/08/apple-co-founder-steve-wozniak-says-hes-leaving-facebook/497392002/ | USA TODAY | Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says he's left Facebook over data collection | c7bf9f4ae48468f0 | 1 | [
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2024_presidential_election | 2024-09-29 | 2024 Presidential Election, Politics, Poland, Migrants, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Battleground States | right | Americaβs dueling presidential campaigns are desperately appealing to the small pool of persuadable voters, particularly in the critical Rust Belt states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. No political entreaty in these places should be surprising, but recent appeals to Polish Americans in the region have raised some eyebrows.Vice President Kamala Harris unexpectedly mentioned the group during this monthβs presidential debate. βWhy donβt you tell the 800,000 Polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up [military activity in Ukraine] for the sake of favor and what you think is a friendship with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch?β the Vice President taunted.The comment can probably be attributed to her rhetorical limitations and her milieuβs obsession with Ukraine-related topics. Nonetheless, her campaign followed the comment with a Facebook ad directly aimed at Polish Americans, confirming at least some campaign strategists see demographic potential.The Trump campβs behavior also suggested the idea has substance. Last week, the campaign announced the former president would visit the National Shrine of Our Lady of CzΔstochowa in Doylestown, near Philadelphia, along with Polish President Andrzej Duda. The shrine contains a replica of the famous icon in CzΔstochowa, Poland, and it is a visible center of Polish culture in the United States.Pro-Trump activist Jack Posobiec tweeted, βAs a Polish American from PA, let me explain, this is a *massive* deal to Polish Americans in PA.β (Nota bene: βPAβ is the official government abbreviation of Pennsylvania.) Newsweek published an article titled βHow Polish American Voters Could Swing Election.βLater in the week, the Trump campaign canceled the visit for unconfirmed reasons, though some speculated about the ability to guarantee sufficient security at the event, and others noted President Dudaβs schedule would be consumed with flood relief at home. (He ultimately attended.)The planned visit would not have been Trumpβs first foray into Polish American campaigning. During the 2020 presidential race, the then-president sold merchandise emblazoned with the slogan Polish Americans for Trump. That marketing tactic might have built upon perceived lessons from the previous campaign. β[W]ithout the votes of Polish Americans, Donald Trump probably wouldnβt have won this election,β asserted Polish American Trump adviser William Ciosek after the unexpected 2016 victory. βTrumpβs campaign people understand it and give a lot of credit to the freedom-loving and freedom-fighting Polish American people, who literally helped us win the White House.βHigh-level political operatives are embracing these narratives. But is there really a Polish American vote?The Vice Presidentβs stated figure of 800,000 people is a good place to start. American publications have similarly noted 7β10 per cent of the population claiming Polish heritage in the three key Rust Belt states. These figures link people with any number of degrees of separation from the mother country. Since most Polish immigration occurred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, most of these individuals are the product of multiple generations living on American soil.In such cases, βPolishnessβ has lost much, if not all, of its voting-bloc cohesiveness. First- and second-generation Polish immigrants tended to cluster in heavily Polish enclaves, and these communities mattered to canvassing politicians during the world wars and the Cold War. As generations have passed, Polish Americans have relocated from these enclaves to the suburbs or to entirely different states. Knowledge of family history is often limited to pictures, stories, and recipes.ββPolishnessβ has lost much, if not all, of its voting-bloc cohesivenessβHamtramck, Michigan, tucked inside the Detroit metro area, offers a prime example. In the twentieth century, it became a hub of Polish life in the United States, as Poles congregated in the area to work in the Detroit auto industry. As Hamtramck Poles realized the American Dream and left for the suburbs or warmer climes, other ethnic groups took their place. Hamtramck is now the only Muslim-majority city in the United States, and traces of its former Polish presence are limited to a couple shops and restaurants in the area. Cities like Buffalo, New York, and Erie, Pennsylvania, exhibit similar demographic trends.At every home game, the professional baseball team in Pittsburgh holds a βpierogi race,β in which pierogi mascots race along the outfield fence. It is a tribute to the immigrants from Poland and neighboring countries who flocked to the cityβs steel mills and impacted the local culture. Pittsburgh still has some historic Polish churches and landmarks, and grocery stores often contain dedicated sections for pierogi and kielbasa, but Polish-speakers and recent arrivals from Poland are few.More recent immigrants have arrived in the United States, especially during the decade following the fall of communism. These Poles might be more likely to hold cohesive group voting preferences, but they are heavily concentrated in the Chicago and New York metropolitan areas. Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, where most of these recent immigrants live, are certain Democratic states and will not impact the outcome of this election. These Polesβ voting patterns are revealing, in any case. Voters at the consulates in Chicago and New York, which have significant Polish populations, have tended to support the conservative Law & Justice party in recent elections. Voters at the other consulatesβmore likely to be high-income, pro-globalization expatriatesβhave opted for Donald Tuskβs Civic Coalition.Then there is the categorization of Jewish citizens, tricky now in the United States as it was a century ago in Poland. Many Jewish-Americans can trace their ancestry to former or current Polish territories. Jewish assimilation into Polish society varied tremendously, the urbanβrural divide was significant, and borders often shifted. Additionally, Jews remain one of the most party-loyal ethno-religious groups in the United States, so attributing Jewish voting behavior to βPolishnessβ seems statistically unreasonable and analytically unhelpful.βMore than a century of assimilation, intermarriage, economic success and the fraying of ties with the ancestral homeland over time have made the idea of a cohesive bloc of Polish American votes as outmoded as the idea that there is a cohesive bloc of votes from the other big white ethnic groupsβEnglish, German, Irish and Italian,β summarizes Politicoβs Charlie Mahtesian, who calls the idea of a Polish American vote a βmirage.βFor those whose hearts beat on both sides of the Atlantic, the more productive consideration is what this election signifies for U.S.βPoland relations. Poland, like the United States, is bitterly divided between cosmopolitan urban areas and more conservative and religious exurbs and rural areas. After eight years of single-party Law & Justice rule, Polish conservatives are momentarily weak and banking heavily on a second Trump administration. The war in Ukraine rages next door, as does the culture war at home. Poland escaped the last great recession, but that outcome is unlikely to repeat itself. Then there is the matter of Polandβs own presidential election, scheduled for 2025. The current landscape suggests a less-conservative figure will replace Duda, potentially giving the liberal ruling government unchecked legislative power.All of this will have enormous policy implications for Poles, Americans, and Polish Americans. The Polish American voter is a mirage from a conventional electoral perspective, but Poland will surely remain entrenched on the next presidentβs policy agenda.Related articles: | https://www.hungarianconservative.com/articles/opinion/kamal-harris-polish-american-votes-mirage-polish-politics/ | Hungarian Conservative | Is There Really a Polish American Vote? | d50c8702a03bc5f1 | 2 | [
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media_bias | 2020-03-20 | China, Media Industry, Donald Trump, Polarization, Partisanship, Coronavirus, Media Bias | right | President Donald Trump points to a reporter to ask a question during the coronavirus response daily briefing at the White House , March 19 , 2020 . ( Jonathan Ernst/Reuters )
β Why do you keep calling this the β Chinese virus ? β β visibly angry ABC News White House correspondent Cecilia Vega demanded of President Donald J. Trump during Wednesday β s press conference with his COVID-19 task force . β There are reports of dozens of incidents of bias against Chinese Americans in this country , β she seethed . β People say it β s racist . β
β It β s not racist at all , β President Trump replied . β No . Not at all . It comes from China . That β s why . It comes from China. β He added : β China tried to say at one point β maybe they stopped now β that it was caused by American soldiers . That can β t happen . It β s not going to happen β not as long as I β m president . β
Moments later , PBS β s Yamiche Alcindor asked Trump : β Do you think using the term β Chinese virus β β that puts Asian Americans at risk , that people might target them ? β
β No , not at all , β President Trump responded . β No , not at all . I think they probably would agree with it 100 percent . It comes from China . There β s nothing not to agree on . β
Before Vega , Alcindor , and their brethren in the media again accuse President Trump of COVID-19-related racism , they should focus on the racism associated with so many other diseases .
Clearly , the term β German measles β is racist . So are Spanish flu , Japanese encephalitis , Ebola ( named after the Ebola River , a tributary of Africa β s Congo River ) , West Nile virus ( reflecting an even mightier African river ) , and MERS ( the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome arose from the sands of Saudi Arabia in 2012 ) . Tick-borne Lyme disease was christened after a deer-clogged town in Connecticut that mirrors talcum powder , given its 96.5 percent white population .
Also , CNN β s rebarbative Jim Acosta has referred to β the Wuhan Coronavirus. β And he is not alone ! In his compendium of the dinosaur media β s innumerable COVID-19-related lies , Breitbart β s John Nolte on Tuesday carefully documented 23 instances in which major news outlets have used the same supposedly racist language that President Trump employed , or words that were nearly as prejudiced . Reuters and National Geographic both used President Trump β s exact phrase : β Chinese virus . β
Others were a bit more sophisticated and called this disease β Chinese Coronavirus. β These include :
Other news organizations wielded a less broad calligraphic brush to paint a racist portrait of COVID-19 as a pathogen from Wuhan , the capital of China β s Hubei province . These journalists attacked Wuhanites but left untouched those from elsewhere in the Middle Kingdom . One must respect the narrowly tailored racism of these media establishments for referring to β Wuhan virus β and β Wuhan Coronavirus . β
And The Economist deserves special mention for a striking cover illustration , which combines Sinophobia and some truly beautiful graphic artistry , which makes it particularly dangerous . One wonders how many Americans of Chinese background were beaten to a pulp after this issue hit newsstands on February 1 .
If White House correspondents excoriate President Trump for alleged anti-Chinese racism , then they also should denounce the Sinophobic bigotry of their reputedly enlightened colleagues in the press corps . ( They also might arrange a little Chinese water torture for ΓΌber-woke Late Show host Stephen Colbert , who called β Chinese virus β a β very racist term , β and β a dog whistle. β But , as The Federalist β s Emily Jashinsky documented , he has deployed Chinese stereotypes for years . These include a character he played on The Colbert Report named Ching-Chong Ding-Dong who said such things as : β Come on my rickshaw , I give you ride to Bangkok ! β Colbert also once claimed that β Asians are just Kung Fu Mexicans . β )
Conversely , these top news people could recognize this truth : There is nothing remotely racist about calling a pathogen Chinese when it comes from China . As no less than the World Health Organization states on its website : β COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus . This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan , China , in December 2019 . β
The relentlessly reckless and destructive Trump-loathing media must stop playing absurd , puerile games in the middle of a literal national emergency . Perhaps they could use their megaphones to popularize the Coronavirus.gov website , educate Americans on President Trump β s β 15 Days to Slow the Spread β anti-COVID-19 guidelines , encourage people to wash their hands and use sanitizer gel , and steer boneheaded Millennials off of spring break β s beaches and into gatherings of 10 or fewer or , even better , self-quarantine .
These irresponsible journalists should try such worthwhile exercises rather than squander their talents on Trump hatred and national division . | https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/03/coronavirus-media-accusations-racism-against-president-trump-baseless/ | National Review | The Mediaβs China Syndrome | 8926fc62a9662653 | 2 | [
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joe_biden | 2025-01-17 | Politics, Pardons, Prison, Drugs, Criminal Justice, Joe Biden, Clemency | right | President Joe Biden began his fourth-to-last-day in office by announcing the commutations of prison sentences for thousands of nonviolent drug offenders. The presidential action makes Biden the president with the most pardons and sentence commutations in the nationβs history, a fact he touted in a statement Friday morning.βToday, I am commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses who are serving disproportionately long sentences compared to the sentences they would receive today under current law, policy, and practice,β Biden said in a statement. βWith this action, I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in U.S. history.βOne of the laws Biden is referring to is the Fair Sentencing Act. This legislation implemented drastic changes in the criminal justice system regarding drug possession. The law reduced statutory penalties for crack cocaine and eliminated the five-year mandatory minimum sentencing for first-time possession of the drug. The law went into effect in 2010, when Biden was vice president and were part of the Obama administrationβs criminal justice reforms.In recent months, multiple Congressional Democrats were urging Biden for sentence commutations of those allegedly affected by sentence disparities, CBS News reported. Their efforts were predicated on their beliefs that the original sentences in many of these cases were harsh and disproportionately βharmed communities of color.ββI believe that this president has definitely shown himself to be someone that is willing to listen and willing to learn and decide that he would do something within his power,β said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), who spearheaded the most recent sentence commutation initiative.βTodayβs clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes,β Biden said. βAs Congress recognized through the Fair Sentencing Act and the First Step Act, it is time that we equalize these sentencing disparities.βBiden celebrated his sentence commutations as integral in correcting criminal justice errors in the past and provided a new path forward for those convicted of such crimes. He also suggested there might be more pardons and commutations before he officially leaves office.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINERβThis action is an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families and communities after spending far too much time behind bars,β he said.βI am proud of my record on clemency and will continue to review additional commutations and pardons,β Biden added. | https://washingtonexaminer.com/news/3290418/biden-commutations-give-thousands-of-nonviolent-drug-offenders-another-chance | Washington Examiner | Biden commutations give thousands of nonviolent drug offenders another chance | 6651523ee9eb10ce | 2 | [
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immigration | 2012-11-30 | Immigration | right | The House voted Friday to cancel the annual diversity visa lottery and give those immigration visas to high-tech foreign-born who earn advanced degrees from American universities , as Republicans powered through their chamber the first major immigration bill since the election .
The 245-139 vote was a test of the GOP β s plan to tackle immigration piecemeal , and while the bill passed , the strong opposition from Democrats suggests that Republicans β strategy will face difficult hurdles .
And while the chief selling point of the bill was to boost green cards given to science , technology , engineering and technology students , the bigger fight came over Republicans β plans to cancel the diversity visa lottery , which the GOP argues is rife with fraud .
β We want to put to the head of the line the people who , every single one of them that comes , net creates jobs , β said Rep. Darrell Issa , California Republican , who managed the bill on the House floor .
Democrats , though , objected to making immigration a zero-sum equation , where any new visas would have to come at the expense of existing lines of immigration .
β I can β t support a bill that pits immigrant communities against each other , β said Rep. Zoe Lofgren , the ranking Democrat on the House immigration subcommittee .
She also said that it β s not a one-to-one exchange , and immigration would actually decrease under the GOP bill .
While all 55,000 diversity visas are used every year , she said statistics from the National Science Foundation show that there are only about 30,000 students a year who would even qualify .
After Hispanics were credited with helping boost President Obama in this year β s elections , both parties have been eager to find ways to tackle immigration .
Democrats say they want to pass a broad bill that legalizes most illegal immigrants and rewrites the legal immigration system , while House Speaker John A. Boehner has said his chamber will go piece-by-piece .
Both Republicans and Democrats agree more should be done to keep desirable would-be immigrants , such as those earning advanced degrees , here in the U.S . But they disagree over whether to do that as a stand-alone , or what should be coupled with it .
In the case of this week β s bill , it eliminates the diversity visa lottery β a long-time target of some Republicans , who say it invites fraud and could be a national security risk .
The lottery doles out immigration visas based on chance , with the goal of giving those in lesser-represented countries a chance to earn a spot . Every year , millions of would-be immigrants apply for the 55,000 slots .
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith , who wrote the legislation , said the visa lottery invites fraud .
In an effort to sweeten the bill for Democrats , he included a provision that would allow legal immigrants to let their family members , who are also seeking green cards , to wait in the U.S. with them , rather than have to wait in their home countries . | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/30/house-passes-bill-cancel-diversity-visa-lottery/ | Washington Times | House passes bill to cancel diversity visa lottery | 53cd21266f42aa06 | 2 | [
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federal_budget | 2013-04-05 | Federal Budget, Economy And Jobs | left | Boehner said Obama 's plan was 'no way to lead and move the country forward . ' | AP Photos Boehner rejects Obama budget
House Speaker John Boehner immediately dismissed President Barack Obama β s package of significant new entitlement cuts tied to new tax revenues , calling them β no way to lead and move the country forward . β
The White House had portrayed the proposal , part of the budget it will release next week , as a compromise with Congressional Republicans that could have put them on track for another run at a grand bargain .
But Boehner said he will not consider new revenues as part of the deal , arguing that β modest β entitlement savings should not β be held hostage for more tax hikes . β
The budget proposal sets Obama up for major fights on his right and left . Republicans will not accept any new tax revenues and liberal Democrats have already signaled they will resist any cuts to Social Security and other entitlement programs that Obama is proposing .
The White House says the budget proposal would reduce the deficit by $ 1.8 trillion over 10 years , but it assumes the elimination of the sequester , which would otherwise account for $ 1.2 trillion in deficit reduction .
Already , Obama β s budget proposal goes farther than many in his own party and base said they would bear by including β chained CPI , β the adjustment that would over time reduce cost-of-living increases to Social Security and other federal benefit programs β effectively , a cut to Social Security benefits by tying them to inflation .
It β s the $ 9 billion in new tax revenue by setting limits on β tax-preferred retirement accounts for millionaires and billionaires β that Boehner is rejecting .
And Obama is already facing a backlash from liberal Democrats as he has floated the chained CPI idea . Sen. Tom Harkin ( D-Iowa ) said Friday that any Social Security cuts are a no-go for him .
β While there are large portions of the president β s budget that I strongly support , I remain firmly opposed to the chained CPI , β Harkin said . β This policy is an unnecessary attack on Social Security , a program that by law is unable to add to the deficit . β
At a lunch with Senate Democrats last month , Harkin and Bernie Sanders ( I-Vt. ) pressed Obama to take chained CPI off the table , arguing that Social Security doesn β t actually contribute to the deficit β since it β s walled off from the federal budget β and there are other ways to keep the government solvent .
To finance new spending programs proposed in his State of the Union address , Obama β s budget calls for new cigarette taxes and closing a loophole that now allows people to collect unemployment insurance and disability insurance simultaneously .
A senior administration official said Friday morning that Obama β s budget would include $ 1.8 trillion in deficit reduction β the offer the president has previously made to Boehner βand won β t add to the federal deficit . | http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/obama-budget-medicare-social-security-89658.html | Politico | Boehner rejects Obama cuts-revenue proposal | 3b6d68c795c77c46 | 0 | [
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elections | 2019-07-25 | Presidential Elections, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, 2020 Election, Debates, Elections | center | We β ve documented for years how polls tend to rise and fall β in what are often fairly predictable patterns β after events like debates and conventions . In general , what suddenly goes up in polls tends to gradually come back down after a matter of a few weeks . Conventions typically produce polling swings of 4 to 6 percentage points toward the party that just nominated its candidate , for instance β but the polls usually revert back to about where they were before after a few weeks .
We β ve also repeatedly seen this pattern after various Democrats declared for the race this year . Joe Biden , Bernie Sanders , Kamala Harris and even Beto O β Rourke all got noticeable bounces when they officially declared for the presidency , only to fall back to their pre-declaration averages later on .
It looks as though something like this is happening again following the first Democratic debate last month . If you look at the RealClearPolitics average :
Biden has rebounded to 28.4 percentage points from a low of 26.0 percentage points just after the debate . He was at 32.1 percent before the debate , so he β s regained about two-fifths of what he lost .
Harris has fallen to 12.2 percentage points from a peak of 15.2 percentage points . She was at 7.0 percent before the debate , so she β s lost about a third of what she β d gained .
Harris is still in better shape than she was before the debates , but she β s currently 16 points behind Biden instead of looking like she β s on the verge of overtaking him .
I β ll be honest β¦ as predictable as this pattern is , it β s easy even for professionals like me to get caught up in the moment , especially in the early stages of a race before we β re using any sort of model to smooth the data out . If a candidate rapidly goes from 7 to 15 in the polls , our unconscious , System 1 reflex is to assume the trend will continue , and that the candidate will continue gaining ground β to 20 points , 25 points and beyond . More often than not , though , the candidate loses ground after a sharp rise .
Why this pattern occurs is somewhat beyond the scope of this short article . But one contributing factor may be nonresponse bias β after a good debate for Harris and a poor one for Biden , for instance , Harris supporters may be more likely to respond to polls and Biden ones less so . I tend to think this phenomenon is a little overstated and that an easier answer is simply that a lot of voters don β t have deep convictions about the race until much later , and so bounce around among whichever candidates have gotten favorable press coverage recently . We β ll save that discussion for another time , though .
So it β s worthwhile to be at least a little bit skeptical of rapid , news-driven swings in the polls . By contrast , slow-and-steady gains or losses in the polls β say , Warren β s gradual improvement over the past few months or Sanders β s gradual decline β are often more durable . | https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/harriss-debate-bounce-is-fading/ | FiveThirtyEight | Kamala Harrisβs Debate Bounce Is Fading | 0f68ef505ba2ab4e | 1 | [
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education | 2019-10-20 | Education, Chicago Teachers Strike, Teachers, Teachers Unions, Strikes, Chicago, Lori Lightfoot | left | As a black child growing up in an economically challenged small town in Ohio , I know what it means to go to a school that lacks the basics .
We shared textbooks , and they were often worn and out-of-date . We went without modern tools of learning throughout my entire K-12 , public school experience . I also look back with horror at the treatment that my classmates with different learning abilities received .
I loved my teachers , and they all worked hard to do the best they could with the resources they had . I was a conscientious student , but there were no extras , and I got little support in planning for college or a career .
I recall these things only to share with you that my vision of educational equity comes from a very real place . I know what it β s like to go without . My commitment , as I expressed during my campaign , is to supercharge efforts toward improving equity for our all of our students , but especially black and brown children , who have been left behind far too often .
Voters elected me because of my focus on equity , fairness and transparency in the processes of governing our city β whether it comes to the school board , the police department , the granting of contracts or the repairing of infrastructure .
Voters sent an unmistakable message that they were looking for a departure from β business as usual β β the old way where the well-connected and the wealthy came out ahead while entire swaths of our city sat ignored . I have been honored by your faith in me to take our city in a more equitable direction . We β ve taken steps down this path , but there is still a long journey to go .
One of the most important places where we must always strive to do better β in fact a fundamental place β is in our public schools . Not only do we owe this to our students , but we owe it to ourselves as a city . Good schools mean more families can put down roots in Chicago , re-building communities that just a few generations ago thrived , but more recently have languished .
The work to get our schools on the right path has already begun . It has begun with the dedication of teachers , staff and principals . It has begun with the love of parents and community leaders . And it has begun with the efforts over many years of people like Karen Lewis and Janice Jackson .
I want to build on these efforts . I believe teachers and staff should be well compensated , befitting their status as the nurturers and guardians of our children . I believe they deserve to be supported by their school district and their mayor . I believe that smaller class sizes are better . And that school nurses and social workers should not be luxuries granted only to some schools , but valued members of every school β s staff , regardless of zip code .
We have presented the Chicago Teachers Union with a contract that we believe reflects these values . I wish there were a way to achieve all of our goals overnight , but we are working to restore critical services by expanding necessary positions throughout all schools β prioritizing those in greatest need first β as quickly as possible , given budgetary restraints .
I am deeply disappointed that we were not able to reach an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union β s leadership before this work stoppage . I respect the collective bargaining process and the right of workers to organize and to strike . Still , I am committed to continuing the hard work to get through this . Our team will continue to work day and night to reach an agreement that puts teachers back in classrooms with a fair contract so our students can return to their normal schedules as soon as possible .
My goal is that parents and students at every Chicago public school β regardless of race , gender , ethnicity or income level β can receive the opportunities that families in wealthy suburbs can take for granted . CPS students deserve the chance to excel at sports and the arts . They deserve the opportunity to take the types of classes that will prepare them for college or a career .
My goal is to support our teachers so they can focus on their core mission , namely educating and nurturing our children . And I believe these goals are within reach .
Again , I am disappointed that the Chicago Teachers Union has decided to strike . I believe our contract offer is fair and respectful of the union β s leaders and their members . But my disappointment will absolutely not soften my resolve to reach an agreement .
As long as I am mayor , I will never stop fighting to make this a better city β one that values fairness , equity , and transparency . And in that spirit , the negotiations must continue . | https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10/20/20923893/ctu-chicago-teachers-union-cps-strike-educational-equity-mayor-lori-lightfoot | Chicago Sun-Times | As mayor of Chicago, I will always be on the side of educational equity | 30cf7166dd4c782a | 0 | [
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us_congress | 2014-12-01 | US Congress, Politics | left | December was supposed to be a sleepy month for Congress β a chance to finish up a productive lame-duck session and leave the decks clear for the new Republican majority that takes control in January .
Instead , the next two weeks have morphed into a minefield . Government funding is suddenly in peril , as conservatives fume over President Barack Obama β s decision to end the deportation threat for millions of undocumented immigrants . Republicans and Democrats and the White House are locked in battle over extending lapsed tax provisions popular with corporate America . Congress had already punted a few issues into the new year , such as a broader debate about the president β s war powers and voting on important executive-branch nominees .
As Congress returns from its Thanksgiving break , problems are plentiful and finding solutions will test leaders of both parties β particularly Republicans , whose moves now could determine whether they can change the tone on Capitol Hill and prove the days of governing by crisis are over .
First up : funding the government . The government will shut down Dec. 11 unless a funding bill is passed , and Speaker John Boehner of Ohio β the most powerful Republican in power until January β has to quell the furor within the House Republican Conference over Obama β s immigration order to avoid an unwanted and dangerous December showdown .
The politics are delicate for Boehner , House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy ( R-Calif. ) and Majority Whip Steve Scalise ( R-La. ) . A healthy number of House Republicans believe Obama overstepped his executive authority when he stopped deportations for millions of undocumented immigrants , and many of those lawmakers want to use the upcoming government-funding debate to hold his feet to the fire .
But inside Republican leadership , senior aides and lawmakers freely admit that the executive order β no matter how unpopular it is β will likely stand and there β s little Congress can do about it . So Boehner , McCarthy and Scalise need to craft a process that will allow conservatives to vent , but prevent a shutdown .
The strategy will begin to take shape Tuesday morning , when the GOP meets in a closed session in the Capitol basement .
One scheme has emerged as a favorite . The leadership would like to craft two bills to fund the government : one that would keep most of the government open through September 2015 , and another that would fund immigration enforcement agencies through the first few months of the year . There β s also the potential for stand-alone legislation to try to target Obama β s executive action .
GOP hard-liners have ideas of their own . Some have floated censuring Obama or canceling his State of the Union address , although neither will happen , senior aides say . Legislation is unlikely to come to the floor until next week .
This isn β t exactly how Boehner and McCarthy envisioned this lame-duck session of Congress . House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers ( R-Ky. ) has been working for months to craft a large-scale omnibus spending bill that would remove the threat of a shutdown until late into 2015 . Republicans envisioned a productive first quarter of 2015 , but now they are suddenly facing another funding fight in February or March .
For Boehner , the politics are particularly dicey . On Jan. 3 , he will stand for reelection as speaker . If he loses any more than 26 GOP votes , he β ll lose the speakership . There is no immediate threat to his power , but Boehner must move cautiously during this upcoming session in order to limit conservative opposition to his speakership .
Boehner and outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ( D-Nev. ) also find themselves in an unexpected fight over the tax extenders package .
The White House threatened to veto the $ 450 billion agreement between Reid and Boehner because it did not cover expansions of the child tax credit and earned income tax credit favored by Obama . The package would also add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit over the next decade .
Reid backed the bipartisan package because it would extend the deduction for state sales taxes , which is important in his home state of Nevada , which has no income tax .
The veto threat has left the fate of the tax extenders package up in the air , and it β s not clear that it will get done during the lame-duck session .
The White House β s move also laid bare the growing rift among Democrats since their humiliating Election Day defeat , which robbed them of control of the Senate majority . There β s an ongoing struggle going on within the party over why Democrats lost so badly on Nov. 4 , a fight that will continue to play out during the lame-duck session .
Some progressive Democrats are calling for Obama and Democratic leadership to adopt a more aggressive populist economic message . Moderate Democrats , however , want to see the party move more mainstream , to appeal more directly to middle-class voters . In a speech last week , New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer said Democrats focused too much on passing health care reform β Obamacare β when they controlled the White House and Congress in 2009 and 2010 . β The focus on Obamacare gave anti-government forces and the Republican Party new vigor and new life , at least temporarily β and led to GOP victories in 2010 , he said .
Schumer β s comments touched off a furor on the left , and the message was repudiated publicly by some senior former Obama administration officials .
Schumer also quietly announced on Friday that he β s adding Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia , a moderate , to the Democratic communications and policy team , seeking to balance the more populist Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts .
β Mark is a natural leader in our caucus who will bring a diverse experience of both private sector and public service work to this new role , β Schumer said in a statement . β In the next Congress , Mark will work closely with the entire DPCC team to put forward policies and a message that resonate strongly with America β s middle class . β | http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/lame-duck-congress-agenda-113222.html?hp=t1_r | Politico | Congress on the brink | 59763c6ca3cc12bb | 0 | [
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elections | 2019-04-03 | Lori Lightfoot, Chicago, Elections | center | CHICAGOβLori Lightfoot , a former federal prosecutor vowing to take down Chicago β s political machine , won the race to become the first black woman mayor of Chicago .
With 94 % of precincts reporting , Ms. Lightfoot led Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle , 74 % to 26 % , on Tuesday night , according to data from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners . Ms. Lightfoot will also be the first gay person to lead the nation β s third-largest city .
β We were up against powerful interests , a powerful machine , a powerful mayor , β Ms. Lightfoot , who will take office in May , said in her victory speech . β We can and we will break this city β s endless cycle of corruption . β
Ms. Preckwinkle said she called Ms. Lightfoot to congratulate her just before 9 p.m. local time and though she was disappointed , she acknowledged the historic nature of the race . β Not long ago , two African-American women vying for this position would have been unthinkable , β she said . β Tonight is about the path forward . β
The women , both Democrats , were the two top vote-getters in the early round of voting on Feb. 26 that whittled the field of 14 candidates .
β Hit the Ground Running β As Chicago elects its first black woman mayor , other African-American women who have blazed the same trail across the U.S. talk about their challenges and triumphs , and share words of wisdom .
Women In Read more from the Journal on women at work and in the world .
Ms. Lighfoot will take over a city grappling with problems including violence and trust in police , a falling population and massive pension liabilities .
Both candidates said addressing Chicago β s pervasive violence is a priority and would affect how they deal with the city β s struggling schools , communities and finances .
During the campaign , Ms. Lightfoot sought to link Ms. Preckwinkle with the city β s corrupt political machine , while Ms. Preckwinkle questioned Ms. Lightfoot β s previous leadership of a police-accountability task force .
Despite the vitriol of the campaign , Ms. Lighfoot struck a note of unity with Ms. Preckwinkle on Tuesday night . β Our differences are nothing compared to what we can achieve together , β she told supporters . β Now that it β s over I know that we will work together for the city that we both love . β
Ms. Lightfoot , who supports more-progressive tax policies , said one thing the city can do to improve its finances is rein in the millions it spends each year on settlements , judgments and attorney fees . She said the city must also do a better job about communicating its financial woes and needs to residents .
β We really have to demonstrate to the taxpayers that we β re not going to continue to treat them like an ATM machine with no limit , β she said .
Jaime Dominguez , a professor of political science at Northwestern University , said he was stunned by how few Chicago voters turned out on Tuesday . Officials with the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners said 32 % of registered voters had cast a ballot in the runoff , with turnout largely mirroring that in February . Officials said mail-in and provisional ballots yet to be counted likely would bump that number up slightly in the coming days .
Mr. Dominguez said Ms. Preckwinkle seemed to struggle in her efforts to persuade voters that she could bring reforms related to criminal justice , housing opportunities and aldermanic privilege .
β This wave or undercurrent of antiestablishment politics was definitely prevalent , β Mr. Dominguez said . β Preckwinkle was just not able to detach herself from the establishment , from the ongoing corruption . β
Ms. Lightfoot led in the polls by a substantial margin ahead of election day , putting Ms. Preckwinkle and her supporters on the attack .
Some called the acrimony between the two candidates off-putting , particularly considering that Ms. Preckwinkle would still lead the Cook County Board and the two will have to work together . The race was notable for its lack of an overwhelming favorite in a city that has long been dominated by the Daley dynasty and more recently by Mayor Rahm Emanuel , a prominent national Democrat who served in top roles under two presidents before being elected Chicago β s mayor in 2011 .
Michael Jackson , a 61-year-old teacher from the South Shore on the city β s majority-black South Side , said he voted for Ms. Lightfoot because she symbolizes change and is a β fresh voice β for the city .
Mr. Jackson said he didn β t like Ms. Preckwinkle β s use of attack advertisements and thought she relied too heavily on her prior experience .
β It β d be nice if candidates could run on their record rather than tear each other down , β said Mr. Jackson . β Lightfoot took the high road . β | https://www.wsj.com/articles/chicago-heads-to-polls-to-elect-first-black-female-mayor-11554225823 | Wall Street Journal - News | Lori Lightfoot Elected First Black Female Mayor of Chicago | ddcf918d3819ad3b | 1 | [
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justice | 2018-09-24 | Rod Rosenstein, Justice | center | Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein , who confidants said expected to be fired Monday , will meet face-to-face with President Trump on Thursday to discuss whether he keeps his job as the No . 2 official in the Justice Department .
Mr. Rosenstein , who oversees the special counsel investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election , has frequently been the target of Mr. Trump β s ire . But his position appeared more tenuous after the New York Times reported Friday that in early 2017 he discussed secretly recording the president and recruiting cabinet members to an effort to remove him from office . Mr. Rosenstein denied those reports .
The White House announced the meeting Monday after a morning of confusion and mixed signals . While people close to Mr. Rosenstein told reporters he expected to be fired imminently , White House chief of staff John Kelly told officials in the West Wing that Mr. Rosenstein had already resigned , a White House official said .
Television cameras were trained on black SUVs outside the White House , where Mr. Rosenstein arrived early to talk to Mr. Kelly before a previously scheduled meeting .
The two met one-on-one , people familiar with the meeting said , and Mr. Rosenstein also talked by phone to Mr. Trump , who was in New York . Mr. Rosenstein left the White House shortly before 1 p.m. , carrying a briefcase in the light rain and shaking hands with Mr. Kelly . By early afternoon , the deputy attorney general had calmly returned to the Justice Department and was attending routine meetings , including one on white-collar crime .
Mr. Rosenstein β s departure would have far-reaching consequences , sowing uncertainty at the top of the Justice Department and special counsel Robert Mueller β s office . His departure would punctuate the long-running battle between Mr. Trump and the nation β s law-enforcement establishment , following the president β s recent complaint of a β lingering stench β at the Justice Department .
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders , responding to the conflicting reports , issued a statement saying Messrs. Trump and Rosenstein had β an extended conversation to discuss the recent news stories , β but signaling nothing further would happen until Thursday , after the president returns to Washington from the United Nations General Assembly .
That meeting creates the potential for a particularly dramatic Thursday in the nation β s capital , since Judge Brett Kavanaugh , Mr. Trump β s Supreme Court nominee , and his accuser are scheduled then to testify about allegations of sexual misconduct .
The events Monday postponed , rather than resolved , the question whether Mr. Rosenstein will resign or be forced out . He discussed his potential resignation with Mr. Kelly , who summoned him to the White House on Friday and urged him to issue a second , stronger denial of the Times report , people with knowledge of the matter said .
Discussions with White House officials about his future in the administration continued over the weekend . But congressional Republicans have told the White House they fear his ouster could become a campaign issue . Mr. Trump anticipates changes at the top of the Justice Department after the midterms , people close to him have said . Mr. Rosenstein , meanwhile , told friends over the weekend that reports of his desire to record the president were untrue and left the impression that he had no immediate plans to resign . Still , some Justice Department officials were so concerned they gathered at work this weekend to discuss plans for his potential departure .
The initial report Monday from the Axios news agency that Mr. Rosenstein had β verbally resigned β unnerved the White House , and the reporter later said he regretted his wording . Mr. Kelly hadn β t yet briefed the president on his discussions with Mr. Rosenstein over the weekend . One official , asked about the tumultuous morning in the West Wing , responded in a text message , β LOL . β
Meanwhile , at the Justice Department , a spokeswoman was drafting a statement about who would succeed Mr. Rosenstein , based on the Axios report .
The turbulence originated with a Times report last week that Mr. Rosenstein , in the spring of 2017 , suggested secretly recording Mr. Trump and possibly working toward his removal from office , according to memos by then-Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe . Mr. Rosenstein , in discussions with friends over the weekend , said those reports were false and gave no indication he planned to step down , according to people who know him .
Mr. Trump said Monday he had talked with Mr. Rosenstein earlier in the day and looked forward to their meeting on Thursday . β We want to have transparency . We want to have openness , β he said . At Thursday β s session , he said , β We β ll be determining what β s going on . β
If Mr. Rosenstein leaves his post , any replacement could expect a tough confirmation process , given concerns expressed by Democrats and some Republicans that Mr. Trump has sought to influence Mr. Mueller β s probe , which Mr. Rosenstein oversees .
Jay Sekulow , one of the president β s outside attorneys , called for a β time out β in the Mueller investigation if Mr. Rosenstein departs . β In light of all of this , I think it β s really important that there be a step-back taken here and a review , β Mr. Sekulow said on an internet broadcast .
Rep. Adam Schiff of California , the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee , urged Mr. Rosenstein not to leave . β Under no circumstances should Rod Rosenstein resign , β Mr. Schiff tweeted . β This would place the Mueller investigation in even greater jeopardy . Rosenstein should continue to do his job , protect the independence of the DOJ , and if the President intends to obstruct justice , force Trump to fire him . β
Given Mr. Trump β s rough relationship with Attorney General Jeff Sessions , Mr. Rosenstein has emerged the Justice Department β s main channel to the White House and his departure would create a big gap .
If Mr. Rosenstein β s post as Mr. Sessions β deputy were to be vacated quickly , a potential replacement on an acting basis would be Mr. Sessions β chief of staff , Matthew G. Whitaker , a former U.S. attorney from Iowa who is respected in the White House , according to a person familiar with the discussions .
But anyone named on a temporary or acting basis would lack Senate approval and with it the authorization to oversee the Mueller probe . That task would fall to someone already approved by the Senate but in office lower in the Justice Department β s organizational chart , likely Solicitor General Noel Francisco .
Some Democrats said Mr. Francisco should be excluded from consideration , however , since he did legal work for the Trump campaign .
Mr. Rosenstein β s 17-month tenure as the department β s No . 2 official was rocky from the start . He was a regular target of Mr. Trump β s complaints about the special counsel who is examining Russian interference in the 2016 election and any links between those efforts and the Trump campaign . Mr. Trump has denied any collusion and called the investigation a β witch hunt. β In April , according to people familiar with the matter , he was warned against firing Mr. Rosenstein by aides who feared such action would politically harm the president ahead of the midterm elections .
The relationship between the two men improved in recent months , as Mr. Rosenstein tried to satisfy Mr. Trump and his congressional allies without compromising the Mueller probe , people familiar with the matter said . Mr. Trump last month described his rapport with Mr. Rosenstein as β fantastic. β But the dynamic shifted again in recent days . In a radio interview with Geraldo Rivera on Monday , Mr. Trump called the reports that Mr. Rosenstein considered secretly recording him β very sad . β
Mr . Sessions recused himself from the Russia matter in light of his prominent role in the Trump campaign , leaving him detached in some ways from his department and damaging his relationship with the president .
While Mr. Rosenstein was headed to the White House Thursday , Mr . Sessions was speaking Thursday to local law-enforcement officials in Alabama , who gave him a standing ovation . β I may need this today , β he said . β Going back to Washington , you never know what is going to happen . β | https://www.wsj.com/articles/deputy-attorey-general-rod-rosenstein-expects-to-be-fired-monday-1537801806?mod=hp_lead_pos1 | Wall Street Journal - News | Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Expects to Be Fired, Clouding Mueller Investigation | 550282b74506d53a | 1 | [
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media_bias | 2018-05-24 | Media Bias | left | Advertisement Supported by By Matt Stevens Elon Musk, the billionaire who has ambitions to colonize Mars and whose companies make electric vehicles and rockets, spent part of his Wednesday criticizing an already beleaguered and much-maligned group of humans on Earth. Yes, Mr. Musk, 46, the chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, could not help unloading on the news media β members of which have written articles, especially in recent months, about the many problems that have plagued his companies. (Among them: delays in the production of Model 3s; a deadly crash that occurred when a Model Xβs Autopilot system was engaged; and questions about Teslaβs ability to pay off its debt amid continued quarterly losses.) Advertisement In a series of tweets that ranged from bizarre to pithy, Mr. Musk called the media βholier-than-thou,β argued it had lost its credibility, blamed it for the election of President Trump, and suggested that journalists wrote negative stories about Tesla because they seek page views and because companies that make cars that rely on gas and diesel β some of Teslaβs competitors β βare among worldβs biggest advertisers.β He also proposed creating what he called a βmedia credibility rating site,β which he suggested calling βPravdaβ β the Russian word for βtruthβ and also the name of a longtime Communist newspaper. Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like. Matthew Sedacca contributed reporting. Advertisement Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Times. See subscription options | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/business/elon-musk-tesla-twitter-media.html | New York Times (News) | Why Is Elon Musk Attacking the Media? We Explain. (Also, Give Us a Good Rating!) | 1f8c2a0b1f5275b4 | 0 | [
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polarization | 2018-03-22 | Tribalism, Political Polarization, Polarization | right | A Trump supporter ( right ) argues with a demonstrator taking part in an International Women β s Day march in New York City , March 8 , 2018 . ( Lucas Jackson/Reuters )
Fury and finger-pointing are all the rage on social media . Plenty of Americans just shrug .
β By now we all understand that America is in the grip of political tribalism , β Yale professor Amy Chua wrote in the February 22 New York Times . β We lament and condemn this phenomenon even as we voraciously engage in it . β
It β s a familiar refrain , is it not ? Chua β s widely discussed new book on the topic , Political Tribes : Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations , has been praised as β timely , β β spot-on , β β brilliant , β and β insightful. β ( The author β s earlier launch to fame was a bit more divisive : In 2011 β s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother , she detailed her unorthodox method of perfectionist parenting , including the crazed and principled rejection of a crookedly folded , happy-face-strewn birthday card made by her four-year-old daughter . )
In any case , tribalism is hot right now β or so we are told . If you believe what you watch , read , and hear , America is hopelessly fractured among red and blue partisan team lines , poised for an endless and nightmarish cable-news-style shouting match . Support for Donald Trump , we are informed , is particularly β tribal in nature , β as Senator Bob Corker recently told the Washington Examiner . If you spend a lot of time on social media β and many journalists do β you β re probably convinced that this is correct . America is broken , we are told . People simply can β t see beyond party lines . Reason has failed . Tribalism reigns .
Really , bear with me : What if a significant segment of the American population is completely left out of the larger media discussion about social media and tribalism ? Think about your real-life experiences , not those that occur in front of a screen . You probably know these people . Perhaps you are even one of them . Let β s call them the β Mehs . β
β Meh , β according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary , is a neologism β used to express indifference or mild disappointment. β β Meh β is β an interjection used as an expression of indifference or boredom , β Wikipedia notes . β It is often regarded as a verbal equivalent of a shrug of the shoulders , β and people utter it when addressing a topic they have β no opinion or emotions about. β ( That last line is kind of hilarious , given that our current cultural milieu urges people of all ages and levels of engagement to have passionate opinions on every topic in the universe , including subjects they know nothing about . But let β s move on . )
What if a significant segment of the American population is completely left out of the larger media discussion about social media and tribalism ?
β Meh β was first widely popularized on The Simpsons , a TV show credited with predicting this year β s U.S. Olympic curling win against Sweden eight years before it happened , as well as forecasting Donald Trump β s presidency way back in the year 2000 . Since its Simpsons debut , β meh β has appeared in various dictionaries as well as headlines for BBC News , ABC News , and the New York Times . β Meh , β apparently , has arrived .
In its political form , a β meh β might signify displeasure with American politics at large , but with none of the gushers of faux outrage and over-the-top feigned surprise that regularly festoon social media . ( Remember , say , the trauma of the proposed Washington , D.C. , military parade that was going to potentially end America as we know it and that inspired a brief burst of hysteria until everyone forgot about it a few days later ? No ? Ah ha ! You might be a β meh . β )
As a β meh , β you might align with one political party β ahem , I β m sorry , political β tribe β β but in reality , that tribe frequently annoys and exasperates you and makes you wonder , at least once a week , why it even exists as an entity . You β re not the sort of rah-rah knee-jerk blinkered team player we β re so confidently told is on the rise . You just happen to think β based on actual policy preferences , not base caveman instinct β that the other side is worse . ( This also explains the predicament of Evangelicals , by the way , who are often painted in the media as tribal robots . Many were reluctant Trump voters at best . )
Most significantly , the β mehs β have a crucial skill in this day and age : They understand the grand unifying theory of politics , which is that a frighteningly large percentage of the people involved in politics can be insufferable and wildly out of touch . At moments of trivial political absurdity , the β mehs β can say , β Ugh , well , that β s politics , β as opposed to completely freaking out and acting as if trivial political absurdities have never occurred before β not with people surviving to tell the tale , anyway β and ratcheting matters up to eleven on a one-to-ten scale , as social media tends to inspire people to do .
To say β meh β isn β t to say β who cares ? β when it comes to important issues . But it does involve a certain detached understanding that much of our federal government is a gigantic , sprawling , often self-serving mess . On one side , a β meh β understands why we β re somehow voting on a gargantuan $ 1.3 trillion funding bill when the supposedly fiscally conservative political party is power . On the other , a β meh β understands that The Handmaid β s Tale is not unfolding in real life .
I hope that the rise of the β mehs β will correlate with increased calls for limited , accountable government , and the votes to back them up . This rarely happens , but hey , we all can dream . In the meantime , you , too , can adopt the β meh β lifestyle . Does this column infuriate you ? If this one doesn β t , is there another on the docket that makes you want to pull a proverbial Incredible Hulk ? Close your eyes , lean back , and say β meh. β Trust me . It β s really a glorious way to live . | https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/03/political-tribalism-democrats-republicans-many-americans-shrug/ | National Review | Is Tribalism Really on the Rise? Meh. | eed4bfab292e8298 | 2 | [
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europe | 2015-09-07 | Immigration, Europe, World | left | ( CNN ) A trash-strewn field along the Hungarian-Serbian border served as the latest flashpoint in Europe 's migrant crisis Monday as people grew weary of waiting for days in primitive conditions to resume their journey to safety .
The question on all their lips : `` Why are they treating us like this ? ''
At times , the migrants -- most of them from Iraq , Syria and Afghanistan -- tussled with police blocking a road from this holding site to a transit camp near Roszke , Hungary , where they can register as refugees and continue their journeys .
Buses were carrying small numbers of migrants to the camp , but many have been forced to wait at the holding site for as many as three days with little in the way of services or support .
One Hungarian nonprofit was on site handing out biscuits , fruit and water , and a medical tent was erected Monday .
Only handful of buses.Ppl fed up waiting among the trash . `` We will walk 2 camp & register , it 's 10mins away . '' # hungary pic.twitter.com/NMZuipw9hb β Arwa Damon ( @ arwaCNN ) September 7 , 2015
Meanwhile , Austria and Germany warned they ca n't keep up with the influx of refugees and said they must begin to slow the pace .
JUST WATCHED Migrants determined to enter Austria , Germany Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Migrants determined to enter Austria , Germany 02:29
More than 16,000 migrants have streamed into Austria since Saturday , Burgenland state police spokesman Wolfgang Bachkoenig said Monday . Virtually all continued to Germany , where the city of Munich had received more than 17,500 people , police said .
`` We must now , step by step , go from emergency measures to a normality that is humane and complies with the law , '' Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said .
At least 2,800 have died or disappeared during the journey . Those who make the crossing face uncertain futures in European nations , which differ in their approach to asylum seekers .
On Monday , German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country would pledge an additional β¬3 billion to the migrant crisis . She said Germany `` is of course willing to accept more refugees , '' but called on other European countries to take in more .
Moments after Merkel spoke , French President Francois Hollande said France is ready to take on more responsibility .
He said the European Commission will propose distributing 120,000 refugees over the next two years , of whom France would take in 24,000 .
`` We will do so because it is the principle to which France is committed , '' Hollande said .
And Britain will take up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years , Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday . But the country will focus on resettling refugees from camps in countries bordering Syria , not those who have already entered Europe .
`` This provides refugees with a more direct and safe route to the United Kingdom rather than risking the hazardous journey to Europe , which has tragically cost so many lives . ''
Refugees will receive a five-year humanitarian protection visa , he said .
Denmark , for instance , paid for ads in Arabic in four Lebanese newspapers to get the word out about its own new , tightened restrictions -- such as reducing social benefits -- to try to prevent refugees from getting into the Scandinavian nation .
`` We can not simply keep up with the present flow , '' Immigration and Integration Minister Inger Stojberg , a member of the right-wing Venstre Party , said on Facebook . `` In light of the huge influx to Europe these days , there is good reason for us to tighten rules and get that effectively communicated . ''
Many of the migrants arrive with harrowing tales of crossing the Mediterranean , then walking from Greece through Macedonia , Serbia , Hungary and finally into Austria .
Austria 's border with Hungary remains open to potential refugees , Austrian Interior Ministry spokesman Alexander Marakovits said Sunday , as packed buses and trains continued to arrive .
Many Austrians brought food and water and cheered for the refugees pouring onto the platform at Vienna 's train station .
JUST WATCHED Austrians give food , water , train tickets to migrants Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Austrians give food , water , train tickets to migrants 01:52
One man who recently arrived in Austria talked of the family 's difficult journey through Hungary .
`` We went through a torture , '' he said , standing next to his two daughters . `` We walked 110 kilometers ( 70 miles ) with the children . They did n't allow us to take cars or trains . ''
But he said the Hungarian people `` were very nice '' and the situation got better when the family arrived in Austria .
`` We are comfortable here , and we like the people and the government of Austria . ''
Of the thousands who arrived in Austria this weekend , a dozen or so have opted to apply for asylum there , the country 's Interior Ministry said . Many want to go farther , particularly to Germany .
JUST WATCHED Thousands of migrants arrive in Germany Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Thousands of migrants arrive in Germany 02:13
At least 340 attacks have taken place on refugee camps in Germany this year , the Interior Ministry said . Most of the incidents are believed to be fueled by radical right-wing , anti-immigrant sentiment .
The attacks include vandalism , hate speech and arson , as well as violent attacks on people . At least 38 violent assaults have been recorded this year , up from 28 last year .
On Monday , another suspicious fire broke out at a house for asylum seekers in Rottenburg am Neckar , police said .
Five people were injured -- three by smoke inhalation and two by jumping out of the building 's first and second floors . None of the rooms is inhabitable anymore .
European Union countries have an open-border policy that allows the free movement of people between member states . While Germany , France and other countries are opening their doors to more migrants , countries such as Hungary and Austria are clamping down on the flow .
Hungary 's right-wing government , trying to stop the flood of migrants , has erected a barbed wire fence along its more than 160-kilometer ( 100-mile ) border with Serbia to prevent them from crossing there . Serbia is not an EU country .
In Austria , the Interior Ministry warned that it is illegal to drive across the border to Hungary , pick up a group of migrants and transport them back to Austria .
JUST WATCHED Volunteers give migrants a lift Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Volunteers give migrants a lift 04:18
A group of volunteers from Austria , Germany and Slovakia -- organized on Facebook -- formed a convoy of almost 200 cars to shuttle migrants from the Hungarian border .
`` We think that around 380 people came with us , '' volunteer Erzsebet Szabo said Monday morning . `` We are very happy . ''
Szabo said she 's not afraid of getting arrested . After all , she said , even that fate would n't compare to what the refugees have endured .
`` It 's very important that we , altogether , give this big sign that refugees -- the people that need our help and come from the war -- have our solidarity and support . ''
The disparate responses have resulted in calls from United Nations and European Union officials for European countries to stand shoulder to shoulder in their response to the crisis , the like of which has not been seen since World War II .
`` We need concrete , coherent , rational political decisions in the sense of solidarity and responsibility , because European Union was built in decades after the second world war on the experience of that war , that made many of our Europeans flee and leave Europe , '' EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini told CNN 's Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview Monday .
`` Now we should remember our story and act following the same values and principles that have allowed us to build a continent in peace and prosperity , '' she said . `` We are rich . We are in peace . We have the duty to save and protect people that are fleeing from war . '' | http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/07/europe/europe-migrant-crisis/index.html | CNN (Web News) | European migrant crisis: Austria, Germany near capacity | 644b4a00f25c8212 | 0 | [
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elections | 2016-10-28 | Presidential Elections, Elections | left | Robust early October fundraising has left Hillary Clinton's campaign with a comfortable $62 million for the final days of the presidential election, while Donald Trump's own fundraising efforts over the same period of time disappointed, leaving him with only $16 million in his campaign coffers by Oct. 19, The Washington Post reports.Trump's campaign raised just $28.9 million in the first 19 days of the month, filings show, down from $100 million in September; Clinton raised nearly double that, $57.2 million. Despite Trump's repeated claims that he will donate $100 million to his campaign by Election Day, his personal contributions total, to date, just over $56 million.RealClearPolitics' average of the polls has Clinton up 5 points nationally; both candidates will be in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday for different events.Subscribe to The Week Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives. SUBSCRIBE & SAVE Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up | http://theweek.com/speedreads/658102/early-october-fundraising-gives-clinton-campaign-leg-final-days-election | The Week - News | October Fundraising Gives Clinton a Leg Up | 96d6672e1c5f0bb8 | 0 | [
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violence_in_america | 2016-07-09 | Violence In America | left | This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. This is a modal window. By Nick Gass 07/08/2016 07:03 AM EDT Updated: 07/08/2016 01:17 PM EDT Link Copied President Barack Obamaβs political opponents quickly piled on after news emerged that a gunman had killed five police officers in Dallas, assailing him for his focus on gun control, his overseas trip, and his treatment of the law enforcement community. Speaking to reporters earlier in Warsaw, Poland, where he is attending a NATO meeting, Obama on Friday called the Dallas shooting a βwrenching reminder of the sacrificesβ law enforcement makes for the American people, but also remarked βthat when people are armed with powerful weapons, unfortunately it makes it more deadly and more tragic, and in the days ahead we are going to have to consider those realities as well.β Ben Carson lit into Obama within the first hour after his remarks. βNow is definitely not the time to get political,β the former Republican presidential candidate and Donald Trump surrogate told βFox & Friendsβ when asked about Obamaβs comments. βNow is the time to use logic and ask ourselves, why do we have a Constitution? Why do we have a Second Amendment? Theyβre always saying you donβt need a high-powered weapon to hunt deer. The Constitution is not about deer hunting. Itβs about people being able to defend themselves from an overly aggressive government or an external invasion.β Asked what he would say as president, Carson said he would ask the country to βimagine 24 or 48 hours with no police. What would your life be like?β βYes, there are some bad apples and, yes, we will find ways to deal with them but in no way do we indict the entire police force,β Carson said. Addressing the killing of five officers, in addition to seven more wounded, Carson noted that βthere are terror cellsβ and βprofessional agitators all over our country looking for opportunities.β βAnd these opportunities do arise. They will continue to arise because, you know, there are bad apples in the police force like there are bad apples in everything. There are bad surgeons,β the retired neurosurgeon said. βBut the vast majority of surgeons are wonderful people. So, you know, these opportunities will continue to happen and they will continue to do these things. But I guess the real issue is, you know, the presidentβs going to start saying, see, gun control.β Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), whose district encompasses parts of northeast Dallas, affirmed his support for Trump and criticized the man currently in the White House for βweaknessβ and for being abxentabsence from the United States. βWeβll go with great resolve to Cleveland. Donald Trump will be there and be nominated and we must stand and be strong about making America great again,β Sessions told MSNBCβs βMorning Joe.β βIf we are weak at home, we are weak around the world and this is an example of a weakness when our president goes overseas and has a terrible tragedy like this is an idea why weβve got to solve ourself.β Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, meanwhile, told Fox News that he would have preferred Obama react to the shootings more like President Ronald Reagan assuaged the nation following the Challenger space disaster in 1986. βHe doesnβt need to inject the divisive arguments like gun control at a time of great grief for the nation. And he ought to do for us what Ronald Reagan did after the Challenger disaster,β Huckabee said. βAnd thatβs remind us of what we have in common, not what separates us. And thatβs why Iβm always so frustrated. Barack Obama has such great potential to be a leader. But on the other hand, what he ought to be doing is focusing upon those police officers and the sacrifice they made and solely on the police officers and the sacrifices of their family and leave all of the political discussions aside. Thereβs plenty of time for that. Today thereβs one thing ought on the presidentβs mind.β On the same program, Colorado Republican Senate candidate Darryl Glenn suggested that the president needs βto be very careful not to get too far ahead of the facts, but you need to be careful not to drive your policy agenda.β βBecause what youβre going to do is youβre going to exacerbate the issue by driving a wedge, especially a wedge between law enforcement and the people that theyβre there to protect,β Glenn continued, suggesting that this is βan excellent opportunityβ to bring together policymakers, law enforcement and community leaders. βBecause we need to grieve together because weβre family members. And you need to make sure that the information youβre putting out there is factual. Not policy based.β Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, widely seen as a leading contender to be Trumpβs vice presidential pick, told βFox & Friendsβ that Obama has failed to bring the country together in his nearly eight years in office. βGun control is the obvious,β he said. βLook, first of all, our hearts have to go out to families. The families of the police officers in Dallas. The families in Baton Rouge. The families in Minneapolis. This has been a terrible couple of days for America, and it should be a wake-up call that thereβs some things that are profoundly wrong in this country right now. And they deserve an honest, open conversation or itβs just going to get worse.β Appearing later in the morning on Fox News, William Johnson, the executive director of National Association of Police Organizations, was asked whether law enforcement feels βincreasingly under siege and targeted.β βAbsolutely. Itβs a horrible day. Itβs a war on cops,β Johnson responded. βAnd the Obama administration is the Neville Chamberlain of this war. I think their continued appeasement at the federal level with the Department of Justice, their appeasement of violent criminals, their refusal to condemn movements like Black Lives Matter, actively calling for the death of police officers, that type of thing, all the while blaming police for the problems in this country has led directly to the climate that has made Dallas possible.β Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) decried in a statement what he characterized as the βspread of misinformation and constant instigation by prominent leaders, including our presidentβ who, he added, βcontributed to the modern day hostility we are witnessing between the police and those they serve. As a result, today we are seeing one of the noblest professions condemned by those who could benefit the most.β Taking a more measured tone, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) laid the blame for the shooting squarely in the hands of the perpetrators, while also suggesting that Obama, along with other public officials, including himself, take a look in the mirror. βI think all of us in public life, the president included, should re-examine everything weβve said, everything weβve done up to this point to see if in our public discourse weβve contributed in any way,β Rubio told reporters in Washington, adding, βI think all of us need to re-examine constantly in this country and whether it contributes to the nation moving forward or whether sometimes weβre unnecessarily pitting people against each other. And I hold myself to that standard as well.β On Thursday, before the Dallas shootings, Obama tried to strike a balance as he talked about anger and grief in the African-American community after the latest killings by police and the feeling among some law enforcement officials that Obama has not always supported them. βTo be concerned about these issues is not to be against law enforcement,β he said. βWhen people say black lives matter, it doesnβt mean blue lives donβt matter.β Β© 2025 POLITICO LLC | http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/ben-carson-dallas-shooting-obama-225278 | Politico | GOP rips Obama after Dallas shooting | cf4855fc8ed9abd8 | 0 | [
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media_bias | 2020-03-25 | Media Industry, Twitter, Censorship, Free Speech, Coronavirus, Public Health, Media Bias | left | Twitter temporarily locked the account of The Federalist Wednesday after the conservative opinion site published a piece , written by a dermatologist based in Oregon , that proposed the deliberate spread of the coronavirus in order to boost immunity to the disease .
The op-ed , penned by Dr. Douglas Perednia , proposed an β outside the box β solution to the current pandemic that flies in the face of advice from experts , including Dr. Anthony Fauci , who are urging social distancing .
Perednia wrote that a β controlled infection β β modeled after the β chickenpox parties β of the last century β is the measure that should be considered .
A Controlled Voluntary Infection ( CVI ) β involves allowing people at low risk for severe complications to deliberately contract COVID-19 in a socially and medically responsible way so they become immune to the disease , β the doctor wrote .
β It is time to think outside the box and seriously consider a somewhat unconventional approach to COVID-19 : controlled voluntary infection , β The Federalist wrote in a now-removed tweet linking to the op-ed .
Twitter initially added a warning to the link stating that the post might be β unsafe . β
Then , according to a Twitter spokesperson , β the account was temporarily locked for violating the Twitter Rules regarding COVID-19 . β
The tweet was deleted , and the Federalist Twitter page appears to be back up and running . Twitter has taken aggressive measures to crack down on misinformation surrounding the coronavirus .
Federalist co-founders Sean Davis and Ben Domenech did not respond to βββ β s request for comment .
did the coronavirus write this ? https : //t.co/pqF2zL0Zqk β Christopher Ingraham ( @ _cingraham ) March 25 , 2020
I am continually flabbergasted that The Federalist is running these kinds of takes , especially after one of their staff writers , Bre Payton , died in 2018 from H1N1 flu https : //t.co/syKkw08V6H β Jared Holt ( @ jaredlholt ) March 25 , 2020
The medical community is overwhelmed right now but sure , let β s be idiots and infect ourselves . Who funds The Federalist ? https : //t.co/fZLYUpFuts β Bradley P. Moss ( @ BradMossEsq ) March 25 , 2020
I think this is the fifth time in the past year and a half that I β ve been glad The Federalist fired me , sparing me the necessity of having to quit in protest . https : //t.co/KbWxLWTcHg β Robert Tracinski ( @ Tracinski ) March 25 , 2020
The Federalist death cult in action . These psychopaths are going to get people killed . https : //t.co/ZzuGAPAHzx β Mark Joseph Stern ( @ mjs_DC ) March 25 , 2020
You guys got this ! Put the virus where your mouth is . Buona fortuna ! https : //t.co/LrtEa4i8J3 β Gary Shteyngart ( @ Shteyngart ) March 25 , 2020
You first dude https : //t.co/LxiyuPJx3n β Don Moynihan ( @ donmoyn ) March 25 , 2020
Are you fucking mental ? https : //t.co/NyJNDnHL8L β Ian Miles Cheong ( @ stillgray ) March 25 , 2020
This is dangerous , weapons-grade disinformation that appears engineered to try to kill as many people as possible . Please do not follow this advice . https : //t.co/xI07NPMxoq β Brooke Binkowski ( @ brooklynmarie ) March 25 , 2020
I β m going to have to pass on this strategy https : //t.co/FrtOwYkaqP β Matt Walsh ( @ MattWalshBlog ) March 25 , 2020
I β m so old , I remember last week when people were making jokes that this was coming next https : //t.co/ugFhoThgnp β Extremely Socially Distant Tom Tomorrow ( @ tomtomorrow ) March 25 , 2020
I invite everyone from the Federalist to seal themselves in their offices and test out this approach . https : //t.co/XlotADI9RY β Gary Legum ( @ GaryLegum ) March 25 , 2020
Why are conservatives trying to kill each other https : //t.co/UpWhMcBG1R β dylan matthews ( @ dylanmatt ) March 25 , 2020
this is * really * outside the box when you consider that scientists aren β t yet sure if you even develop an immunity to coronavirus after you have it the first time https : //t.co/Ak55S0Bd1G β Matt Binder ( @ MattBinder ) March 25 , 2020
Please no more entries . https : //t.co/L5kYT4uKWH β Rick Hasen ( @ rickhasen ) March 25 , 2020
no , please just stay inside the box for a few weeks , it β s really not that much to ask https : //t.co/s5Fk8lEyer β Josh Billinson ( @ jbillinson ) March 25 , 2020
As to who funds the Federalist , that is still unknown at this time .
Who funds The Federalist ? https : //t.co/VgJNhNxfta β JJ MacNab ( @ jjmacnab ) March 25 , 2020
Well I guess the good news is we β ll find out who funds the Federalist when they die of COVID-19 https : //t.co/yJiAWeDQCe β Adam Weinstein ( @ AdamWeinstein ) March 25 , 2020
after a sleepless night warging and scrying at a crossroads with a brass bowl of goat tears , I β m both relieved and distressed to report that I have discovered who fund the Federalist : Satan himself https : //t.co/SHY2TQaayi β inverted vibe curve ( @ PatBlanchfield ) March 25 , 2020
Maybe their secret funding really is a hostile foreign power . https : //t.co/PdcQ31TkPf β S.V . DΓ‘te ( @ svdate ) March 25 , 2020
Does the virus fund the federalist ? https : //t.co/neVAK3TjZ7 β Matthew Yglesias ( @ mattyglesias ) March 25 , 2020
[ READ : Doctor Who Wrote Op-Ed on Coronavirus Infection Parties Says Federalist Made Unwanted Edits to Piece ] | https://www.mediaite.com/news/twitter-deletes-post-from-the-federalist-proposing-chickenpox-parties-to-deliberately-spread-coronavirus/ | Mediaite | Twitter Deletes Post From The Federalist Proposing βChickenpox Partiesβ to Deliberately Spread Coronavirus | 86cc13235278fd19 | 0 | [
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taxes | 2017-12-29 | Taxes | center | Sen. Marco Rubio says the GOP "probably went too far" in slashing the tax burden on corporations.The Florida Republican told the News-Press of Fort Myers that corporations will largely use their major tax cut to buy back shares or increase dividends to shareholders β which "isn't going to create dramatic economic growth.""If I were king for a day, this tax bill would have looked different. I thought we probably went too far on (helping) corporations," Rubio told the newspaper in the interview published Friday. "By and large, you're going to see a lot of these multinationals buy back shares to drive up the price. Some of them will be forced, because they're sitting on historic levels of cash, to pay out dividends to shareholders.""That isn't going to create dramatic economic growth. (But) there's a lot of things in the bill that I have supported for a long time (such as) doubling the Child Tax Credit. And it is better β significantly better β than the current code," he continued.The tax plan that President Donald Trump signed into law last week permanently chops the corporate tax to 21 percent from 35 percent. Republicans say the change β which starts Monday β will drive domestic investment, boost wages and fuel economic growth over time.At least a dozen companies β including mammoth employers like AT&T and Boeing β announced plans to raise their minimum wages, increase capital investment or hand out employee bonuses after the plan's passage. While Republicans have cheered those announcements, some critics of the corporate tax cut have maintained most of those benefits will likely go to shareholders rather than workers.Rubio, who sought the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, supported both the Senate GOP's tax bill and a joint House and Senate version that the president signed. He pushed first for a doubling of the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000, then for increasing the refundable portion of that credit to $1,400.During the Senate tax debate, Rubio proposed expanding the credit and paying for it by cutting the corporate tax rate by less than the GOP initially intended. | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/29/marco-rubio-thinks-the-gop-tax-plan-helps-corporations-too-much.html | CNBC | Sen. Marco Rubio thinks the GOP tax plan helps corporations too much | 3ebe6553b0661aab | 1 | [
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education | 2016-12-02 | Education, Donald Trump | left | When Donald Trump set out to pick the next education secretary , he faced a stark choice . He could choose an insider who had shaped education policy for a state or large school district . Or he could bring in an outsider β someone who views traditional public schools as a failed system in need of dismantling .
Unlike most of her predecessors , Betsy DeVos , Trump β s nominee for education secretary , has never taught in a public school or college , run a school district or public university , served on a school board , or shaped state education policy . DeVos , a billionaire philanthropist , instead made her name as an advocate for school vouchers β the idea of letting students use public money to attend private schools .
Together , DeVos and Trump want to oversee the biggest change to American public education in half a century . Trump β s plan for his first 100 days includes a $ 20 billion federal voucher program for children living in poverty , a program he β d likely pay for by dismantling the biggest existing system of federal support for public schools .
For some conservatives and Republicans in Congress , the plan would be a dream come true . Voucher supporters believe that competition from private schools will provide a better education for all children , and that offering poor families the opportunity to choose a school , including a private school , is a matter of social justice β since well-off families already can exercise choice by buying a house in a good school district .
But although some research has shown a small benefit for voucher students or the public schools they left behind , many other studies have shown no effect . One thing , though , is certain about Trump β s plan : It would send a generous amount of taxpayer money to private schools , including religious schools , and public schools would lose some of their state and federal funding while serving millions of disadvantaged students who would remain in the system .
The ultimate goal of Trump β s plan is for states and the federal government together to offer a school voucher to every child living in poverty in America β exploding the number of students getting vouchers from 170,000 to 11 million , and ending a program that provides federal money to more than half of all American public schools .
Trump says he β d pay for the $ 20 billion program by cutting elsewhere in the education budget . That almost certainly includes the $ 14 billion the federal government spent in 2015 on grants to educate disadvantaged children , defined as children from families making at most 185 percent of the poverty line ( just under $ 45,000 for a family of four ) . The grants , known as Title I grants , go to states and districts to pass on to schools based on the proportion of disadvantaged students those schools enroll .
Republicans have long wanted to turn this program into a voucher . Instead of money going to schools based on the composition of their student body , Title I would β follow the child. β Every disadvantaged student a school enrolled would come with a small pile of federal cash to help pay for his or her education . And schools would get the money whether they were public , private , or charter .
This idea , known as β Title I portability β in education circles , is by now a mainstream Republican policy proposal . Ronald Reagan called for turning Title I into vouchers during his presidency . Mitt Romney wanted to turn both Title I and special education funding into vouchers during his 2012 presidential run . Sen. Lamar Alexander , the Tennessee Republican who chairs the Senate education committee , introduced a budget amendment to turn Title I into a voucher that could be used at private , public , or charter schools in 2013 . ( Alexander later supported a narrower version of portability that would apply only to public and charter schools . )
Title I money is meant to help schools that face the challenge of educating a lot of poor students ; making it portable means some federal money would also go to schools that are generally wealthy but enroll a handful of kids from poor families . But turning Title I into vouchers wouldn β t be enough on its own to start a private school exodus . Dividing $ 14 billion in federal funding among the 25 million students poor enough to count as β disadvantaged β yields a voucher of $ 580 . Private school tuition costs , on average , nearly $ 11,000 per year .
Trump β s plan , though , wants to go a lot bigger . He β d limit the vouchers to students in poverty ( which would mean that 14 million kids from families making between 100 and 185 percent of the federal poverty line would be cut out ) . He β d cut other federal programs besides Title I to bring the funding to $ 20 million , though he hasn β t said which ones .
But the big idea Trump is touting is that he could get states to kick in enough money to give the vouchers some real buying power .
Trump β s plan calls for turning education spending into a grant to states β and then using that money to encourage states to pass voucher-friendly laws and kick in money of their own . If states added $ 110 billion of their own money to the $ 20 billion the federal government would spend , Trump says , every student living in poverty could get a $ 12,000 voucher , well over the average cost of private elementary school tuition and slightly under the average cost of private high school .
But that β s a little bit like saying if every state somehow passed a law to give students a Porsche , every student would have a Porsche . Trump β s plan is vague on where that $ 110 billion β 20 percent of the total amount states spend on K-12 education β would come from , or how exactly he β d persuade states to change their laws and contribute the money .
Just 13 states and Washington , DC , have voucher programs at all , and most of those programs only apply to students with disabilities . Seventeen states allow residents or businesses to donate a portion of their taxes to private school scholarship funds , a sort of backdoor voucher system because it allows for some public subsidies for private education .
Given that Republicans have total control of state government in 25 states , more states might be voucher-friendly soon . Although some blue states would certainly resist , dangling federal grants as a reward can lead to dramatic change . The Obama administration is proof : In 2009 , as states were struggling with their budgets during the recession , a state grant competition , Race to the Top , successfully got dozens of states to change their laws on charter schools and adopt Common Core standards in order to be eligible for grants totaling $ 4 billion .
Republicans spent the next seven years decrying Obama β s Race to the Top program as federal overreach . And some school voucher supporters , including the libertarian Cato Institute , are arguing that if Trump wants to use the Education Department to urge states to embrace vouchers , he β d be no better . Congressional Republicans will have to pick between two principles they hold dear : school vouchers and states β rights .
But even if Trump got a majority of states to pass school vouchers , the evidence suggests that students who took them might not get a dramatically better education .
Some research β but not all β has found school vouchers work
School vouchers are particularly popular among Republicans because they appeal to two core constituencies β free market conservatives and evangelical Christians β while also allowing them to use the language of civil rights and social justice .
Giving school vouchers to 11 million children would be a huge windfall for private schools β the majority of which are affiliated with religious groups . Religiously affiliated private schools outnumber secular ones two to one nationally . Conservative Christians have supported vouchers since the 1970s , after desegregation and Supreme Court decisions on school prayer and Bible reading led to a backlash against public schools .
Voucher advocates , though , also argue that school vouchers give poor families a right that middle-class ones take for granted : the ability to choose the school their children attend . The majority of children in America go to a public school they β re assigned to based on their address .
But well-off families can afford to pick out a house zoned into the public school they want their kids to attend , while poor families with fewer resources are stuck with the neighborhoods they can afford . ( Many Democrats embrace this argument too , but only when it refers to charter schools rather than school vouchers . )
This argument , though , raises the question of whether private schools really offer a better education to voucher students . And two decades of research have suggested the answer to the first question is β maybe , but not by much β β at least if you β re measuring quality by test scores .
Most voucher programs in the US have been small and awarded by lottery , meaning researchers can compare students who wanted vouchers and got them with students who wanted vouchers and didn β t get them . That β s generally considered the best way to measure the effect of a private school education , since you β re only comparing students who wanted the vouchers in the first place . ( Some students who are awarded vouchers end up attending public school anyway ; researchers have tried to compensate for this . )
Two decades of studies on voucher programs in six cities and two states have not led to a resounding conclusion that vouchers work to improve education across the board . Of the 20 studies by the pro-voucher Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice , 10 found vouchers had no effect on participants β test scores at all .
In Toledo and Dayton , Ohio , vouchers had no effect on students β test performance . In DC , students who won the voucher lottery were more likely to graduate from high school but didn β t score any higher on state tests after three years in private school . In Charlotte , North Carolina , vouchers appear to have led to higher test scores in reading , but not math , for participants . In Milwaukee , voucher recipients made faster progress in math .
New York β s voucher program , meanwhile , has been intensely studied and debated . Most analyses agree that it had no effect overall on test scores or college enrollment rates . But other research found that black students who got vouchers later performed better on tests , even if students of other races saw no effect β which led to a debate among researchers about how students should be classified , because if students with a black father and a mother of another race were included ( typically , research assigns children their mother β s race ) , the effect disappeared .
On the whole , while some studies have found a modest improvement in test scores , particularly for black students , there β s far from a resounding consensus from studies of citywide voucher programs .
Meanwhile , recent studies of newer statewide voucher systems in Louisiana and Ohio found that students who used vouchers actually fell behind academically , particularly in math . The pro-voucher Fordham Foundation , which analyzed Ohio β s program , was honest that it found those results dismaying : β We did not expect β or , frankly , wish β to see these negative effects for voucher participants , β the researchers wrote .
The assertion that vouchers push public schools to improve by providing competition , on the other hand , has a somewhat more solid foundation . In Louisiana , students who got vouchers but chose not to use them saw their test scores rise , suggesting that public schools might be improving in response to competition . An analysis of 21 separate papers found that , overall , vouchers had either no effect or a slight positive effect on surrounding public schools . ( Many of those studies were done in Florida , where vouchers were part of a complex , high-stakes system meant to increase schools β average test scores . )
Trump is proposing school vouchers on an unprecedented scale . It β s not clear how these effects would translate if 20 percent of the nation β s public school population had the option of transferring to a private school .
The worst-case scenario : Bad private schools proliferate , and public schools get worse
Trump β s school vouchers , if they took effect , would be far more extensive than any existing voucher program in the US . And it β s not clear what quality control , if any , Trump envisions β if private schools enrolling voucher students would have to give standardized tests and be judged according to their scores , for example .
DeVos , Trump β s education secretary pick , pushed to expand charter schools in Michigan β a state that lets for-profit companies run charter schools and has some of the weakest regulation in the country . And her group campaigned against a state law that would have created oversight for Detroit charter schools .
In higher education , where the federal government provides billions of dollars of vouchers ( known as Pell Grants ) for poor students , plenty of that money goes to colleges where students never graduate or earn degrees that can β t get them a job .
By covering only families below the poverty line , Trump β s plan would also leave many students , including disadvantaged students , behind in public schools . That would likely include some students who received vouchers but struggled with private school admissions . Private schools can keep their admissions standards , meaning they can reject students based on a variety of factors , including their academic and disciplinary background .
In Ohio , for example , students who used vouchers were slightly less disadvantaged than the students who received vouchers and stayed in public schools . The researchers suggested this might be because getting admitted to a private school requires both the ability to meet admissions requirements and the savvy to navigate the system .
A child living in poverty in a city who nonetheless has good grades and test scores , has no disciplinary record , and doesn β t mind attending a Catholic or conservative Christian school would have options under a voucher system . It β s not clear what Trump β s plan would do to ensure they β re good ones .
A child with learning disabilities , or who is still learning English , or who lives in a rural area with few private school options , or who has been suspended from school β a punishment disproportionately applied to black students β will have a lot fewer . And it β s even less clear what will happen to the public schools she might end up attending instead . | http://www.vox.com/2016/12/2/13767668/donald-trump-education-betsy-devos-school-vouchers | Vox | Donald Trumpβs huge, ambitious school voucher plan, explained | 83884922ddf25316 | 0 | [
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arts_and_entertainment | 2018-02-13 | Arts And Entertainment | left | Itβs a less than wonderful kind of day for PBS, as President Trump has once again embarked on a quest to gut public-media funding. First, a caveat: a budget proposal is more of a wish list than a solid resolution. Last year, Trump famously proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities and privatizing the Corporation for Public Broadcastingβwhich, in part, funds PBS. But those ideas never actually materialized. In this yearβs budget proposal, though, Trump seems to be taking a second stab at killing Big Birdβs erstwhile home by once more suggesting that the government yank funding for the N.E.A. and N.E.H., as well as funding for PBS. This news is likely not a surprise to anyone at PBS itself, which has weathered its share of fiscal attacks from the right recentlyβeven though its programming serves a nonpartisan function. PBS president and C.E.O. Paula Kerger issued a statement Monday in response to the budget proposal, writing, βPublic broadcasting has earned bipartisan Congressional support over the years thanks to the value we provide to taxpayers. PBS, our 350 member stations and our legions of local supporters will continue to remind leaders in Washington of the significant benefits the public receives in return for federal funding, a modest investment of about $1.35 per citizen per year, which include school readiness for kids 2-8, support for teachers and homeschoolers, public safety communications and lifelong learning. PBS is focused on providing high-quality content and universal public service to the American people, which is why we enjoy strong support in every region of the country, in both rural and urban areas, and across the political spectrum.β Patricia Harrison, president and C.E.O. for Corporation for Public Broadcasting, echoed Kergerβs sentiments in her own statement, writing, βAmericans place great value on having universal access to public mediaβs educational and informational programming and services, provided commercial free and free of charge. Since there is no viable substitute for federal funding that would ensure this valued service continues, the elimination of federal funding to C.P.B. would at first devastate, and then ultimately destroy public mediaβs ability to provide early childhood content, life-saving emergency alerts, and public affairs programs.β $2.50 $1 per month for 1 year + a free tote. $2.50 $1 per month for 1 year + a free tote. The G.O.P.βs battle against Big Bird dates back decades; Republicans have been trying, unsuccessfully, to fully defund public-media funding since the 1970s. But younger Americans likely best remember when the yellow fowl became a central talking point during the 2012 election, thanks to a debate in which Mitt Romney vowed to cut funding to public broadcastingβdespite insisting, βI like Big Bird!β Before Romney, there was Ronald Reagan, who once mulled eliminating the N.E.A. And before him, there was Richard Nixon, whose threat to cut C.P.B. funding prompted a stirring (and effective) defense from PBS personality Fred Rogersβknown best to most as Mister Rogersβbefore the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, touting the great things that PBS and its contemporaries achieve despite their already meager budgets. Conservatives have long argued that the free market should fund PBS and the like, not taxpayers. But itβs also worth noting that funding for these entities makes up a measly portion of the national budgetβ.016 percent, as of last year. Cutting them, then, offers very little practical benefit. So, why are Trump and the G.O.P. so bent on doing it, anyway? Most likely, itβs because PBS and its ilk are perfect targets for the right. They combine two of the G.O.P.βs favorite punching bags: the media and government spending. Past research has also shown that the American public believes public media hogs a much larger share of the federal budget than it actually receives. For Republicans, antagonizing these entities is a canβt-lose situation: public media is a highly visible, tangible enemy. And even if cuts donβt actually materialize, calling for them is a way to appear like fiscally responsible governors who have been stopped in their tracks by biased liberal media and politicians, bent on spending every last penny on kiddie shows and Masterpiece Theatre. The good news? These cuts are, once again, very unlikely to materialize once the proposed budget jumps through all the requisite legislative hoops. Republicans have been playing this losing game for several decades; continuing the game at this point just means expelling more rhetorical hot air. If only there were an appropriate meme to express this repeated frustration. More from Vanity Fair Contact Β© 2025 CondΓ© Nast. All rights reserved. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of CondΓ© Nast. Ad Choices CN Entertainment ESSENTIAL NEWS.EXTRAORDINARY ACCESS. By signing up, you agree to our user agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), our privacy policy and cookie statement, and to receive marketing and account-related emails from Vanity Fair. You can unsubscribe at any time. You're In! Why stop there? Let us send you more can't-miss updates. An essential daily brief on culture, news, and style. William and Kate, Harry and Meghan, and so much more. Where Wall Street, Washington, and Silicon Valley meet. By signing up, you agree to our user agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), our privacy policy and cookie statement, and to receive marketing and account-related emails from [Brand]. You can unsubscribe at any time. Here's Your Offer 1 Year for Only $15 Including Print + Digital Access | https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/02/donald-trump-budget-pbs-public-media-spending-cuts | Vanity Fair | Why Are Trump and the G.O.P. 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elections | 2022-11-10 | 2022 Elections, Elections, 2022 Arizona Senate Election, 2022 Nevada Senate Election, Katie Hobbs, Voting Rights And Voter Fraud, Early Voting | left | The slow pace of counting mail ballots in states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin was a key source of election disinformation in 2020. The delays provided President Trump and his allies with a pretext to claim that the election was being stolen from them as mail ballots, which overwhelmingly went for Biden, were counted and added to vote totals. βWe were winning everything, and all of a sudden it was just called off,β Trump complained. βThis is a fraud on the American public.βFar from being a fraud, a conspiracy, or even an accident, the slow count of mail ballots is a deliberate choice that lawmakers in key battleground states have made β and with disastrous consequences for public trust in elections. By building these delays into the system, lawmakers give oxygen to false claims of βballot dumpsβ and other nonsense that has been used to sow distrust and has led to threats and violence against election workers. We will hear the same false claims after the 2022 election β in which mail ballots again appear to be tilting Democratic β and in every subsequent election until state legislatures fix the process.State law prescribes the timing of the vote-counting process. Most states allow election workers to remove ballots from their envelopes and confirm the voterβs eligibility before Election Day, sometimes weeks in advance as the ballots arrive at processing centers. Nearly half of states β including Florida, Ohio, and Texas β allow election officials to scan ballots into tabulators ahead of Election Day so that these ballots can be counted immediately and included in results on election night. (No state allows results to be released before then.)The process is drastically different in a minority of states, including key election battlegrounds such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. In those states, election workers are, with few exceptions, prohibited from opening mail ballots before Election Day. Election officials in these states have begged their state legislatures for increased flexibility over the past few years and have been repeatedly rebuffed, including by many legislators who criticized slow counting in 2020 or backed claims that the vote count showed evidence of fraud. Only in Michigan did some cities successfully convince their legislature to allow any processing before Election Day. But even in those rare cases, the time permitted is far less than election officials asked for (just two days before Election Day), and the change came too late for many cities to implement it by the 2022 election. As a result of these legislative failures, state officials in each of these three states are warning voters that counting may go on for at least a day or two after polls close.As in 2020, the media has done an excellent job of explaining that results wonβt be final on election night, and voters should be prepared for counts to change in the following days. But as long as there are election deniers running for office, delays in counting ballots will be used to seed conspiracy theories and spread lies about the trustworthiness of the election process. Indeed, a top reason given by voters who doubt the outcome of the 2020 election is that the results seemed to change after election night. (βWhen I went to bed, Trump was so in the lead, and then (I got) up and heβs not in the lead. I mean, thatβs crazy,β one Georgia voter recalled.)Political leaders in these battleground states know that the whole country will be watching them once again in 2022. Given this, and how clearly election officials have expressed their need for more time to process and scan ballots, the lack of legislative action in several states appears likely to facilitate more chaos and disinformation as election workers try to do their jobs, in turn spurring more threats and attacks on these workers.To be sure, in particularly close elections, it may take days or even weeks before a winner can be declared, regardless of when a state begins to process mail ballots. And accuracy should always be prioritized above speed. But if, as expected, there are more false claims of rigged elections and more threats of violence because of delays caused by election officials being forced to wait until Election Day to process mail ballots, much of the blame should fall on the state legislators who failed to address a known source of conspiracy theories, not the election workers who labor tirelessly within their given authority to ensure a secure and accurate vote count. | https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/why-does-it-take-so-long-count-mail-ballots-key-states-blame-legislatures | Brennan Center for Justice | Why Does It Take So Long to Count Mail Ballots in Key States? Blame Legislatures | 7cd1d0bbe8bc59fa | 0 | [
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supreme_court | 2017-01-31 | Neil Gorsuch, Supreme Court | right | President Donald Trump has selected Judge Neil Gorsuch of the 10th U.S . Circuit Court of Appeals to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court .
A conservative stalwart who has served on the federal bench for over decade , Gorsuch became the frontrunner for the appointment among court-watchers in the waning days of the search .
At 49 , he could conceivably serve on the Court for over 30 years if confirmed .
A stuffy credentialism has pervaded the judicial selection process of late . Each member of the current court attended either Harvard or Yale Law School , and all , with the exception of Justice Elena Kagan , served as federal appeals judges prior to their appointment . Several were clerks to former justices .
In many ways , Gorsuch fits this archetype . He holds a law degree from Harvard Law School and a doctorate in legal history from Oxford , where he was a Marshall Scholar . He held prestigious clerkships , first for Judge David Sentelle on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C . Circuit , then for Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court .
Gorsuch is also the author of two books . His first book , β The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia , β was published by Princeton University Press in 2006 . He contributed to a second book last year , β The Law of Judicial Precedent , β a treatise on the doctrine of precedent assembled by Black β s Law Dictionary editor Bryan Garner . He is consistently identified as one of the finest writers on the federal bench given his elegant yet unpretentious prose .
β He writes opinions in a unique style that has more verve and vitality than any other judges I study on a regular basis , β District Judge John Kane , a President Jimmy Carter-appointee , told Adam Liptak of The New York Times .
Given his scholarly profile and decade of experience on the 10th Circuit , Gorsuch possesses the intellectual and professional sheen typical of recent nominees .
A panel of legal scholars identified Gorsuch as one of the potential nominees most likely to emulate Scalia scholastically and stylistically . The four-member group produced a paper called β Searching for Justice Scalia : Measuring The β Scalia-ness β of the Next Potential Member of the U.S. Supreme Court , β which surveyed key characteristics to determine which candidates are most likely to emulate Scalia β s jurisprudence and style .
The study measured β Scalia-ness β in three ways : How much the candidate engages with or promotes originalism , Scalia β s preferred interpretive theory , in their opinions ; how often they cite Scalia β s non-judicial writings ; and how often they write separate opinions . The authors use these metrics to establish a β Scalia Index Score β ( SIS ) to evaluate each nominee .
Gorsuch received the second highest SIS of the 21 candidates put forward by Trump as potential nominees during the campaign . He was second only to Utah Supreme Court Justice Thomas Lee . He scored particularly well on the originalism metric , but falls in the average range on the other two measures .
His opinion in U.S. v. Games-Perez , in particular , flagged at SCOTUSblog , suggests Gorsuch is a thorough-going Scalia-ite . The opinion channels the late justice to the extent that it looks askance at both judicial reliance on legislative history , and vague guidelines that subvert clear standards , while urging a close and prudential readings of texts .
Gorsuch participated in a high-profile religious liberty case reviewed by the Supreme Court . He wrote a concurring opinion in the en banc 10th Circuit β s review of Hobby Lobby Stores v. Sebelius , which asked the court to decide if the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act allows a closely held for-profit company to deny its employees contraceptive coverage based on religious objections .
His concurring opinion tracked the problem of complicity , and argued the lower court had given insufficient ( and statutorily required ) credence to the fact the company β s owners felt any sort of participation in a contraception regime violated their religious beliefs .
β And as we have seen , it is not for secular courts to rewrite the religious complaint of a faithful adherent , or to decide whether a religious teaching about complicity imposes β too much β moral disapproval on those only β indirectly β assisting wrongful conduct . Whether an act of complicity is or isn β t β too attenuated β from the underlying wrong is sometimes itself a matter of faith we must respect . β
His opinion was largely vindicated when the Supreme Court found for Hobby Lobby in a 5-4 ruling .
He has also written two dissents criticizing the β reasonable observer β test applied in establishment clause cases , formulated by Justice Sandra Day O β Connor . The purpose of the test is to determine if a government action leaves the average observer with the perception that government is endorsing or disparaging religion .
β Our court has now repeatedly misapplied the β reasonable observer β test , and it is apparently destined to continue doing so until we are told to stop . Justice O β Connor instructed that the reasonable observer should not be seen as β any ordinary individual , who might occasionally do unreasonable things , but . . . rather [ as ] a personification of a community ideal of reasonable behavior. β Yet , our observer continues to be biased , replete with foibles , and prone to mistake . β
The β reasonable observer β and β reasonable man β tests were favorite targets of Scalia , who saw them as useless for lawyer β s work .
His support for religious accommodations in the context of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act is similarly capacious . He sided with a Native American prisoner seeking access to a sweat lodge in Yellowbear v. Lambert in 2014 .
The dormant commerce clause will find no ally in Gorsuch . The theory argues that the Constitution β s explicit grant of authority over interstate commerce to Congress restricts the ability of states to regulate the same , even in the absence of an explicit restriction from Congress . The doctrine has the effect of entrenching federal power over commerce ( a vast wellspring of political authority ) over and against the states . Dormant commerce clause jurisprudence has been firmly established by the Supreme Court and is prevalent throughout the federal courts .
Though he never expressly contravenes the theory β as it would probably be inappropriate for a circuit judge to do so β he does seem dubious of the idea . For example , in Energy and Environmental Institute v. Epel , he writes :
β Employing what β s sometimes called β dormant β or β negative β commerce clause jurisprudence , judges have claimed the authority to strike down state laws that , in their judgment , unduly interfere with interstate commerce . Detractors find dormant commerce clause doctrine absent from the Constitution β s text and incompatible with its structure . β
Gorsuch wrote a concurring opinion in a complex immigration case in August 2015 , which thoroughly repudiated the Chevron doctrine , which requires courts to submit to a federal agency β s interpretation of an ambiguous statute as long as that interpretation is reasonable . The opinion quickly became something of a cause celebre among critics of the administrative state , who charge that Chevron and its progeny shield vast swaths of agency action from judicial review .
β There β s an elephant in the room with us today . We have studiously attempted to work our way around it and even left it unremarked . But the fact is Chevronβ¦permit [ s ] executive bureaucracies to swallow huge amounts of core judicial and legislative power and concentrate federal power in a way that seems more than a little difficult to square with the Constitution of the framers β design . Maybe the time has come to face the behemoth . β
He added that Chevron was β no less than a judge-made doctrine for the abdication of the judicial duty . β
Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley told reporters Monday that he will filibuster any nominee put forward by Trump , except Judge Merrick Garland . Senate Republicans successfully stymied Garland β s nomination for nearly 10 months , after former President Barack Obama selected him to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia . Merkley claims most of the Democratic caucus will join him in the effort .
β This is a stolen seat . This is the first time a Senate majority has stolen a seat , β Merkley said . β We will use every lever in our power to stop this . β
β A very large number of my colleagues will be opposed , β he added .
Gorsuch was not considered a controversial nominee when elevated to the 10th Circuit . He was confirmed on a voice vote with the support of many of the same Democrats who now pledge to stop him . | http://dailycaller.com/2017/01/31/president-trumps-supreme-court-pick-is-in/ | The Daily Caller | President Trumpβs Supreme Court Pick Is IN | 9f9cf33707b7b889 | 2 | [
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world | 2022-09-21 | World, Ukraine War, Russia | center | In a video address on Sept. 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a partial mobilization. It will primarily target the Russian Armed Forces' reserve personnel. "Mobilization measures will begin today," Putin said. In his speech, Putin once again called Kyiv "fascist," said it was Ukraine that invaded Russia in 2014, and hinted that Moscow would annex Russian-occupied territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Putin once again saber rattled, adding that using nuclear arms remains an option for the Kremlin. "When its territorial integrity is threatened, Russia will use everything it can, this is not a bluff," Putin said. Putin's speech was followed by an address by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Shoigu said that the initial plan is to draw nearly 300,000 new soldiers into the army ranks. "The mobilization potential of Russia is 25 million people," Shoigu said. He also added that Russia lost around 6,000 soldiers, while 90% of those injured are cured and are back in the army. In early August, the Pentagon said that Russia had up to 80,000 soldiers dead, wounded, or captured. According to Ukraineβs General Staff, Russia has lost 55,110 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. The statements by top Russian officials come days after Kyiv's lighting counteroffensive pushed Russian troops out of Kharkiv Oblast. Russian defenses effectively collapsed in Kharkiv Oblast, while Ukraine has confirmed entry in Luhansk Oblast, which was entirely occupied since June. Thank you for subscribing! Daily Ukraine Daily Weekly Ukraine Weekly Weekly War Notes Weekly WTF is wrong with Russia? Weekly Ukraine Business Roundup Biweekly The Witness: Season 1 Weekly Belarus Weekly | https://kyivindependent.com/national/putin-russia-initiates-partial-mobilization | The Kyiv Independent | Putin announces partial mobilization | 39db51ef5fb6770c | 1 | [
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race_and_racism | 2020-01-31 | White House, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Culture, Race And Racism | right | New Gallup polling shows a double-digit increase ( 14 % ) in the state of race relations since President Donald Trump took office β a far cry from what the mainstream media airwaves echo to viewers every day .
β Gallup β s survey demonstrates numerous categories in which the President has improved the lives of Americans since relieving Barack Obama of his duties in January of 2017 , β The Political Insider reported Tuesday on the polling .
β The polling indicates double-digit improvements in how Americans view the nation β s economy , security from terrorism , military strength and β¦ the state of race relations , β the report added .
According to Gallup , β the position of blacks and other racial minorities , the distribution of income and wealth , and the opportunity for a person to get ahead through hard work β have all increased under President Trump .
The Political Insider summed up : β The position of blacks and other racial minorities in the nation rose 9 percent since Obama β s last day in office , while the state of race relations in America shot up 14 percent . β
As noted by the outlet , CBS reporter Major Garrett commented last month that any president would be happy to oversee such numbers .
β It can be fairly said that this administration , because of President Trump β s quiet prodding , has done quite a bit for funding of Historically Black Colleges and Universities , the First Step Act , which was a massive first step toward criminal justice reform , β Garrett stated .
β That is a legacy on the agenda side that almost any president after three years would want to claim , particularly President Obama , β the reporter noted .
Though the outlook was generally sunny for race relations under then-President Barack Obama , the reality was anything but . Mr. Obama β s penchant for interjecting racial narrative , even in local cases , was , no doubt , a catalyst for racial tension in the United States .
The BBC , which leans entirely Left , begrudgingly admitted this much in January 2017 .
β Race relations have arguably become more polarised and tenser since 20 January 2009 . Though smaller in scale and scope , the demonstrations sparked by police shootings of unarmed black men were reminiscent of the turbulence of the 1960s , β the BBC said .
β The toxic cloud from the tear gas unleashed in Ferguson and elsewhere cast a long and sometimes overwhelming shadow , β the outlet added . β Not since the LA riots in 1992 β the violent response to the beating of Rodney King and the later acquittal of the police officers filmed assaulting him β has the sense of black grievance and outrage been so raw . β
The BBC noted that the Obama years β gave rise β to the controversial racially-charged movement Black Lives Matter and highlighted a significant drop in Americans regarding racial relations as good . β Not long after he took office in 2009 , a New York Times/CBS News poll suggested two-thirds of Americans regarded race relations as generally good , β the BBC reported . β In the midst of last summer β s racial turbulence , that poll found there had been a complete reversal . Now 69 % of Americans assessed race relations to be mostly bad . β
In 2016 , then-candidate Trump urged the black community to take a chance on him , famously asking , β What do you have to lose ? β | https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-shows-double-digit-increase-in-race-relations-since-trump-took-office-cbs-reporter-obama-would-be-envious | The Daily Wire | Poll Shows Double-Digit Increase In Race Relations Since Trump Took Office. CBS Reporter: Obama Would Be Envious | e5378082b46f54eb | 2 | [
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general_news | 2014-10-26 | Health, General News | left | Langer came to believe that one way to enhance well-being was to use all sorts of placebos . Placebos aren β t just sugar pills disguised as medicine , though that β s the literal definition ; they are any intervention , benign but believed by the recipient to be potent , that produces measurable physiological changes . Placebo effects are a striking phenomenon and still not all that well understood . Entire fields like psychoneuroimmunology and psychoendocrinology have emerged to investigate the relationship between psychological and physiological processes . Neuroscientists are charting what β s going on in the brain when expectations alone reduce pain or relieve Parkinson β s symptoms . More traditionally minded health researchers acknowledge the role of placebo effects and account for them in their experiments . But Langer goes well beyond that . She thinks they β re huge β so huge that in many cases they may actually be the main factor producing the results .
As an example , she points to a study she conducted in a hair salon in 2009 . She got the idea from a study undertaken nearly a decade earlier by three scientists who looked at more than 4,000 subjects over two decades and found that men who were bald when they joined the study were more likely to develop prostate cancer than men who kept their hair . The researchers couldn β t be sure what explained the link , though they suspected that androgens ( male hormones including testosterone ) could be affecting both scalp and prostate . Langer had another theory : β Baldness is a cue for old age , β she says . β Therefore , men who go bald early in life may perceive themselves as older and may consequently be expected to age more quickly. β And those expectations may actually lead them to experience the effects of aging . To explore this relationship between expectations of aging and physiological signs of health , Langer and her colleagues designed the hair-salon study . They had research assistants approach 47 women , ranging in age from 27 to 83 , who were about to have their hair cut , colored or both . They took blood-pressure readings . After the subjects β hair was done , they filled out a questionnaire about how they felt they looked , and their blood pressure was taken again . In a paper published in 2010 in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science , they reported that the subjects who perceived themselves as looking younger after the makeover experienced a drop in blood pressure .
A few years earlier , Langer and one of her students , Alia Crum , conducted a study , published in the journal Psychological Science , involving 84 hotel chambermaids . The maids had mostly reported that they didn β t get much exercise in a typical week . The researchers primed the experimental group to think differently about their work by informing them that cleaning rooms was fairly serious exercise β as much if not more than the surgeon general recommends . Once their expectations were shifted , those maids lost weight , relative to a control group ( and also improved on other measures like body mass index and hip-to-waist ratio ) . All other factors were held constant . The only difference was the change in mind-set .
Critics hunted for other explanations β statistical errors or subtle behavior changes in the weight-loss group that Langer hadn β t accounted for . Otherwise the outcome seemed to defy physics . β To which I would say , β There β s no discipline that is complete , β β Langer responds . β If current-day physics can β t explain these things , maybe there are changes that need to be made in physics . β
In the course of her career , Langer says , she has written or co-written more than 200 studies , and she continues to churn out research at a striking pace . Just before winter break , in her final meeting with two dozen or so students and postdocs , Langer went around the table checking the progress of nearly 30 experiments , all of which manipulated subjects β perceptions . Some used a special clock that could be set to run at half-speed or double-speed . In one study , sleeping subjects were fooled , upon awakening , into thinking they had more or less sleep than they actually did . She posits that the scores on measures of short-term memory and reaction time will vary accordingly , regardless of how long the subjects actually slept . In a yet-to-be-published diabetes study , Langer wondered whether the biochemistry of Type 2 diabetics could be manipulated by the same psychological intervention β the subjects β perception of how much time had passed . Her theory was that the diabetics β blood-glucose levels would follow perceived time rather than actual time ; in other words , they would spike and dip when the subjects expected them to . And that β s what her data revealed . When a student emailed her with the results this fall , she could barely contain her excitement . β This is the beginning of a psychological cure for diabetes ! β she told me .
Some of the new experiments rely on variables that change self-perception . In a study using avatars , scheduled to take place at the popular gaming facility Second Life , subjects will watch a digital version of themselves playing tennis and gradually getting thinner from the exertion . Langer is exploring whether watching an avatar will have a physiological effect on the real person . β You see yourself , you β re playing tennis , β Langer said . β The question is : Will people lose weight ? We β ll see . β | http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/magazine/what-if-age-is-nothing-but-a-mind-set.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=LargeMediaHeadlineSum&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news | New York Times - News | What if Age Is Nothing but a Mind-Set? | 71fdfa394914293e | 0 | [
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supreme_court | 2020-07-12 | Supreme Court, Voting Rights And Voter Fraud, Polarization | left | Last October , when the Supreme Court began its term , liberals had good reason to be despondent .
The Court β s most recent term , which ended Thursday , was the first full term since Justice Brett Kavanaugh , a staunch conservative , replaced his more moderate predecessor Justice Anthony Kennedy . It was also the first term where Kavanaugh helped select every case that would be heard by the justices .
By all outward signs , the Court β s conservative majority approached its docket like they were children turned loose in a toy store . The Court planned to hear a case that presented an existential threat to the right to an abortion . It seemed likely to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ( DACA ) program β which benefits hundreds of thousands of immigrants β potentially doing so permanently , so that no future president could revive it . And the Court appeared ready to expand the Second Amendment , a longtime project of Kavanaugh β s .
In the end , the Court took a far more measured approach to each of these cases . The right to terminate a pregnancy survives , although Chief Justice John Roberts signaled pretty clearly that it is unlikely to survive much longer . DACA also survives , although only due to a paperwork error that the Trump administration may correct . The guns case ended , not with a bang but with a whimper .
This is still an extremely conservative Supreme Court . The just-completed term was a disaster for voting rights . It imposed significant new limits on Congress β s ability to investigate President Trump . The religious right walked away with several big victories . The Court opened up a new front in the war on Obamacare .
But the Court also showed that there is at least some daylight between its interpretations of the law and the policy preferences of the Republican Party .
A partial explanation for the liberal victories this term is that conservative advocates got ahead of their skis . As Brendan Nyhan , a professor of government at Dartmouth College , wrote in 2015 β the last time the Court had a surprisingly liberal term β β the court β s recent decisions may reflect a change in the cases being considered by the court rather than a shift in the preferences of the justices . β
When the Court moves rightward , conservative advocates are more likely to bring dubious cases β and conservative lawmakers are more likely to enact laws of dubious constitutionality β out of a belief that an ideologically sympathetic Court is likely to rule in their favor . Liberal lawyers , meanwhile , will be more likely to avoid federal court unless they are sure their arguments are airtight . As a result , the Supreme Court will tend to hear weaker claims from conservatives and stronger claims from liberals .
Additionally , at least two members of the Court β Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch β do not always share the same ideological commitments as their fellow Republican justices . Roberts is less active with movement conservatism than his four most conservative colleagues . And Gorsuch β s commitment to a particular method of deciding cases sometimes overrides his conservative preferences .
Because Republicans control only five of the nine seats on the Supreme Court , conservative advocates often need to win the vote of every single conservative justice in order to prevail . So if either Roberts or Gorsuch is unpersuaded by a conservative argument , that β s frequently enough to hand a loss to that argument β s proponents .
Conservatives brought several exceedingly weak cases to the Supreme Court this term
Here β s a good rule of thumb for new law school graduates : It β s a bad idea to make a case that is literally identical to one that you recently lost in the Supreme Court . Yet that β s more or less what anti-abortion advocates did in June Medical Services v. Russo .
In Whole Woman β s Health v. Hellerstedt ( 2016 ) , the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law requiring abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital β a credential that is very difficult for abortion doctors to obtain and that does little or nothing to improve health outcomes . June Medical asked the Supreme Court to uphold a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital . As Justice Stephen Breyer noted in his June Medical opinion , the two laws were β almost word-for-word identical . β
Conservatives undoubtedly hoped that , with Kennedy , who joined the majority in Whole Woman β s Health , no longer on the Court , they could get a different outcome in an interchangeable case . But Roberts was unwilling to endorse such an attempt to treat his Court as a purely political body . β The result in this case is controlled by our decision four years ago invalidating a nearly identical Texas law , β Roberts concluded in an opinion that reluctantly agreed to strike down the Louisiana law .
Much of Roberts β s opinion laid out his objections to the Court β s existing abortion rights cases , so Roberts remains likely to uphold significant restrictions on abortion in the future . He β s just not willing to uphold the exact same law that the Court struck down a few years earlier .
Similar things can be said about Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California , where Roberts joined his four liberal colleagues in holding that the Trump administration didn β t complete the proper paperwork when it decided to terminate the DACA program , which allows nearly 700,000 undocumented immigrants to live and work in the United States . The nation β s highest court typically does not exist to excuse high-level government officials who do not want to do their homework .
If the Trump administration wanted to end DACA , it should have just fixed its paperwork error , rather than spending years litigating this case through the federal court system .
And then there β s Trump v. Vance , where the Supreme Court held that the president of the United States does not enjoy total immunity from state criminal investigations . Many of Trump β s legal arguments in this case were so absurd that they bordered on self-parody .
Here is Trump 's lawyer , William Consovoy , telling Judge Denny Chin that if Trump were to shoot someone on fifth avenue , he could not be criminally investigated while in office .
Very normal argument . pic.twitter.com/xlDBwmCUnR β Erick Fernandez ( @ ErickFernandez ) October 23 , 2019
None of this means that conservative lawyers have nothing to gain from bringing audacious arguments to a conservative Court . Twenty years ago , many justices believed that it is unconstitutional for the government to fund religious schools . But in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue , the Supreme Court held this term that states are required to fund such schools if they provide similar funding to secular private schools .
Similarly , in Trump v. Mazars , the president sought new protections against congressional immunity that were entirely at odds with existing precedents . He won anyway , although the Court didn β t go quite as far as Trump β s lawyers asked it to go .
Nor did conservatives really lose anything meaningful in June Medical , Regents , or Vance . Roberts is still likely to uphold nearly any anti-abortion law that β s brought before him . The paperwork error in Regents can be cured . And Vance largely just maintained a status quo that says the president isn β t completely above the law .
But if conservatives ask for too much , too fast from this Supreme Court , they will eventually find the justices β limits .
Roberts is very conservative , but he β s divorced himself somewhat from the conservative movement
In the fall of 2007 , Chief Justice Roberts had just celebrated the second anniversary of his appointment as the nation β s highest-ranking judge when he delivered the β 7th Annual Barbara K. Olson Memorial Lecture β to the conservative Federalist Society . According to the society β s website , that was the last time the chief justice spoke to this organization , which forms the locus of legal conservatism within the United States .
In this sense , Roberts is quite unlike his four Republican colleagues . Justices Clarence Thomas , Samuel Alito , Neil Gorsuch , and Brett Kavanaugh are all frequent speakers at the Federalist Society β s events β both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh took a victory lap at the society β s annual black-tie dinner not long after their confirmation to the Supreme Court . Indeed , the Court β s rightmost justices frequently attend this dinner even when they are not on the speaking program and are just there to enjoy a meal with friends .
It β s hard to minimize the importance of the Federalist Society , which plays an outsize role in selecting President Trump β s judicial nominees , and in maintaining ideological discipline among conservative legal elites .
Research shows that sitting justices are β very prestige hungry β and they β care a lot about their reputations , β according to Maya Sen , a professor at Harvard β s Kennedy School of Government who studies the Supreme Court . The justices , Sen told me , β want to be viewed well by their peers β within the elite echelons of the legal profession , a privileged cohort that includes many β liberal academics . β
The Federalist Society , moreover , was born out of many conservative legal elites β perception that their ideas were not taken seriously within the legal profession and especially within academia . As then-Solicitor General Ted Olson told the Federalist Society in 2002 , β the best measure of our success is the sound of gnashing teeth and lamentations by those who feel threatened β β he then proposed a toast to the society β for sowing such delightful despair among the legal , political and academic establishment . β
At the same event , Federalist Society president Eugene B. Meyer complained that conservatives on law school campuses β have trouble finding faculty advisers β and that β certain ideas are not being heard in law schools . β
The Federalist Society , according to Sen , creates a β safe space β for conservative lawyers β up to and including sitting Supreme Court justices β where they can feel professionally validated without having to seek such validation from the kind of liberal thinkers who often fill the pages of the Harvard Law Review .
The society succeeds not just by doling out plum jobs to loyal conservatives , but also by satiating its members β very human need to feel loved and respected by their professional colleagues β by surrounding those members with colleagues who love and respect people who advance conservative causes .
Amanda Hollis-Brusky , a politics professor at Pomona College and the author of Ideas with Consequences : The Federalist Society and the Conservative Counterrevolution , agreed that Roberts β s apparent distance from the Federalist Society distinguishes him from his fellow Republican justices , but she added that she β s not sure if Roberts β s cooler relationship with the powerful conservative organization is a β cause or an effect β of the fact that he sometimes votes to the left of justices like Alito or Kavanaugh .
Hollis-Brusky pointed to Roberts β s vote to uphold most of the Affordable Care Act in NFIB v. Sebelius ( 2012 ) as the β first time that Roberts deviated from what was clearly the Federalist Society β s preferred outcome. β Roberts β s decision to keep Obamacare alive , she says , may have created a rift between the chief justice and the society .
Once a rift forms , it can be self-reinforcing . Roberts β s vote at NFIB may have alienated him from conservative legal elites , but that makes it less likely that he β ll seek validation from them in the future , which in turn makes it less likely that he β ll vote with his fellow Republicans .
Hollis-Brusky also pointed to another factor that may drive Roberts β s occasional flirtations with the left . Justice Kennedy , she noted , voted more conservatively when Justice Sandra Day O β Connor was the Court β s β swing β justice β the justice in the Court β s ideological center β than he did when Kennedy took up the β mantle β of the swing vote . It β s possible that Roberts feels the same pressure now that he β s at the Court β s center . And this pressure may be accentuated because of his role as chief justice .
It is , after all , the β Roberts Court , β not the β Alito Court β or the β Kavanaugh Court , β that historians will write about if this age is remembered as an era of unbridled judicial partisanship .
Yet , whatever the reason for Roberts β s relative moderation , there are some outward signs that Roberts β s own Republican colleagues view him as an unsteady ally .
When the term began , New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York appeared likely to be a landmark Second Amendment case that would expand the scope of that amendment well beyond its current bounds , but the case fizzled due to a jurisdictional problem and wound up having little to say about gun rights .
Justices Thomas , Alito , Gorsuch , and Kavanaugh have all , at various times , called for the Court to take a more expansive approach to the Second Amendment . And , when the New York State Rifle case reached its anticlimactic conclusion , Kavanaugh even called upon his Court to take up β one of the several Second Amendment cases with petitions for certiorari now pending before the Court. β The Court decided to turn away all these cases .
It only takes four votes for the Court to hear a case , which means that Thomas , Alito , Gorsuch , and Kavanaugh could have joined together to hear any case they wanted . It β s likely they decided not to hear another guns case because they were unsure if Roberts was on their side .
In several other cases , Justice Alito did not hide his rage at decisions where Roberts joined the liberals . He claimed that the June Medical decision β twists the law. β And , in an unusually angry dissent , Alito described a landmark LGBTQ rights decision , which Roberts joined , as β deceptive β and β preposterous . β
None of which means that Roberts isn β t an extremely conservative justice . On voting rights , in particular , he is as doctrinaire a conservative as they come . He joined several decisions this term that will make it difficult β and potentially dangerous β for many voters to cast a ballot during the Covid-19 pandemic .
But Roberts , according to Hollis-Brusky , also appears concerned that his Court should not appear to be the β handmaiden of the Trump administration . β
β It β s not that he β s become a raging liberal , by any means , β said Hollis-Brusky , but at least he can claim that β he β s beholden to no one . β
Justice Neil Gorsuch , meanwhile , voted with the liberal justices in two major cases : Bostock v. Clayton County , which held that the federal ban on β sex β discrimination in employment encompasses anti-LGBTQ discrimination ; and McGirt v. Oklahoma , which establishes that a huge swath of land encompassing half the state of Oklahoma is what federal law anachronistically refers to β Indian country β β Native American reservations where tribal governments retain considerable sovereign authority .
Gorsuch is much more conservative than Roberts . Indeed , on some important issues , he is probably the most conservative justice to sit on the Supreme Court since the Great Depression . But Gorsuch is also one of the Court β s proudest evangelists for β textualism , β the belief that , in his words , a law should be read according to its β ordinary meaning at the time of its enactment. β And his commitment to this method of interpreting federal laws sometimes overcomes his commitment to conservatism .
From a textualist perspective , Bostock was an easy case . As Shannon Minter , legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights , told me , β if it were possible ( which of course it β s not ) to disregard the fraught social and political context of the case , Bostock would be an entirely unremarkable decision , doctrinally speaking . β
The case involves Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , which prohibits employment discrimination β because of [ an employee β s ] race , color , religion , sex , or national origin. β As Gorsuch wrote in Bostock , a ban on β sex β discrimination necessarily encompasses anti-LGBTQ discrimination simply as a matter of textual interpretation :
Consider , for example , an employer with two employees , both of whom are attracted to men . The two individuals are , to the employer β s mind , materially identical in all respects , except that one is a man and the other a woman . If the employer fires the male employee for no reason other than the fact he is attracted to men , the employer discriminates against him for traits or actions it tolerates in his female colleague .
Similarly , if an employer β fires a transgender person who was identified as a male at birth but who now identifies as a female β but also β retains an otherwise identical employee who was identified as female at birth , β that employer is engaged in sex discrimination . β Again , β Gorsuch wrote , β the individual employee β s sex plays an unmistakable and impermissible role in the discharge decision . β
Yet if you attended the oral argument in R.G . & G.R . Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. EEOC , a companion case to Bostock that was argued the same day , you could watch Gorsuch β s struggle between his textualist methodology and his conservative political views play out in real time . β Assume for the moment I β m ... with you on the textual evidence , β Gorsuch told the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer arguing in favor of transgender rights . Should courts β take into consideration the massive social upheaval that would be entailed β in a judicial decision prohibiting anti-LGBTQ employment discrimination ?
Ultimately , however , Gorsuch β s commitment to textualism overcame his apparent belief that LGBTQ equality could trigger β massive social upheaval . β
A similar dynamic played out in McGirt , where the state of Oklahoma claimed that if half of its lands were held to be tribal reservations , such a decision β would decimate state and local budgets β because β the State generally lacks the authority to tax Indians in Indian country . β
But Gorsuch wrote that such consequences are irrelevant . β Dire warnings are just that , β according to Gorsuch β s majority opinion in McGirt , β and not a license for us to disregard the law . β
The fact that Gorsuch is so committed to a particular methodology that he β s sometimes willing to break with his fellow Republicans is significant , but it would be an enormous mistake for liberals to think of Gorsuch as an ally , or even as a swing vote .
At the time of his nomination to the Supreme Court , Sen told me , empirical studies placed Gorsuch at the 85th percentile of conservatism among his colleagues on the federal bench . And this rough empirical measure misses much of the nuance of his opinions .
When Gorsuch swings right , he frequently swings hard to the right . For example , he is the strongest proponent of the β right to contract β β often a euphemism for employers β right to exploit their employees β to sit on the Supreme Court since the Franklin Roosevelt administration . In the past , this discredited β right β was used to strike down minimum wage laws and laws protecting workers β right to unionize , among many other things , on the theory that the right to contract includes the β right β to agree to be paid insignificant wages , or the β right β to sign away your ability to join a union .
So long as the Court β s current panel of nine justices sits , in other words , conservatives have a lot to gain β and liberals have a lot to fear β from the Supreme Court . The lesson of this past term is not that the Court is liberal . It β s that conservatives can not expect to win every single case they bring , no matter how weak their arguments .
Every day at βββ , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives . Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding . βββ β s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources β particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn . Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires . Please consider making a contribution to βββ today . | https://www.vox.com/2020/7/12/21319929/supreme-court-term-liberals-win-conservative-john-roberts-neil-gorsuch-abortion-daca-guns | Vox | Why did liberals win so many cases before a conservative Supreme Court? | c229252966732bb6 | 0 | [
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coronavirus | 2020-07-13 | Coronavirus, Florida, Life During Covid-19, Public Health, COVID-19 Misinformation | right | The owner of this website (dailycaller.com) has banned the autonomous system number (ASN) your IP address is in (45102) from accessing this website. Cloudflare Ray ID: 9151fa015ea01690 β’ Your IP: Click to reveal 47.88.18.187 β’ Performance & security by Cloudflare | https://dailycaller.com/2020/07/13/who-face-covid-19-consequences-john-nostra/ | The Daily Caller | Should The WHO Face Consequences Over COVID-19? We Asked Their Health Tech Expert | f788d25e4a955351 | 2 | [
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immigration | 2015-05-26 | Amnesty, Federal Courts, Immigration | right | A federal appeals court refused to lift an injunction against President Obama β s deportation amnesty in a ruling Tuesday that delivers a second major legal setback to the administration and keeps millions of illegal immigrants on hold .
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sided with a lower court that ruled Mr. Obama probably broke the law in taking unilateral action last year to grant an amnesty from deportation . The three-judge panel , ruling 2-1 , shot down Mr. Obama β s hopes of quickly restarting the amnesty , and make it likely he β ll have to go to the Supreme Court to try to win his case .
The majority , Judges Jerry E. Smith and Jennifer Elrod , said the president β s new program , known as Deferred Action for Parental Accountability , or DAPA , is a binding policy that should have gone through the usual public notice and comment period instead of being announced unilaterally by Mr. Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson late last year .
β We live in a nation governed by a system of checks and balances , and the president β s attempt to bypass the will of the American people was successfully checked again today , β said Texas Gov . Greg Abbott , who , as his state β s attorney general last year , began the lawsuit challenging the new amnesty .
Twenty-five states joined Texas in suing to halt the amnesty , arguing they would bear new costs in having to issue driver β s licenses to the illegal immigrants and provide health care and other services to them . The states said the president β s actions were unconstitutional or , at the very least , illegal .
First a district court , and now a federal appeals court , have sided with Texas , serving as twin legal rebukes to Mr. Obama and his defenders , who had insisted the steps he took were consistent with the law and with previous presidents β actions .
Immigrant rights advocates said they will keep fighting , and tried to cast both the district and appeals courts as legal outliers .
β We are on the right side of history , the right side of justice , β said Marielena Hincapie , executive director of the National Immigration Law Center .
The rulings do not affect Mr. Obama β s 2012 amnesty for so-called Dreamers , which has already granted tentative legal status to more than 600,000 illegal immigrants , and it also doesn β t take away Mr. Obama β s ability to decline to deport illegal immigrants . That means none of the more than 4 million people in question are likely to be kicked out of the country .
But the judges have ruled that Mr. Obama can β t go further and grant many of those people an affirmative status carrying all sorts of benefits , including driver β s licenses , tax credits and preferential work status under the terms of Obamacare .
Immigrant rights advocates challenged Mr. Obama to use his authority to halt all deportations until he can find a way to work with Congress on a new immigration law .
β We call on President Obama to immediately act on that power by halting all deportations until the day when our broken immigration system can be replaced by humane , rational policies that recognize the value and humanity of our immigrant community members , β said Jessica Bansal , litigation director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network .
The judges β rulings hinged in large part on the findings of District Judge Andrew S. Hanen , who halted the program in February , just two days before it was to accept the first applications .
Judge Hanen ruled that an earlier version of the amnesty , which Mr. Obama announced in 2012 and which applied to so-called young adult Dreamers , showed that the administration was approving most applications . Judge Hanen said that undercut Mr. Obama β s argument that he was showing discretion rather than issuing a binding policy .
The judges in the majority opinion Tuesday said Mr. Obama β s expansion appeared to be the same kind of policy , and would have serious effects on the states .
β DAPA modifies substantive rights and interests β conferring lawful presence on 500,000 illegal aliens in Texas forces the state to choose between spending millions of dollars to subsidize driver β s licenses and changing its law , β the judges wrote .
The judges also said it would be unfair to illegal immigrants to let the program go into effect on the off chance it β s later ruled illegal or unconstitutional , because the government would then have a list of people who came forward but didn β t get status .
They also denied a government request to allow the amnesty to go into effect in the 24 states that didn β t sue , saying that it was critical to have a β uniform β rule on immigration , as the Constitution requires .
Judge Stephen A. Higginson dissented from Tuesday β s ruling , saying he would have left the fight over immigration policy to the White House and Congress , saying Mr. Obama should have broad discretion to decide who gets deported and how he goes about that .
Just Higginson also said the fight was a political battle , not a legal one , and said the courts should stay out of it altogether .
β The political nature of this dispute is clear from the names on the briefs : hundreds of mayors , police chiefs , sheriffs , attorneys general , governors , and state legislators β not to mention 185 members of Congress , 15 states and the District of Columbia on the one hand , and 113 members of Congress and 26 states on the other , β he wrote .
Immigrant rights advocates praised Judge Higginson and predicted other judges would agree with him as the case makes its way through the courts .
The administration will have to decide its next step , though the ruling is an embarrassing defeat for Mr. Obama , who earned a law degree at Harvard Law School and taught at the University of Chicago . That drew derision from Louisiana Gov . Bobby Jindal , whose state is host to the appeals court that issued Tuesday β s ruling .
β The Harvard Law School is getting a bad reputation . It turns out that their most famous graduate has a problem obeying the law , β said Mr. Jindal , who is pondering a bid for the White House in 2016 .
Mr. Obama had hoped Congress would pass a law legalizing illegal immigrants , but prospects dimmed in early 2014 after House Republicans balked , saying they didn β t trust the president to carry out the law .
Mr. Obama , who had repeatedly denied he had powers to act unilaterally , then reversed himself after last year β s elections and announced his policy , promising to halt deportations for most illegal immigrants , and to grant a large subset of them specific legal status and work permits .
Since them , however , the administration has been beset with legal troubles , including violating Judge Hanen β s February injunction by approving about 2,000 amnesties even after the court had ordered its halt .
Mr. Johnson , the Homeland Security secretary , asked for an internal investigation to try to figure out how his employees violated the judge β s order . As of now , the department is blaming a technical glitch , saying applications weren β t weeded out of a computer system after the ruling . | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/26/appeals-court-deals-blow-obama-amnesty/ | Washington Times | Appeals court deals blow to Obama amnesty | a74d6243d9cebe29 | 2 | [
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federal_budget | 2017-09-07 | Debt Ceiling, Hurricane Harvey, Federal Budget, Economy And Jobs | center | Donald Trump has agreed to a Democratic plan to lift the debt limit for three months , fund the government and rush aid to Hurricane Harvey victims .
The US president went against Republican leaders who wanted to extend a debt-limit increase for longer , until after the 2018 mid-term elections .
Democrats announced the deal just before the House of Representatives passed $ 8bn ( Β£6bn ) for Harvey victims .
Congress will need to approve the deal before it is finalised .
Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One he had a `` very good meeting '' with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer .
`` We essentially came to a deal and I think the deal will be very good , '' he said while travelling to North Dakota for an event on tax reform on Wednesday .
`` We agreed to a three-month extension on debt ceiling , which they consider to be sacred , very important . ''
The proposal attaches the disaster aid to a government funding bill that would raise the US debt limit and keep the government running through 15 December , setting up a fiscal showdown at the end of the year that Republicans had hoped to avoid .
`` Both sides have every intention of avoiding default in December and look forward to working together on the many issues before us , '' Mrs Pelosi and Mr Schumer said in a joint statement .
Leaders from both parties met Mr Trump at the White House on Wednesday morning .
Following the meeting , Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan called the Democratic proposal `` unworkable '' and `` ridiculous '' , putting the president at odds with his own party .
`` Meet the swamp : Trump sides with Democrats during leadership confab '' , comments Breitbart on the front page of its website , adding that by doing so he `` jacks up debt , punts the agenda , snubs GOP '' .
`` This is n't Trump caving in to the Democrats . No no no . This is Trump sticking it to the Establishment , you guys . That 's all , '' comments Joe Cunningham of RedState .
`` President Trump waged a hostile takeover of the Republican Party 's presidential nomination last year . Now he 's holding the entire party hostage , '' says an editorial in The Washington Post .
`` The bargain has left several Republican lawmakers seething that Trump , the self-proclaimed deal-maker , had given such leverage to their political rivals , '' The Los Angeles Times reports . It says that the president has grown increasingly frustrated over dissent in his party which he believes has stifled his agenda .
`` [ If Mr Trump 's ] deal did not yet represent the breaking point between the president and his core , hard-right base of support , it certainly put him closer than he has ever been to tipping his fragile political coalition into open revolt , '' New York Times columnists Jeremy W Peters and Maggie Habierman write .
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had also reportedly urged Mr Trump to pursue a longer-term debt-limit deal but has insisted that raising the borrowing limit was imperative in order to quickly send aid to Texas .
The deal includes Democratic support in the Senate for the first instalment of disaster relief aid for Hurricane Harvey victims in Houston , where flooding has devastated the Texan city .
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has warned the cost of reconstruction after Hurricane Harvey could be as high as $ 180bn .
The House overwhelmingly passed a bill to provide $ 7.9bn for victims of the floods before the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( Fema ) runs out of funds later this week . The House approved the funding 419 to three , with three Republicans voting `` no '' .
Democrats on the House floor pointed out that Republicans refused to pass a $ 50.5bn disaster relief package in the aftermath of the 2012 Superstorm Sandy , which ravaged north-east states , because it was not offset by budget savings elsewhere .
The north-east states that were hit hardest by Sandy are predominantly Democratic while Texas and much of the southern US leans Republican .
The relief package comes as a more powerful storm , Hurricane Irma , barrels toward Puerto Rico and Florida and threatens more damage .
Mr Trump 's deal with the Democrats means that the Republican-controlled Congress will have to address partisan issues such as healthcare and immigration later in the year while negotiating with Democrats over a debt vote .
`` Given Republican difficulty in finding the votes for their plan , we believe this proposal offers a bipartisan path forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default , while both sides work together to address government funding , DREAMERS , and healthcare , '' Mr Schumer and Mrs Pelosi said . | http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41181209 | BBC News | Trump agrees to Democrat deal on spending and Harvey aid | c4bf4b57230473fb | 1 | [
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immigration | 2013-05-06 | Immigration | center | There was a time when Jim DeMint was committed to helping Sen. Marco Rubio achieve his goals .
At least not when it comes to remaking the nation 's immigration laws .
DeMint is president of the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation , which on Monday released a report contending that an immigration overhaul would cost U.S. taxpayers $ 6.3 trillion over 13 years in direct and indirect spending like welfare and public schools .
The think tank 's report was clearly meant to slow momentum for revamping the nation 's immigration laws . Rubio , one of the higher-wattage members of the Senate 's bipartisan Gang of Eight , is leading the chamber 's efforts on immigration .
Thought to be strongly considering a run for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination , Rubio won his Senate seat in 2010 in no small part because of significant and early support from prominent conservatives like DeMint , who then represented South Carolina in the Senate .
Back then , DeMint was widely viewed as the Tea Party 's man in the Senate and Rubio was the choice of Florida voters who aligned themselves with the new , anti-establishment movement .
DeMint was unsparing in his advocacy for Rubio over Charlie Crist , who had been the establishment 's preferred Republican for the Senate seat . It was in that spirit that DeMint once told a crowd : `` I 'd rather have 30 Marco Rubios in the Senate than 60 Arlen Specters , '' referring to the late senator and longtime Republican moderate who bolted from the GOP to become a Democrat when it became clear he would lose a party primary .
David Woodard , a Clemson University political scientist who wrote a book with DeMint , said the irony is that DeMint was one of the earliest Rubio endorsers . Rubio would joke that the only other people who supported him at that time were in his family .
`` They were the closest of friends , I thought , '' Woodard said . `` But of course , they 're kind of in different places right now . One has to do something politically . The other can afford to be in the ivory tower . ''
DeMint may still prefer 30 Rubios to 60 Specters . But he certainly does n't care much for the Senate immigration overhaul approach that his former protege has attached himself to .
Pinning his criticism to the path to legal status that the Senate bill would provide to immigrants who are in the U.S illegally β an estimated 11 million people β DeMint referred to that feature by a highly charged term for conservatives β `` amnesty . ''
`` Amnesty is unfair to those who come here lawfully and those who are waiting , '' DeMint said at a Monday news conference releasing the report . `` It will cost the American taxpayer trillions of dollars over the next several decades , and it will make our immigration problems worse . ''
Heritage 's report was n't exactly a surprise . The think tank issued a similar report in 2007 . And ever since an immigration overhaul became a bipartisan goal late last year , with many Republicans viewing it as vital to their chances of appealing to Hispanic voters , Heritage scholars have said the costs of changes would outweigh the benefits .
Still , it did n't go unnoticed that DeMint appeared to be throwing down the gauntlet at his ally 's feet .
Rubio and his aides did n't have a public reaction to the report , at least not a direct one . Instead , a tweet on the senator 's Twitter account pointed his followers to a National Review Online piece by Douglas Holtz-Eakin , former head of the Congressional Budget Office . In it , Holtz-Eakin essentially does his best to shred the living daylights out of the Heritage report . He wrote :
`` Imagine the confusion among thoughtful conservatives , then , when in 2007 , and repackaged and re-released today as version 2.0 , a Heritage study failed to consider the implications of reform and instead looked solely at the cost of low-skilled immigrants and those effects on the government 's profitability ! Fool me once , shame on you . Fool me twice , shame on me . ''
Ron Bonjean , a communications and political strategist who worked as a top congressional aide in both the House and the Senate , said that while DeMint and Rubio certainly had a connection , Republicans recognize they are two very different politicians .
`` I do n't know if people viewed DeMint as a father figure to Marco Rubio . They were both cut from the Tea Party cloth . But Rubio is coming in with much more youthful perspective and concern about the impact the lack of Hispanic support will have on the Republican Party over time . ''
Bonjean added that the report was unlikely to be an effective political weapon against Rubio and an immigration overhaul because it looked at only the downside and not the upside of revising the immigration laws .
`` It comes at it from a very one-dimensional process , '' he said . `` Republicans really care about the trees , not the forest here . The study would have a lot more impact if it came at it from a multidimensional approach , the impact on the economy on a positive and negative sense so lawmakers could make real , informed decisions . Instead , we have this one-sided viewpoint . It looks like a study with an agenda . '' | http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/05/06/181685615/demints-departure-one-time-ally-spurns-rubio | NPR Online News | DeMint's Departure: A Onetime Ally Spurns Rubio | 5880e92ae035b0d3 | 1 | [
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us_house | 2019-01-26 | US House, Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump, Politics | right | House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D-Calif. ) did n't back down from her attacks on President Donald Trump after they agreed to end the partial government shutdown , instead she hit him with a bizarre conspiracy theory .
The Democratic leader made the accusations from her social media account on Friday .
`` Roger Stone 's indictment makes clear there was a deliberate , coordinated effort by top Trump campaign officials to subvert the will of the American people during the 2016 Election , '' she tweeted .
Roger Stone 's indictment makes clear there was a deliberate , coordinated effort by top Trump campaign officials to subvert the will of the American people during the 2016 Election . # FollowTheFacts
Pelosi was referring to the indictment and arrest Friday morning of one of the president 's oldest friends and former campaign aides , Roger Stone . He was arrested at his home and charged with lying to Congress about being an intermediary between WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the Trump campaign .
Pelosi then asked if Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin was extorting President Trump .
. @ realDonaldTrump 's continued efforts to undermine Special Counsel Mueller 's investigation raises the questions :
`` What does Putin have on @ realDonaldTrump , politically , personally or financially ? '' she asked rhetorically .
She then implied that the president was attempting to weaken NATO , the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , in order to help Putin 's foreign policy schemes .
Why has the Trump Administration continued to discuss pulling the U.S. out of NATO , which would be a massive victory for Putin ?
The speculation that Trump is doing the bidding of Putin because of some compromising information held against him has been made by many of the most virulent of the president 's critics . Trump has denied all allegations of this sort .
Pelosi added in a statement , `` Lying to Congress and witness tampering constitute grave crimes . ''
`` All who commit these illegal acts should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law , '' she said . `` We can not allow any effort to intimidate witnesses or prevent them from appearing before Congress . '' | https://www.theblaze.com/news/nancy-pelosi-hits-trump-with-a-bizarre-conspiracy-theory-after-ending-the-government-shutdown | TheBlaze.com | Nancy Pelosi hits Trump with a bizarre conspiracy theory after ending the government shutdown | e88079d5114f39d9 | 2 | [
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politics | 2024-04-06 | Politics, Robert F Kennedy Jr, January 6, 2024 Presidential Election, Weaponization Of The Federal Government, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Threats To Democracy | left | Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks to supporters during an event, Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a lengthy statement Friday suggested that the prosecution of rioters who violently attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, might be politically motivated, partly aligning himself with the false portrayal being pushed by former President Donald Trump and his allies. The statement came a day after Kennedy came under fire for a fundraising email that painted a sympathetic portrait of the rioters as βactivistsβ who were βstripped of their constitutional liberties.β While Kennedyβs campaign said it had severed ties with a contractor who sent the fundraising email, his latest statement struck a similar tone. Rather than disavowing the idea that the rioters are being prosecuted unjustly, Kennedy has embraced it, saying he is βconcerned about the possibility that political objectives motivated the vigor of the prosecution of the J6 defendants.β When it comes to the events of Jan. 6, Kennedy said, βI want to hear every side.β Kennedy in his statement does partially criticize Trump β saying the attack on the Capitol happened with his βencouragementβ and βin the context of his delusion that the election was stolen from him.β Yet Kennedy said as president he would appoint a special counsel to look into whether Trump allies were unfairly singled out for prosecution, βand I will right any wrongs that we discover.β Trump routinely calls those convicted for the Jan. 6 attack βhostagesβ and has promised to pardon them if he wins back the White House. Kennedy in his statement also claims falsely that the rioters did not carry weapons. Some members of the mob carried guns and one was recently charged with firing a shot into the air during the riot. Other rioters used things like flagpoles, a crutch, a hockey stick, a lacrosse stick, pepper spray and a PVC pipe to attack officers. Kennedy later retracted that claim with a statement Friday evening saying: βMy understanding that none of the January 6 rioters who invaded the capitol were carrying firearms was incorrect. Several have been convicted of carrying firearms into the Capitol building. Others assaulted Capitol police with pepper spray, bludgeons, and other makeshift weapons. βThis behavior is inexcusable,β he added. βI have never minimized or dismissed the seriousness of the riot or any crime committed on that day.β The violence on Jan. 6 was extensive. The mob of Trump supporters stormed past police barriers, engaged in hand-to-hand combat with officers, smashed windows and poured into the Capitol building, sending lawmakers running into hiding. A makeshift gallows was photographed outside the Capitol the day of the attack and some chanted βHang Mike Pence.β Rioters roamed the halls, calling out, βWhere are you, Nancy?β referring to Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker at the time. Police officers were bruised and bloodied as they were dragged into the crowd and beaten. One officer was crushed in a doorframe and another suffered a heart attack after a rioter pressed a stun gun against his neck and repeatedly shocked him. More than 1,300 people have been charged in the attack on the Capitol, including roughly 500 people accused of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers. About 1,000 have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a judge or a jury of crimes including seditious conspiracy, assault and civil disorder. Only two defendants have been cleared of all charges after a trial, both by judges who decided the case without a jury. Of the more than 800 rioters who have been sentenced, at least 229 have received at least one year behind bars, according to an Associated Press review of court records. The longest sentences so far have gone to the leaders of two far-right extremist groups β the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys β who were convicted of seditious conspiracy after trials that showcased weeks of plotting to use force to stop the transfer of presidential power from Trump to Biden. Judges overseeing the cases in Washingtonβs federal court have routinely stressed that the rioters are being punished for their actions, not their political beliefs. Judges appointed to the bench by presidents of both political parties have sought to use their platforms to combat distortions about the attack and admonish rioters for casting themselves as victims of political persecution. Under Justice Department rules, the attorney general β not the president β appoints special counsels. And special counsels have historically been appointed to investigate crimes, like in the cases against Trump, not to second-guess decision-making by Justice Department leadership. Kennedy portrayed Trump, who faces dozens of charges in four jurisdictions for various alleged crimes, as a victim of a politically motivated government, echoing both the former presidentβs own characterization of the charges as corrupt and claims from Republicans in Congress that federal agencies are βweaponizedβ against conservatives. βOne can, as I do, oppose Donald Trump and all he stands for, and still be disturbed by the weaponization of government against him,β Kennedy said. Kennedy is a lawyer and activist known for fighting for environmental causes and rejecting the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and effective. He has a fervent base of support among voters distrustful of the government and other institutions in American life, including the media, political parties and corporations. Democrats and their allies on the left have mobilized against Kennedy, the descendent of prominent Democrats from the most recognizable dynasty in U.S. politics, who they worry will split the anti-Trump coalition and help Trump to victory in November. βThere arenβt two sides to violent rioters who assaulted police officers and tried to overthrow our democracy,β said Matt Corridoni, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee. βTime and again, RFK Jr. has proven heβs a spoiler for Donald Trump, whether itβs having his candidacy propped up by Trumpβs largest donor or providing cover for Trump by downplaying the seriousness of January 6th.β Allies of the former president also worry about the effect of Kennedyβs candidacy because many of his conspiratorial views are closely aligned with Trump. Long before he was running for president, Kennedy was associated with people who played a part in the chaos of Jan. 6 and the larger movement spreading the falsehood that the election was stolen from Trump. Anti-vaccine business owners Ty and Charlene Bollinger, who the AP has previously reported have had a financial relationship with Kennedy, were involved in hosting a rally near the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, as was Kennedyβs campaign staffer, Del Bigtree. In the months after the attack, Kennedy was a top-billed speaker at the ReAwaken America tour, a Christian nationalist roadshow led by former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, where speakers consistently push the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and Trump is the rightful president. Kennedy was photographed backstage with Flynn, Charlene Bollinger and Roger Stone, a close Trump ally. Kennedy has also appeared on InfoWars, the channel run by Sandy Hook conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who attended the rally that preceded the Capitol attack, and himself marched up the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 6. The anti-vaccine group Kennedy led for years, Childrenβs Health Defense, currently has a lawsuit pending against several news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. The Bollingers are also part of that lawsuit and Kennedy is listed as one of its lawyers. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Michael Kunzelman and Michelle R. Smith contributed. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Thank you for letting us know. This ad has already been reported. These tracking technologies (such as cookies) are needed for our web site to function and are always active. For California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Oregon, Virginia, and Texas Residents Only. To opt out of the sale or sharing/processing of personal information for targeted ads for this site/app on this browser/device, switch the toggle above to OFF by moving it to the LEFT (it will turn gray) and then clicking the βConfirm My Choicesβ button at the bottom. | https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-january-6-prosecutions-conspiracy-6e8f8d060e54055c80c93d131e8dd7f3 | Associated Press | Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questions prosecutions for Jan. 6 attack, says he wants to hear βevery sideβ | d7e145d436f2c2cc | 0 | [
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banking_and_finance | 2020-01-06 | Qasem Soleimani, Global Markets, Trade, Natural Resources, Banking And Finance | left | β NOBODY REALLY understands gold prices , and I donοΏ½οΏ½οΏ½t pretend to understand them either , β Ben Bernanke , then chairman of the Federal Reserve , told America β s Senate Banking Committee in 2013 , after a turbulent few months in the market for the metal ( it hit its all-time peak in 2011 , at the height of the euro-zone crisis and following a downgrade of America β s credit rating ) . Yet it is not difficult to understand why the price of gold hit its highest level since early that yearβ $ 1,588 per ounceβon January 6th .
The jump to a near-seven-year high followed the drone strike that killed Qassem Suleimani , leader of the Quds Force of Iran β s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps , three days earlier . Investors typically seek sanctuary in gold when geopolitical risk soars . The rise of 2.85 % over two trading days is similar to those after other Middle Eastern flare-ups . ( The killing of General Suleimani also caused oil prices to leap : Brent crude rose by 5 % , briefly topping $ 70 a barrel for the first time since May . )
In fact , the price of gold has been rising for a while , climbing by more than 25 % since November 2018 . The effect of General Suleimani β s death , at least so far , is just an additional upward tick . The underlying explanation seems to lie in the behaviour of real ( ie , inflation-adjusted ) interest rates . The most common measure is the yield on ten-year inflation-indexed American Treasury bonds , known as TIPS ; this slid from around 1.1 % in November 2018 to almost zero last August , after the Federal Reserve began cutting rates . That was the lowest since 2013 , the last time gold was so dear .
Analysts at PIMCO , a large fixed-income asset manager , think of gold as an asset with no default or inflation risk ( in inflationary times , investors often regard it as a hedge against rising prices ) . That makes it pretty similar to TIPS , except that gold , unlike TIPS , never yields any interest . If real rates rise , the relative attractiveness of gold falls ; if they fall , gold becomes more alluring . So a drop of a full percentage point in real interest rates over the past year helped push up the price of gold . Gold may pay no interest at all ; but right now TIPS pay next to none .
Gold isn β t for everyone . Warren Buffett , probably America β s most celebrated investor , spurns it . Gold , he once said , β gets dug out of the ground in Africa , or someplace . Then we melt it down , dig another hole , bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it . It has no utility. β John Pierpont Morgan , eponymous founder of America β s biggest investment bank , had a different opinion , quipping that β gold is money , everything else is credit β . And when the return for providing credit is close to zero , it is little surprise that investors want their money in gold . | https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/01/06/the-killing-of-qassem-suleimani-sends-gold-to-a-seven-year-high | The Economist | The killing of Qassem Suleimani sends gold to a seven-year high | 9f5ab7b07b748842 | 0 | [
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sports | 2017-10-17 | Sports, NFL | center | NEW YORK ( βββ ) - National Football League officials weighed the fervor of players protesting racism against U.S. President Donald Trump β s anger at their autumn meeting on Tuesday with supporters of the players kneeling outside in solidarity .
Demonstrators rally outside the location of the annual NFL owners meeting in New York City , NY , U.S. October 17 , 2017 . βββ/Shannon Stapleton
The NFL did not seek commitments from its players to stop kneeling during pregame renditions of the U.S. national anthem but rather focused on helping them in their political activism .
β We spent today talking about the issues that our players have been trying to bring attention to . About issues in our communities to make our communities better , β NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters .
Trump β s repeated denunciation of the players as unpatriotic for kneeling during the national anthem , which he reiterated as recently as Monday , has only made the practice more widespread .
His calls for fans to boycott games if players persist is an unwelcome prospect even for the world β s highest-grossing sports league and have forced the topic high up the agenda of this week β s regularly scheduled meeting in New York City .
Outside the Manhattan luxury hotel where team owners , players and their union β s leaders met , about two dozen people showed their backing for the protesting athletes , kneeling on the sidewalk while holding placards that read β Take a knee against police brutality . β
The small but growing number of players who have taken to kneeling during the national anthem are protesting the killing by police of unarmed black men and boys across the United States , as well as racial disparities in the criminal justice system . More than half of all NFL players are black .
Goodell appeared less interested in stifling the silent protests , despite Trump β s wishes , and instead praised players β character , saying he wanted to help their political activism .
β Today β s discussion with our players was very productive and very important . It reflected our commitment to work together with our players on issues of social justice , β said Goodell .
β Our players are men of great character . They have a very deep understanding and tremendous knowledge of the issues that are going on in all of our communities , and their commitment to addressing these issues is really admirable . β
Goodell , who cut his news conference off after one question , said the league will meet again with players , probably in the next two weeks , and will spend more time talking to reporters when the two-day meeting concludes on Wednesday .
An NFL spokesman had said the president might not see an outright ban on the national anthem protests soon , if ever , and predicted that the meeting would focus on ways for all sides to work together .
Along those lines , team owners and 13 players had a β productive meeting β of their own earlier on Tuesday at the league offices about how to collaborate on positive social change and addressing inequality , according to a statement by the NFL and the players β union , the NFL Players Association .
β As we said last week , everyone who is part of our NFL community has a tremendous respect for our country , our flag , our anthem and our military , β the statement said . β In the best American tradition , we are coming together to find common ground and commit to the hard work required for positive change . β
Malcolm Jenkins , a player for the Philadelphia Eagles , told reporters that the two sides discussed how to amplify players β voices and make what he called β long , sustainable changes . β
β We all have mutual interests . ... We want to make sure that the quality of product that we put out on the field is great , but at the same time we have a responsibility to the communities that we live in and the communities that we come from , β Jenkins said .
Trump wants the league to suspend players if they kneel during the pregame renditions of β The Star-Spangled Banner , β saying on Monday the players were disrespecting the country . His vice president , Mike Pence , walked out of a stadium in Indianapolis earlier this month as players knelt , which Trump said he had instructed Pence to do .
Some team owners , including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones , sympathize with the president . Jones has said he would punish players who kneel by keeping them off the field .
Jones and Buffalo Bills owner Kim Pegula were among the officials seen heading into Tuesday β s meeting , all of them ignoring shouted questions from reporters . Many officials arrived through a rear entrance to avoid cameras .
Players and their union have bristled at Trump β s assertion they are unpatriotic . Though still a minority , more players have begun kneeling since the new football season began , and some sympathetic teammates have linked arms with the kneelers while standing themselves .
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick , who first popularized the gesture last year , said he settled on kneeling as a form of protest because it is widely seen as a gesture of respect .
Kaepernick , who is a free agent , was not invited to attend the meeting . | http://www.reuters.com/article/us-football-nfl-anthem/nfl-policy-on-anthem-kneeling-unchanged-despite-trump-rebuke-idUSKBN1CM16X?il=0 | Reuters | NFL policy on anthem kneeling unchanged, despite Trump rebuke | a2af5ddac2b004e8 | 1 | [
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elections | 2016-02-02 | Hillary Clinton, Democratic Party, Presidential Elections, Elections | center | Result signals a long war between Clinton establishment and the party 's young base .
Hillary Clinton β s asterisk-heavy victory in Iowa might have been the narrowest of wins for her , but it was arguably the worst of all possible outcomes for the Democratic Party .
As of this writing , the result was a statistical tie , 49.9 % for Clinton and 49.6 % for Bernie Sanders . The margin of victory in the delegate count was decided by six coin tosses that β flip truthers β will forever remember as mysteriously biased toward Clinton .
Clinton raced to the podium to declare victory , but the news media will continue to describe it as a tie , probably forever . Sanders ' supporters won β t even make that concession , bitterly complaining about irregularities and , again , coins that seemed to be in Clinton β s pocket , figuratively speaking .
A crushing defeat would have been worse for Clinton , of course . But this wasn β t much better . In fact , the nature of this victory will probably bring out the worst in Clinton . If she lost decisively , as she did in Iowa in 2008 , she 'd have the option of playing the victim . Maybe she 'd even cry again , like she did in Portsmouth , N.H. , in β 08 , earning the sympathy vote . Instead , she won Iowa this time . But saying so requires lawyerly qualifications and caveats .
Everyone knows this β win β was nothing to brag about . According to The New York Times , her β advisers said they did not know if a significant staff shakeup was at hand , but they said that the Clintons were disappointed with Monday night β s result and wanted to ensure that her organization , political messaging and communications strategy were in better shape for the contests to come. β That β s not exactly William Wallace in Braveheart shouting of victory .
Clinton simply can β t go around talking about her β win β in Iowa without seeming ungracious and grasping . Every time she tries , it will , by the very nature of that victory , seem like spin . Already , her supporters are fanning out across cable news overselling the win and reinforcing the sense that Team Clinton is disconnected from reality . Also , any bragging from the Clinton camp will further antagonize Sanders ' supporters , many of whom are already quite hostile to Clinton .
But the real loser in all this is the Democratic Party .
The ghost of Eugene McCarthy has hovered over the Democratic race for a year . In 1968 , the left-wing senator from Minnesota challenged President Johnson in the New Hampshire primary . McCarthy actually lost by a significant margin . But the mere fact that he got 42 % of the vote against the sitting president was enough to ultimately knock Johnson out of the race and entice Robert F. Kennedy into it .
These are different times , and Clinton isn β t an incumbent president . Even so , numerous observers raised the possibility that if Clinton suffered a devastating loss in both Iowa and New Hampshire , it might be enough to entice Vice President Biden , Al Gore , Michael Bloomberg or someone else into the race to save the party from the prospect of a socialist nominee or a fatally flawed Clinton candidacy .
There was never any question in my mind that Clinton will never drop out . Like Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman , she β s got nowhere else to go . But there was some slim possibility that someone else would get in and beat her and Sanders . That won β t happen now . She will almost surely go on to lose in New Hampshire . After that , her best hope is to grind out a victory over many months , antagonizing Sanders ' supporters , who are disproportionately made up of exactly the kind of young activists Clinton desperately needs to win in November .
The window for a Democratic savior β if one ever existed β slammed shut Monday night . The Democrats are stuck with what they β ve got .
Jonah Goldberg , American Enterprise Institute fellow and National Review contributing editor , is a member of βββ 's Board of Contributors .
In addition to its own editorials , βββ publishes diverse opinions from outside writers , including our Board of Contributors . To read more columns like this , go to the Opinion front page . | http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/02/02/goldberg-iowa-caucus-democratic-race-clinton-sanders-tie-column/79695960/ | USA TODAY | Hillary's Iowa 'win' is a big loss for Democrats | 14ac8fb4df5e59dc | 1 | [
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healthcare | 2012-07-10 | Healthcare | left | Moreover , divisions are emerging over the wisdom of pulling the law out , root and branch . Some Republicans , facing re-election in swing districts , are openly suggesting that some measures should remain .
Others worry that the Republican leadership has yet to detail what the party would replace the health care law with . Representative Nan Hayworth , an ophthalmologist and a freshman Republican from New York , said she and others have a clear framework : bolstered health savings accounts , the option to purchase insurance across state lines , medical malpractice limits and a government-subsidized insurance pool for sick people who can not buy insurance on their own . But those alternatives have not been broadly aired .
β We need to start expressing our principles promptly , β she said .
Such concerns are a sharp contrast to the first repeal vote , when a new , vigorous Republican majority was confident that they owed their triumph to voter anger over the health care law . Democrats were on the defensive , with all eyes on which survivors of the 2010 midterm tsunami would switch their votes for the law and embrace repeal . The House voted 245-to-189 to undo President Obama β s signature domestic achievement , with three Democrats joining in .
Representative Pete Sessions of Texas , chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee , said the health care law was passed β with deception at its core β β a penalty for those who fail to purchase insurance has been unmasked by the Supreme Court as a tax on the middle class . He said he was still convinced that the issue would be β probably the biggest driver β ensuring Republican victory in November , outside of the tax increases that could come next year with the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts .
His deputy at the Republican Congressional Committee , Representative Greg Walden of Oregon , was more circumspect .
β We β re going to be talking about jobs and economy , but there are lots of elements to that discussion , one of them being health care , β Mr. Walden said .
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Democrats , on the other hand , say they will be playing offense . The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee started an advertising campaign Monday morning portraying Republicans as controlled by insurance companies and intent on taking away the popular consumer protections in the law . A series of news conferences are planned that will include real-life families whom Democrats say would be harmed by repeal .
But they will also frame the repeal vote as a political stunt , taking Congress β s time away from job-creating legislation . A video to be released Monday will use Speaker John A. Boehner β s oft-repeated phrase , β Mr . President , where are the jobs ? β to mock the repeal exercise .
β There β s a strong sense that we don β t want to carry on this fight , over and over , β said former Gov . Tim Kaine of Virginia , a Democrat who is running for the Senate . β Let β s move on . β
For Republicans in solidly conservative districts β a majority of Republicans in the House β the repeal vote is a no-cost way to energize the base and prove to angry constituents that the fight has not ended .
Representative Patrick McHenry , a Republican from western North Carolina , spoke of β fire and passion for repeal β still seething in his district .
β Activist and average folks regularly bring up full repeal , β he said . β They β re still keenly aware of it , demand it and understand this law is holding back economic growth . β
But Republican campaign consultants are more cautious . Those voters are already energized by the prospect of voting against Mr. Obama in November . How a rehashing of the health care debate will affect independent voters is less clear .
Democrats are driving the narrative that voters are ready to move on . Dan Maffei , a former House Democrat from upstate New York who is campaigning to get his seat back , is using the Supreme Court β s decision to push the debate toward improving the health care law he helped pass , not whether it should stay or go . To him , another vote β the 30th this Congress has held to repeal or partially repeal the law β is more evidence of the rut Washington is in .
β They β re stuck in this eternal recurrence , rerunning the debate on the bill over and over again instead of moving forward , β Mr. Maffei said . | http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/us/politics/cracks-appear-in-republican-unity-on-health-law-repeal.html?ref=politics | New York Times - News | Cracks Appear in Republican Unity on Health Law Repeal | a87cdd54b82f0c1c | 0 | [
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middle_east | 2023-12-04 | Middle East, Israel Hamas Violence, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Hamas, Defense And Security, World, Foreign Policy, Ethnic Cleansing, Terrorism, Refugees | left | Israel has issued an evacuation map asking Palestinians to move south as it intensifies attacks on the besieged enclave. The Israeli military has ordered the evacuation of Palestinians from southern Gaza as it continues with the bombardment in the area following the collapse of a weeklong truce on Friday. But Palestinians and rights groups question the Israeli decision to step up bombing in the besieged enclaveβs south, which was declared a safe zone when the war began about two months ago. This has left Palestinians in Gaza with virtually nowhere to go. Here is what we know so far: More than one million Palestinians have been displaced from northern Gaza since October 13, when the Israeli military ordered people to evacuate to the south on 24 hoursβ notice. More than 15,500 Palestinians have been killed and northern Gaza has since been devastated in weeks of indiscriminate bombings. About 958,000 displaced Palestinians were registered in 99 UNRWA shelters in the centre and south of Gaza, according to the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA; 70 of these centres are in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis. Another 191,000 were estimated to be in informal collective shelters: 124 public schools, hospitals, wedding halls, offices, and community centres. The rest were hosted by families, added OCHA. OCHA reported that the UNRWA shelters are now overcrowded and have poor sanitary conditions, which has led to outbreaks of infections and diseases such as Hepatitis A. Israel has declared Khan Younis βa dangerous combat zoneβ after the truce ended, pummeling the besieged enclaveβs second-largest city β home to 430,000 people. On Sunday, Israelβs military designated about 20 percent of Khan Younis for immediate evacuation. The marked area houses 21 shelters and 50,000 internally displaced people, mostly from the north of Gaza, according to OCHA. Israel ordered the evacuation as it has expanded its bombardment, killing more than 800 Palestinians in Gaza in the past three days. Residents say they have been told to move to Rafah, which has also not been spared. Khan Younis was a designated safe space before the truce ended and 215,000 displaced Palestinians were sheltering in 34 UNRWA shelters in the city. Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians took shelter in other places provided by the local authorities. The Israeli army published an online map of the Gaza Strip on Friday, dividing the enclave into more than 600 numbered blocks. It asked Gazaβs civilians to identify the block corresponding with their area of residence and evacuate when ordered. On Saturday, Israel used the grid system to order evacuation for the first time when military spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted warnings online, urging Palestinians to evacuate from about 20 areas zones in Gaza, with three arrows on a map, all pointing south indicating where people should go. However, leaflets distributed ordering evacuations are inconsistent with online warnings, which has confused the residents. Furthermore, several Gaza residents have no reliable way to access the map, with little access to electricity or the internet since the blockade of the 365sq km (141sq miles) strip has resulted in a collapse of telecommunications infrastructure. The military offensive continues as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday the war will not end until its goal of destroying Hamas was achieved despite international outcry against the staggering number of Palestinian casualties. Nearly 70 Israeli soldiers have been killed during the ground invasion in Gaza. Israel promised vengeance after the Hamas armed group carried out a surprise attack on October 7 inside Israel, killing up to 1,200 people. βThere are no safe areas,β Lebanon-based Hamas official Osama Hamdan said on Sunday. The Israeli military said on X on Monday that it was defining βsafe areasβ for civilians to minimise harm to them. However, Al Jazeera journalists and people on the ground say it is difficult to heed these orders in real time when there is no safe place left in the enclave. Even shelters are not safe, as of November 23, UNRWA reported that at least 191 displaced Palestinians in shelters were killed and 798 were injured. An analysis of the casualty figures shows that nearly 80 percent of the people killed in Israeli attacks are civilians. Israel on Saturday ordered residents of neighbourhoods in the east of Gaza City, including Shujayea, Zeitoun and the Old City, to evacuate to the west. Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, told Sky News that al-Mawasi, a narrow coastal Bedouin town towards the south, is a safe zone and is one of the shelters created with aid organisations. When Sky News correspondents visited al-Mawasi to investigate, they found no shelter arrangements such as agency tents or food kitchens. Some Palestinians are fleeing for the fourth time since the outbreak of violence on October 7. Rafik al-Rekeb who was displaced from Bani Suheila in Khan Younis, told Al Jazeera: βA safe area should be equipped with all the necessitiesβ such as tents. βThere arenβt any safe areas in Gaza. Am I supposed to sleep with my children in the rain in this designated safe area?β said al-Rekeb. The UN has called Gaza βa death zoneβ and βa graveyard for childrenβ, calling for a pause in the fighting. It has struggled to bring in aid due to Israelβs total siege of the enclave. The supply of aid, however, picked up during the one-week truce. βThe people in Gaza are staring into the humanitarian abyss,β former UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness told Al Jazeera. Follow Al Jazeera English: | https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/4/israel-asks-palestinians-to-evacuate-but-is-any-place-safe-in-gaza | Al Jazeera | Israel asks Palestinians to evacuate, but is any place safe in Gaza? | e1b9bd62a470fe4a | 0 | [
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elections | 2012-11-02 | Presidential Elections, Elections | left | Story highlights The monthly jobs report is the last one before next week's presidential election It may be the single most motivating event at this point in the campaign Americans are generally partisan and split when evaluating which candidate will create more jobs But they believe propelling America forward fundamentally means jobs creationCNN βThe monthly jobs report β the last before the nail-biting election next week β may be the single most motivating event to take place at this point in the campaign.On its own, it wouldnβt be. But with a race so tight in so many swing states, swayable, uncommitted, undecided and even decided voters could be persuaded to cast a ballot for the presidential candidate they think can best propel the country forward.And propelling America forward fundamentally means job creation.Here are five things you need to know about the U.S. employment situation report for October released Friday.CNN Money: Hiring increases in October, unemployment up1. Itβs a trend, not a bombshellBoth the confusing and less-relevant, though politically more popular, βunemployment rate,β and the more important number of jobs created, have been trending in the right direction. Thereβs nothing in todayβs number that fundamentally changes the fact that weβre moving more slowly than was predicted and more slowly than weβd like to be moving.It is to President Obamaβs advantage if you subscribe to trend and Mitt Romneyβs if you think it is too slow. But it is pointing the right way.Romneyβs vision for AmericaObama argues that heβs more than made up for the number of jobs lost since he inherited the crisis. Romney underscores that itβs not the quantity, but the quality of those jobs, which have been lower-paying and have offered fewer benefits than those lost.Obamaβs vision for America2. Neither candidate has a real planPolling continues to show that Americans are generally partisan and split when evaluating which candidate will create more jobs. Thatβs because neither has a plan (though both have dreams and aspirations), and most people realize that the president has limited ability to motivate the large-scale creation of jobs in the private sector, which is where it needs to happen.Final jobs report before election gives ammo for both sides3. Theyβre both making promises they have no way of guaranteeing theyβll keepRomney made a ridiculous pledge to create 12 million jobs in four years; a cynical ploy to play on Americansβ most base economic fear. Obama matched the pledge, though, unlike Romney, doesnβt bring it up nearly as often. Advisers to both campaigns have conceded to me under extensive questioning that this is more of an aspiration or a goal than an achievable promise. Thatβs not how the candidates presented it. They have been dishonest.Fastest-growing jobs4. Both plans are based on an average of 4% economic growth over the next termWeβre at 2% now. 3% next year if weβre lucky (see below). 4% is something virtually no economists say is likely. Romney pegs it all on tax cuts, and points to Ronald Reagan. But tax cuts under Reagan were, as a percentage, much greater than anything we can afford to do today.Romneyβs math doesnβt come close to adding up β itβs all about the GDP growth number. But if itβs all about GDP growth, then the president doesnβt matter. I could be president with 4% GDP growth and create 12 million jobs in four years, which is 3 million/year, or 250,000 a month. Itβs 50% higher than the best current projections. Obama, for his part, does have a better plan, based largely on the hidden βinfrastructure bankβ in his Jobs Act, which never got passed. But I talk about that more than he ever did. Heβs afraid of the best part of his plan for some reason.5. Europeβs the problem, not ChinaEuropeβs getting worse, not better. Itβs like a head cold; even once you start treating it, it still has to run its course and will get worse before it gets better. That hurts the U.S. β and its need to achieve an average of 4% economic growth over the next four years. And we were all betting on a growing middle class in China, which would buy anything American-made that wasnβt nailed down. But what Europe isnβt buying, China isnβt making. And while Chinaβs making less and less, its population is prospering more slowly. While the United States can have some limited impact on Chinaβs economic behavior, it has virtually no influence over the European mess, which is why you donβt hear about it on the campaign trail. In the short term, Europe is Americaβs real problem, not China.Best jobs in America | http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/02/politics/velshi-job-numbers/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 | CNN Digital | Last jobs report before election crucial in close race | 7b7505fe9a0639a9 | 0 | [
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coronavirus | 2021-10-25 | Coronavirus, Coronavirus Vaccine, Vaccine Mandates, Children, Schools, Public Health, Safety And Sanity During COVID-19, CDC, Moderna, Pfizer | center | Greg GanskeGuest columnistAs grandparents we wonder whether to recommend that our grandchildren, ages 2 to 7, get COVID-19 vaccinations. Vaccines for children 5 to 11 will soon be available under Emergency Use Authorization, and a vaccine will probably be ready the next few months for those younger.We are not alone in questioning whether our grandkids should get the shots. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey in August showed that roughly one-quarter of parents of children aged 5 to 11 would vaccinate their children βright away,β 40% said they would βwait and seeβ how the vaccine worked before doing so, and 25% said they would not have their child vaccinated.Pfizer and BioNTech submitted data last month to the Food and Drug Administration that the companies say shows their coronavirus vaccine in low doses is safe and effective in children ages 5 to 11. They studied 2,200 participants in that age group, and the FDA is analyzing this data in considering an Emergency Use Authorization that could come as early as Halloween. Then, 28 million children would be eligible for the vaccine, in addition to the 17 million aged 12 to 15 that became eligible in May, half of whom have been vaccinated.To answer our childrenβs concerns about vaccinating our grandkids, we have to address four questions: Is it effective, is it safe, is it necessary, and how will it affect the pandemic for others? These are questions the FDA and Centers for Disease Control advisory panels on vaccines are examining.Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.Is it effective?It is important to remember that vaccines are administered to otherwise healthy people and we should be extra careful with children who canβt give informed consent like adults. That is why vaccines are among the most rigorously tested and safest medical products on the market and why it has taken 10 years or more and about $1 billion in the past to make each new one available to the public. The speed of Operation Warp Speed in getting COVID-19 vaccines to the public is built on technology developed in just the past few years.Earlier this year, of the U.S. children ages 12 to 15 whom Pfizer studied, half were given the vaccine, the other half a placebo. A week after the second shot there were no COVID-19 cases in the vaccine group but 16 cases in the 978 children in the placebo group. This suggested a very effective vaccine in this age group. The children who received the vaccine had similar side effects as adults, such as arm soreness, fatigue, headaches, chills fever and joint pain. Many had no side effects.Is it safe?There have been a few cases of inflammation of the heart and around the heart β myocarditis and pericarditis β particularly in males and young adults age 16 and older a few days after vaccination. Reports are rare. It is estimated this occurs about 4.8 times per million doses. Nobody has died and the problem usually resolves in a few weeks. A review in the Aug. 4 Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that while the temporal association does not prove causation, the short time between vaccination and myocarditis onset lends support to a possible relationship. On a separate issue, there are no peer reviewed reports on the COVID-19 vaccines causing fertility problems in women.Is it necessary?The question of necessity is the hardest to answer. The calculations change, as we are going through a spike in cases thanks in part to a delta variant that is more infectious. The school year started largely in person. Thankfully, the delta variant does not seem more deadly and the vaccines seem to be nearly as effective against it.Kids are relatively safe from COVID-19. We have known this for well over 18 months. From the beginning, the data from China was clear that COVID-19 did not significantly threaten most children. Some pediatric hospitals are now experiencing increasing hospitalizations, but we also have a big surge in another respiratory virus, RSV, accounting for more than half of admissions and ICU cases. RSV preventive medicine is only given only to high-risk babies.As of mid-October, over the course of this pandemic, 558 U.S. children have died of COVID-19. About three-fourths of them had underlying conditions. This is less than half the number that have died from pneumonia in that time period. In this time period, 49,000 Americans under the age of 18 died of all causes. Fewer children died of COVID-19 than of heart disease, cancer, suicide, homicide, or birth defects. Of the 600,000-plus Americans who have died of COVID, only 0.05% are under the age of 18 from a population of more than 20% of the country.There have been 56,000 confirmed child cases in Iowa as of Sept. 16, not counting the cases which have been too mild or asymptomatic to be tested. The Iowa Department of Public Health reports that, out of about 6,600 total COVID-19 deaths of all ages in Iowa only three under the age of 5 have died from Covid-19.I suspect that if any Iowa K-12 student had died of COVID, there would have been massive publicity. The 18-to-29 age group sustained 17 deaths. I know of no college student in Iowa who has died of COVID-19. It is true that due to school reopening and the more infectious delta variant, there is an increase in diagnosed infections and hospitalizations in children.We should celebrate that the risk to children from COVID-19 is so small!How will it affect the pandemic for others?What about the risk of children infecting others? Prior to vaccines, there was a case to be made for keeping children from infecting the elderly. That changed with vaccines. Today every state is near or above 80% of its over-65 population vaccinated. Three states have vaccinated over 95% of their elderly. Vaccines arenβt perfect; there are some breakthrough cases of the vaccinated. For the vaccinated without serious underlying conditions, those who contract COVID usually have mild or asymptomatic courses.My verdictThe mortality risk of COVID in children is very small, but the vaccine is effective, and the preliminary data show that the risk of a bad complication of the vaccine is very small, too Getting vaccinated can reduce the chance that children transmit the virus to others, though adults can largely protect themselves by getting vaccinated. As of August, 182.5 million Americans have been vaccinated.If we had a grandchild with an underlying condition such as diabetes, cardiac congenital anomalies, epilepsy, obesity and asthma, we would recommend the vaccine to their parents. Some parents are going to consider getting their children vaccinated primarily to reduce their children from getting the disease, which could mean two weeks out of school, virtual learning, and time away from work for the parents. This is a valid consideration as long as the risk from the vaccine is almost nil. Parents will need to evaluate what the CDC determines on its EUA decision.Parents should discuss vaccination of their children with their family doctor or pediatrician.Finally, it should be noted that Merck and Co. announced recently that its experimental COVID-19 pill, molnupiravir, which interferes with an enzyme that the virus uses to reproduce itself, reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus. Merck will soon ask the U.S. and the world to authorize its use. If this pill proves as effective as reported, reduced morality to those who get sick will also need to be factored into the decision to vaccinate the young. When it comes to children, this decision is not a slam dunk.Dr. Greg Ganske is a retired surgeon and former Iowa member of Congress who served on the committee with jurisdiction over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health. | https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2021/10/24/greg-ganske-breakdown-children-vaccine-choices/6024227001/ | Des Moines Register | These are the questions I'm asking as approval of a COVID-19 vaccine for younger children nears | 7b41d90ac6b8098d | 1 | [
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russia | 2019-04-28 | Russia, William Barr | right | WASHINGTON β The Justice Department has informed the House Judiciary Committee that Attorney General William P. Barr may not attend a Thursday hearing to review special counsel Robert Mueller β s report due to objections over the panel β s format , according to a Democratic senior committee aide .
The department has balked at the panel β s plans to allow the committee β s counsels from both sides to question Barr after the traditional round of questioning by members . Justice officials also told the committee that they are opposed to the panel β s plan to go into a closed session if members want to discuss redacted portions of Mueller β s report , according to the aide , who requested anonymity to discuss the confidential communications with the Justice Department .
Barr is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and the House panel on Thursday . The GOP-led Senate committee is expected to have normal rounds of member questioning .
It is unusual for committee counsels to question a witness . But committees can generally make their own rules , and other panels have made similar exceptions . In a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh last year , for example , Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee hired an outside prosecutor to question a witness who had accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault .
The dispute comes as tensions have escalated sharply between House Democrats and the Trump administration over full access Mueller β s report and government witnesses who have defied congressional subpoenas to testify . Democrats have been eagerly anticipating the hearing with Barr as they try to build on Mueller β s findings with their own investigations into the president .
House Democrats have subpoenaed the Justice Department for the unredacted version of the Mueller report and underlying material gathered from the investigation . In response , the Justice Department has said they will make the full report , minus grand jury material , available to a limited group of members - an offer that Democrats have so far refused . The dispute could eventually end up in court .
Democrats have criticized Barr for drawing his own conclusion that Trump did not obstruct justice after Mueller found he couldn β t exonerate the president on that point . House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said Barr is involved in a β staggering public effort β by the Trump administration to put a positive face on Mueller β s findings .
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler , D-N.Y. , has also invited Mueller to testify and subpoenaed former White House counsel Don McGahn . McGahn was a vital witness for Mueller in the report , which recounted the president β s outrage over the Mueller investigation and his efforts to curtail it . The White House has asserted it will fight the McGahn subpoena .
β’ Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this article . | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/28/william-barr-mueller-report-testimony-doubt-amid-d/ | Washington Times | William Barr testimony on Mueller report in doubt amid dispute | 1c7fcfcca40a1400 | 2 | [
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north_korea | 2018-04-17 | Mike Pompeo, North Korea, World | left | Mike Pompeo , CIA director and nominee for secretary of state , met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea over Easter weekend β a major sign that Washington and Pyongyang are setting the stage for historic talks between President Donald Trump and Kim later this year .
The Washington Post β s Shane Harris , Carol D. Leonnig , Greg Jaffe , and David Nakamura broke the news about the top-secret meeting late Tuesday night . Trump had hinted at Pompeo β s milestone visit earlier on Tuesday , saying at Mar-a-Lago β where he β s hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe β that the US was engaging with North Korea at β directly β at β extremely high levels. β Trump added : β I really believe there β s a lot of goodwill . A lot of good things are happening . β
Trump β s statement was big news , though it was tough to pin down what exactly the president was referring to in his remarks . As βββ β s Alex Ward wrote , β direct talks at an β extremely high level , β as Trump says are now happening , are rare . That β s why it β s hard to know if the US and North Korea are actually speaking at a higher level than normal , or through an already established channel . β
But it turns out it was different . A visit by Pompeo β one of Trump β s most trusted advisers β is a sign that there β s legitimate progress toward a historic meeting between Kim and Trump . According to the Post , Pompeo is the highest level official to meet with a North Korean leader since Madeline Albright met with Kim Jong Il , the current leader β s father , as secretary state in 2000 .
Trump is expected to sit down with Kim in late May or June , and a lot of details still have to get worked out before that happens . Having the current CIA director and nominee to be next secretary of state meet with directly with the North Korean leader himself is a pretty good way to start working those details out . | https://www.vox.com/2018/4/17/17249888/mike-pompeo-north-korea-kim-jong-un-meeting-trump-talks | Vox | Mike Pompeo reportedly met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un | e7daf97d0ed90810 | 0 | [
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elections | 2018-12-13 | Campaign Finance, Elections | right | President Trump argued Thursday that he never told Michael Cohen to break the law, just one day after his former lawyer was sentenced to three years in prison for campaign finance and tax violations. βI never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law,β the president tweeted, in his first public reaction to Mr. Cohenβs sentence. Mr. Trump argued that it was Mr. Cohenβs responsibility to inform his client what would and would not violate the law, contending that βa lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made.β He also doubled down on arguing that the payments made to two of Mr. Trumpβs alleged mistresses should not constitute a violation of campaign finance law and argued that, even if they were, it should only be a civil issue. β[Michael Cohen] pleaded to two campaign charges which were not criminal and of which he probably was not guilty [of] even on a civil basis,β Mr. Trump wrote. He argued that his former lawyer only took the plea in order to βembarrassβ him and reduce his prison sentence for other charges against him. βAs a lawyer, Michael has great liability to me!β he wrote. On Monday, the president called the hush money payments βa simple private transaction.β In his guilty plea, Mr. Cohen said he organized the payments to Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, both of whom claimed to have had alleged affairs with Mr. Trump, at the direction of and in coordination with the president. During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Cohen arranged for Ms. McDougal to be paid off so that her story would never be published. Federal prosecutors continue to build the case around hush money payments, as they announced a deal with National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc. to cooperate with the investigation. They told prosecutors that they worked βin concertβ with the Trump campaign to bury Ms. Dougalβs claims. β Jeff Mordock contributed to this report. β’ Gabriella MuΓ±oz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com. Copyright Β© 2025 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. SEE MORE VIDEOS Stopping the illegal alien invasion βXβ marks the danger spot in the battle against hostile cyberthreats Carville says Trump playing 4D chess while Democrats still looking for board | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/13/trump-says-he-never-directed-cohen-to-break-the-la/ | Washington Times | Trump says he never directed Cohen to break the law, claims lawyer has liability | 32d32f575f39b7a5 | 2 | [
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donald_trump | 2022-09-07 | Donald Trump, Media Industry, Mar-A-Lago Raid, Washington Post, FBI, Justice, Justice Department, Nuclear Weapons, World, Foreign Policy | left | clockThis article was published more than 2 years ago Some seized documents were so closely held, only the president, a Cabinet-level or near-Cabinet level official could authorize others to know A document describing a foreign governmentβs military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities, was found by FBI agents who searched former president Donald Trumpβs Mar-a-Lago residence and private club last month, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about classified material stashed in the Florida property. Some of the seized documents detail top-secret U.S. operations so closely guarded that many senior national security officials are kept in the dark about them. Only the president, some members of his Cabinet or a near-Cabinet-level official could authorize other government officials to know details of these special-access programs, according to people familiar with the search, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive details of an ongoing investigation. Documents about such highly classified operations require special clearances on a need-to-know basis, not just top-secret clearance. Some special-access programs can have as few as a couple dozen government personnel authorized to know of an operationβs existence. Records that deal with such programs are kept under lock and key, almost always in a secure compartmented information facility, with a designated control officer to keep careful tabs on their location. But such documents were stored at Mar-a-Lago, with uncertain security, more than 18 months after Trump left the White House. Deep inside busy Mar-a-Lago, a storage room where secrets were kept After months of trying, according to government court filings, the FBI has recovered more than 300 classified documents from Mar-a-Lago this year: 184 in a set of 15 boxes sent to the National Archives and Records Administration in January, 38 more handed over by a Trump lawyer to investigators in June, and more than 100 additional documents unearthed in a court-approved search on Aug. 8. It was in this last batch of government secrets, the people familiar with the matter said, that the information about a foreign governmentβs nuclear-defense readiness was found. These people did not identify the foreign government in question, say where at Mar-a-Lago the document was found or offer additional details about one of the Justice Departmentβs most sensitive national security investigations. Christopher Kise, a lawyer for Trump, decried leaks about the case, which he said βcontinue with no respect for the process nor any regard for the real truth. This does not serve well the interests of justice.β βMoreover, the damage to public confidence in the integrity of the system simply cannot be underestimated. The responsible course of action here would be for someone β anyone β in the Government to exercise leadership and control. The Court has provided a sensible path forward which does not include the selective leak of unverifiable and misleading information. There is no reason to deviate from that path if the goal is, as it should be, to find a rational solution to document storage issues which have needlessly spiraled out of control.β Spokespeople for the Justice Department and FBI declined to comment. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is conducting a risk assessment, to determine how much potential harm was posed by the removal from government custody of hundreds of classified documents. Trump and the Mar-a-Lago documents: A timeline The Washington Post previously reported that FBI agents who searched Trumpβs home were looking, in part, for any classified documents relating to nuclear weapons. After that story published, Trump compared it on social media to a host of previous government investigations into his conduct. βNuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a Hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a Hoax, and much more. Same sleazy people involved,β he wrote, going on to suggest that FBI agents might have planted evidence against him. A grand jury subpoena issued May 11 demanded the return of βall documents or writings in the custody or control of Donald J. Trump and/or the Office of Donald J. Trump bearing classification markings,β including βTop Secret,β and the lesser categories of βSecretβ and βConfidential.β The subpoena, issued to Trumpβs custodian of records, then listed more than two dozen sub-classifications of documents, including βS/FRD,β an abbreviation for βFormerly Restricted Data,β which is reserved for information that relates primarily to the military use of nuclear weapons. Despite the βformerlyβ in the title, the term does not mean the information is no longer classified. One person familiar with the Mar-a-Lago search said the goal of the comprehensive list was to ensure recovery of all classified records on the property, and not just those that investigators had reason to believe might be there. Q&A: Post reporters answer your questions about the Mar-a-Lago documents Investigators grew alarmed, according to one person familiar with the search, as they began to review documents retrieved from the clubβs storage closet, Trumpβs residence and his office in August. The team soon came upon records that are extremely restricted, so much so that even some of the senior-most national security officials in the Biden administration werenβt authorized to review them. One government filing alluded to this information when it noted that counterintelligence FBI agents and prosecutors investigating the Mar-a-Lago documents were not authorized at first to review some of the material seized. FBI's Mar-a-Lago search followed months of resistance, delay by Trump Among the 100-plus classified documents taken in August, some were marked βHCS,β a category of highly classified government information that refers to βHUMINT Control Systems,β which are systems used to protect intelligence gathered from secret human sources, according to a court filing. A partially unsealed affidavit said documents found in the boxes that were sent to the National Archives in January related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. There was also material that was never meant to be shared with foreign nations. The investigation into possible mishandling of classified information, as well as possible hiding, tampering or destruction of government records, grew even more complex Monday when a federal judge in Florida granted Trumpβs request to appoint a special master to review the material seized in the Aug. 8 search and weed out documents that may be covered by executive privilege β a legal standard that, as applied to former presidents, is poorly defined. U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon ruled the special master also will sift through all of the nearly 13,000 documents and items the FBI took to identify any that might be protected by attorney-client privilege, even though Justice Department lawyers have said a βfilterβ team has already completed that task. Cannonβs ruling could slow down and complicate the governmentβs criminal probe, particularly if the Justice Department decides to appeal over the unsettled and tricky questions of what executive privilege a former president may have. The judge ruled that investigators cannot βuseβ the seized material in their investigation until the special master concludes his or her examination. A special master has yet to be appointed; Cannon has asked Trump and the Justice Department to agree on a list of qualified candidates by Friday. Legal experts noted that the Justice Department can still interview witnesses, use other evidence and present information to a grand jury while the special master examines the seized material. In her order, Cannon said the appointment of a special master was necessary βto ensure at least the appearance of fairness and integrity under the extraordinary circumstances presented.β Justice Dept. filing points to new legal peril for Trump, his lawyers She also reasoned that a special master could mitigate potential harm to Trump βby way of improper disclosure of sensitive information to the public,β suggesting that knowledge or details of the case were harmful to the former president, and could be lessened by inserting a special master into the document-review process. Kise, the Trump lawyer, cited that part of the judgeβs reasoning in his statement Tuesday night in which he denounced leaks in the case. Cannon wrote that Trumpβs position as a former president means βthe stigma associated with the subject seizure is in a league of its ownβ and that a βfuture indictment, based to any degree on property that ought to be returned, would result in reputational harm of a decidedly different order of magnitude.β Who are these 'special masters,' and what makes them so special? While the FBI search has drawn strong condemnation from Trump and his Republican allies, who accuse the Justice Department of acting with political malice against a past president who may seek the office again in 2024, some Republicans have said the action might have been necessary. In an interview that aired Friday, former Trump attorney general William P. Barr said there is no reason classified documents should have been at Mar-a-Lago after Trump was out of office. βPeople say this was unprecedented,β Barr told Fox News. βBut itβs also unprecedented for a president to take all this classified information and put them in a country club, okay?β Josh Dawsey contributed to this report. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/06/trump-nuclear-documents/ | Washington Post | Material on foreign nationβs nuclear capabilities seized at Trumpβs Mar-a-Lago | bf463acafe7bcaba | 0 | [
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climate_change | 2022-07-19 | Biden Administration, Climate Change, Environment, Heat Waves, Joe Biden, National Emergency, Weather, Wildfires | left | Now that Joe Manchin has once again pulled the rug out from under him, essentially nixing the possibility of getting any climate legislation through for the near future, Joe Biden is under pressure to do whatever he can through executive action to combat climate change. Democrats have renewed calls on Biden to take βforceful, firm, and wide-rangingβ action on the environment in recent days β and the president appears ready to to do just that, with White House officials telling reporters that he could declare a climate emergency as soon as this week.βI think realistically there is a lot he can do and there is a lot he will do,β senior White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein said at a press conference Monday. βThe president will aggressively fight to attack climate change because he knows itβs one of the reasons heβs here. And it is absolutely core to transitioning from where we are to where we need to be.βThe Washington Post reported Tuesday that Biden appears to be readying to act, with an emergency declaration that could come as soon as this week and several other executive actions to curb emissions also on the way. Itβs unclear what the full scope of the action would include, and a White House official told the Post that no final decisions had been made. But, the official said, the βpresident made clear that if the Senate doesnβt act to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen our domestic clean energy industry, he will.βThe news comes during a global flashpoint around climate change, including with deadly heat waves in the United States that have strained Texas' power grid and in Europe that sent temperatures in the United Kingdom to record highs of over 40 degrees Celsius Tuesday. Unprecedented wildfires have also spread across southern Europe, as well as the U.S. state of Alaska.Manchin, the conservative West Virginia Democrat who has thwarted several of the presidentβs legislative priorities, abruptly told party leaders last week that he would not support any new climate spending for now, citing concerns about inflation. That stunning about-face, after months of negotiations, almost certainly doomed the potential for new environmental legislation this term, which could represent the last opportunity for the foreseeable future to do so, should the GOP take back Capitol in the midterms. It was a devastating blow to the fledgling effort to address the climate crisis, and came weeks after the right-wing Supreme Court hamstrung the Environmental Protection Agencyβs administrative authority to regulate emissions.If the United States, the worldβs second-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, is to have a chance of holding to its climate goals, including the global effort to limit temperature rise to 1.5 celsius above pre-industrial levels, itβs almost certainly up to Biden now. Some Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have been calling for him to declare a climate emergency since the beginning of his presidency, but he has appeared to hold out hope that lawmakers could work out a legislative compromise. Now, though, βheβs been left no other choice,β as Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse wrote last week.X content This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.βThe executive path must proceed now with speed and vigor,β Whitehouse said.An emergency declaration would unlock broader executive powers to address the issue, including the authority to use congressional funds to curb emissions and support renewable energy. There are also risks, political and legal, depending on how far the administration goes: As the Post points out, more aggressive action could cut against Bidenβs efforts to bring down gas prices ahead of the November midterms, and could invite legal challenges that could further undercut future climate policy. The latter has led to concern among some Democrats, who are trying to keep the door open to legislation. βWhile I strongly support additional executive action by President Biden, we know a flood of Republican lawsuits will follow,β Senator Ron Wyden told the Post. βLegislation continues to be the best option here. The climate crisis is the issue of our time and we should keep our options open.βThe fear of lawsuits is well-founded, especially given the high courtβs demonstrated hostility to the administrative state. But the costs of inaction or half-measures is already becoming frighteningly apparent. βDuring his campaign, [Biden] promised bold climate action,β Democratic Senator Jeff Merkeley wrote Monday. βNowβs the time to make good on that promise.β | https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/07/biden-climate-emergency-executive-action | Vanity Fair | Biden Under Pressure to Declare Climate Emergency as Agenda Nosedives | 5a8ba7ea8ce81b2d | 0 | [
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healthcare | 2013-11-15 | Obamacare, Healthcare | right | President Obama 's `` fix '' for the wave of insurance cancellation notices going out as a result of ObamaCare is creating mass confusion for state-level insurance commissioners and companies who are unclear how they would implement the change -- if at all -- at this late stage .
`` For three years , state insurance regulators have been working to adapt to the Affordable Care Act in a way that best meets the needs of consumers in each state , '' the National Association of Insurance Commissioners said in a statement . `` It is unclear how , as a practical matter , the changes proposed ... by the president can be put into effect . ''
The statement was one of many complaints and outright cries for help at the state level after Obama announced Thursday that he 's allowing insurance companies to sell policies that would otherwise be out of compliance with the Affordable Care Act for another year . The change was meant to address the concerns of millions of Americans who have lost their current insurance plans because they did n't meet the minimum standards under the law . Those individuals were being offered new plans , or being sent onto the troubled insurance exchanges , but in many cases were looking at more expensive options .
But the change presented by the president -- as well as a broader plan approved in the House on Friday -- could cause chaos for insurance companies and state commissioners . The president was meeting with insurance industry executives on Friday to address concerns that the industry has shown little hesitation with airing . The meeting was expected to include representatives from Aetna , Humana , Tufts Health Plan Foundation and Health Care Service Corporation .
The chief complaints are that changing the rules at this stage and allowing people to renew cheaper , lower-premium policies will upend the financial balance that the industry was trying to strike -- likely resulting in higher premiums for others .
`` Premiums have already been set for next year based on an assumption of when consumers will be transitioning to the new marketplace , '' America 's Health Insurance Plans ' ( AHIP ) President and CEO Karen Ignagni said in a statement . `` If now fewer younger and healthier people choose to purchase coverage in the exchange , premiums will increase and there will be fewer choices for consumers . ''
Plus there 's the logistical matter of companies reaching out to customers who have already received cancellation notices and insurance commissioners reassessing rates and plans for 2014 which had already been set .
Some states were already balking at that task by Friday .
Washington state Insurance commissioner Mike Kreidler , within hours of Obama 's announcement , said his state would not be making any changes .
`` I know that many people who buy their own health insurance have struggled to keep their coverage . That is why we have worked so hard to make these significant changes , '' he said . `` I do not believe his proposal is a good deal for the state of Washington .
Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak ridiculed the president 's decision , saying Obama is `` just passing the buck . ''
`` How can the federal government make this decision without offering any guidance to the state insurance departments or the insurance carriers ? Cancellation notices have already gone out . Rates and plans have already been approved . How is this supposed to work ? '' he said .
In state after state , where typically hundreds of thousands of cancellation notices have gone out , insurance commissioners are struggling to figure out how they might implement the administration 's sudden change .
The president is being accused in some corners of making this announcement in order to shift the burden -- and blame -- to insurance companies and state commissioners . If people can not renew their policies after the administrative `` fix , '' then the president could argue that he tried , and was stymied by the states .
Republicans , though , also argue that Obama may not even be in his right to do this administratively . That 's why they called a vote Friday afternoon on a bill that would do what Obama proposes administratively -- and then some .
The GOP-backed bill would not only let people extend their plans for another year , but also let other individuals who did not have such coverage opt to enroll in those plans as well . Obama has threatened to veto the bill .
As for the president 's plan , Wendell Potter , a former executive at Cigna , told βββ that some insurance companies might take up the president on his offer in order to make money off those policy holders .
He said the main reason the administration is doing this is because the federal exchanges are n't working . Eventually , he said , `` I think it probably will and people will start when it does work find out that there are better policies . '' | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/15/obamas-insurance-plan-fix-stirs-confusion-ridicule-at-state-level/ | Fox News | Obama's insurance plan 'fix' stirs confusion, ridicule at state level | 08f3bd7a188a5bd5 | 2 | [
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federal_budget | 2013-02-21 | Deficit, Barack Obama, Federal Budget, Economy And Jobs | left | SEQUESTER SHOWDOWN : There were no signs at the White House yesterday that both sides are actively talking to avert the sequester . But White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said yesterday there 's a `` great deal of activity '' behind the scenes to get something done , reports ABC 's Devin Dwyer . At his briefing , Carney pointed fingers at the GOP : `` This is an indefensible position . The choice that Republicans are making is β¦throw these people out of work in order to protect these special tax breaks for corporate jet owners and oil and gas companies . It 's just - it makes no sense , and it 's bad policy . ''
OBAMA WEIGHS IN : In an interview with WJZ , the CBS affiliate in Baltimore , President Obama expressed exasperation with Congress on the sequester : `` This is a problem Congress can solve . These automatic spending cuts that were put in place back in 2011 were designed to get Congress to actually avoid them by coming up with more sensible approaches to deficit reduction . β¦ I do n't know why it is that this town leaves stuff until the last minute . There 's no other profession , no other industry , where people wait until the 11th hour to solve these big problems . Obviously it creates a lot of uncertainty in the economy . ''
ON THE AGENDA : President Obama spends the day behind closed-doors at the White House . ABC 's Mary Bruce notes that the president records three radio interviews with Al Sharpton , Joe Madison and Yolanda Adams . At 12:30 pm ET Vice President Biden delivers the keynote address at a conference on the federal response to gun violence in Danbury , Conn. , just miles from the Newtown shooting at Sandy Hook elementary .
TUNE IN - ROBIN ROBERTS SITS DOWN WITH MICHELLE OBAMA : `` Good Morning America '' co-anchor Robin Roberts will interview First Lady Michelle Obama to discuss the third anniversary of Let 's Move ! and a new partnership that makes finding healthy , reliable recipes easy for busy parents , among other topics . This will be Mrs. Obama 's first morning show interview and will air on `` Good Morning America '' on Tuesday , Feb. 26. http : //abcn.ws/XkrnUH
ABC 's RICK KLEIN : It 's not that President Obama is on the wrong side . But he 's going to have to convince the public that he 's got the timing right . The new USA Today-Pew Research Center poll out today shows broad support for the president 's approach on the top issues of the day - the deficit , gun control , immigration , and climate change . But when it comes to questions of urgency , the only issue with overwhelming consensus that it needs to be dealt with this year is the deficit , where 70 percent find it `` essential '' to tackle this year . That , of course , is the only one of the four issues being championed by Republican leaders . Read the full poll : http : //usat.ly/11WwuPl
ABC 's Z. BYRON WOLF : The news that former Sen. Pete Domenici fathered a child with former Sen. Paul Laxalt 's daughter in the late 1970s was , to say the least , weird . The details of what happened have been blurred by time and the fact that both men are now out of office diminishes its importance as a piece of news today . But it should be noted that opponents of gridlock often complain that comity and deal-making on Capitol Hill have diminished as lawmakers have less frequently moved to the nation 's capital . Their families do n't spend as much time together goes the argument . Who knows if the Domenicis and the Laxalts were friendly before this episode or what happened in their personal drama after . But one can only imagine what it was like in the dozen years they served together in the Senate afterward .
ABC 's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE : Just one day after we learned Mitt Romney will make his first public appearance since the election when he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference next month , several of his former staffers who work with Massachusetts U.S. Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez are out with a new video , the first of his new campaign . The video shows Gomez and his family collecting signatures ahead of next week 's deadline at both a shipyard and a diner . The contrast between the two candidates is stark . Gomez is relaxed , comfortable greeting voters in both English and Spanish noting his work as a Navy SEAL , add in his cute kids asking commuters to support their dad and it 's a very well done spot . One thing is clear , despite sharing a few staffers , they want the state to know Gomez is more Scott Brown than Mitt Romney . There 's no pickup truck yet , but maybe his run will feature a boat .
OBAMA : IMMIGRATION LEAK WO N'T BLOCK REFORM . President Barack Obama on Wednesday confidently promised that Congress will pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill , saying that a leaked copy of a White House proposal wo n't jeopardize the effort to overhaul the nation 's immigration laws , reports ABC-Univision 's Jordan Fabian . A draft White House immigration plan leaked to the press over the weekend , which frustrated some Republicans working on a bill , since Obama pledged to withhold his plan while lawmakers crafted their own . The White House claimed this week that the leak was unintentional and the president phoned GOP senators to reiterate that he supports the negotiations in Congress . `` It certainly did not jeopardize the entire process . The negotiations are still moving forward , '' Obama said during an interview with Univision San Antonio affiliate KWEX . `` Information floats out of Washington all the time ; that should n't prevent anybody from moving forward . '' http : //abcn.ws/W4HKGM
WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS STRATEGY TO STEM TRADE SECRET THEFT . The White House announced its strategy to protect against trade secret theft Wednesday , just one day after a report indicated a Chinese military unit may be responsible for a string of cyber attacks on American infrastructure and corporations , reports ABC 's Arlette Saenz . `` The theft of trade secrets impacts national security , undermines our global competitiveness , diminishes U.S. exports process and puts American jobs at risk , '' Victoria Espinel , U.S . Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator , said at a White House meeting on Wednesday . `` As an administration , we will be vigilant in addressing threats including corporate and state sponsored trade secret theft that jeopardize our status as the world 's leader for innovation . We will act vigorously to combat theft of U.S. trade secrets that could be used by foreign companies or by foreign governments to gain an unfair economic edge . '' Attorney General Eric Holder echoed the sentiment , saying the U.S. needs to increase cooperation and coordination `` between partners at every level of government [ and ] improve engagement with the corporations represented in this room today . '' He added that `` continuing technological expansion and accelerating globalization '' will only lead to a dramatic `` increase in the threat posed by trade secret theft in the years ahead . '' http : //abcn.ws/Xm0P5u
SECRETARY KERRY MAKES CASE FOR FOREIGN AID . In his first major foreign policy speech as Secretary of State , John Kerry 's message was clear : America can not afford to treat foreign policy as foreign . He stressed throughout the one hour speech that even in these economically challenging times , foreign aid is an investment in America 's national security and economic prosperity , notes ABC 's Dana Hughes . The former senator , who called himself a `` recovering politician , '' said that he understands why foreign aid makes an easy political target for members of Congress , whose constituents expect them to focus on domestic policies that benefit the everyday lives of Americans . But Kerry said foreign policy has to rise above partisan politics . `` We need to say no to the politics of the lowest common denominator and simple slogans , and start making real choices that protect the interests of our country , '' said Kerry to applause . `` Unfortunately , the State Department does n't have our own Grover Norquist pushing a pledge to protect it . We do n't have millions of A.A.R.P . seniors who send in their dues and rally to protect America 's investments overseas , '' he said . http : //abcn.ws/W4l0XB
MITT ROMNEY TO MAKE FIRST POST-ELECTION SPEECH . Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney will making his first public appearance since losing his presidential bid last November when he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March , reports ABC 's Shushannah Walshe . `` I look forward to saying thank you to the many friends and supporters who were instrumental in helping my campaign , '' Romney said in a statement . An advisor to Romney told βββ the speech is `` an opportunity for him to express his appreciation to supporters and friends . '' American Conservative Union Chairman Al Cardenas said `` the thousands gathered at CPAC this year are eager to hear '' from Romney . `` We look forward to hearing Governor Romney 's comments on the current state of affairs in America and the world , and his perspective on the future of the conservative movement , '' Cardenas said in a statement . The gathering of conservative activists will be held in mid-March at the Gaylord National hotel in Prince George 's County , Maryland . http : //abcn.ws/YGV4fx
-ENERGY GROUP BLASTS LIKELY EPA PICK . A GOP strategist passes along this statement from Benjamin Cole of the American Energy Alliance on President Obama 's likely pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency : `` For those who were in doubt , the president 's decision to replace Lisa Jackson with Gina McCarthy allays all concern . The EPA will continue its anti-fossil fuel crusade undeterred , and the administration will continue to avoid normal democratic means to legislate the president 's climate change agenda through the regulatory agencies . The EPA will look as different under Gina McCarthy as Cuba looked when Uncle Fidel passed the hammer and sickle to his little brother Raul . ''
@ JesseFFerguson : The Hill : `` DCCC places sequestration blame on Republicans with new ads '' http : //thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/284151-dccc-places-sequestration-blame-on-republicans-with-new-ads β¦
@ ezraklein : Why Republican governors are saying yes to Medicaid , no to Obamacare 's exchanges http : //wapo.st/13lWgaU
@ aterkel : Laura Bush wants out of marriage equality ad campaign http : //bit.ly/YoOKJ4
@ jasondhorowitz : `` It does hurt , '' McCain said softly . `` β¦and I wish that it did n't . But it does . '' http : //www.washingtonpost.com/politics/john-mccain-republican-senator-is-still-raising-questions-and-hackles/2013/02/20/32500cf6-7b84-11e2-9a75-dab0201670da_story.html ? wpmk=MK0000205 β¦
@ ThePlumLineGS : Most impt finding in new Pew poll : On every major issue , GOP position is held by 1/3 or fewer Americans : http : //www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/02/21/the-morning-plum-on-issues-gop-is-badly-out-of-step-with-america/ β¦ | http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/02/deficit-tops-publics-priorities-the-note/ | ABC News | Deficit Tops PublicΓΒ’Γ’β¬ÒβΒ’s Priorities | a60fa2106f3c2b29 | 0 | [
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education | 2014-05-08 | Education, Immigration | right | Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday that all schools must enroll illegal immigrants as students , citing β troubling reports β that some districts are discriminating against the children of undocumented parents .
β Public school districts have an obligation to enroll students regardless of immigration status and without discrimination on the basis of race , color , or national origin , β Mr. Holder said in a statement released Thursday by the Justice Department . He said the department will do β everything it can β to make sure schools meet this obligation .
Mr. Holder was joined by Education Secretary Arne Duncan in issuing the new guidance to school administrators , telling them to be more flexible in accepting some documents from illegal parents and not to require others that may prove a child β s age and residence . The guidance is an update to earlier guidelines the Justice Department issued to school systems in 2011 .
Although schools have a right to establish a child β s residency in a district , they don β t need to require the parents to have state-issued driver β s licenses or Social Security cards to prove they are in the country legally , the new guidelines state . Parents can produce a utility bill or a lease as a substitute .
The guidance is based on a 1982 Supreme Court decision that says children of illegal immigrants have a right to a public education . In Plyler v. Doe , the court struck down a Texas statute that denied funding for education to the children of illegal immigrants and a school district β s attempt to charge undocumented persons an annual $ 1,000 tuition fee for each illegal immigrant student .
Some states and school boards have challenged the ruling , most notably California in 1994 , when voters approved a referendum to deny all state-funded benefits β including education β to illegals . The courts later struck down the referendum .
In 1996 , Congress tried to pass immigration legislation that would have allowed states to deny public education benefits to certain illegal aliens or to charge them tuition . But it was withdrawn after President Bill Clinton threatened to veto it .
School boards then began to take action against illegal immigrants by requiring Social Security numbers or driver β s licenses . The also employed practices such as proposing separate schools for immigrant students and requiring paperwork designed to identify immigration status .
Today , schools in New York , New Jersey and Arizona , among others , routinely inquire into immigration status as part of the enrollment process , according to the American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU ) .
In Alabama , public schools must determine the immigration status of children and parents during enrollment , and then can report the undocumented persons to immigration authorities .
The Education Department β s Office for Civil Rights has received 17 complaints related to enrollment policies since it first issued guidance in 2011 , Mr. Duncan said . Complaints were from Ohio , Colorado , Louisiana , New Mexico , North Carolina , and Washington , D.C. , among others .
That β s in addition to a number of undisclosed complaints filed in the Justice Department . In Georgia , the Justice Department evaluated the enrollment policies of more than 200 school districts and helped them resolve issues , authorities said .
β We have continued to hear troubling reports of actions β being taken by school districts around the country β that have a chilling effect on student enrollment , raising barriers for undocumented children and children from immigrant families who seek to receive the public education to which they are entitled , β Mr. Holder said .
β Today β s updated guidance reaffirms the longstanding principle , established by the Supreme Court over 30 years ago , that all children living in our country have a right to equal access to public education , β ACLU Legislative Counsel Joanne Lin said in an e-mail . β School districts must adhere to this guidance , and meet their constitutional obligations to ensure that no child is locked outside the schoolhouse door . β | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/8/holder-schools-must-enroll-children-illegals/ | Washington Times | No school choice: Holder mandates schools must enroll children of illegal immigrants | 700e2cc9058aa57d | 2 | [
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politics | 2023-01-24 | Politics, Classified Information, Classified Documents, Mike Pence, Donald Trump, Trump Administration, Joe Biden, House Oversight Committee, National Archives, FBI, Mar-A-Lago Raid | left | Washington CNN βA lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence discovered about a dozen documents marked as classified at Penceβs Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.The FBI and the Justice Departmentβs National Security Division have launched a review of the documents and how they ended up in Penceβs house in Indiana.The classified documents were discovered at the former vice presidentβs new home in Carmel, Indiana, by a lawyer for Pence in the wake of the revelations about classified material discovered in President Joe Bidenβs private office and residence, the sources said. The discovery comes after Pence has repeatedly said he did not have any classified documents in his possession.It is not yet clear what the documents are related to or their level of sensitivity or classification.Penceβs team notified congressional leaders and relevant committees of the discovery on Tuesday.Pence asked his lawyer with experience handling classified material to conduct the search of his home out of an abundance of caution. Sources said that the attorney, Matt Morgan, began going through four boxes stored at Penceβs house last week, finding a small number of documents with classified markings.Penceβs lawyer immediately alerted the National Archives, the sources said. In turn, the Archives informed the Justice Department.A lawyer for Pence told CNN that the FBI requested to pick up the documents with classified markings that evening, and Pence agreed. Agents from the FBIβs field office in Indianapolis picked up the documents from Penceβs home, the lawyer said.On Monday, Penceβs legal team drove the boxes back to Washington, DC, and handed them over to the Archives to review the rest of the material for compliance with the Presidential Records Act.In a letter to the National Archives obtained by CNN, Penceβs representative to the Archives, Greg Jacob, wrote that a βsmall number of documents bearing classified markingsβ were inadvertently boxed and transported to the vice presidentβs home.βVice President Pence was unaware of the existence of sensitive or classified documents at his personal residence,β Jacob wrote. βVice President Pence understands the high importance of protecting sensitive and classified information and stands ready and willing to cooperate fully with the National Archives and any appropriate inquiry.βThe classified material was stored in boxes that first went to Penceβs temporary home in Virginia before they were moved to Indiana, according to the sources. The boxes were not in a secure area, but they were taped up and were not believed to have been opened since they were packed, according to Penceβs attorney. Once the classified documents were discovered, the sources said they were placed inside a safe located in the house.Pence's home in Carmel, Indiana. From Realtor.comPenceβs Washington, DC, advocacy group office was also searched, Penceβs lawyer said, and no classified material or other records covered by the Presidential Records Act were discovered.The news about Pence comes as special counsels investigate the handling of classified documents by both Biden and former President Donald Trump. The revelations also come amid speculation that Pence is readying for a run at the Republican nomination for president in 2024.Since the FBI searched Trumpβs home in Florida for classified material in August with a search warrant, Pence has said that he had not retained any classified material upon leaving office. βNo, not to my knowledge,β he told The Associated Press in August.In November, Pence was asked by ABC News at his Indiana home whether he had taken any classified documents from the White House.βI did not,β Pence responded.βWell, thereβd be no reason to have classified documents, particularly if they were in an unprotected area,β Pence continued. βBut I will tell you that I believe there had to be many better ways to resolve that issue than executing a search warrant at the personal residence of a former president of the United States.βBoxes packed in VP residence and White HouseWhile Penceβs vice presidential office in general did a rigorous job while he was leaving office of sorting through and turning over any classified material and unclassified material covered by the Presidential Records Act, these classified documents appear to have inadvertently slipped through the process because most of the materials were packed up separately from the vice presidentβs residence, along with Penceβs personal papers, the sources told CNN.The vice presidentβs residence at the US Naval Observatory in Washington has a secure facility for handling classified material along with other security, and it would be common for classified documents to be there for the vice president to review.Some of the boxes at Penceβs Indiana home were packed up from the vice presidentβs residence, while some came from the White House in the final days of the Trump administration, which included last-minute things that did not go through the process the rest of Penceβs documents did.The discovery of classified documents in Penceβs residence marks the third time in recent history in which a president or vice president has inappropriately possessed classified material after leaving office. Both Biden and Trump are now being investigated by separate special counsels for their handling of classified materials.Sources familiar with the process say Penceβs discovery of classified documents after the Trump and Biden controversies would suggest a more systemic problem related to classified material and the Presidential Records Act, which requires official records from the White House to be turned over to the National Archives at the end of an administration.On Friday, the FBI searched Bidenβs Wilmington residence for additional classified material, an unprecedented search of a sitting presidentβs home that turned up six additional items containing classified markings. The search was conducted after Bidenβs lawyers discovered classified material in Wilmington following the initial discovery of classified documents at Bidenβs private think office in November.Bidenβs attorneys say they are fully cooperating with the Justice Department, seeking to draw a distinction from the Trump investigation.Tuesdayβs development was welcome news for Biden administration officials and allies. As one senior administration official put it: βIt turns down the temperature on this being a Biden-only story.βOne hope, this official said, is that the discovery of classified documents at Penceβs home will help to underscore that Biden aides were not alone in making the mistake of packing up classified documents that should have been turned over to the Archives. The development could also be used by the White House, the official said, to emphasize the importance of how the situation was handled once the classified documents were discovered.Administration officials have maintained that lawyers working for the president did the right thing by immediately informing the Archives as soon as classified documents were first found in early November, drawing the distinction between the Biden legal teamβs handling of the matter and the actions of Trump and his team.The FBI obtained a search warrant to search Trumpβs Mar-a-Lago resort in August. Federal investigators took that step because they believed Trump had not turned over all classified material despite a subpoena and were concerned records at Mar-a-Lago were being moved around.Still, Trumpβs legal team also viewed the Pence development as positive for the former president, according to a source familiar with the matter. While the circumstances are different in each case, members of his legal team believe the developments will make it harder for prosecutors to justify bringing criminal charges against any of them, the source said.βThey are all now linked in a way,β the source said, referring to Pence, Biden and Trump.Pence told Larry Kudlow in a Fox Business interview earlier this month that he received the Presidentβs Daily Brief at the vice presidentβs residence.βIβd rise early. Iβd go to the safe where my military aide would place those classified materials. Iβd pull them out, review them,β Pence said. βIβd receive a presentation to them and then, frankly, more often than not Larry, I would simply return them back to the file that Iβd received them in. They went in commonly into what was called a burn bag that my military aide would gather and then destroy those classified materialsβsame goes in materials that I would receive at the White House.βCongressional reactionCongressional leaders in both parties were stunned about the new revelations that Pence was also in possession of classified records at his home.βI donβt understand this,β said Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin.βThe bottom line is I donβt know how this happened, we need to get to the bottom of it,β said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican. βI donβt believe for a minute that Mike Pence is trying to intentionally compromise national security. But clearly weβve got a problem here.βHouse Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul responded to the development, calling it βnot permissible.ββI donβt know what to tell you other than itβs not permissible, whether youβre a chairman of a committee or president of the United States or vice president. And Iβve been dealing in the classified world all my career; I donβt understand people taking these documents home. If you do that, youβre supposed to have a safe designated for storage and you have to have a proper briefcase to carry it in. I donβt know all the facts here,β the Texas Republican said.House Oversight Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who is investigating Bidenβs classified documents, said in a statement that Pence reached out to him about the classified documents found at his home.βHe has agreed to fully cooperate with congressional oversight and any questions we have about the matter,β said Comer, adding that Penceβs transparency βstands in stark contrastβ to the Biden administrationβs response to Congress over the classified documents. Comerβs statement did not mention Trumpβs classified documents.The former president, however, came to Penceβs defense on Tuesday. βMike Pence is an innocent man. He never did anything knowingly dishonest in his life. Leave him alone!!!β Trump posted on his social media site.CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated when Pence appeared on Fox Business. It has also been updated with additional details. | https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/politics/pence-classified-documents-fbi/index.html | CNN Digital | Classified documents found at Penceβs Indiana home | 6c2625c6b7a3e7d7 | 0 | [
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politics | 2016-07-07 | US House, Politics | left | This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan formally requested on Wednesday that presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton not receive classified information from the government during her time as a candidate. Ryanβs request follows FBI Director James Comeyβs recommendation on Tuesday that no criminal charges be brought against Clinton over her use of a personal email server as Secretary of State. Comey criticized Clinton and her staff for being βextremely carelessβ in handling classified information, noting that 110 of Clintonβs emails contained classified information at the time they were sent and received. On Thursday, he testified before Congress, where House Republicans grilled Comey about the investigation and its conclusions. βAs a former vice presidential nominee, I am keenly aware that Secretary Clinton is set to begin receiving classified intelligence briefings after the Democratic National Convention,β Ryan said in a letter to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. βGiven the FBIβs findings, denying Secretary Clinton access to classified information certainly constitutes appropriate sanctions. This is necessary to reassure the public that our nationβs secrets are secure.β Read more: Why the FBI Let Hillary Clinton Off the Hook Ryan also sent a letter to Comey, requesting that he release all of the findings from the bureauβs investigation into Clintonβs emails, saying βthere are simply too many unanswered questions.β Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, called Ryanβs request βas predictable as it is absurd.β βProviding an intelligence briefing for the party nominees is a sound practice, and is designed both to prepare the candidates for office and to help them avoid representations during the campaign that may adversely affect the national interest before or after election,β Schiff said in a statement on Thursday. βWith Trump, the question isnβt whether the briefings should occur, but whether they would do any good,β he said. Asked about Ryanβs comments at press briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that decision would be left up to intelligence officials. βThe expectation that the [Director of National Intelligence] has is that theyβll provide the same information to both candidates,β he said. βWhen weβre talking about the safety and security of classified information, we should leave those decisions in the hands of our intelligence professionals and not risk them being sullied by the political debate.β BREAKING: I formally asked the Director of National Intelligence to deny Sec. Clinton access to classified info. pic.twitter.com/Kk8t00cdJn Write to Katie Reilly at Katie.Reilly@time.com | http://time.com/4396307/paul-ryan-hillary-clinton-emails-classified-information/ | Time Magazine | Paul Ryan Asks That Hillary Clinton Not Receive Classified Information as Candidate | 9b3e12c434e4bc10 | 0 | [
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taxes | 2018-08-07 | Tax Reform, Taxes | right | Houses of worship and nonprofit groups are crying foul as they realize that a provision in last year β s tax reform law requires them to pay federal taxes on some employee benefits for the first time , a development that could cost them thousands of dollars .
β Think of it : $ 13 billion every decade on the backs of churches and nonprofits , hindering their ability to serve their constituents , β said Dan Busby , president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability .
β I β d say the churches have every right to be outraged , β said David L. Thompson , vice president of public policy for the National Council of Nonprofits . β It β s an oxymoron . It β s horrendously unfair . β
The provision was in the legislation that Congress and President Trump signed in December , but for months it flew under the radar while lawmakers wrestled over the main portion of the law : corporate and individual tax cuts .
Now churches , synagogues , universities and nonprofit groups have learned they must pay taxes on employee fringe benefits such as parking and transportation under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act . A certain provision calls for a 21 percent tax on some fringe benefits and expenses .
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act redefines as income some of the fringe benefits that employers pay for employees β parking spaces or commuting costs . Those benefits now are considered β unrelated business income , β or UBI for short .
The change means some nonprofit groups must decide among trying to pay more in taxes , cutting employees β benefits or making other sacrifices . Some churches and nonprofits are pushing back and have started a nationwide petition to repeal the provision .
Mr. Busby said β 400,000 houses of worship plus tens of thousands of nonprofit organizations are now paying attention . This issue will not go away until it is repealed. β The council he presides over was founded by the late Rev . Billy Graham β s Evangelistic Association .
Houses of worship are notoriously low on revenue , and many in the D.C. area already have had to cut back on congregant services .
Representatives of D.C. organizations ranging from the Washington Hebrew Congregation to the Washington National Opera said they know about the new tax rule , but scant guidance leaves them with no clue how to calculate what they owe .
In a double whammy , a D.C. law requires employers β including nonprofits β to offer commuter transit benefits , but now federal law taxes those required benefits .
β That β s like taxing a safe workplace , β said Mr. Thompson . β That β s not a fringe benefit . That β s a mandated cost of doing business . β
D.C.-based nonprofits also must pay a 9.4 percent UBI tax to the District of Columbia , as the city follows federal UBI rules by default .
New York , North Carolina and Minnesota also default to federal UBI tax rules . New York β s legislature swiftly passed a bill that eliminates the state-level nonprofit tax , and it awaits Gov . Andrew Cuomo β s signature .
People have been left β scratching their heads , β Mr. Thompson said . Mr. Busby said that thousands of organizations are likely delinquent on IRS payments since most had no idea the provision even exists .
Addressing the issue last week , White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said changing the law to ensure churches keep their tax-exempt status is β certainly something that we β re looking into . β
But she defended the tax-code overhaul as providing an economic boost to a broad swath of the U.S .
β I β m not going to make a blanket generalization about every church in America , β Mrs. Sanders said . β But certainly the goal of the tax cuts and reforms package was to provide the greatest amount of relief to the greatest number of Americans , and we feel that it β s done that . β
She said other economic policies promoted by Mr. Trump β have certainly moved the ball forward , made our economy infinitely stronger than it has been in decades . β
Rep. Kevin Brady , Texas Republican and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee , introduced the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and has been a whipping boy for nonprofit advocates .
β The rationale of parity is absolutely inappropriate , β Mr. Thompson said .
Mr. Brady has insisted the provision is necessary to level the playing field for nonprofits and for-profits .
β These provisions apply to both employers that are taxable entities and those that are tax-exempt entities , β a Brady spokesman said in a statement .
Still , lawmakers on both sides of the aisle aim to snip the unpopular provision . Reps. Mike Conaway , Texas Republican , and Jim Clyburn , South Carolina Democrat , each have introduced a bill that would alter the section that affects nonprofits .
Mr. Clyburn β s bill would increase the corporate tax rate , a poke in the eye for Republicans who supported corporate tax cuts . Mr. Conaway β s bill would repeal the entire section of the law that taxes nonprofits β employee benefits .
The National Council of Nonprofits has endorsed Mr. Conaway β s bill .
Groups have begged the IRS and the Treasury Department to delay enforcing the provision and for detailed guidance . They still await a response , Mr. Thompson said .
Affected groups include β the soup kitchens , the children β s dance studio , the Little League , β he said . β Charitable nonprofits need relief immediately . β | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/aug/7/tax-reform-hits-churches-penalty-employee-benefits/ | Washington Times | The unintended target of tax reform: Churches now face 21% penalty | d10b33bae393d25e | 2 | [
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elections | 2019-08-19 | Presidential Elections, Elizabeth Warren, Native Americans, Race And Racism, Elections | center | WASHINGTON ( βββ ) - U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren on Monday apologized again for her claims in the 1980s that she is Native American , speaking to a crowd of tribal leaders in Iowa .
β Like anyone who β s been honest with themselves , I know that I have made mistakes . I am sorry for harm I have caused . I have listened and I have learned a lot , and I am grateful for the many conversations that we β ve had together , β Warren said .
Warren spoke at the Native American Presidential Forum in Sioux City , Iowa , hosted by several tribes from across the country .
In February , ahead of Warren β s campaign launch , the Washington Post reported she had described herself as Native American in a form to join the Texas legal bar in the 1980s . It was the latest revelation in a six-year saga during which she has been unable to quiet critics who say she failed to recognize the importance of tribal sovereignty .
Tribal leaders have criticized her claim , arguing that tribal membership is required for someone to describe themselves as Native American .
Last week , Warren detailed a new policy proposal aimed at empowering Native American tribes through land protection and law enforcement reforms and boosting financial support for chronically underfunded health and education programs .
Democrats in the crowded primary field vying for the party β s nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in 2020 have been silent on Warren β s past Native American claims and her ancestry has not been an issue in the primary .
Republicans , however , have reveled in mocking Warren β s previous claims of native ancestry . Some Democrats , nervous that any vulnerability in a nominee would be exploited by Trump , have worried that the Massachusetts senator handed the president an obvious attack line if she were to be the nominee .
Warren β s heritage claims have dogged her since her first campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2012 , when Republican Scott Brown attacked her for being listed by Harvard University as a minority when she was a member of the faculty .
After Warren criticized Trump ahead of his 2016 campaign , he nicknamed her β Pocahontas β despite criticism he was being racially insensitive .
Last year , after Trump offered to pay her $ 1 million if she took a DNA test , Warren released results of an examination of her genetics that found she had only fractional native ancestry . That angered tribal leaders who said being a Native American is not determined by DNA alone but by membership in a tribe . | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-warren/democratic-hopeful-warren-apologizes-for-native-american-ancestry-claims-idUSKCN1V91QY | Reuters | Democratic hopeful Warren apologizes for Native American ancestry claims | b02adb0a30d920f7 | 1 | [
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isis | 2014-09-22 | Middle East, Islamic State, ISIS, ISIL | right | Fighters of the Islamic State militant group are ready to battle a U.S.-led military coalition seeking to destroy it , the group 's spokesman said in a new audio recording in which he called on Muslims worldwide to kill civilians of nations that join the fight .
American and French warplanes have carried airstrikes against the group , and U.S. President Barack Obama is working to form a global coalition to confront the group , which controls large parts of Syria and Iraq .
The United States has rallied some 40 countries to take part in fighting the extremist group , and is also making plans to train up to 5,000 Syrian rebels in Saudi Arabia to be used in conjunction with potential U.S. airstrikes in Syria .
In a nearly 42-minute audio statement released online late Sunday , Islamic State group spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani said the coalition will not be able to defeat the jihadis . He called on Muslims everywhere to kill anyone whose country takes part in the attack .
`` Oh , believer , do not let this battle pass you by wherever you may be . You must strike the soldiers , patrons and troops of the tyrants . Strike their police , security and intelligence members , '' al-Adnani said .
`` If you can kill a disbelieving American or European β especially the spiteful and filthy French β or an Australian , or a Canadian , or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war , including the citizens of the countries that joined a coalition against the Islamic State , then rely upon Allah , and kill him in any manner or way however it may be , '' he said .
The statement was released in Arabic by the Islamic State group 's media arm , Al-Furqan , and appeared on militant sites used by the group . The speaker sounded like that of previous recordings attributed to al-Adnani .
Responding to al-Adnani 's statement , France 's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he is confident in the country 's security .
`` This threat to kill civilians , added to the execution of hostages and to the massacres , is yet another demonstration of the barbarism of these terrorists , justifying our fight without truce or pause , '' Cazeneuve said Monday . `` France is not afraid because it is prepared to respond to their threats , '' he added .
The Islamic State group is an al-Qaida breakaway that has set up its own self-declared caliphate in areas it controls in Syria and Iraq . It rules by its harsh version of Islamic law .
The group has already beheaded two Americans and a British citizen it was holding . It is also threatening to behead more westerners .
Al-Adnani called on people to prevent their sons from joining rebels that the U.S. plans to train to fight the group . He said jihadis will make them `` dig their graves with their own hands and have their heads cut off and homes destroyed . '' | http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/Islamic-State-Attack-Threat/2014/09/22/id/596073/ | Newsmax - News | Islamic State Group Calls for Attacking Civilians | ba03d8e99adfe1b8 | 2 | [
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justice | 2019-11-04 | Justice, Supreme Court, Taxes, Donald Trump, New York | left | Thereβs an overwhelming amount of news, but not enough context. At Vox, we do things differently. Weβre not focused on being the first to break stories β weβre focused on helping you understand what actually matters. We report urgently on the most important issues shaping our world, and dedicate time to the issues that the rest of the media often neglects. But we canβt do it alone. We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today? One of Trumpβs most audacious legal claims had a terrible day in court. by Ian Millhiser Less than two weeks ago, President Trumpβs personal attorney William Consovoy stood before a panel of federal appellate judges and told them that the president is immune from criminal investigation even if Trump shoots someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue. It didnβt take long for that panel to reject this extraordinary argument. On Monday, an unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that Trump is not immune from such investigations. The case is Trump v. Vance. Vance arises from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vanceβs effort to secure many of Trumpβs financial documents from Trumpβs accounting firm, including his tax forms. Vance seeks these documents as part of a fairly broad-reaching criminal investigation that may ultimately implicate Trump himself, but that may also only wind up implicating some of Trumpβs companies or his business associates. Vanceβs investigation is a state investigation and is entirely separate from the House impeachment inquiry. Indeed, Trumpβs lawyers argued that one reason why Trump should be immune from this investigation is because it is being conducted by state officials and not the federal government. Yet, as Chief Judge Robert Katzmann, a Clinton appointee, explains for his court, Trumpβs immunity claim is especially weak because Vance seeks personal documents that are unrelated to Trumpβs conduct in office. Though prior Supreme Court decisions establish that the president enjoys βabsolute immunity from damages liability predicated on his official acts,β this case does not involve Trumpβs conduct in office. Nor does it even involve an βorder that compels the President himself to do anything.β The only thing at issue here is whether Trumpβs accountants must comply with a subpoena. And the court answers that question in the affirmative. βWhile the President may be correct that state courts lack the authority to issue him orders,β Katzmann writes, βthat provides no basis to enjoin the enforcement of a subpoena issued to a third party simply because the President is implicated in the subject matter of the investigation.β This decision is undoubtedly correct, at least under existing precedents. βThe most relevant precedent for present purposes is United States v. Nixon,β Katzmann notes, a 1974 Supreme Court decision requiring President Nixon to ββproduce certain tape recordings and documents relating to his conversations with aides and advisersβ for use in a criminal trial against highβlevel advisers to the President.β Nixon involved official communications that were protected by executive privilege. And yet the Supreme Court held that Nixon must turn over those communications. Vance, by contrast, involves documents unrelated to Trumpβs official duties and unprotected by executive privilege. Trumpβs immunity claim in Vance, in other words, is much weaker than Nixonβs unsuccessful claim in Nixon. Nevertheless, Trumpβs lawyers have already signaled that they plan to take this case to the Supreme Court. The question there will be whether the Supreme Courtβs Republican majority is willing to find a way around cases like Nixon in order to benefit Trump. Itβs important to note just how narrow this decision is. βThis appeal does not require us to consider whether the President is immune from indictment and prosecution while in office,β Katzmann writes. It also does not require the court βto consider whether the President may lawfully be ordered to produce documents for use in a state criminal proceeding.β Rather, the Vance opinion dealt only with Trumpβs sweeping claim that he is immune from criminal investigation altogether. The courtβs holding is that βa state may lawfully demand production by a third party of the Presidentβs personal financial records for use in a grand jury investigation while the President is in office.β Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day, compiled by news editor Sean Collins. The Senate has confirmed Kash Patel. Trump appears intent on remaking the executive branch as he sees fit. The news is changing rapidly. Follow here for the latest updates, analysis, and explainers. Patrick Reis and Christian Paz discuss the first month of Trumpβs second term as president and what lies ahead. Russell Vought and his radical philosophy, explained. ο»ΏHeβs talking to Putin and fighting with Zelenskyy. Is Kyivβs nightmare scenario finally unfolding? The president is claiming total control over agencies that, by law, are independent. Β© 2025 Vox Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved As a valued user, we are providing you the ability to opt-out from the sharing of your personal information to advertisers and social media companies at any time across business platform, services, businesses and devices. You can opt-out of the sharing of your personal information by using this toggle switch. For more information on your rights and options see our privacy notice. | https://www.vox.com/2019/11/4/20947861/trump-vance-immunity-second-circuit-demolished-tax-forms | Vox | A federal appeals court just demolished Trumpβs claim that he is immune from criminal investigation | 596ba5664a830d82 | 0 | [
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gun_control_and_gun_rights | 2020-07-05 | Protests, Fourth Of July, Gun Control And Gun Rights, Chicago, Violence In America | left | β The Windy City is becoming the Bloody City , β said the Rev . Michael L. Pfleger of Saint Sabina Church , calling it the worst period in the 45 years he has worked on social issues . β I have never seen the despair , hopelessness and anger all mixed together at the level it is right now . β
The violence comes amid a wrenching debate nationwide about policing in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of the police . Those who defend the police say that the violence shows they need more support , not less , and that it is people living in high-crime areas who most need effective policing . Critics say the violence shows how the police are failing the public , how deeply residents distrust officers and the need for reforms and the transfer of funds to address underlying problems , including unemployment , mental illness and drug use .
At least 336 people have been murdered in Chicago through July 2 of this year , according to the Chicago Police Department , a homicide rate on track to hit the 2016 record of 778 deaths . ( New York City , with almost three times the population , had 176 murders as of June 28 . )
Chicago had 658 murders in 2017 , 567 in 2018 and 492 in 2019 , according to Chicago police records .
Ahead of the July 4 weekend , Mayor Lori Lightfoot made an appeal to young men , who she said were responsible for the bulk of the shootings . β Think about the number of children that have been killed just in the last two weeks , β she said at a news conference . β Families that will not recover from this hardship . Mothers β hearts that are broken , fathers β hearts that are destroyed , grandparents who are living in mourning . β
Chicago is not alone . Before the coronavirus hit , homicides were escalating nationwide in early 2020 , and although the lockdown brought a pause , they began rising again as the stay-at-home measures were lifted . A national study showed that homicide rates fell in 39 of 64 major cities during April and began creeping up in May . | https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/05/us/chicago-shootings.html | New York Times (Online News) | Chicago Gun Violence Spikes and Increasingly Finds the Youngest Victims | 66c71496c49f61bf | 0 | [
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terrorism | 2017-11-25 | Terrorism, Egypt | center | Egypt 's chief prosecutor on Saturday raised the death toll to 305 from a cold-blooded attack by dozens of militants β some carrying Islamic State flags β on a mosque in the country 's troubled northern Sinai region .
Nabil Sadeq said 27 children were among the dead and more than 125 people were injured in the attack during Friday prayers .
In the highly coordinated assault , more than 25 militants , some wearing fatigues , black T-shirts and masks , descended on the mosque in the small town of Bir al-Abd in five all-terrain vehicles , taking up positions outside the main door and around the 12 windows before opening fire .
Witnesses said gunmen detonated a bomb at the end of prayers and then opened fire as people tried to flee , Reuters reported . The gunmen even fired on ambulances and set cars on fire to block roads , witnesses said .
More : Trump uses Egypt attack to plug border wall , immigration restrictions
The prosecutor 's statement , which dramatically raised the earlier death toll of 235 , quoted survivors saying attackers not wearing masks sported heavy beards and long hair .
Friday β s assault was the first major militant attack on a Muslim congregation in Egypt , and eclipsed past attacks , even dating back to a previous Islamic militant insurgency in the 1990s .
The mosque is frequented by Sufis , members of a mystic movement within Islam . Islamic militants , including the local affiliate of the Islamic State group , consider Sufis heretics because of their less literal interpretations of the faith .
Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack , the Egyptian air force destroyed vehicles purportedly used by the terrorists to execute the attack and killed some of the militants .
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi vowed the attack β will not go unpunished β and that Egypt would persevere in its war on terrorism .
Army spokesman Tamer El-Refaie issued a statement saying terrorist hideouts were also targeted by the forces .
In an official statement issued within hours of the attack , he said `` law enforcement forces in North Sinai remain in cooperation with the air forces to comb terrorist hideouts and find and eliminate the rest of extremists , '' Al-Ahram , the government-opened daily newspaper , reported .
The Egyptian military and security forces have long waged a tough campaign against militants in the towns , villages and desert mountains of Sinai , and Egypt has been in a state of emergency since April . Across the country , thousands have been arrested in a crackdown on suspected Islamists as well as against other dissenters and critics , raising concern about human rights violations .
Seeking to spread the violence , militants over the past year have carried out deadly bombings on churches in the capital of Cairo and other cities , killing dozens of Christians . The Islamic State affiliate is also believed to be behind the 2016 downing of a Russian passenger jet that killed 226 people over Sinai .
The chief prosecutor β s statement offered the most detailed account of the cold-blooded assault on worshippers , the deadliest by Islamic extremists in Egypt β s modern history .
Witnesses also offered graphic details of the assault in interviews with The Associated Press on Saturday in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia , where some of the wounded are hospitalized .
They said the attack lasted some 20 minutes , with militants calmly firing on worshippers , driving many to jump out of windows or stampede into a corridor .
One witness , Ebid Salem Mansour , said the imam had barely made it atop the mosque pulpit to deliver the sermon when intense gunfire rang out .
Mansour , a 38-year-old worker in a nearby salt factory , suffered two gunshot wounds in the legs . He told the Associated Press that worshippers fell to the floor and kept their heads down .
`` If you raised your head you get shot , β he said . β The shooting was random and hysterical at the beginning and then became more deliberate : Whoever they weren β t sure was dead or still breathing was shot dead . β
The militants shouted `` Allahu Akbar , '' or God is great , and children screamed , Mansour said .
β I knew I was injured but I was in a situation that was much scarier than being wounded . I was only seconds away from a certain death , β he said . As the shooting took place , many of the worshippers recited their final prayers , he added . | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/25/egypt-raises-death-toll-sinai-mosque-attack-305/894415001/ | USA TODAY | Egypt raises death toll in Sinai mosque attack to 305 | dc90b15f013cd079 | 1 | [
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donald_trump | 2022-12-05 | Donald Trump, US Constitution, 2020 Election, Twitter, Politics, Hunter Biden, Election Integrity, Media Industry, Republican Party, Censorship, Twitter Files | left | Top Republicans have stayed silent as the White House strongly criticized former President Donald Trump for suggesting that the Constitution be terminated in his ongoing efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.In a post to his Truth Social platform Saturday, Trump called for the termination of the Constitution to put him back in power, citing his baseless claims of widespread election fraud in the last presidential election. βA Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,β he wrote.Trumpβs post came after Twitter CEO Elon Musk promoted a series of tweets Friday revealing internal documents about how the company handled a New York Post article about Hunter Biden in 2020.In a statement to NBC News and other news outlets, the White House said attacks on the Constitution should be βuniversally condemned."βAttacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation and should be universally condemned,β White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, describing the Constitution as a βsacrosanct document.βAs of Sunday morning, Republican leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, as well as the Republican National Committee had not publicly commented on Trumpβs post. NBC News reached out to spokespeople for McConnell, McCarthy and the RNC for comment Saturday but did not receive any response.A handful of prominent Republicans, however, were pressed to weigh in on Sunday programs."Well, obviously, I donβt support that," Rep.-elect Mike Lawler of New York said in an interview on CNNβs "State of the Union.""The Constitution is set for a reason, to protect the rights of every American. And so I certainly donβt endorse that language or that sentiment. I think the question for everyone is how we move forward," Lawler said, adding that he thinks Americans are βtired of discussing the grievances of prior electionsβ and that Trump would be βwell-advised to focus on the future, if he is going to run for president again.βMarc Short, former Vice President Mike Penceβs chief of staff, lamented that Trumpβs remarks have become a βconsistent trend,β pointing out that the former president had demanded that Pence put the Constitution aside to overturn the election results after he lost re-election to Joe Biden."The presidentβs remarks, the company heβs keeping, I think is way beyond the fold,β Short said during an appearance on NBC Newsβ βMeet the Press.βRep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, similarly dismissed Trumpβs call for the termination of the Constitution in an interview on CBSβ βFace the Nation.β He said, βItβs certainly not consistent with the oath we all take."But Turner sidestepped when asked whether the front-runner for the GOP nomination in the 2024 election should make such a statement. While he said he βvehemently disagreesβ with the former presidentβs statement, Turner did not directly answer the question, even after host Margaret Brennan pressed repeatedly.βThere is a political process that has to go forward before anyone is a front-runner or anybody is even a candidate for the party,β Turner said. βAnd I believe, answering your question, that people certainly are going to take into consideration a statement like this as they evaluate a candidate.βRep. David Joyce, R-Ohio, also appeared reluctant to condemn Trumpβs remarks during an appearance on ABC Newsβ βThis Week.βJoyce said he was unaware of what the former president posted and that βpeople were not interested in looking backwardsβ when asked to respond to Trumpβs statement.Pressed on whether he can support a candidate in 2024 who wants to suspend the Constitution, Joyce said that he will choose βwhoever the Republican nominee isβ because he expects Trump to have many challengers in 2024. He also said the former president lacks the authority to carry out his βfantasyβ of suspending the Constitution.Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a vocal opponent of Trump who serves on the House Jan. 6 committee, called Trump's statement βinsane."βWith the former President calling to throw aside the constitution, not a single conservative can legitimately support him, and not a single supporter can be called a conservative. This is insane. Trump hates the Constitution,β tweeted Kinzinger, who is retiring from Congress.Meanwhile, Democrats swiftly rebuked Trumpβs statement shortly after it was posted.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said he βvociferouslyβ condemns Trumpβs remarks and urged his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same.βIf America doesnβt extricate itself from Donald Trump and his MAGA ideology, it will undercut our American way of life,β Schumer told reporters during a press conference Sunday.Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chair of the House Intelligence Committee, called out the silence of βconstitutional conservatives.ββI guess a βconstitutional conservativeβ is one who is conservative in their support for the constitution β¦ when itβs inconvenient,β Schiff said in a tweet. | https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/top-republicans-stay-silent-trumps-call-terminate-constitution-rcna60019 | NBC News Digital | Top Republicans stay silent on Trumpβs call to terminate the Constitution | 2a015daef4535643 | 0 | [
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free_speech | 2017-07-27 | Free Speech | right | If conservatives have a low opinion of American higher education , it β s because our elite academic institutions have strayed from their core principles and mission .
In the past few years , the closing of the academic mind has become hard to ignore . When a Republican presidential candidate β s name chalked on a sidewalk is cause for student protest , β bias response team β investigations , or even calls to the police , universities are clearly not embracing robust dialogue . When faculty are disciplined for critiquing university-sponsored anti-bias training , it β s evident that only certain views are deemed permissible . So Pew β s new study showing that conservative support for higher education has plummeted was noteworthy but hardly surprising . Pew reported that nearly two-thirds ( 65 percent ) of conservative Republicans say colleges and universities have a negative effect on the country , while 43 percent of moderate and liberal Republicans agree .
These results have prompted predictable head-shaking and defensiveness on the part of college and university officials . The most revealing response was offered up in the Chronicle of Higher Education by the respected Terry Hartle , senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education . After noting just how problematic it is for higher education and for the nation that colleges and universities are seen as partisan institutions , Hartle explained why it is that higher education has lost favor on the Right .
Hint : It β s not because conservative speakers have been disinvited , shouted down , and assaulted by campus mobs . Nor is it because of institutions β repressive speech codes , seemingly adopted to stymie any opinions that run afoul of regnant notions of political correctness . Nor is it even because of an overwhelmingly progressive professoriate , comprising too many faculty members who β ve confused proselytizing for pedagogy .
Nope . As Hartle sees it , Republicans β darkening view of colleges and universities is less the fault of higher education than of irrational , right-wing pathologies . For one , he asserts that Republicans don β t understand higher education β s economic value ; for another , he argues that the β conservative echo chamber β gins up controversies for its own selfish purposes . But the heart of the issue , as Hartle sees it , is that conservatives have turned against facts :
There also is a broader issue confronting higher education that is much harder to tackle : the changing views of truth . Logic , the disinterested search for truth , rigorous scientific research , and empirical verification have been at the heart of higher-education institutions in the modern era . But today , for many citizens , feelings outweigh facts .
That β s certainly one way of putting things . Here β s another way : The problem is not that conservatives have lost faith in the mission of the university , but that too many universities have discarded their sacred commitments to dialogue and truth in favor of ideological crusades .
Indeed , the mandarins of the academy now openly spout Orwellian arguments for speech suppression based entirely on feelings . Earlier this month , Northeastern University psychology professor Lisa Feldman Barrett penned a piece for the New York Times titled β When Is Speech Violence ? β that claimed the mantle of β science β to argue for campus speech restrictions . Before that , an April Times op-ed by NYU β s vice provost for faculty , arts , humanities , and diversity , β What β Snowflakes β Get Right About Free Speech , β justified censorship on the grounds that subjective emotions should be privileged β over reason and argument , β and that β [ freedom of speech ] means balancing the inherent value of a given view with the obligation to ensure that other members of a given community can participate in discourse as fully recognized members of that community. β Disappointingly , the author never quite got around to specifying just who will determine the criteria for this β balancing . β
In short , the academy has abandoned its core values of free inquiry in the service of ever-more-rigid political dogmas .
In short , the academy has abandoned its core values of free inquiry in the service of ever-more-rigid political dogmas . President Harry Truman , that voice of an older , more sensible Left , made those values plain in his 1948 address to the American Association for the Advancement of Science , the speech credited with giving rise to the National Science Foundation :
Continuous research by our best scientists is the key to American scientific leadership and true national security . This indispensable work may be made impossible by the creation of an atmosphere in which no man feels safe against the public airing of unfounded rumors , gossip , and vilification . Such an atmosphere is un-American . It is the climate of a totalitarian country in which scientists are expected to change their theories to match changes in the police state β s propaganda line . . . . Now and in the years ahead , we need , more than anything else , the honest and uncompromising common sense of science . Science means a method of thought . That method is characterized by open-mindedness , honesty , perseverance , and , above all , by an unflinching passion for knowledge and truth .
The 1974 Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression at Yale , known as the β Woodward Report β and later adopted as a model for institutions across the nation , proclaimed :
The primary function of a university is to discover and disseminate knowledge by means of research and teaching . To fulfill this function a free interchange of ideas is necessary not only within its walls but with the world beyond as well . It follows that the university must do everything possible to ensure within it the fullest degree of intellectual freedom . The history of intellectual growth and discovery clearly demonstrates the need for unfettered freedom , the right to think the unthinkable , discuss the unmentionable , and challenge the unchallengeable .
In 2005 , Hartle β s own organization β representing nearly 1,800 college and university presidents and executives of related associations β drafted and endorsed the β Statement on Academic Rights and Responsibilities. β It held that β intellectual pluralism and academic freedom are central principles of American higher education , β that β colleges and universities should welcome intellectual pluralism and the free exchange of ideas , β and that β neither students nor faculty should be disadvantaged or evaluated on the basis of their political opinions . β
Contra Mr. Hartle , today β s universities β rife with speech codes , β scientific β defenses of speech suppression , and faculties that speak in one voice on seminal issues ranging from race relations to immigration policy β have failed to adhere to their professed ideals or even to his organization β s own standards . It β s true that there are plenty , on the Left and the Right , who sometimes prefer dogma to science . Colleges and universities , however , are supposed to offer a corrective to such thinking ; they β re not supposed to be a party to it . The sad truth is that conservatives are right to look askance at higher education in 2017 . Too many of our most esteemed academic institutions have drifted from their historic mission β and that β s their fault , not ours . | http://www.nationalreview.com/article/449872/conservatives-mistrust-american-higher-education-blame-progressive-universities | National Review | Is It the Right or the Academy Thatβs Lost Faith in Free Inquiry? | 892727053c0efc6c | 2 | [
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politics | 2019-09-11 | Progressives, Democratic Party, GOP, Politics | right | Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer at a Capitol Hill news conference , March 2018 . ( Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters )
Some progressives do not think we have two legitimate competing political camps . They think the U.S. is suffering from an infection : the Republican party .
Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times has a dream , a dream in which about half of the American people are deprived of an effective means of political representation , a dream of one-party government in which the Democrats are the only game in town β β Dare We Dream of the End of the GOP ? β her column is headlined β which also is a dream of visiting vengeance upon those who dared to vote for their own interests as they understood them and thereby schemed β to stop the New America from governing . β
That quotation is from a new book by Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg bearing the title R.I.P . G.O.P . Greenberg himself has a new column in the Times on the same theme . β The 2020 election will be transformative like few in our history , β he writes . β It will end with the death of the Republican Party as we know it . . . [ and ] liberate the Democratic Party from the country β s suffocating polarization and allow it to use government to address the vast array of problems facing the nation . β
We might understand the Goldberg-Greenberg position as β the divine right of Democrats , β who apparently have an eternal moral mandate to rule for reasons that must remain mysterious to those outside the ranks of New York Times columnists .
Goldberg and Greenberg should at least try to take seriously their own metaphor : polarization .
The American polity , like a magnet , is polarized because it has two poles , for which the Republican and Democratic parties are rough proxies . Why does the United States have two political poles ? Because it has two major political tendencies . Goldberg and Greenberg write of polarization , but they do not believe in it . They do not understand the United States as having two legitimate competing political camps but as suffering from a kind of infection in the form of the Republican party , which inhibits the normal and healthy β meaning Democrat-dominated β political life of the United States . They believe that something they call the β New America β has an unquestionable natural moral right to rule and that the Republican party is not a competing pole but a blockage . To write as Greenberg does that the Democratic party is to be liberated by the practical elimination of the Republican party , and hence able to operate unencumbered , is to embrace not only the end of the GOP but the end of ordinary political opposition .
It is not beyond imagining that the Republican party should decline into corporate incoherence and irrelevance : Its leadership is self-serving and feckless , and many of its subdivisions ( including many state and local Republican-party units ) are corrupt to varying degrees , and too often stupid where they are not corrupt . ( This is not a universal condition ; some of them are both corrupt and stupid . ) But imagine the GOP being vaporized tomorrow by the political equivalent of a kind of neutron bomb in reverse , eliminating the infrastructure and real estate but leaving the people . What would be left behind ? For one thing , there would remain an American electorate that was almost evenly divided ( +/- 2 percent ) about whether Donald Trump or Hillary Rodham Clinton would be a more desirable president β with the pro-Trump side comprising a majority of the people in a majority of the states . It would include a country in which there are more Americans who believe that immigration should be reduced than who believe it should be increased ; in which a large majority of the population supports restrictions on abortion and more than 80 percent support a ban on late-term abortion ; it would include a country in which work requirements for welfare benefits are overwhelmingly popular ; it would be a country in which about half of the people still oppose the Affordable Care Act .
Restrictions on immigration and abortion , conditions on welfare for the able-bodied , lower taxes and lower spending β these are not positions associated with the Democratic party . But millions of Americans , in some cases majorities and even large majorities , hold these views . They are entitled to political representation , irrespective of the future of the Republican party as an organization . And they will have that representation , whether it goes by the brand name Republican , Liberal , Whig , or Monster Raving Loony ( RIP Screaming Lord Sutch ) . Eliminating the Republican party would not relieve the country of the β polarization β β meaning opposition β that annoys the Goldberg-Greenberg camp .
The only way to achieve that would be through the political suppression of those with dissenting political views .
Which , of course , is the Left β s current agenda , from deputizing Corporate America to act as its political enforcer by making employment contingent upon the acceptance of progressive political orthodoxies to attempting to gut the First Amendment in the name of β campaign finance β regulation β it is the Democratic party , not the moral scolds of the Christian Coalition , that proposes to lock up Americans for showing movies with unauthorized political content β to grievously abusing legislative and prosecutorial powers to harass and persecute those with nonconforming political views ( β Arrest Climate-Change Deniers β ) and declaring political rivals β domestic terrorists , β as California Democrats have with the National Rifle Association .
Which is to say : It is not only the Republican party as a political grouping they dream of eliminating : It is Republicans as such and those who hold roughly Republican ideas about everything from climate change to gun rights , groups that Democrats in agencies ranging from state prosecutors β offices to the IRS already β right now , not at some point in some imaginary dystopian future β are targeting through both legal and extralegal means .
The Democrats who are doing this believe themselves to be acting morally , even patriotically , and sometimes heroically . Why ? Because they believe that opposition is fundamentally illegitimate .
Eliminating the ability of those who currently align with the Republican party to meaningfully participate in national politics is not only wishful thinking in the pages of the New York Times . It is the progressive program , from Washington to Palo Alto and beyond . | https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/09/democrats-dream-of-nation-without-republicans/ | National Review | The Divine Right of the Democratic Party | 522c19797b6108b0 | 2 | [
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world | 2013-12-10 | Cuba, Nelson Mandela, World | right | President Obama shook hands with Cuban President Raul Castro Tuesday at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela , who died on Thursday at age 95 .
The handshake between the leaders of the two Cold War adversaries came as Mr. Obama was greeting a line of world leaders attending the memorial in Johannesburg for South Africa β s first black president .
The U.S. and Cuba have not had diplomatic relations for more than 50 years , since the Cuban revolution turned its government into a communist regime led by Mr. Castro β s brother , Fidel .
Mr. Obama in 2011 eased some of the economic and travel restrictions that had been enforced by former President George W. Bush , but relations between the two nations still are tense . For example , Cuba has been holding Alan Gross , a U.S. citizen , in jail since 2009 on charges of attempting to destabilize the Cuban government .
Just last week , family and friends of the former U.S. government contractor urged Mr. Obama to secure his release .
β I am requesting that President Obama , the leader of this great nation , get personally involved and to do whatever it takes to bring Alan home , β said Mr. Gross β s wife , Judy , at a vigil outside the White House . β Mr . President , please don β t leave Alan to die in Cuba . β
Mr . Gross was arrested while working on a U.S. Agency for International Development project to increase Internet access for small Jewish communities in Cuba . He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for β acts against the independence or territorial integrity of the state . β
Mr. Obama β s handshake with Mr. Castro was not the first between U.S.-Cuban leaders . In 2000 , at the United Nations , former President Bill Clinton shook hands with Fidel Castro , although Mr. Clinton denied it at first and no picture of the handshake exists .
Mr. Obama also shook hands with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff , who canceled a state dinner at the White House over her anger with revelations that the National Security Agency had spied on her . | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/10/obama-shakes-hands-cubas-raul-castro-mandela/ | Washington Times | Obama shakes hands with Cuba's Raul Castro at Nelson Mandela?s funeral | 6ae41408bf010883 | 2 | [
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national_defense | 2020-06-08 | National Defense, Police, Blue Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter, Race And Racism | center | As protests over policing continue to convulse cities throughout the U.S. , one symbol keeps showing up : a black-and-white American flag with one blue stripe .
Recently , the flag was flown from the back of a car alongside protests in South Dakota , and burned outside the Utah State Capitol . When deputies hoisted the flag outside government buildings in Cincinnati , Ohio , and Orange , California , the sheriffs in both communities were sharply criticized . Officers have worn versions of the flag on face masks while clashing with protesters in Baltimore and in Washington , D.C .
Those who fly the flag have said it stands for solidarity and professional pride within a dangerous , difficult profession and a solemn tribute to fallen police officers . But it has also been flown by white supremacists , appearing next to Confederate flags at the 2017 β Unite the Right β rally in Charlottesville , Virginia . County officials in Oregon recently paid $ 100,000 to a black employee of a law enforcement agency there , after she said she was harassed by coworkers for complaining about her colleagues displaying the flag at work .
Now , as police again become the focal point of a fight for racial equality in the U.S. , the flag has returned to both mirror and amplify divisions .
But how did this flag come to be so pervasive ? And what does it really stand for ?
In 2014 , a white college student named Andrew Jacob was watching protests of police killings of Eric Garner , Michael Brown and Tamir Rice . He had seen the image of the flag on patches and stickers , he told βββ , but not an actual flag . While in high school in West Bloomfield , Michigan , he had attended a memorial service for a police officer who had been killed on the job .
Now , Jacob is the president of Thin Blue Line USA , one of the largest online retailers devoted exclusively to sales of pro-police flags , T-shirts , neckwear and jewelry . β The flag has no association with racism , hatred , bigotry , β he said . β It β s a flag to show support for law enforcementβno politics involved. β The company officially disavowed its use in Charlottesville .
Jacob said the flag was not a direct reaction to the first Black Lives Matter protestsβan idea suggested by a previous origin story in Harper β sβbut he allows he may have first seen the thin blue line image after those protests spurred the circulation of pro-police imagery online . β That β s maybe why it came to my eyes , β he said .
As Jacob built the company , a β Blue Lives Matter β movement was growing in the wake of news stories of multiple officers shot to death in Baton Rouge , Louisiana ; Brooklyn , New York ; and Dallas . Meanwhile , Donald Trump , as a presidential candidate , called police β the force between civilization and total chaos. β Some states began passing laws to categorize physical attacks on law enforcement officers as hate crimes .
Police were not actually in greater danger than they had been before the Black Lives Matter movement . Ambush killings of police have actually declined more than 90 percent since 1970 , even with the recent spikes , according to a study by Michael White , a professor of criminology at Arizona State University . White understands how the thin blue line flag has become a part of police culture , and that officers may view it as a sign of solidarity , but also worries about the message it sends to the public .
β It fosters this β us versus them β mentality , β he said . β The police and community should work together , in order to produce safety . Each should respect the role of the other . If you 're looking at the community as a potential enemy , or a threat , that 's certainly going to hinder any positive relationship . β
Before the flag came the phrase . The idea of a β thin blue line β can be traced all the way back to a 1854 British battle formation , a β thin red line β used during the Crimean War and then popularized in art , poetry and song . According to lawyers James Clapp and Elizabeth Thornburg , who have dug up the history behind popular phrases , the idea migrated to other professions , with other colors , from a β thin white line of bishops β to a β thin blue line of public schoolboys in blazers . β
It was occasionally used for police , they write . But that usage caught on in 1922 , after New York police commissioner Richard Enright , facing criticism of his leadership , mentioned it in a public relations effort . The phrase started showing up in speeches by politicians and related press coverage from Chicago to Los Angeles .
In the 1950s , β The Thin Blue Line β was the title of a briefly running television show about the Los Angeles Police Department , masterminded by the chief , William H. Parker , who took advantage of Hollywood β s proximity to make public relations a key part of his tenure . He also opened up the department β s files to the writers of β Dragnet . β
Parker was known for unambiguous racism . He said some immigrants were β not far removed from the wild tribes of Mexico β and compared black residents participating in the Watts Riotsβwhich stemmed in part from anger over his own department β s mistreatmentβto β monkeys in a zoo . β
Parker used the phrase β thin blue line β constantly in his speeches . The phrase was further popularized by the novels of Joseph Wambaugh , and it typified Parker β s philosophy : having served in the military , he wanted to end corruption and professionalize the police force .
In his view , the police β protected Western civilization from communists , progressive politicians , minorities , anybody who agitated for something that didn β t fit his very narrow scheme , β said Alisa Kramer , who wrote a 2007 dissertation on Parker 's tenure . `` There are a lot of parallels between Parker and Trump ; Parker had no understanding of the complexities of poverty and racism . ''
After Parker β s sudden death in 1966 , the city named the police headquarters after him . The Parker Center went on to be a primary site of protests in 1992 after police were filmed beating Rodney King .
Parker β s tenure augured a bigger shift towards militarism in police departments , which came to buy military gear directly from the Department of Defense . Criminologists Don L. Kurtz and Alayna Colburn have analyzed the language police officers use in formal interviews , and argue that the β thin blue line β idea is an example of popular culture informing internal police culture , highlighting β the assumed differences between officers and citizens and further progresses an β us versus them β mentality among officers . β
The phrase gained another boost with Errol Morris β s 1988 film β The Thin Blue Line , β in which a Dallas judge quotes a prosecutor describing what separates β the public from anarchy. β The title was ironic , if not sly , since the film depicted how law enforcement sent an innocent man to death row .
Over the years , officers around the country occasionally placed stickers of a blue line surrounded by black on their cars . After the ambush of Dallas officers in 2016 , the flag became a common sight in yards and on bumper stickers around the city , along with β Back the Blue β and β Thank a Cop β signs . Mourners wore blue neckties and hair ribbons at the funeral service , but the fallen officers β caskets were draped with American flags .
Dallas Police Sgt . Stephen Bishopp has a doctorate and has studied police stress , use of force and officer misconduct . The β thin blue line β symbol existed before several of his colleagues were gunned down by a sniper in July 2016 , he said . To him , it symbolizes respect and understanding for the families of officers killed in the line of dutyβincluding suicides .
β When I see that flag as a sticker on a car or flying in someone β s yard , I know that there is someone there that knows what I β m going through . They know because they are a part of the family , β Bishopp said . β I don β t really care if it bothers people or hurts their feelings to see that flag . I absolutely could care less . I am proud of what I do , the people I work with , and the ones who have died defending the rights of strangers . I will continue to fly that flag until my very last day . β
Social media allows for endless remixing , and the offerings now appear infinite . You can buy a sticker that mixes the imagery with the Disney World logo . You can buy a dog tag necklace , with a Matthew 5:9 engraved on the back : β Blessed are the peacemakers , for they will be called children of God. β Law enforcement officers can buy a special edition Sig Sauer pistol covered with the flag and blue line .
But as the images have multiplied , so have the meanings . The American flag and blue line have often been blended with the image of a skull associated with The Punisher , an ex-Marine turned vigilante who first appeared in Marvel comics in 1974 , combatting crime through extrajudicial murder and torture . β Police should not be embracing a criminal as their symbol , β the character β s creator Gerry Conway told Syfy Wire last year . β In a way , it 's as offensive as putting a Confederate flag on a government building . β
Although the flag β s manufacturers have tried to keep politics away from the flag , the current protests over the death of George Floyd have thrust the image into larger debates . In Cold Spring , New York , local leaders debated last week whether placing a decal of the flag on a police car would make some people afraid to ask officers for help . In Montclair , New Jersey , a police leader begged residents on a Zoom call not to view the flag as a β symbol of racism . β
`` We 've seen trucks riding around with big old versions , '' said Melina Abdullah , a co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter , about the protests in recent days . `` It feels akin to a Confederate flag . '' She has also noticed the flag 's image on police and other government-owned vehicles , and she sees this as evidence that even self-described liberal officials are not doing enough to combat white supremacy . `` The supposed 'liberal ' answer to Donald Trump has not been as critical of police violence as it should be , '' she said .
Police officers themselves are also not speaking uniformly about the flag . Last month , San Francisco β s chief of police Bill Scott banned his officers from wearing face masks emblazoned with the thin blue line flag , worrying they would be seen as β divisive and disrespectful. β The masks had been distributed by the local police union , which accused the department of failing to provide masks . β We did it as a morale booster for each other , β union president Tony Montoya said , β not as a political statement . β
Local skirmishes and letters to the editor in various states have questioned whether the thin blue line flag is a violation of the U.S . Flag Code , which specifically states : β The flag should never have placed upon it , nor any part of it , nor attached to it any mark , insignia , letter , word , figure , design , picture , or drawing of any nature . β
Despite that language , the American flag is depicted in many other ways for a number of purposes , many commercial . Still , the American Legion , which played a key role in drafting the Flag Code and is the go-to authority on proper U.S. flag etiquette , has not taken an official position yet on the black-and-white version with a blue line , a spokesman told βββ . | https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/06/08/the-short-fraught-history-of-the-thin-blue-line-american-flag | The Marshall Project | The Short, Fraught History of the βThin Blue Lineβ American Flag | 4576897d7b419f82 | 1 | [
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criminal_justice | 2015-04-29 | Criminal Justice, Hillary Clinton, Justice | left | Fair or unfair , Democrats ' chief criticism of Hillary Clinton has been that she does n't truly share their most cherished values , particularly when it comes to addressing inequality . They also worry that she 's not ready for prime time β that she 's too stilted , too programmed , too cold on the stump .
Her first major policy address of the 2016 campaign was Clinton at her finest , showcasing both strong policy chops and a deep sensitivity to Americans who are heartbroken over the deaths of young black men at the hands of police officers .
Speaking at Columbia University , Clinton used the violence in Baltimore as a window into a larger argument β one she said she would revisit on the campaign trail β about addressing poverty and injustice . It 's a theme that dovetails smoothly with her ideas for empowering women and families through increased wages , pay equity , and the expansion of child care benefits .
In that way , she wove two criminal justice reform proposals into a far broader and deeper campaign narrative . The Democratic Party 's core policy agenda in a post-Obama β and post-Obamacare β era is resolving the ills of poverty , inequality , substance abuse , and the broken criminal justice and mental health systems . It is about the idea , as she put it , that `` no one is disposable . Every life matters . ''
For many in the Democratic Party , particularly in minority communities , that is the great unfinished business of the Obama presidency , the promise that must still be fulfilled .
Clinton delivered the speech in a way that showed she 's ready for the trail . She connected cleanly with the message she 's been trying to send about the difference between her 2008 campaign and this one : this time , it 's about everyone else . And the way she did it pointed to her age and experience as a strength rather than a weakness .
Clinton started with an elegantly simple premise to address the spreading conflict between police departments and communities of color : provide body cameras to cops and put a bookend on the `` incarceration generation , '' Clinton said .
She freely moved between prose and statistic : America makes up 5 percent of the world 's population but has 25 percent of its prisoners , and a third of all black men in the country face the prospect of going to prison in their lifetimes , she said .
`` From Ferguson to Staten Island to Baltimore , the patterns have become unmistakable and undeniable , '' Clinton said , name-checking unarmed black men killed by police in a softer tone , somewhere between pained and plaintive .
`` Let β s take on the broader inequities in our society , '' she said . `` You can β t separate out the unrest we see in the streets from the cycles of poverty and despair that hollow out those neighborhoods . ''
Then she moved outside of America 's urban centers , mentioning recent trips to Iowa and New Hampshire as she made the case that many of the problems she aims to solve are not bound by the city limits .
The faults of the criminal justice system include the incarceration of the mentally ill , the number of children who have parents in prison , and the inability of America to solve drug problems not just in cities but outside urban areas , Clinton said .
In particular , she lamented the failure to stand up community mental health centers to complement the de-institutionalization of the mentally ill .
`` We got half of that equation but not the other half , '' Clinton said . `` Our prisons and our jails are now our mental health institutions . ''
But she also praised police offers doing their duty with honor , calling for mutual respect .
`` Everyone in every community benefits when there is respect for the law and when everyone in every community is respected by the law , '' she said .
Her policy prescriptions represented a full break with her husband 's 1994 crime bill , which pushed for more arrests , more incarcerations , more prison cells , and longer jail sentences . Bill Clinton , too , has come to believe that one of the signature legislative accomplishments of his first term has contributed to a justice system that is out of whack .
The filling of American prisons has become so powerful for voters that both Democrats and Republicans are trying to tackle it in Washington . That bipartisanship is the ultimate proof that the issue of mass incarceration has reached critical mass . And some in the GOP are also backing the use of police body cameras .
Clinton , who spoke with a much softer tone than usual , likened herself to so many Americans who have watched , powerless , as the crisis of inequality in the justice system has played out on television for months .
`` Not only as a mother and a grandmother but as a citizen , a human being , my heart breaks for these young men and their families , '' she said . `` We have to come to terms with some hard truths about race and justice in America . There is something profoundly wrong when African-American men are still far more likely to be stopped and searched by police , charged with crimes , and sentenced to longer prison terms than are meted out to their white counterparts . ''
As she moved back into data , Clinton pointed to life-expectancy figures in a piece in USA Today by Jennifer Mendelsohn :
At a conference in 2013 at Johns Hopkins University , Vice Provost Jonathan Bagger pointed out that `` only 6 miles separate the Baltimore neighborhoods of Roland Park and Hollins Market , but there is a 20-year difference in the average life expectancy . '' A 20-year difference ? Why are n't we asking more regularly if they 're OK ?
`` We have learned in the last few years that life expectancy , which is a measure of the quality of life , manifests the inequality that we see in so many other parts of our society , '' she said noting that white women without a high school education and black men and black women in some parts of the country are facing diminishing life expectancies .
`` It tells us more than I think we can bear about what we are up against , '' she said .
The speech was hardly a panacea , and Clinton conceded that she did n't have an answer for how to deal with low-level criminal offenders in a way that gets them registered with the system but does not put them on track for recidivism . While she spoke of the children deprived of their parents and jailed in adult facilities , she took criticism from juvenile justice reform advocates .
`` She left out the 60,000 children who will go to bed tonight in youth prisons and out-of-home placements in the justice system , '' said Liz Ryan , CEO of a Youth First , which seeks to end the incarceration of minors . `` Kids should be a high priority as we attempt to end the age of mass incarceration . ''
`` Too many of our fellow citizens are still left out , '' she said , striking a familiar Democratic chord .
Indeed , even in calling for a more civil political debate and praising rival Rand Paul and other Republicans for seeking an end to mandatory minimum sentences and other criminal justice reforms , she could n't resist a subtle jab β referring to their interest in `` certain reforms '' rather than a full revamp of the system .
If this is the Hillary Clinton that hits the campaign trail for the next 18 months , she 'll be a far more formidable candidate than the halting speaker who struggled to articulate a raison d'Γͺtre in 2008 . | http://www.vox.com/2015/4/29/8515595/hillary-clinton-just-gave-one-of-the-most-important-speeches-of-her | Vox | Hillary Clinton just gave one of the most important speeches of her career | 28e6160373858376 | 0 | [
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white_house | 2017-06-09 | White House, Lindsey Graham, Donald Trump, Politics | right | Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Friday President Donald Trump still can be a `` consequential president '' if he adjusts his behavior .
β To President Trump , I will do anything I can to help you sell policies that are good for this country . The hardest thing for a Republican to do is to argue with another Republican , but sometimes that can be more consequential than a Democrat arguing with a Republican , β Graham said at the annual E2 Summit , a high-powered gathering of GOP officials , top donors and business leaders at a luxury Utah resort .
β I want you to understand that I β m optimistic in spite of all this clutter and confusion β that we can pull it off , '' Graham said . `` That we can get taxes cut , we can do infrastructure . We can do things that are good for this country , and President Trump can still be a consequential president . But if he doesn β t adjust the way he β s behaving , and if he doesn β t let people help him , he β s going to lose the last best chance the Republican Party has to change America and make the world safe . β
Graham spoke at a resort in the mountains of Park City , where Mitt Romney hosts the annual meeting of largely Republican power players for a mix of hobnobbing , policy talks and outdoor excursions like alpine hikes with Romney , which the 70-year-old takes at a blistering pace , according to The Associated Press .
The business and policy-focused summit , tucked in the mountains about 2,000 miles from the swirl of Washington , drew top donors , executives and office holders like John McCain of Arizona .
According to The Associated Press , Romney did not directly mention the testimony in Congress a day earlier when fired FBI director James Comey attacked Trump 's credibility . Instead he referred to the `` theater of Washington right now and the theater around the White House right now , '' saying he was n't too concerned about that slowing down a chance for Republican priorities to be passed in Congress . | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/09/lindsey-graham-at-gop-summit-trump-can-still-be-consequential-president.html | Fox Online News | Lindsey Graham at GOP summit: 'Trump can still be a consequential president' | 971ca5d14682ae69 | 2 | [
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us_house | 2016-04-13 | Paul Ryan, US House, Politics | right | WASHINGTON - House Speaker Paul Ryan 's national stature is such that he had to call a news conference to deny he wants to be president . Back on Capitol Hill , he 's about to blow through a statutory deadline to pass an annual budget , a major embarrassment for him and House Republicans .
Under the government 's arcane budget law , the House is supposed to produce a budget by this Friday , April 15 . But a tea party revolt over Ryan 's embrace of last year 's bipartisan deal with President Barack Obama to increase spending has left him well short of the votes he needs .
`` It would appear that we 're not going to have a budget , '' the No . 2 House Democrat , Steny Hoyer of Maryland , told reporters Tuesday . `` They made it a big deal . Hypocrisy is part of it , '' he added . `` They 're in deep disarray . ''
House Republicans met the budget deadline each of the five years they controlled the House under the leadership of John Boehner , who was ousted as speaker last fall under conservative pressure . Ryan himself , his party 's 2012 vice presidential nominee , chaired the House Budget Committee for much of that time and guided the `` Ryan Budget '' that slashed entitlement spending . But he also cut a deal with Senate Democrats and the White House that enhanced his profile as a charismatic , policy-focused conservative .
The Wisconsin Republican has repeatedly lambasted Democrats when they did n't get budgets done while in congressional control , even backing a law that would have cut off the paychecks of lawmakers if they failed to pass a budget .
Ryan 's own inability to deliver now that he 's speaker raises questions about his stewardship of the House , and whether his repeated promises to return power to rank-and-file lawmakers can produce results , given how unwilling some of them are to compromise . And amid an angry GOP presidential campaign that 's exposed deep divisions in the party , Ryan 's honeymoon in the House may be coming to an end if he 's unable to bridge the same divide between hard-core conservatives and more pragmatic-minded lawmakers that defeated his predecessor .
`` There was a lot of excitement last fall when newly elected Speaker Ryan was talking about 2016 being a year of policy and passing a robust policy agenda , '' said Dan Holler , spokesman at Heritage Action for America . `` It 's been pretty underwhelming . ''
Ryan 's spokeswoman , AshLee Strong , disputed the suggestion that the budget was dead . `` Member discussions continue regarding the best path forward for the budget , '' she said .
The budget is not the only area where House Republicans are faltering under Ryan 's leadership . Very little significant legislation has been moving , and negotiations over a bill to address Puerto Rico 's fiscal crisis have proceeded in fits and starts , an area where Boehner 's ability to cut deals with Democrats might have come in handy . It 's unclear whether a just-released Puerto Rico bill backed by Ryan will attract the needed support .
But Ryan has aimed his sights higher than the nitty-gritty of legislating , putting committees to work on developing policies on issues from health care to national security to poverty that can serve as a `` governing agenda '' for the GOP . He 's pledged to release the proposals ahead of the GOP convention in July , giving his Republicans a program to run on should they want to distance themselves from the eventual GOP nominee .
Ryan is ensuring that they have the campaign cash to get elected . He raised $ 17.2 million in the first three months of 2016 and transferred more than $ 11 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee .
Ryan made clear Tuesday that he will not be that nominee , hastily calling a news conference to try to shut down rampant speculation that he could emerge as his party 's standard-bearer if front-runner Donald Trump or the other candidates - Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov . John Kasich - flame out at a contested convention . Party leaders fear both Trump and top challenger Cruz could spell certain defeat in November , costing the GOP not only the White House but control of the Senate too .
`` Let me say again , I 'm not going to be our party 's nominee , '' Ryan said . `` But I 'll also be clear about something else : not running does not mean I 'm going to disappear , '' he said . Ryan pledged to unveil `` a policy agenda and offer a clear choice to the American people . ''
On the budget , Boehner confronted a comparable situation in 2014 to where Ryan is now . It was the second year of a budget deal with Obama - negotiated by Ryan - and some conservatives were reluctant to go along with higher agency budget levels . Boehner was working with a smaller GOP majority but had an advantage since conservatives were relatively sheepish after the 2013 government shutdown that they sparked .
Now , in a hyper-polarized presidential election year - and after toppling Boehner last year - conservatives are n't falling into line . | http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/politics/2016/april/paul-ryan-is-not-running-for-president-or-passing-a-budget | CBN | Paul Ryan Is Not Running for President -- or Passing a Budget | 26cb6c7c87956d62 | 2 | [
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healthcare | 2013-11-07 | Healthcare, Obamacare, Barack Obama | right | President Barack Obama has admitted that the `` website woes '' of HealthCare.gov drive him `` crazy . `` to thank volunteers who have been helping sign people up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act , his signature piece of legislation . He 's also trying to pressure Texas Gov . Rick Perry to expand Medicaid . `` You 've all heard about the website woes , '' Obama told about 150 people at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas . `` Nothing drives me more crazy than the fact that right now , there is great insurance to be had out there , choice and competition , where people can save money for a better product , except too many folks have not been able to get through the website . `` Now , this is like having a really good product in the store and the cash registers do n't work and there are n't enough parking spots and nobody can get through the door . `` So we are working overtime to get this fixed , '' the president said . `` And the website is already better than it was at the beginning of October . And by the end of this month , we are anticipating it will be working the way it is supposed to . Folks are working 24/7 to make sure that happens . `` Obama referred to Perry 's opposition to the Affordable Care Act as `` bullheadness '' and , noting that the state has more than 6 million uninsured residents , he declared : `` There is no state that actually needs this more than Texas . `` But Perry hit back in a statement : `` President Obama deceived the American people by promising that anyone who liked their healthcare plan could keep it . But millions of Americans are now discovering that simply is n't true . `` Now he 's coming to Texas in a desperate attempt to salvage his ill-conceived and unpopular program from a Titanic fate by preaching expansion of the same Medicaid system he himself admits is broken . `` In Texas , where Medicaid already consumes a quarter of the state budget , we simply need the flexibility to implement fundamental , state-specific reforms to our Medicaid program , instead of a one-size-fits-all Washington mandate before it bankrupts our state. '' Mr . President , Texans are n't the reason Obamacare is crumbling , '' Perry said . `` Obamacare is the reason Obamacare is crumbling . `` The White House has pointed out Dallas is among the top 10 cities for uninsured Americans , according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Obama , who was also in Texas for two high-priced fundraisers , added , `` This is a no-brainer . Across this state you 've got a million people who do n't have health insurance that could get health insurance right away . `` I 'm going to be right there with you the entire way . '' | http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Obama-Obamacare-website-crazy/2013/11/07/id/535437 | Newsmax | Obama: Website Woes 'Drive Me Crazy' | 98a70843b5259890 | 2 | [
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elections | 2012-10-29 | Election 2012, Early Voting, Voting, Presidential Elections, Elections | center | As Hurricane Sandy continues its slow progress toward the East Coast , thoughts of voting are n't uppermost in most people 's minds . Nevertheless , state and local officials are scrambling to accommodate early voters as best they can .
Depending on how the storm ultimately plays out , Sandy is n't expected to have much effect on the outcome of the presidential race . Most of the states in its path are not considered competitive .
But the storm is already having an effect on campaigning . President Obama canceled a Florida rally on Monday to monitor events from the White House . Republican Mitt Romney scuttled campaign events in Virginia and New Hampshire , instead spending more time in the Midwest .
Obama may get a boost from assuming a `` take-charge posture , '' says Larry Sabato , who directs the University of Virginia 's Center for Politics . But of course the president would be held responsible for any foul-ups in terms of disaster response and relief . While decamped in the Midwest , Romney will also want to appear sensitive to the ravages of the storm .
Remember that Republicans postponed the opening of their national convention in August owing to the proximity of the storm that became Hurricane Isaac . Democrats also had to reshuffle some events during their gathering .
Both campaigns have announced they are suspending fundraising email appeals in several states affected by Sandy , although they have n't pulled their TV ads .
In terms of actual voting , it remains to be seen whether Sandy will matter much . `` We 're certainly seeing some [ polling place ] closures now from Sandy , '' says Michael McDonald , a voting expert at the Brookings Institution .
But McDonald points out that most of the states in the storm 's path do n't allow early voting without excuses , unlike swing states such as Iowa and Florida .
`` If this was a direct hit on Florida , then we would be having a much different discussion about the impact of this storm , '' he says . `` With ample time for local officials to respond and utility companies to restore power , we should have voting places up and running in most places by Election Day . ''
Lines were long for early voting this weekend in Maryland and the District of Columbia , as people sought to cast ballots while they could . Early-voting polling places were shuttered in both jurisdictions Monday .
Both Maryland and the District are expected to vote Democratic in the Nov. 6 presidential election . In terms of the Electoral College , Sandy 's impact could be greatest in Virginia .
`` Virginia is indeed the swing state in the storm 's sweep , '' Sabato says .
Virginia allows early voting only under certain conditions , such as being absent from the state . Only 13 percent of voters there cast ballots ahead of Election Day in 2008 .
The commonwealth 's board of elections has decided to allow people to cite Hurricane Sandy as a reason they need to vote early .
`` Our message to local election officials was to accommodate voters who would likely be impacted by the storm , '' Justin Riemer , the election board 's deputy secretary , told NPR 's Pam Fessler . `` The guidance was focused particularly on voters who are concerned that they may not be able to travel to their polling place locations on Election Day due to possible power outages , impassable or obstructed roads , temporary relocation , etc . ''
Some polling places in the densely populated suburbs of Northern Virginia were closed Monday , but some others were open in the morning .
Northern Virginia is a key battleground not just for the presidential election but for a close U.S. Senate race as well . Tim Kaine , the Democratic Senate candidate , sent an email to supporters asking them to take down yard signs for fear they might turn into projectiles during the massive storm .
Some early-voting stations were closed in coastal North Carolina counties , and the hurricane could ultimately affect Ohio . But most of the other states getting drenched are not swing states in the presidential contest . And they may recover in time to keep turnout at normal levels .
To accommodate potential voters inconvenienced by the storm , Connecticut Gov . Dannel Malloy , a Democrat , extended the voter registration deadline two days , to Thursday . He made a similar allowance last year for municipal elections , in light of a freak snowstorm .
McDonald , the Brookings scholar , says early voting in most places should be accommodated by the time the storm is through . New Jersey , he notes , allows no-excuse early voting , but early voting there is conducted by mail , so disruptions should be minimal .
In general , he says , the biggest impact may be on old-fashioned in-person voting on Election Day . Election officials in some jurisdictions will now be delayed running their usual last-minute preparations .
Some poll worker training has been canceled in Northern Virginia , for instance .
`` Election officials are already stressed when you 're going into an Election Day , '' McDonald says . `` They 're going to have to work even harder , because now they have all the contingency plans they have to consider . '' | http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/10/29/163873316/hurricane-sandy-throws-a-wrench-into-early-voting | NPR Online News | Hurricane Sandy Throws A Wrench Into Early Voting | ec18e81011825eef | 1 | [
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violence_in_america | 2020-07-15 | Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1st Amendment, Violence In America, Criminal Justice, Justice | left | For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more , subscribe to βββ ' newsletters
Six days after George Floyd β s death , Ahmed Abebe and some friends joined a protest marching towards Interstate 35W in Minneapolis . β I β ve been a resident of Minnesota my whole life . I β m a black man , β said 25-year-old Abebe . β So going out to the protests was something that was meaningful to meβsomething that hits me straight to the core . β
Just after the 8 p.m. curfew , a swarm of city cops , state troopers , and National Guardsmen surrounded the group of 150 peaceful protesters on four sides . Using tear gas , flash grenades , and rubber bullets , the officers corralled the protesters into a parking lot , ordered them to lie on the ground , and informed them over a loudspeaker that they were being arrested .
β I don β t want something like this to ruin my chances of a dream job . β
β That was my β Oh shit β moment , β remembers Abebe , whose name has been changed to protect his privacy . Over the next few hours , they were zip-tied one by one and brought to police vans and buses , which took them to the Hennepin County Jail .
While the protests have died down in Minneapolis , their effects linger : According to data from the Minneapolis City Attorney β s Office , more than 500 people still face charges from the days of unrest after Floyd β s death .
A fraction of those are felonies . The Hennepin County Attorney β s Office is prosecuting roughly 15 peopleβmostly for alleged burglaries from businesses including Foot Locker , AT & T , and Target . ( Critics note that the same office didn β t charge three cops at the scene of Floyd β s death . ) The US Attorney β s Office has so far charged 13 people with federal offenses , including three men for allegedly burning down the city β s Third Police Precinct .
But the vast majority of the cases involve people peacefully protesting after curfew . Abebe is among 493 people , many of whom are young Black and brown Minneapolis residents , faced with charges of violating the executive curfew order or unlawful assemblyβnonviolent misdemeanors punishable by 90 days in jail or a $ 1,000 fine .
β People are having to face having this charge be something that can be searched out about them by potential employers or schools , β said Jared Mollenkof , a public defender in Hennepin County who is on the board of the Minnesota Freedom Fund , which raised millions to bail out protesters during the unrest .
Minneapolis stands in stark contrast with neighboring St. Paul , where City Attorney Lyndsey Olsen decided to dismiss cases against protesters who weren β t violent or threatening β in the interest of justice , β according to a statement .
As he sat zip-tied , Abebe thought of his parents , refugees from Ethiopia who β put us here to have a better life than they did growing up , β he said . Abebe recently graduated from a master β s program and started his first job , on the tech team at a healthcare company . β I β m definitely very , very scared about what could possibly happen if this gets on my record β he said . β I don β t want something like this to ruin my chances of a dream job . β
Deondre Moore , a 25-year-old HIV activist among the arrestees who traveled from Beaumont , Texas , to participate in the protests , thought of his mother . She β d been watching the evening β s events unfold on his Facebook Live feed . β I β m a mama β s boy , β said Moore . β So I kept thinking , β Oh , momβshe β s gon na be so scared for me . β
Another arrestee , a physician , said he was protesting not just Floyd β s death , but gaping healthcare disparities across the country . He works at the Hennepin County Medical Center , where Floyd was pronounced dead . β Minneapolis prides itself on being a liberal city , β he said . β My experience here is that β s not so trueβespecially working at the county hospital and seeing a lot of the inequities tragically play out time and time again . β
Outside the jail , in the wee hours of June 1 , officers called protesters off the buses one by one , served them with their citations , and released them . β It was clear that there was a lot of confusion β among officers , says Dan Bellandi , a 44-year-old software engineer among the arrestees . β I heard them asking , β What are we charging them with ? Is it just the one number or is it two numbers ? β β Indeed , the citations varied among the five protesters I spoke to from that night : some were charged with both violating curfew and unlawful assembly , others just with violating curfew .
The Minneapolis City Attorney β s Office is β considering dismissing cases where there is no violence or other egregious conduct , β a spokesperson told me . But in the meantime , says Mollenkof , the criminal defense lawyer , β it ends up taking up a lot of emotional energy and resources to deal with having the power of the state marshaled against you . β
Indeed , arrestees have convened regularly in a Minneapolis park to strategize how to get legal fees covered and charges dropped . β This is part of the silencing , β said arrestee Metadel Lee , a junior in college spearheading the organizing efforts . β This is just part of the system that keeps us from actually making sure that we live in a more equitable society . β
Over the phone recently , Abebe admitted that the charges had been hanging over him ever since that night in May . β I β ve worked really hard all my life to try to stand up for what β s right , β he said . He noted that the charges are an example of the very thing he was protesting : police overreaction and inequities in the criminal justice system . β It β s very ironic , isn β t it ? β | https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/07/weeks-later-500-people-still-face-charges-for-peacefully-protesting-in-minneapolis/ | Mother Jones | Weeks Later, 500 People Still Face Charges for Peacefully Protesting in Minneapolis | 76be921476ed77ee | 0 | [
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elections | 2019-08-20 | Elections, Presidential Elections, Decision 2020, GOP, Evangelicals, Donald Trump | center | A central message of President Trump β s insurgent candidacy in 2016 boiled down to this : Millions of Americans are losers β economically , culturally and even demographically . Perhaps no group needed less convincing of this proposition than white evangelical Christians , who have long felt embattled . β Make America Great Again β was the perfect slogan for Americans who had already embraced the notion that the country β s culture and way of life had been deteriorating since the 1950s . Indeed , white evangelical Christians voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton in large numbers , and Trump has maintained their support to an impressive degree .
But there are increasing signs of a generational rift : Younger white evangelicals have not fully bought into Trump β s politics and are less receptive to Trump β s message of cultural decline . The age gap among white evangelicals in some ways just mirrors the age gap among the public overall with regards to Trump , but in conversations with a number of younger white evangelical Christians , many said they are reexamining the way their faith informs their politics and whether the two have become too tightly intertwined .
If you drill to the center of Trump β s political base , a big chunk of those voters are white evangelical Christians . Evangelical leaders are among the first to defend him from criticism and the most ready to forgive his personal behavior . Roughly seven in 10 white evangelical Christians approve of the job Trump is doing as president , and many have been delighted by Trump β s first term .
Younger white evangelical Christians , however , express far less enthusiasm for Trump , even if they haven β t completely abandoned him . According to the 2019 Voter Study Group survey , only six in 10 younger white evangelical Christians ( between the ages of 18 and 44 ) view Trump favorably , whereas 80 percent of those age 45 or older have a favorable opinion of the president . The intensity gap is even more pronounced . Only one-quarter ( 25 percent ) of younger white evangelical Christians report having a β very favorable β opinion of Trump , compared to a majority ( 55 percent ) of older white evangelicals .
No issue exemplifies Trump β s influence among white evangelical Christians β and highlights the emerging generational divide β more than immigration . From the start , Trump has made opposition to immigration a central part of his political identity . And white evangelical Christians rallied around Trump in the 2016 election and were quick to embrace his hard-line immigration agenda . During the campaign , white evangelical Christians expressed support for preventing Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. and temporarily banning Muslims from coming to the country . After the election , they coaleseced in support of building a wall along the southern border and blocking immigration from majority Muslim countries .
Indeed , Trump has managed to push the issue of immigration to the center of the evangelical agenda . Seventy-two percent of white evangelical Christians believe immigration should be a top priority , according to a recent Pew Research Center survey . Five years ago , in 2014 , that number was 49 percent .
But , again , the broad policy support masks a growing generational divide in views on immigrants . Two-thirds ( 66 percent ) of young white evangelical Christians ( age 18 to 34 ) say that immigrants coming to the U.S. strengthen the country because of their hard work and talents , a view shared by only 32 percent of white evangelical seniors ( age 65+ ) . A majority ( 54 percent ) of older white evangelical Christians believe that immigrants are a burden on American society .
So why has Trump found younger white evangelicals harder to win over ? Age has a lot to do with it . The president is profoundly unpopular among all young adults . A 2019 Harvard Institute of Politics survey finds that 70 percent of young adults ( age 18 to 24 ) disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president .
But immigration in particular points to another reason young white evangelicals have been less receptive to Trump : Their lives have been dramatically different than their parents β .
Most white evangelical Christians say that the U.S. becoming a majority nonwhite country is a negative development . However , the younger white evangelical Christians I spoke to said the immigration debate is complicated . β Immigration is not as black-and-white as abortion , β said Lauren Burns , an evangelical student enrolled at Biola University .
First , the young evangelicals told me that demographic change doesn β t register as a β threat β to them . Like young Americans more generally , racial , ethnic and religious diversity is a normal part of their everyday life . In the U.S. , only half of all evangelical Christians under 30 are white according to a 2016 study . On Christian college campuses , which have seen enrollment gains in recent years , young white evangelical Christians are part of an increasingly diverse student body . White students account for 62 percent of the student body on the roughly 140 campuses affiliated with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities , down from 82 percent in 1999 .
And there are other reasons to think younger evangelicals would be less receptive to a message of America in decline . Anecdotally , at least , it seems young white evangelical Christians are less apt to believe their faith is in imminent danger from the broader culture .
In a recent interview with Newsweek , Russell Moore , president of the Southern Baptist Convention β s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission , argued that the β Make America Great Again β slogan never really resonated with younger white evangelicals . β Young evangelicals do not feel as if they are losing anything in terms of American culture , β he wrote . β They came of age at a time when following Christ seemed countercultural to them anyway . They never expected a nominally Christian culture in which being a church member would be the equivalent of being a good American . β
Indeed , young adults are upending many of the religious conventions and cultural assumptions that defined American public life in the past . Young people don β t feel particularly negatively toward atheists , nor do they view Islam as incompatible with American values . They don β t feel especially confident in religious leaders and they don β t see religious commitment as synonymous with virtue . The 2018 General Social Survey found that the majority of young adults say that people with strong religious beliefs are often intolerant of others . Even back in 2015 , the overwhelming majority of young adults said they do not believe America is a Christian nation β one in five said it never was β and being Christian is not an important part of being American . The Christian consensus of previous generations , such as there was , is gone .
But critically , for young white evangelical Christians , this is the way it has always been . Numerically , they are already in the minority . Only 8 percent of adults under 30 are white evangelical Protestants . The segment of that age group that β s unaffiliated with any religion is nearly five times as large . Among Americans age 65 and older , white evangelicals account for more than one quarter of the population . Not surprisingly , young adults today are actually more likely to say they know an atheist than an evangelical . Growing up in Portland , Oregon , Burns β s group of friends in high school included people of color , gay and lesbian people , and atheists . β If I limited myself to only conservative white Christians , it would be pretty lonely , β she said .
Rather than yearning for the past , many young white evangelical Christians I spoke with have learned to navigate between an increasingly secular culture and their own deeply held religious commitments . Perhaps nothing defines the experience of young white evangelical Christians more than the conflict between their peers and their faith . Aaryn Marsters , who at the time of the interview was a 33-year-old evangelical Christian living in Charlotte , North Carolina , described the experience to The New York Times : β As evangelical young people become more liberal , older evangelicals think we β ve been brainwashed by the world . And as we continue to hold onto our faith and some more conservative or traditional values , many non-Christians believe we are still brainwashed from our upbringing . β
For many older white evangelical Christians , Trump β s vigorous public defense of conservative Christians remains the most compelling reason to support his reelection . At the Road to Majority Conference , an evangelical grassroots summit , for example , Faith and Freedom Coalition chairman Ralph Reed affirmed evangelicals β unwavering commitment to President Trump . β There has never been anyone who has defended us and fought for us , who we have loved more than Donald J. Trump. β Jerry Fallwell Jr. , head of Liberty University and a staunch Trump supporter , recently suggested that Christians needed to stop electing β nice guys β in favor of β street fighters β like Trump . Facing what they see as an increasingly hostile cultural climate , many older white evangelical Christians view Trump as their last and only option .
But this sentiment makes many younger evangelical Christians profoundly uncomfortable and strikes them as practically unnecessary . Aryana Petrosky , an evangelical and recent graduate from a nondenominational Christian school in California , worries about Christians aligning themselves with those in power . She also challenges the notion that conservative Christians need politicians to defend their beliefs in the public square . β We shouldn β t be looking to political leaders to defend our faith , β she said . It β s a view that is entirely consistent with the way younger white evangelicals understand politics . A 2017 Voter Study Group survey found that while nearly three-quarters of older white evangelical Christians agree that β politics is ultimately a struggle between good and evil , β younger white evangelicals are far more evenly divided on this issue .
So what about 2020 ? Few young white evangelical Christians who I β ve spoken with express enthusiasm about the coming election . For most , Trump is not their preferred candidate , but an increasingly secular and liberal Democratic Party does not present an attractive alternative . Given evangelicals β strong pro-life commitment , the Democrats β vocal support for abortion access makes the possibility of defection even less likely .
At this stage , a couple of predictions are easy . White evangelical Christians will strongly back Trump β s reelection bid , following a decades-old pattern , while young adults will rally to the Democratic nominee , as they have done in every presidential election since 2004 . In a two-way contest , Trump is still likely to make off with the majority of young white evangelical votes . A tepid vote counts just as much as an enthusiastic one . Yet Trump is redefining the relationship young evangelical Christians have with the Republican Party . The long-term implications for our politics and evangelical Christianity could be profound .
Kate Stewart was raised in a very civically minded family and had been excited about the prospect of voting in the 2016 election long before her 18th birthday . But she became dismayed and disillusioned by her options . β Having to choose between these lesser of two evils was really disheartening , β she said . Looking ahead to 2020 , Stewart for the first time in her voting life has started to look at candidates outside the Republican Party . β I β m cautiously optimistic that the evangelical vote , or at least my evangelical vote , might find a home outside the party of Donald Trump . β | https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/could-trump-drive-young-white-evangelicals-away-from-the-gop/ | FiveThirtyEight | Could Trump Drive Young White Evangelicals Away From The GOP? | ea07c88e48334c30 | 1 | [
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gun_control_and_gun_rights | 2013-04-16 | Gun Control And Gun Rights | left | The bipartisan proposal is n't gaining steam in the House . Gun control bill in peril
The tough gun-control bill that President Barack Obama wants now has little , if any , chance of passing this Congress β it β s struggling in the Senate and facing outright rejection in the House .
Vice President Joe Biden worked the phones Monday to try to salvage a bipartisan bill in the Senate but has come up short . Personal appeals from parents of Newtown victims and former Rep. Gabby Giffords haven β t worked either .
And even if Senate negotiators get to 60 votes , the House is certain to rewrite the bill β or discard it altogether .
A defeat would mean that in just five months after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings , the best chance for new gun controls in 20 years is slipping away .
The National Rifle Association hasn β t budged , and it warned supporters of the compromise Senate bill β authored by Sens . Joe Manchin ( D-W. Va. ) and Pat Toomey ( R-Pa. ) β that the group would remember their vote when they are next up for reelection .
Speaker John Boehner β s House Republican Conference is turned off by back-room deals and many House Republicans come from the South and the Mountain West , where gun ownership is a way of life .
And moderate red state Democrats and reluctant conservatives couldn β t be persuaded to support even a bipartisan bill that falls far short of what gun control activists wanted .
It also , once again , displays the competing interests in the Capitol : A Senate attuned to national politics , and a House consumed with local , gerrymandered , constituencies .
And it shows the limits of Obama β s power β he campaigned in Connecticut , and Colorado to urge Congress to give the victims of Newtown a vote .
This bipartisan proposal , which expands background checks and closes the controversial β gun show β loophole , is gaining nearly no steam in the House , and in the Senate , it β s no better .
Senate Democratic leadership considered pushing back the vote to Thursday or later . Manchin and Toomey said Monday evening that they were short of the votes they needed .
β I β m cautiously optimistic , β Toomey said . β We β re not there at the moment , but we β re were working on it . β
Manchin said he is β talking to everybody β about supporting the bill .
He will also appear Tuesday with Giffords , who was seriously wounded in a January 2011 shooting , to press Congress to pass the bill . | http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/gun-control-bill-in-peril-90117.html?hp=t1_3 | Politico | Gun control bill in peril | 264fc48adc4284fe | 0 | [
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media_bias | 2017-10-22 | Media Bias, Steve Bannon | center | CLOSE Former White House aide Steve Bannon lashed out at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other GOP lawmakers Tuesday , saying they `` attacked '' President Trump every day . He spoke at an event for a challenger to GOP Senator Jeff Flake . ( Oct. 18 ) AP
WASHINGTON β Out of the White House , Steve Bannon has recaptured his news organization as a tool for his personal holy war against establishment lawmakers , including those in the president 's own party .
Following President Trump 's election , Breitbart News was trying to convince the congressional press galleries that it is an independent news organization and deserved credentials to cover Capitol Hill with the same level of access as other mainstream news outlets . But since Bannon left his job as chief strategist to Trump this summer and returned to Breitbart as its executive chairman , he appears to have closely tied the newsroom 's muscle to his personal political crusade .
Bannon and his allies have gone to war against the establishment wing of both parties and are getting behind a slate of anti-establishment , pro-Trump candidates across the country for the 2018 midterm elections . At the same time , Breitbart is offering glowing coverage to the group of challengers . A recent article written by Washington political editor Matthew Boyle called them β the League of Extraordinary Candidates . β
Michael Grimm , a former congressman who went to prison for tax evasion , came to Washington , D.C. , earlier this month seeking Bannon β s support in his run for his old congressional seat . Boyle sat in with Bannon and his allies for the meeting , according to Grimm aide Michael Caputo , who also attended .
The meeting took place in the Capitol Hill townhouse Bannon lives and works in . Previously it was listed as Breitbart β s D.C. office . Also present at many of Bannon β s meetings is Andrew Surabian , who works as a senior adviser to a pro-Trump advocacy group and also is a close ally of Bannon β s .
Caputo said Boyle was behaving in the meeting as a reporter who had been invited to observe rather than participate .
Boyle β didn β t ask questions , but as the meeting turned from β Who are you and should we support you ? β to β OK we β re going to support you . What are we gon na to do for you ? ' he got more involved in the discussions , β Caputo said . β It seemed to me like he gained interest and he said , β Look , this is something that fits into our editorial direction . How can we work together ? ' β
It is not uncommon for reporters to sit in on editorial board meetings with lawmakers or candidates . But they do not participate in any of the board β s decision-making β editorial boards operate as completely separate entities within a newspaper β the meetings are limited to employees of the news organization , and the news division 's coverage is unaffected by any editorial endorsement .
β While I don β t think the meeting was reported on by Breitbart ( at the time ) , it gave birth to further stories , β Caputo told βββ . He pointed to Grimm β s interview with Boyle on Breitbart β s radio show a few days after the initial huddle .
On Oct. 14 , Bannon appeared at the conservative Values Voter Summit , attacking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky. , and threatening to run candidates against any Republican lawmaker who didn β t denounce Sen. Bob Corker , R-Tenn. , for criticizing Trump . Breitbart livestreamed the proceedings , and Bannon met Boyle for an interview after his speech .
Breitbart has never denied that it is a conservative news outlet , and it 's been credited with fueling the movement that elected Trump . Bannon left Breitbart last summer to help run Trump 's campaign . He went with Trump to the White House and resigned from Breitbart but returned to the news organization after he was forced out of the White House .
But Bannon seems aware of the importance of publicly separating the media outlet and his own political strategy . At least , to some degree .
β I think just by the fact that Steve is careful not to use the word β endorsement β or β endorse , β I think there is a separation of church and state there , β Caputo said about Bannon β s relationship with Breitbart .
Bannon β told me that he was going to support me 100 % and that Breitbart was going to fully engage in our race , following it carefully , β said Danny Tarkanian , a Trump-aligned anti-establishment candidate running against GOP Sen. Dean Heller in Nevada , in an interview with βββ earlier this month . He said he met with Bannon and Surabian in early September .
Tarkanian clarified that Bannon never said Breitbart would support him , rather that they would be covering the Nevada election . But Tarkanian was hopeful that coverage would be positive : β I believe that they β ll like my positions more than Dean Heller β s . β
Kelli Ward , who is running against Republican Sen. Jeff Flake in Arizona , got Bannon β s support during a campaign rally Tuesday night when he spoke to conservative activists and called Ward the β whirlwind β headed toward the GOP elite .
Ward told βββ she β s met with Bannon many times and that his support and Breitbart β s positive coverage is β of course β helpful because Arizona is a conservative state .
Breitbart points to the website 's being the 50th most trafficked website according to Amazon Alexa 's statistics . There are only three other news websites before it .
Bannon slams establishment GOP senators , says conservative voters 'are coming for you '
Bannon endorses Ward , signaling Trump supporters have settled on a challenger to Flake
Steve Bannon 's Breitbart is going to war against GOP incumbents
Earlier this month , a person who works closely with Bannon told βββ that the outlet had every intention of getting involved in the 2018 races and digging up dirt on the establishment candidates regardless of party . But the person also said that while Breitbart has a point of view , the outlet would never publish anything that wasn β t accurate . The person spoke on condition of anonymity to be able to describe Breitbart β s aims .
Operating so closely to the political network raises questions about Breitbart 's editorial independence .
Following Trump β s election , Breitbart was trying to obtain congressional press credentials . The credentials give reporters the same level of access as congressional staff and allow them to participate in White House `` pools . '' The pool is a small group of reporters given access to events with the president and other administration officials when space is limited ; those `` pool '' reporters send dispatches to the rest of the press corps .
Breitbart β s quest to get access was eventually put on hold by the committee of correspondents that manage the congressional press galleries , and the temporary credentials Breitbart had used for several years were not renewed . The committee said it could not move forward because there were too many outstanding concerns about the organization β s independence . The outlet no longer has a pending application , according to Breitbart spokesman Alexandra Preate .
In its effort to get official recognition in the first half of the year , Breitbart began to reveal more about its operations , including publicly disclosing its top editors and attempting to procure more mainstream office space . In the spring , a Breitbart spokesman told βββ that the outlet was moving out of Bannon 's townhouse β known as the `` Breitbart Embassy '' β and seeking office space in downtown Washington .
Preate says that most reporters telecommute or work out of the locations they 're covering . `` The townhouse is Mr. Bannon β s residence and is not the official office of Breitbart , '' she told βββ .
Breitbart also has bureaus in California , Texas , London and Israel and has stationed reporters throughout the world . | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/22/steve-bannon-return-blurs-line-between-breitbart-news-and-his-political-operation/777841001/ | USA TODAY | Steve Bannon's return blurs the line between Breitbart News and his political operation | d1c4d3262d70f5e1 | 1 | [
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media_bias | 2024-06-11 | Media Bias, Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Hunter Biden Laptop, Liberal Media Bias, Biden Family, Biden Administration, Donald Trump, FBI, Propaganda, Polarization | right | Armstrong Williams: As Trump taps tariffs to fix economy, history is not on his side | https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/06/07/armstrong-williams-mainstream-media-gets-black-eye-over-hunter-bidens-laptop-staff-commentary/ | Armstrong Williams | Mainstream media gets black eye over Hunter Bidenβs laptop | e153e3b414da9d69 | 2 | [
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free_speech | 2023-07-05 | Free Speech, 1st Amendment, COVID-19 Misinformation, Censorship, Big Tech, Misinformation And Disinformation | center | When you use this site, we collect personal information via technologies like cookies to improve your site experience. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. You can manage your cookie settings at any time. This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. Aleks Phillips is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter based in London. His focus is on U.S. politics and the environment. He has covered climate change extensively, as well as healthcare and crime. Aleks joined Newsweek in 2023 from the Daily Express and previously worked for Chemist and Druggist and the Jewish Chronicle. He is a graduate of Cambridge University. Languages: English. You can get in touch with Aleks by emailing aleks.phillips@newsweek.com. Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. On Tuesday, a Trump-appointed judge in Louisiana prohibited a three-page list of federal agencies and U.S. President Joe Biden's administration from working with social media companies to limit or censor "protected free speech" on their platforms. In a case brought by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana in 2022 against Biden and other members of his administration, Judge Terry A. Doughty ruled that officials had overstepped their constitutional remit by asking the online firms to suppress coronavirus vaccine "disinformation." While Biden administration officials had sought for social-media companies to address posts that could have resulted in vaccine hesitancy or negatively impact on the holding of elections, Doughty wrote in a supplementary memorandum that the evidence submitted to the court "depicts an almost dystopian scenario." The ruling bars a number of federal agencies and officials from "urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech" on social media, either by meeting or communicating with company representatives or flagging specific posts. It also prohibits them from "threatening, pressuring, or coercing social-media companies in any manner" to suppress supposed disinformation protected as free speech. Agencies named in the ruling included the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials barred from discussing disinformation with social media firms include Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. However, the injunction specifically stipulates that government officials are still able to inform social media companies of criminal activity, threats to national security and election interference. As a preliminary injunction, it will stand until the court case is resolved or appealed to a higher court. The lawsuit sits at the heart of a legal tension in America over free speech: between wanting to protect the public from speech that could cause them harm or subvert democracy, and protecting individuals' First Amendment right to speak freelyβeven if what they are saying is not necessarily true. Espousing falsehoods is not entirely protected under the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1974 that while there was "no constitutional value" in false statements, in some cases punishing falsehoods could put at risk "speech that matters." The ruling means that sometimes false statements could be protected under the Constitution, if for instance, they are part of a wider debate about an issue of national importance. But others, such as defaming someone's character, might not. In his memorandum, Doughty recognized that the coronavirus pandemic was a period of time "perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainty." The Biden administration had sought to limit potential harms to the public of that doubt and uncertainty by asking social media companies to suppress claims that ran counter to prevailing scientific understanding. If people saw and believed allegations that the COVID-19 vaccine caused premature deaths, for example, they might be deterred from receiving it, it was claimed. While some deaths have occurred following vaccination in very few cases, after the vaccine rollout the number of hospitalizations due to the virus among unvaccinated individuals far outweighed those who had been vaccinated. However, some have argued that the scientific understanding of a previously unknown virus and a rapidly-developed vaccine was not concrete and evolved subject to new information, and so policy based on that understanding should be subject to public debate. In this case, what counts as true and what is disinformation may not be immediately clear. Doughty said the First Amendment sought to preserve an "uninhibited marketplace of ideas in which truth will ultimately prevail." However, social media companies are private entities and have long had their own moderation policies on what is allowed on their platformsβrules that are often stricter than what is allowed by the First Amendment. Given their rise in prevalence in the public discussion, greater attention is now being paid on their role in public discourse. Lawyers for the Biden administration argued that there was no clear causal link between officials addressing "the harms of disinformation" with social media companies and those companies acting to suppress what they see as disinformation. They noted that social media companies "have been taking action against what they have deemed to be misinformation for yearsβsince before this administration began." They cited other cases in which other courts had agreed with them. However, Doughty said that he had been presented with "substantial evidence" in support of claims of "a far-reaching and widespread censorship campaign," adding that during the pandemic the U.S. Government "seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian 'Ministry of Truth.'" The lawsuit was brought by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana in 2022, who argued in favor of one side of that legal tension: that free speech should be protected, even if it leads others to act in ways that may not be in the best interest of the nation or themselves. Eric Schmitt, a GOP senator, who was the Missouri attorney general when the lawsuit was filed, wrote on Twitter that the ruling was "a huge win for the First Amendment and a blow to censorship." Jeff Landry, Louisiana's attorney general, said in a statement that the injunction was "a big step in the continued fight to prohibit our government from unconstitutional censorship." He claimed: "The evidence in our case is shocking and offensive with senior federal officials deciding that they could dictate what Americans can and cannot say on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other platforms about COVID-19, elections, criticism of the government, and more." A White House official told The Associated Press that the Justice Department was reviewing the injunction and would "evaluate its options." They said the administration had "promoted responsible actions to protect public health, safety and security," and reiterated the view that social media platforms in the modern age have "a critical responsibility to take account of the effects their platforms are having on the American people." The Justice Department declined to comment further when contacted by Newsweek. Update 07/05/23, 9:24 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a response from the Justice Department. Aleks Phillips is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter based in London. His focus is on U.S. politics and the environment. He has covered climate change extensively, as well as healthcare and crime. Aleks joined Newsweek in 2023 from the Daily Express and previously worked for Chemist and Druggist and the Jewish Chronicle. He is a graduate of Cambridge University. Languages: English. You can get in touch with Aleks by emailing aleks.phillips@newsweek.com. Aleks Phillips is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter based in London. His focus is on U.S. politics and the environment. He has covered climate change extensively, as well as healthcare and crime. Aleks joined Newsweek in 2023 from the Daily Express and previously worked for Chemist and Druggist and the Jewish Chronicle. He is a graduate of Cambridge University. Languages: English. You can get in touch with Aleks by emailing aleks.phillips@newsweek.com. Aleks Phillips is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter based in London. His focus is on U.S. politics and the environment. ... Read more Newsletters in your inbox See all Company Editions: Contact Terms of Use Β© 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC | https://www.newsweek.com/missouri-v-biden-social-media-ban-explained-1810927 | Newsweek | Joe Biden's Social Media Ban Explained as Judge Restricts White House | f15e5cf128b777b3 | 1 | [
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foreign_policy | 2017-04-07 | Foreign Policy | right | WASHINGTON β President Trump ordered a cruise missile strike against a Syrian regime military airbase, in response to a chemical weapons attack carried out by the regime earlier this week.At 8:40 p.m. EDT, the U.S. launched 59 Tomahawk land attack missiles at the Shayrat Airfield located in the Homs Governorate in Western Syria, according to Pentagon officials. The strike lasted minutes.βThis was in response to the Syrian chemical weapons attack April 4th in Khan Sheikhounβ¦ That attack killed and injured hundreds of innocent Syrian people, including women and children,β said Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis.βThe strikes were intended to deter the regime from using chemical weapons again,β he said.The missiles were launched from U.S. destroyers USS Porter and Ross, which were in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea at the time, he said.The missiles hit aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage areas, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems and radars, he said.Davis said the U.S. military took care to avoid any human casualties. It notified Russia β and βmany countriesβ β of the planned strikes ahead of time. There were Russian troops at the airbase, although itβ is not clear if they were still there during the strikes.Davis said the U.S. struck an area where Russian and Syrian troops were not located.βIn this case in particular, every precaution was taken to execute these strikes with minimal risk to personnel at the airfield,β Davis said.The strike was aimed at deterring another chemical weapons attack by the regime.The airbase was the same one the regime used to carry out the chemical weapons attack, Davis said. The U.S. military said it tracked the two aircraft that the regime used to conduct the attacks.The airbase also housed one of Syriaβs main chemical weapons storage facility prior to 2013, he said.Trump had hinted on Wednesday during a Rose Garden briefing with the King of Jordan that he would take action against the regime.He said the attack had crossed βmany, many lines, beyond a red line β many, many lines.ββThat attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me. Big impact,β Trump had said. βThat was a horrible, horrible thing, and Iβve been watching it and seeing it, and it doesnβt get any worse than that.βTrump reportedly spoke with lawmakers before the strike.Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) called on the president to come to Congress to seek congressional authorization for military action in Syria.βWhile we all condemn the atrocities in Syria, the US was not attacked,β he said in a statement. βThe President needs congressional authorization for military action and I call on him to come to Congress for a proper debate on our role. Our prior interventions in this region have done nothing to make us safer and Syria will be no different.βSen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a βmonsterβ and a βpuppet of Russia and Iranβ but said he looked forward to the president βmaking the case to Congress and the American peopleβ in the days ahead.Meanwhile, Republican and Democratic defense hawks praised the airstrikes.βUnlike the previous administration, President Trump confronted a pivotal moment in Syria and took action,β said Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC).βI think it was an important step,β Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said on CNN. βThis was not some symbolic measure.ββI support the adminβs strike on the air base that launched the chemical attack. I hope this teaches Assad not to use chemical weapons again,β said Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL).In a statement, President Trump explained the urgency behind the strikes: | http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/04/06/trump-orders-strikes-syrian-regime-airbase-response-chemical-attack/ | Breitbart News | Trump Goes to War: Bombs Syria | df1eef8f26901ef9 | 2 | [
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education | 2018-08-27 | Education | left | News There's one government agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), that is essentially tasked with protecting the unsuspecting public from predatory actions on the part of financial companies. One department of the CFPB deals with student loans β and according to someone leaving that office, it's not in great shape. A student loan official quit his position, and he made sure to let the agency know why on his way out. The former student loan ombudsman, Seth Frotman, wrote that the CFPB under President Donald Trump "has turned its back on young people and their financial futures," according to a letter obtained by NPR. For the last three years, his major concern at the bureau was making sure that student didn't finish their education only to be left saddled with questionable, predatory loans. In his letter, which was addressed to CFPB head Mike Mulvaney, Frotman claimed that the bureau had "abandoned the very consumers it is tasked by Congress with protecting. Instead, you have used the Bureau to serve the wishes of the most powerful financial companies in America." During Mulvaney's confirmation process, senators raised questions over Mulvaney's previously expressed disdain for the CFPB, as Vox noted. Specifically, he called the bureau a "sick, sad joke." Mulvaney's leadership at CFPB had begun to fall under the scrutiny of consumer protection advocates by May of 2018, when NPR reported that the office watching out for predatory student loans had effectively been demoted to a department within another of the bureau's offices. And according to Frotman's letter, these fears were not overblown. "As the Bureau official charged by Congress with overseeing the student loan market, I have seen how the current actions being taken by Bureau leadership are hurting families," Frotman wrote, before detailing the "sweeping changes" that have occurred under Mulvaney's leadership. As Frotman wrote, these included "undercutting enforcement of the law," "undermining the Bureau's independence," and "shielding bad actors from scrutiny." Summing it up, Frotman listed the public's needs, which he evidently believed that Mulvaney's CFPB wasn't meeting: Going back specifically to student loans, Bloomberg reported in February of 2018 that the Department of Education was also seeking ways to protect student loan debt collectors rather than the students themselves. As NPR noted, this was already part of a pattern of the Trump administration siding with financial institutions over individual citizens. According to NPR, though, the U.S. has a combined $1.5 trillion in student loan debt β with an average of $34,000 in debt per borrower, as Business Insider reported. This debt then goes on to affect the borrowers in ways that the degree they earned can't always make up for β and now, students everywhere don't have the same level of protection from the government that they could count on in the past. Thanks to Seth Frotman, the public now knows just a little bit more about what it's missing out on. | https://www.bustle.com/p/a-student-loan-official-quit-his-position-in-the-trump-administration-for-a-troubling-reason-10248102 | Bustle | A Student Loan Official Quit His Position In The Trump Administration For A Troubling Reason | a50c4c9895748100 | 0 | [
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national_security | 2019-04-18 | White House, Mueller Report, National Security, Defense And Security | left | Forget collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice . The most concrete takeaway from the 448-page Mueller report is its damning portrait of the Trump White House as a place of chaos , intrigue and deception , where aides routinely disregard the wishes of a president with little regard for the traditional boundaries of his office .
It 's a theme familiar from more than two years of stunning headlines and tell-all books . But this time , the narrative is starker because it can β t be dismissed as β fake news , β the product of anonymous sources or literary license on the part of authors looking to sell books or land a television contract .
Instead , it was assembled from hundreds of hours of interviews conducted by seasoned investigators , backed up by the threat of perjury charges , with top White House officials and Cabinet members β almost all of whom are named .
You could say the Mueller report reads like β Fire and Fury β under oath . Like that best-selling account of Trump β s White House by the journalist Michael Wolff , Mueller β s report casts White House staffers as full-time minders of the president , who earn his ire during calls to their homes in off-hours , or who are urged by other staffers to mislead the press and public on behalf of the commander-in-chief .
β [ T ] here was no real up-and-down structure in the administration β merely a figure at the top and everyone else scrambling for his attention , β Wolff wrote , in words validated by the chaos captured in Mueller β s report . β It wasn β t task-based so much as response-oriented β whatever captured the boss β s attention focused everybody β s attention . β
βββ Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the # 1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from βββ . You can unsubscribe at any time . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply .
Trump trashed that tome on Twitter as β a Fake Book , written by a totally discredited author , β and has used similar language to attack other accounts of disorder in his administration .
But while Mueller β s report covers much narrower ground than accounts by Wolff , Bob Woodward and others , it also mirrors their basic portraits of his administration .
β It β s amazing how many people around the president chose not to do what the president asked them to do , β said Timothy Naftali , a historian and former head of the Nixon Presidential Library . β In a sense , there was some institutional memory of Watergate or maybe Iran-Contra in that people realized , β Oh right , maybe I should not do this . β β
Trump β s personal attorney , Rudy Giuliani , downplayed the idea that Trump β s White House is defined by conflict between an impulsive president and officials so worried about his extreme demands that , as Mueller documents , some created contemporaneous accounts of their experiences , either for the historical record , or to protect themselves , or both .
β Things like that happen in every large organization where you have bosses and underlings and there are disputes , β Giuliani told βββ on Thursday .
β When he wants to get something done , he does , β Giuliani added . β When he wants to get rid of Comey , he got rid of him . β
Trump may also encounter less resistance to his most aggressive ideas today than he did in the early months of his presidency . Over time , Trump has pushed out several officials like White House counsel Don McGahn , who defied the president β s efforts to fire Mueller , and now Trump is surrounded by family members , more pliant staffers , and just a sparser West Wing overall .
What still seems to be a constant at the White House is the fascinating gamesmanship among Trump 's aides , who , the report shows , sometimes passed his orders around in hot-potato fashion . It documents how Trump asked his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to ask then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions publicly call the Justice Department β s Russia probe β unfair β β and to have Sessions β limit the breadth of the special investigation to election interference . An unwilling Lewandowski asked White House staffer and Sessions β former chief of staff Rick Dearborn to deliver the message . Dearborn likewise never took action .
And it paints a picture of a president obsessed with media coverage , his own image , and the legitimacy of his presidency . Following the election , the White House β s former communications director Sean Spicer told investigators that Trump believed the Russia story was concocted to undermine β the legitimacy of his election , β according to the report .
Story after story like this permeates the latter half of the Mueller report , making for fascinating reading for Trump obsessives β especially since the White House denied so many news reports of these instances in real time .
Trump , for example , once asked McGahn to refute news reports in January 2018 that he had asked him to fire the special counsel in June 2017 β a move McGahn refused to do , instead offering to resign . At the time those accounts emerged , White House officials denied that story .
Similarly , White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Mueller β s team that she knew the explanation she gave to reporters for the president β s firing of Comey was false . At the time , she told the press Comey had to go because he had lost the confidence of the rank-and-file in the department . In fact , Trump sacked him over the Russia probe .
The report also gives Democrats more fodder to question the way Trump approaches the highest office in the land .
β President Trump has , from his very first weekend in office when he declared war on the free press in our country , worked to undermine the people β s faith in our institutions , β including the Justice Department , said Rep. Ted Deutch ( D-Fla. ) , a senior member of the Judiciary Committee . β By undermining those institutions , he β s diminishing the office of the president , β he added .
None of that has stopped the president and his team from declaring a major victory . Counselor to the president , Kellyanne Conway told reporters at the White House on Thursday that it was β really the best day since he got elected . β | https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/18/mueller-report-trump-administration-1282651 | Politico | Mueller paints damning portrait of dysfunctional Trump White House | 420403c5fbbbef88 | 0 | [
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politics | 2017-01-19 | Barack Obama, Politics | left | This is a rush transcript . Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : Today marks President Obama β s last full day in office . On Friday at noon , Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in Donald Trump as the country β s 45th president . On Wednesday , in his last press conference as president , Obama defended his decision to commute the sentence of Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning , and condemned the Israeli occupation . He also warned Trump that he will not stay silent if Obama sees what he called the nation β s core values at risk .
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA : But there β s a difference between that normal functioning of politics and certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake . I put in that category if I saw systematic discrimination being ratified in some fashion . I put in that category explicit or functional obstacles to people being able to vote , to exercise their franchise . I put in that category institutional efforts to silence dissent or the press . And for me , at least , I would put in that category efforts to round up kids who have grown up here and , for all practical purposes , are American kids , and send them someplace else , when they love this country . They are our kids β friends and their classmates and are now entering into community colleges or , in some cases , serving in our military . The notion that we would just arbitrarily , or because of politics , punish those kids , when they didn β t do anything wrong themselves , I think , would be something that would merit me speaking out . It doesn β t mean that I would get on the ballot anywhere .
AMY GOODMAN : We begin today β s show looking back at Obama β s legacy and what lies ahead with the new administration . We β re joined by two guests . Here in New York , Rashid Khalidi , the Edward Said professor of Arab studies at Columbia University , author of several books , his most recent , Brokers of Deceit : How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East . And at Princeton University , we β re joined by Eddie Glaude , chair of the Department of African American Studies . He β s author of a number of books , most recently , Democracy in Black : How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul , which is just out in paperback .
Professor Glaude , let β s begin with you . Your assessment of President Obama β s message in this last news conference , in the last 48 hours that he was president , holding it in the press pool roomβsomething that has been threatened , to say the least , in the last few days with the Trump administration saying they were thinking of moving the press somewhere nearby ?
EDDIE GLAUDE : Well , I think it was important for the president to kind of identify the threat that Donald Trump poses to the fourth estate . He did it in his own unique and , of course , centrist way , but the idea of calling attention to the fact that a free and independent press may very well be under siege as Donald Trump enters the White House , I think , is an importantβwas an importantβan important gesture . I wouldβyou know , I would want to caution , though , that the way in which the president made the point , he , of course , wasn β t attentive to the corporate dimensions of the press , that in some ways the so-called free press has been compromised by big money , by its own pursuit of profits . And so , it β s a critique that only goes so far .
And then I think to kind of point his attention or point our attention or direct our attention to the question of Israel and Palestine , the issues around the DREAMers , issues around race or continued inequality , the issues around LGBTQβright ? βcommunities , I think , was important as a way of , in some ways , framing his own presidency over and against what is to come . But I have this fear , though , Sister Amy , that he β s positioning himself as , in some ways , the voice of a kind of resistance post his presidency . And I worry about that because ofβbecause of his containing and limiting voice , you know , because President Obama , at the end of the day , is just simply a centrist liberal .
AMY GOODMAN : During his press conference , President Obama criticized the voting restrictions in place in the United States .
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA : We are the only country in the advanced world that makes it harder to vote rather than easier . And that dates back . There is aβthere is an ugly history to that , that we should not be shy about talking about .
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA : Yes , I β m talking about voting rights . The reason that we are the only country among advanced democracies that makes it harder to vote isβit traces directly back to Jim Crow and the legacy of slavery , and it became sort of acceptable to restrict the franchise .
AMY GOODMAN : President Obama dismissed the idea of voting fraud as fake news .
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA : This whole notion of electionβor , voting fraud , this is something that has constantly been disproved . Thisβthis is fake news , the notion that there are a whole bunch of people out there who are going out there and are not eligible to vote and want to vote . We have the opposite problem : We have a whole bunch of people who are eligible to vote who don β t vote .
EDDIE GLAUDE : [ inaudible ] But againβagain , I think his analysis is limited . I mean , to the extent to which the question of voter fraud or voter suppression , tracing its origins back to Jim Crow and slavery , giving itβgiving attention to its racial underpinnings is right . But there β s a reluctance , though , to speak to voter suppressionβright ? βthe ways in which voter ID laws are directly targeting black communities , what happened in North Carolina , what happened in Wisconsin , what happensβwhat tried to happenβwhat Texas tried to do , what Pennsylvania attempted to do . And to speak specifically to the ways in which race , and particularly the way black and brown communities are targeted today , there β s a reluctance . So , in other words , you get this kind of general claim about an assault on voting rights , that we β re making it more difficult for people to vote , tracing it specifically to Jim Crow and the institution of slavery , but a reluctance to name specifically the ways in which Republicans across the country have targeted black and brown voters in very distinct ways . I mean , the court was very clear in North Carolina , what North Carolina Republicans were doing . And instead , at this point , instead of making that moveβand again , I want to begin by saying he β s right to give the historical backdrop to the question of trying to limit voting in the United States , but instead of kind of pointing our attention to what specifically is happening around race , and particularly with regards to people of color , today , he wants to say that people have the right to vote , but they don β t vote . Right ? So it β s a kind of , again , on the one hand and then on the other , without him really going to the core of the problem .
AMY GOODMAN : President Obama also warned of the dangers of rising inequality .
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA : I worry about inequality , because I think that if we are not investing in making sure everybody plays a role in this economy , the economy will not grow as fast , and I think it will also lead to further and further separation between us as Americans , and not just along racial lines . I mean , there are a whole bunch of folks who voted for the president-elect because they feel forgotten and disenfranchised . They feel as if they β re being looked down on . They feel as if their kids aren β t going to have the same opportunities as they did .
AMY GOODMAN : Professor Eddie Glaude , if you could comment on what he β s saying and also where we have been and where we β re headed ?
EDDIE GLAUDE : Well , look , it β s one thing for President Obama to point to increasing inequality in the country , and it β s another thing for us to look at his policies . When we look at over the lastβwhen we kind of assess the last eight years , what we β ve seen is that you β ve had a series of policies that really have benefited Wall Street and left Main Street behind . We have a policy that is , in some ways , fitβit fits perfectly with the increasing financialization of our economy , that β s really tailored for the top 1 percent and top 0.01 percent . And there β s kind of modest gains for everyday , ordinary people working . Even if they tout job creation , we know , from one of my colleagues here at Princeton , that 95 percent of the jobs created over the last 15-plus years have been part-time and contractual work . So people are working harder and earning less . So , there β s one thing to point to inequality , but there β s another thing to kind of look to the policies that he has supported and pushed that β s produced inequality . That β s the first thing .
And the second thingβthe second move that we have to kind of be very , very careful about is the way in which he always engages in this equivalency . Right ? We have to pay attention to the fact that there are some white voters out there who voted for Donald Trump who are catching hell . Of course there are white voters out there who have lost ground , who have suffered in this economy . But at the same time , we have to be mindful that 53 percent of black wealth over the last eight years has just simply been wiped off the planet . It β s gone . And it has a lot to do with housing policy , has a lot to do with his failure over the last eight years to really address the racialized dimensions of the housing crisis . And so , I really want us to say that he β s right to point to inequality , but I β m not sure he β s the right messenger to point to inequality , if that makes sense .
Now , where do weβwhere are we now , and where are we going ? Well , we have deepening racial inequality . We have deepening economic inequality . We have a neo-fascist who is about to be inaugurated . We have the billionaires and millionaires who are about to take over government . What we are in , in some ways , is a conjunctural moment where crisis opens up space for us to put forward a more progressive vision of what this country could and ought to be . So we need to prepare ourselves for day one , as Donald Trump ascends , and attack the policies that , in some ways , Barack Obama β s administration , Clintonism broadly , has made possible . | https://www.democracynow.org/2017/1/19/on_final_day_of_obama_presidency | Democracy Now | On Final Day of Obama Presidency, a Look at His Mixed Legacy & the Rise of Neo-Fascism in Washington | e8d603361bd0f5cc | 0 | [
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federal_budget | 2013-09-25 | Federal Budget, Economy And Jobs | center | The Republican-controlled House has voted to keep the government running only if the Affordable Care Act is defunded , and the Democratic-controlled Senate is n't likely to go along with that plan . If the two sides ca n't resolve their differences by Oct. 1 , the U.S. government will shut down .
We asked you what you wanted to know about the potential government shutdown , and journalists from NPR 's Washington Desk tracked down the answers :
I 'd like to know the definition of `` shutdown , '' and the consequences of such . β Alex Larson
Unless Congress agrees on a continuing resolution to fund government programs by Sept. 30 , the federal government will no longer have the authority to spend money , leading to a partial shutdown of the government .
Now , `` partial '' is the key word here , because some programs and spending will continue β Social Security and Medicare , for instance . They fall under the rubric of mandatory spending , along with food stamps and unemployment insurance . Those are all programs that are more or less on autopilot and do not rely on annual appropriations bills to keep operating . So Grandma or Dad or older baby boomers do not have to worry ; those checks will keep on coming .
Other spending that 's exempt from a shutdown : active duty military , Border Patrol and air traffic controllers . According to a memo released by the White House Office of Management and Budget , funding will continue for those functions `` necessary to the discharge of the President 's constitutional duties and powers '' ( the military part ) or if the `` suspension of the function would imminently threaten the safety of human life or the protection of property '' ( air traffic controllers , Border Patrol ) .
However , civilian Pentagon employees and hundreds of thousands of other federal workers are not so lucky . According to a memo from the Pentagon , `` while military personnel would continue in a normal duty status , a large number of our civilian employees would be temporarily furloughed . '' So would employees in a range of agencies from the IRS to the National Park Service .
So that weekend trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park ? If the government shuts down , so will the parks .
Does the shutdown mean that Congress wo n't be paid ? β @ mocolvin
Members of Congress will get paid in the event of a shutdown . That is because they fall under the category of `` essential '' personnel . The last time the government faced a serious threat of shuttering , in 2011 , the Senate unanimously passed a bill that would prevent Congress and the president from receiving paychecks during a shutdown . The House never took up the measure . In January , at the beginning of the new legislative year , Sens . Barbara Boxer of California and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania , both Democrats , introduced their bill again . The full Senate has not taken up the measure .
Whether or not congressional staffers get checks during a shutdown is a little bit harder to discern . The general thinking is that most staffers are considered `` nonessential '' personnel and therefore wo n't be paid . Based on what took place during the 1995 and 1996 shutdowns , staffers β along with most other federal employees β got paid retroactively for days missed once the government reopened . It is not clear whether staffers would receive retroactive pay this time around . According to Barry Anderson , who was assistant director for budget at the Office of Management and Budget during the last shutdown , the number of people deemed essential or nonessential can be fluid . `` During a short shutdown , you may not need to do certain things . But the longer it goes , more people may be deemed 'essential ' over time . ''
If there 's a shutdown , what 's the effect on Obamacare rollout ? Do the [ people ] running the new exchanges get laid off ? β @ 21stProgressive
In general , the Affordable Care Act β whose health exchanges are set to launch Oct. 1 , which would be the first day of any government shutdown β would be largely unaffected . That 's because most of the law 's funding does not come from annual appropriations , which are what is at issue in the current budget standoff .
In the 17 states that are operating their own exchanges , a shutdown will have almost no visible impact . `` The D.C. exchange would not be affected at all by a government shutdown , '' said Richard Sorian , communications director for D.C. Health Link , the exchange for the District of Columbia . `` We already have our funding and we 're ready to open as scheduled on Oct . 1 . ''
The other 34 states have exchanges that are being run in whole or part by the federal government . In 2011 , the Department of Health and Human Services issued a document in anticipation of a possible shutdown that noted that employees building the health exchanges were not subject to furlough , because their funding came from money already provided under the Affordable Care Act . HHS officials have not yet said that those who will be operating the exchanges are also protected should the government shut down , although it is assumed that will continue to be the case . Congress has refused to provide any new funding for the law since it passed in 2010 .
Will I still be able to get a passport ? β @ quozimodo
UPDATE at 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 30 : Previously , this post said that passports and visas would not be issued in a shutdown . However , the State Department says that 's no longer the case .
`` Consular operations domestically and overseas will remain 100 % operational as long as there are sufficient fees to support operations , '' according to a memo posted on the State Department website . `` However , if a passport agency is located in a government building affected by a lapse in appropriations , the facility may become unsupported . ''
If you want more details about how things worked the last time the government shut down in the 1990s , check out Brian Naylor 's post : Not-So-Fond Memories From The Last Government Shutdowns . | http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/09/25/225453255/your-government-shutdown-questions-answered | NPR Online News | Your Government Shutdown Questions, Answered | 727d35165163760f | 1 | [
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media_bias | 2018-05-23 | Media Bias | left | Elon Musk , a frequent media darling , is going on the attack against the media .
Musk , the CEO of Tesla ( TSLA ) and SpaceX , accused the media of being dishonest and floated the possibility of building a service to rate the credibility of specific journalists and news outlets , in a series of tweets on Wednesday .
`` Going to create a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist , editor & publication , '' Musk tweeted .
He said the service could be called Pravda , which is Russian for `` truth '' and also happens to be the name of the newspaper central to the Soviet Union 's Communist Party .
A California business called Pravda Corp was incorporated late last year , with Jared Birchall listed in a filing as its president . Birchall 's name has also been listed in filings for other Musk projects , including The Boring Company .
In response to a tweet noting the Pravda Corp filing , Musk simply offered a hugging face emoji .
Representatives for Tesla and SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment .
Musk 's idea quickly raised concerns that the reputation of news organizations and reporters could be determined by what could be an easy to manipulate online popular vote .
`` Elon 's next company : Rate My Professor but for Journalists . What a great idea that wo n't be gamed immediately in extremely predictable ways , '' Rene DiResta , who researches computation propaganda and is a policy lead at Data For Democracy , wrote on Twitter .
Siva Vaidhyanathan , a media studies professor at the University of Virginia , told CNN such a service might might make sense if it employed a careful methodology and was overseen by an independent journalism foundation .
`` It 's not a crackpot idea , '' he said . `` The question is why should Elon Musk be the one running it and how trustworthy would it be if he ran it . ''
Musk 's media ruminations come after critical coverage of Tesla for missing Model 3 production goals , losing top executives and clashing with the government over an autopilot crash investigation .
Earlier this week , Musk pushed back against Reveal , a nonprofit news organization that published an investigative report raising concerns about safety conditions at Tesla factories .
Musk kicked off his tirade Wednesday in response to an analyst report noting that `` negative headlines '' about Tesla `` have increased substantially in the past month . ''
`` The holier-than-thou hypocrisy of big media companies who lay claim to the truth , but publish only enough to sugarcoat the lie , is why the public no longer respects them , '' Musk wrote .
After one Twitter user raised concerns about Musk fanning distrust of the media , the CEO replied : `` The media has earned this mistrust . ''
`` The last thing we need is another rich and powerful dude threatening to silence any journalist who does n't see things his way , '' Timothy Karr , senior director of strategy at advocacy group Free Press , told CNN . `` The implication in Musk 's actions are that all news media are untrustworthy . That 's a shameful message to be spreading . ''
It 's just the latest outburst from Musk . On a recent earnings call , he interrupted analysts who asked about capital expenditures and production of Tesla 's first mass market car , the Model 3 .
`` Boring , bonehead questions are not cool , '' Musk said to one . `` These questions are so dry . They 're killing me , '' he said to another . | http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/23/technology/elon-musk-media/index.html?sr=twCNN052418elon-musk-media0859AMStory&utm_term=image&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2018-05-24T13%3A57%3A12&utm_source=twCNN | CNN (Web News) | Elon Musk wants to rate journalists. He'd call his site 'Pravda' | 2586d5238c991995 | 0 | [
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elections | 2015-10-27 | Debates, Media Bias, Presidential Elections, Elections | left | CNBC 's Harwood , Quick , Quintanilla To Moderate GOP Debate . On October 21 , CNBC announced that daytime anchors Becky Quick and Carl Quintanilla would join Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood as moderators of the third Republican presidential primary debate on October 28 . The network said the two-part debate would focus on β job growth , taxes , technology , retirement and the health of our national economy β and feature a total of 14 Republican hopefuls :
The debate will be divided into two parts . The candidates with an average of three percent in this specified group of national polls will take the stage shortly after 8PM ET for a two-hour debate . The candidates who met the minimum threshold of one percent in any one of the specified group of national polls will take the stage at 6PM ET . [ CNBC , 10/21/15 ]
Harwood Criticized GOP 's β Populist Talk β On Tax Reform In NYT Article
Harwood Criticized GOP Candidates Who Have β Shied Away From Economic Populism. β In an October 14 article for The New York Times , CNBC 's Harwood wrote that although GOP candidates have offered β populist talk β on tax reform , their individual plans would disproportionately benefit wealthy Americans . Citing GOP criticism of former ( Republican-appointed ) Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke 's stated wish that β some Wall Street executives had gone to jail β after the 2008 financial crisis , Harwood explained that β Republican candidates have shied away from β that kind of β economic populism β in the 2016 campaign , despite their campaign trail rhetoric , and instead offered tax reform proposals that β deliver disproportionate gains to the most affluent β and β reflect [ ] a party still wedded to the theories of supply-side economics. β [ The New York Times , 10/14/15 ]
Media Have Fallen For Candidates ' Faux Populism In The Past
Outlets Praised Trump 's β Populist β Tax Plan That Cuts Taxes For The Wealthy . On September 28 , Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump offered a tax plan that promised to drastically cut the top marginal tax rate from 39.6 to 25 percent , cut corporate tax rates to 15 percent , and eliminate the estate tax . Numerous media outlets erroneously claimed that Trump 's plan was a β populist β proposal , despite all evidence to the contrary . Politico even ran a headline that said Trump planned to β hike taxes on the wealthy , β when in fact his plan promised to do the opposite . [ βββ , 9/28/15 ; 9/28/15 ]
Media Claimed Bush 's Traditional Republican Tax Proposal Was β Populist β And Anti-Wall Street . Republican candidate Jeb Bush outlined his tax and economic reform proposals in a September 8 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal , presenting them as policies that would invigorate President Obama 's β anemic economy. β Bush promised to cut the top marginal tax rate to 28 percent and reduce the corporate income rate to 20 percent , a plan modeled on reforms instituted during his tenure as governor of Florida . ( Bush previously promised that his plan would result in 4 percent economic growth , a figure economists consider fantastical . ) Several mainstream media outlets claimed that Bush 's proposal was a β populist β reform that β hits Wall Street , β despite widespread criticism that it amounted to a β budget-wrecking gift to the wealthy. β A September 14 article by Vox Executive Editor Matt Yglesias blasted media outlets for glossing over the glaring flaws in Bush 's tax reform proposals and economic promises , warning that they were repeating the same mistakes made during the 2000 campaign , when George W. Bush ran on a similar platform and received lax vetting . [ βββ , 6/17/15 ; 9/10/15 ; 9/14/15 ] | http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/10/27/lets-hope-cnbc-debate-moderators-hold-gop-candi/206453 | Media Matters | Let's Hope CNBC Debate Moderators Hold GOP Candidates Accountable For Their Fantasy Tax Plans | 474a1f84301ad0e8 | 0 | [
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elections | 2016-12-07 | Michigan, Recount, Presidential Elections, Elections | center | A federal judge has stopped the hand recount of nearly 5 million ballots in Michigan , a decision that seems to secure President-elect Donald Trump Donald John TrumpSessions says he still supports Trump despite ouster as AG House Republicans voice concerns about White House 's impeachment messaging Giuliani consulted with Manafort on Ukraine info : report MORE 's narrow victory in the traditionally blue state .
U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith , who effectively ordered the recount to begin Monday , sided with a state appeals court Wednesday in halting the effort , ABC News reported .
On Tuesday , a Michigan appeals court ruled 3-0 that Green Party candidate Jill Stein should not have been allowed to demand a recount because she is not an `` aggrieved candidate . '' Goldsmith , after hearing arguments from the state Republican Party and GOP attorney general , agreed .
`` Because there is no basis for this court to ignore the Michigan court 's ruling and make an independent judgment regarding what the Michigan Legislature intended by the term 'aggrieved , ' plaintiffs have not shown an entitlement to a recount , '' Goldsmith said .
The Stein campaign 's lead lawyers in Michigan said they were `` deeply disappointed '' with the ruling .
`` The history of this country is one where federal courts step in to protect the constitutional voting rights of all Americans , especially when they are under attack in the states , '' Hayley Horowitz and Jessica Clarke said in a statement .
They called the president-elect 's efforts to suppress the vote recount a `` stunning about-face , even by Trump 's own standards . ''
`` Recounts are not about politics or parties ; they are about our democracy , '' the statement said .
`` By stopping the recount in Michigan , Trump and Michigan Republicans are explicitly stripping the constitutional rights of Michigan voters straight from under them . Worse , they are continuing to undermine confidence in the American political system by denying voters a chance to be reassured that the election results were accurate . ''
The statement said the campaign will continue to fight to protect the voting rights of all Americans . In its next step , the campaign will `` seek immediate relief in Michigan 's Supreme Court to ensure the recount that is already underway in all Michigan counties continues . ''
`` We need this recount to ensure the fairness , accuracy and integrity of the vote . ''
Michigan 's attorney general , Bill Schuette , lauded the ruling late Wednesday in a statement on Facebook , calling it a `` huge victory for Michigan taxpayers and the rule of law . ''
Stein earned just 1 percent of the vote in Michigan , where Trump won narrowly over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonGiuliani consulted with Manafort on Ukraine info : report California political donor indicted for 2 overdose deaths at his home Sanders heart procedures shines spotlight on age of top Democrats MORE .
An attorney had urged the judge not to allow the $ 5 million cost of the recount to be left to the taxpayers , the Detroit Free Press reported .
Trump and his allies had filed a lawsuit to stop the recount in the state last week , along with legal efforts to block recounts in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin , where Stein is also questioning results .
A court order filed Saturday called the Pennsylvania statewide recount β closed β after the Green Party was not able to come up with a $ 1 million bond payment required prior to a scheduled hearing .
Stein is now trying to force a recount through a federal lawsuit . But she was dealt a blow on that front Wednesday when a judge denied a full forensic analysis of Philadelphia 's voting machines and their software , Reuters reported .
As of Wednesday evening , Stein β s website showed she had raised more than $ 7 million toward the recount effort .
Trump had previously called Stein 's push for a recount a β scam β and said she was raising money for her own campaign .
`` This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded , and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused , which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing , '' Trump said in a statement in November .
Stein said on Wednesday the country deserves to have confidence in its voting system without the recount process being so arduous . `` A recount where we have to raise 9 or 10 million dollars in order to have confidence in our votes is insane , '' she said in a Facebook Live , talking with a member of the Green Party of Michigan . `` A recount system where we have to jump through administrative hoops and go into court is absolutely crazy . ''
Stein also blasted the president-elect for his strong opposition to the recount efforts , citing Trump 's comments during his presidential campaign that the election was rigged .
`` Donald Trump and his cronies are doing everything possible to try to stop this exercise in our democracy , this effort to validate our vote , '' Stein said .
`` Such that it suggests that Donald Trump is very afraid that his vote is not valid , that he 's very afraid of this process of democracy . '' | http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/309358-federal-judge-kills-recount-effort-in-michigan | The Hill | Federal judge kills recount effort in Michigan | 66163d7e6a6716ea | 1 | [
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immigration | 2013-03-15 | Immigration | right | Donald Trump said the Republican party will lose elections if it reforms the nation β s entitlement programs and will hand Democrats 11 million votes if Congress grants citizenship to illegal immigrants , likening the reform efforts to a β suicide mission . β
Mr. Trump also said that the United States should β take β $ 1.5 trillion worth of oil from Iraq to pay for the cost of the war and give $ 1 million to each of the families that lost someone in the effort β sparking applause from the thousands gathered Friday for the American Conservative Union β s 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference ( CPAC ) .
β As Republicans , if you think you are going to change very substantially for the worse Medicare , Medicaid and Social Security in any substantial way , and at the same time you think you are going to win elections , it just really is not going to happen , β Mr. Trump said , adding that polls show that tea partyers are among those who don β t want their entitlements changed . β What we have to do and the way we solve our problems it to build a great economy . β
Mr. Trump has been a fierce critic of the Obama administration and established himself as a voice in Republican ranks when he badgered Mr. Obama to release his long-form birth certificate to prove that he was born in the United States . More recently , Mr. Trump has taken aim at the administration β s decision to halt White House tours because of the automatic budget cuts , known as sequesters , that kicked in earlier this month .
Without naming them , Mr. Trump criticized GOP consultant Karl Rove from not getting a better return on the hundreds of millions of dollars he invested in the 2012 campaign , and Louisiana Gov . Bobby Jindal for urging the GOP to β stop being the stupid party β after the election .
β The Donald β also weighed into the thorny issue of immigration .
β The fact is 11 million people will be voting Democratic . You can be out front . You can be the spearhead . You can do whatever you want to do , but everyone of those 11 million people will be voting Democratic , β he said . β It is just the way it works . β
β You have to be very , very careful , because you could say that to a certain extent the odds aren β t looking so great for Republicans , that you are on a suicide mission , β he said . β You are just not going to get those votes . β | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/15/cpac-2013-donald-trump-immigration-reform-suicide-/ | Washington Times | CPAC 2013: Donald Trump: Immigration reform is a ?suicide mission? for GOP | 97b00c35ebb67b45 | 2 | [
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business | 2020-08-04 | TikTok, Donald Trump, US Treasury, Microsoft, Business | left | Trump Administration Advertisement Supported by The presidentβs interventions in company dealings based on his own instincts are a departure from the armβs-length approach of predecessors of either party. By Ana Swanson and Michael D. Shear WASHINGTON β President Trump campaigned on a promise to run the economy like his business empire. And for almost four years, he has unabashedly wielded the power of the presidency to insert himself into corporate affairs, helping some companies and punishing others in line with his instincts and inclinations. The latest target of his attention is TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media app under scrutiny for potentially providing the Chinese government with access to American user data. After threatening on Friday to ban the app from the United States, Mr. Trump reversed course, saying he would allow TikTok to keep operating if it were sold to an American owner. At the White House on Monday, Mr. Trump said that TikTok would be shut down in the United States on Sept. 15 unless Microsoft or another βvery Americanβ company purchased it, and that he had told Microsoftβs chief executive in a call over the weekend to βgo aheadβ with the acquisition. He also argued that the United States should receive money in return for letting the deal happen, without explaining how that would work. βA very substantial portion of that price is going to have to come into the Treasury of the United States, because weβre making it possible for this deal to happen,β he said. Advertisement Given the national security concerns, Mr. Trump had the right to sign off on a plan to mitigate any risks TikTok posed. But the events followed a pattern that Mr. Trump set early on in his presidency, in which some of the worldβs most powerful companies have found themselves at his whims. Daniel Price, a former economics adviser to President George W. Bush, said Mr. Trumpβs reversal on TikTok was βjust another example of the presidentβs undisciplined and impulsive decision-making style, so bewildering to friend and foe alike.β βChina presents serious security and economic challenges,β Mr. Price said. βBut Trumpβs erratic oscillation from adoration to demonization has certainly harmed U.S. business interests, and actually diminished our ability to influence China or rally allies to assist in that effort.β Unlike his predecessors, Mr. Trump has frequently waded in to berate or praise executives and try to influence their operations. He attacked Carrier and General Motors over plant-closing decisions, badgered Boeing to lower prices and used Chinese companies as bargaining chips in negotiations with Beijing. While past Republican administrations disapproved of government intervention in the market, Mr. Trump has had no qualms about taking a heavier hand, favoring industrial policy and a more managed approach to trade. Advertisement And when a companyβs fate is at stake because of government actions β as when the Clinton administration filed an antitrust case against Microsoft, saying it threatened innovation in the nascent internet β presidents have usually kept their involvement at armβs length to avoid charges of political interference. Mr. Trump has not. He has particularly taken aim at multinational companies that he says have made fools of past American policymakers. He signaled his approach even as a candidate. When United Technologies decided to close its Carrier subsidiaryβs plant in Indianapolis in 2016 and move furnace production to Mexico, Mr. Trump seized on the incident, asserting that only he could get companies to stop moving jobs abroad. He threatened to hit Carrier furnaces from Mexico with 35 percent tariffs and promised to call the companyβs executives. In the end, he predicted, they would capitulate. As it turned out, saving jobs wasnβt as easy as he promised. In exchange for $7 million in tax breaks, Carrier kept the plant open and invested $16 million in new equipment. But barely half of the 1,350 blue-collar workers in Indianapolis kept their jobs. Other corporate leaders have felt the heat. Just weeks after his election, Mr. Trump strong-armed Boeing into lowering the price of a new Air Force One, declaring that the planeβs costs were βout of controlβ and signaling that he would upend yearslong negotiations. Advertisement βCancel order!β he tweeted. Since then, Mr. Trump has singled out several companies for confrontation, driven in some cases by personal pique. Our business coverage. Times journalists are not allowed to have any direct financial stake in companies they cover. He has repeatedly attacked what he calls the βAmazon Washington Postβ and Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder who also owns the newspaper. He has said his yearslong assault on the Postal Service is based on his belief that the government does not charge Amazon enough to ship its packages. Mr. Trumpβs antipathy toward many news organizations has led him to repeatedly threaten to interfere with media companiesβ operations. He twice urged regulators to examine taking away the βlicenseβ from NBC, though it was unclear what license he was referring to. He declared as a candidate that he would not approve AT&Tβs acquisition of Time Warner because the company owned CNN, a network he frequently accuses of treating him unfairly, and the Justice Department later sued unsuccessfully to block the deal. He has also lashed out at companies and their executives for perceived failures in responding to his desires. After Kenneth C. Frazier, the chief executive of Merck Pharmaceuticals, resigned from a presidential advisory council over Mr. Trumpβs handling of violent white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Va., the president took after him on Twitter for βRIPOFF DRUG PRICES.β Mr. Trump denounced General Motors for closing a car factory in Lordstown, Ohio, and three other plants in the United States, and attacked its chief executive, Mary T. Barra, by name. Later, with the onset of the coronavirus crisis, Mr. Trump criticized Ms. Barra for what he said was the companyβs failure to make good on a promise to help make ventilators. Advertisement βAlways a mess with Mary B,β he wrote on Twitter. βHeβs been doing this from the outset, using his power to try to influence corporate deals,β said Richard W. Painter, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School. βBeing president is not the art of the deal. Heβs not in a boardroom. Heβs in the White House.β But Mr. Trumpβs efforts to dictate corporate decisions have been inconsistent, making it harder for executives to anticipate White House demands or reactions. As he found himself on the defensive this spring in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Trump resisted calls to use the Defense Production Act to pressure industries to make more masks and medical supplies, saying that such a move would be akin to βnationalizing our businessβ and that the government βwas not a shipping clerk.β And even with China, which many in Washington have accused of gaming Americaβs free-market system by stealing intellectual property and cheating on trade rules, Mr. Trump has not always intervened to take a tougher line. Advertisement In 2018, he lifted tough sanctions against the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE, over the objections of Republican lawmakers and his own national security advisers, in an attempt to win Chinaβs help in negotiating with North Korea. He has alternated between condemning another Chinese technology giant, Huawei, as a grave security threat and holding off on acting against it in hopes of securing a trade deal. The presidentβs back-and-forth on TikTok offers a new illustration of how he has made national security decisions by impulse. A national security panel, called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, recommended to the president last week that TikTok sell its assets to an American company to curtail Chinaβs potential influence in the United States, and Microsoft had stepped forward as a potential buyer. But several China hawks in the Trump administration, including the White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, argued against the sale, seeing the moment as an opportunity to take more sweeping action against TikTok and other Chinese-run internet services. Mr. Trump took Mr. Navarroβs side on Friday, saying that he did not favor a sale of TikTok and that he planned to ban the app. But after a series of calls, including ones from Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Satya Nadella, the chief executive of Microsoft, Mr. Trump appeared to change his mind. Advertisement Several of Mr. Trumpβs aides had warned that a ban could prompt an intense legal battle, as well as hurt the presidentβs popularity with younger Americans. TikTok has said it is used by 100 million Americans. Mr. Trump appeared to object to TikTokβs sale in part because it would funnel money back to China. Speaking to reporters on Monday, the president argued that the United States should also receive money in return for permitting the deal to happen, because Microsoft would not have the right to make the acquisition βunless we give it to them.β Explaining his views to reporters, Mr. Trump drew a parallel to his days in real estate development. βItβs a little bit like the landlord-tenant,β the president said. βWithout a lease, the tenant has nothing. So they pay whatβs called key money.β βThe United States should be reimbursed, or should be paid a substantial amount of money,β Mr. Trump said, βbecause without the United States, they donβt have anything.β Neal E. Boudette contributed reporting from Ann Arbor, Mich., Mike Isaac from San Francisco and Nelson D. Schwartz from New York. Ana Swanson is based in the Washington bureau and covers trade and international economics for The New York Times. She previously worked at The Washington Post, where she wrote about trade, the Federal Reserve and the economy. More about Ana Swanson Michael D. Shear is a White House correspondent. He previously worked at The Washington Post and was a member of their Pulitzer Prize-winning team that covered the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007. More about Michael D. Shear Advertisement | https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/03/business/economy/trump-tiktok-china-business.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage | New York Times (News) | TikTok, Trump and an Impulse to Act as C.E.O. to Corporate America | 692e6367aad0ee38 | 0 | [
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nsa | 2013-06-13 | NSA, Defense And Security | right | There 's little wonder why George Orwell 's novel `` 1984 '' is seeing a resurgence in sales .
More than half of Americans polled in a survey released Thursday said they agreed with the statement `` We are really in the era of Big Brother . ''
The survey from the University of Southern California was conducted last year , before recent revelations of large-scale , secret government surveillance programs . Yet it still found that some 35 percent of respondents agreed that `` There is no privacy , get over it . ''
A growing number of Internet users said they are concerned about the government checking on their online activities , according to the survey . But even more people were worried about businesses doing the same .
The USC Annenberg School 's Center for the Digital Future has polled more than 2,000 U.S. households about their Internet and technology use each year , with the exception of 2011 , since 1999 .
Forty-three percent of Internet users said they are concerned about the government checking what they do online , up from 38 percent in 2010 . But 57 percent said they were worried about private companies doing the same thing -- up from 48 percent in the earlier study .
A 2012 survey by the Pew Research Center found that almost three-quarters of Americans are concerned that businesses are collecting too much information about people like them , while 64 percent had the same worry about the government .
In addition to their views on privacy , the most recent report also found that 86 percent of Americans are online , up from 82 percent in 2010 . That 's the highest level in the study 's history and further evidence of how central the Internet has become in American 's lives , especially in the age of mobile devices .
`` We find that people almost never lose their mobile phone , '' said Jeff Cole , author of the study and director of the center . `` They can drop it in the gutter , have it stolen but leave it on the table at a restaurant -- most of us do n't even get through the front door before noticing it . ''
More than half of the Internet users surveyed said they go online using a mobile device , up from a third who said the same thing in 2010 . As expected , texting is becoming increasingly important for people of all ages -- 82 percent of mobile phone users text , up from 62 percent in 2010 and 31 percent in 2007 .
-- Thirty percent of parents said they do n't monitor what their children do on social networking sites such as Facebook , while 70 percent said that they do .
-- Nearly half of parents , 46 percent , said that they have their kids ' passwords so they can access their account .
-- People spent more time online than in any previous year of the study . On average , they were online 20.4 hours per week , up from 18.3 hours in 2010 and about nine hours in 2000 .
-- One percent of respondents said they visit websites with sexual content `` several times a day , '' while 69 percent said they never do .
-- Dial-up is going the way of the dodo : 83 percent said they access the Internet using a broadband connection , up from 10 percent in 2000 .
-- The line between work and home life is blurring . Nearly a quarter of Internet users said they `` often '' use the Internet at home for work-related purposes . Conversely , 18 percent said they `` often '' go online at work for non-work related activities . The study did not say whether these were the same people .
The 2012 poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points . | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/13/many-americans-say-era-big-brother-is-here-survey-says/ | Fox Online News | Many Americans say era of 'Big Brother' is here, survey says | ee3045528173d065 | 2 | [
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elections | 2020-02-12 | Presidential Elections, Donald Trump, Elections | right | The most significant aspect of President Trump 's win in New Hampshire β s Republican primary is voter enthusiasmβa good sign for his chances of winning re-election , his campaign manager Brad Parscale said .
`` In NH primary tonight , @ realDonaldTrump is very likely to beat the vote percentages of the last 3 incumbent presidents who WON re-election , '' Parscale tweeted . `` 1996 Bill Clinton 84 % 2004 George W. Bush 80 % 2012 Barack Obama 82 % Trump right now is pushing 86 % . This is historic strength ! ''
In NH primary tonight , @ realDonaldTrump is very likely to beat the vote percentages of the last 3 incumbent presidents who WON re-election .
This is historic strength ! ? ? β Brad Parscale - Text TRUMP to 88022 ( @ parscale ) February 12 , 2020
After seeing the numbers , Trump seemed confident he would win Iowa and New Hampshire come November .
`` Fake News @ CNN and MSDNC have not surprisingly refused to talk about my record setting number of voters in New Hampshire ( and in Iowa ) . That β s why they are poorly rated Fake News ! I will win both states in November , '' he said
Fake News @ CNN and MSDNC have not surprisingly refused to talk about my record setting number of voters in New Hampshire ( and in Iowa ) . That β s why they are poorly rated Fake News ! I will win both states in November . β Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) February 12 , 2020
With 87.21 percent of precincts reporting , Trump won the Republican primary with 86.17 percent , while the Democratic primary was called for Sen. Bernie Sanders .
β The Democrat story in New Hampshire is the continued dominance of big government socialist policies and the success of their standard bearer , Bernie Sanders , β Parscale said in a statement . β No matter which Democrat eventually emerges from their months-long dumpster fire of a primary process , we know the contrast will be President Trump β s record of accomplishment and optimistic view of the future versus Democrats and their socialist , job-killing agenda . β | https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2020/02/12/the-big-story-out-of-trumps-nh-win-n2561194 | Townhall | The Big Story Out of Trump's New Hampshire Win | f27d12832f10ad38 | 2 | [
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healthcare | 2018-03-15 | Obamacare, US Senate, Healthcare | right | The congressional leadership of the GOP seems determined to hand their congressional majorities back to the Democrats . Otherwise , why would they even consider including two Obamacare bailouts β the cost-sharing reduction ( CSR ) and risk mitigation programs β in the upcoming omnibus budget bill ? These bailouts would allegedly reduce future increases in health insurance premiums and incentivize insurers to remain in the Obamacare exchanges . They will accomplish neither , but they will send a clear signal to the voters that the GOP was never serious about getting rid of Obamacare . The taxpayer-funded bailouts would be , in other words , bad policy and worse politics .
Beginning with the politics of these bailouts , it should be blindingly obvious to the Republicans that they have a serious enthusiasm gap to close , and that chasm is largely the result of their failure to honor the pledge to repeal Obamacare . That promise fueled Republican gains in the 2010 and 2014 midterms , and it would be an egregious understatement to say that the voters who believed it are extremely unhappy to find themselves still laboring under the yoke of the β Affordable Care Act. β If the Republicans actually prop it up with these bailouts , many of their constituents will stay home on November 6 . In fact , Tuesday β s special election in Pennsylvania provided an ominous portent :
Pennsylvania 18 was yet another example of a Democratic turnout advantage β the telltale sign of an enthusiasm gap β helping the party do better than expected in special elections . The number of votes Lamb received was 80 percent of the number of votes Clinton received in this district in 2016 β but Saccone got just 53 percent of the number of votes Trump got . Anecdotally , turnout was also much higher in Democratic precincts than it was in Republican precincts .
The loss of a special election in a state like Pennsylvania doesn β t necessarily spell doom for the Republicans , of course . But , considering that Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by 20 points in the same congressional district , Tuesday β s turnout numbers should be considered a shot across the GOP bow . It β s possible that the effective elimination of the individual mandate , and the repeal of IPAB , combined with benefits associated with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act , may have mollified conservative voters enough to get them to the polls in November . But that will certainly not happen if the GOP colludes with the Democrats to bail out the β reform β law . A recent Heritage poll found the following :
With health insurance premiums rising annually as a result of Obamacare taxes and regulations , Congress is considering paying health insurance companies taxpayer money to temporarily lower costs . A majority of Americans ( 61 % ) oppose these payments , even to provide temporary premium relief . Just 39 % support such a measure , and only 8 % strongly support it . Furthermore , two-thirds agree that subsidies like these β are not only a bailout for the companies , but also hide the fact that Obamacare is failing . β
Even if the voters were in favor of the bailouts , conservative policy experts are vehemently against them . The Hill reports , β A coalition of 15 conservative groups wrote to Congress on Monday to urge against including a β bailout β of Obamacare in the coming government funding bill. β The coalition , which includes American Commitment , Americans for Prosperity , Campaign for Liberty , Club for Growth , Competitive Enterprise Institute , Concerned Veterans for America , Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce , FreedomWorks , Heritage Action for America , Independent Women β s Voice , and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance , did not mince words in their letter :
Lawmakers should not be fooled by ludicrous claims that spending new federal money on Obamacare bailouts will save the federal government money . Creating a new Obamacare corporate welfare program will increase government spending . Nor should lawmakers fall for the argument that bailouts are only temporary . The same insurers who are lobbying for bailout money this year will be back again when funding expires , threatening to withdraw from the exchanges or raise premiums if bailouts aren β t extended .
Yesterday afternoon , in an opinion column for Fox News , Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee , along with Representatives Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan , point out that , despite the GOP β s failure to repeal Obamacare in one fell swoop , they have successfully eliminated a number of its worst provisions and made changes to the law that make it easier for enrollees to access market-based alternatives to former President Obama β s β signature domestic achievement. β Observing that they are β closer than ever to sending Obamacare to the ash heap of history , β they suggest that helping the Democrats pass bailouts would amount to β snatching defeat from the jaws of victory β :
This Frankenstein combination of a new Republican-created insurance bailout plus funding Obamacare β s existing pro-abortion CSR bailout is exactly what we counseled against in March last year . If we ignore the years of promises we made to the people on ObamaCare , the voters would , quite rightly , distrust Republicans for years to come .
That pretty much sums it up , while providing hope that some Republicans are smart enough to avoid the blunder that quislings like Tennessee β s Lamar Alexander would have them commit . And there is other good news . AP reports , β Congress β effort to stabilize the nation β s insurance markets is faltering amid escalating demands by each party.β¦ The bickering could collapse the whole effort , with each side blaming the other. β The Democrats claim the GOP will β own β Obamacare if the bailouts don β t pass . But the voters aren β t that stupid . They know who created the monster , and the Dems have permanent title to the beast unless the Republicans are dumb enough to go along with the bailouts . | https://spectator.org/obamacare-bailout-dumb-policy-dumber-politics/ | American Spectator | Obamacare Bailout: Dumb Policy, Dumber Politics | f93c3a9bd2b62709 | 2 | [
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general_news | 2019-01-10 | Disaster, General News | right | California governor, Republican president square off on wall, forest management California Gov. Gavin Newsom kicked off his first two days in office by calling the White House incompetent, decrying the proposed border wall with Mexico, vowing βsanctuary to all who seek it,β and then asking President Trump to double spending on wildfire prevention. That series of events may or may not have spurred Mr. Trumpβs threat Wednesday to cut off FEMA funding for California wildfire relief, but it did set the tone for what could be a rocky relationship. βI think at this point most Americans understand how the president operates, and itβs entirely conceivable heβs having a knee-jerk reaction to what our new governor said,β said longtime California Democratic strategist Darry Sragow. βHe has a habit of sticking his finger in the eye of Californians, and he just did it again,β said Mr. Sragow, who runs the California Target Book. Mr. Trump sparked alarm among Californians by tweeting that he had ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to withhold emergency-relief funding presumably related to the stateβs disastrous November wildfires, led by the Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise. βBillions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen. Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!β he tweeted. California House Republicans responded by agreeing that forest management was a problem in the regulatory-heavy Golden State but also promised to deliver on disaster relief for wildfire-ravaged communities. βAlthough I share the presidentβs great frustration with Californiaβs choking regulations from the stranglehold environmental groups have on the state, as well as the inaction on federal lands up until this administration, the immediate problem for fire victims is the first need,β said Rep. Doug LaMalfa, the California Republican who represents Paradise. β[T]hreats to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funding are not helpful and will not solve the longer-term forest management regulatory problems,β he said. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he would offer an amendment to this weekβs Democratic spending bills βto increase money for forest management that will help prevent and reduce the devastation from wildfires that we saw a couple of months ago.β βThe presidentβs message shows clear frustration about an important issue that has not been resolved β how we deal with addressing wildfires in California going forward so that more lives arenβt at risk,β said Mr. McCarthy, who represents a Central Valley district. CAL FIRE Local 2881 president-elect Tim Edwards said, βNow is the time for us to work collaboratively for solutions, not make unfair, dangerous assessments.β Whether Mr. Trump can legally withdraw FEMA funding was unclear. He has already declared a national emergency over the Camp Fire, which triggered a federal relief response, although he could refuse future requests by the governor for disaster declarations. FEMA responded to requests for clarification with the statement, βDue to the federal funding hiatus, we are not able to respond to general press queries,β adding that its service to protect human life and property were not affected by the shutdown. Democrats blasted the presidentβs tweet. βDisasters and recovery are no time for politics,β Mr. Newsom told the president. βIβm already taking action to modernize and manage our forests and emergency responses,β Mr. Newsom tweeted. βThe people of CA β folks in Paradise β should not be victims to partisan bickering.β He pointed out that he and the Democratic governors of Oregon and Washington sent a letter Tuesday asking Mr. Trump to increase twofold spending on forest management and wildfire prevention in their statesβ federal forests, saying those budgets have recently remained flat. About one-third of California is forested, and about 60 percent of those woodlands fall under federal jurisdiction, prompting debates over whether federal or state management policies β or both β are to blame for the disastrous wildfires. At a press conference in Placer County, Mr. Newsom described the letter as a request that the president work with the governors. βRather than talking past each other, talking down to each other, maybe we can start partnering and doing the work that needs to be done to address our forest health and management.β Mr. Newsomβs tone was considerably less genial during his inaugural address Monday, when he positioned California as a foil for the Trump administration, blasting its βcorruption and incompetenceβ and bemoaning βa wall that should never be built.β He also drew headlines for proposing to increase health-care coverage for illegal immigrants by increasing the cut-off age from 19 to 26. Mr. Newsomβs predecessor was no Trump fan, but former Gov. Jerry Brown praised the president for his disaster response, saying βheβs got our back,β even though the two disagreed on whether overgrown, ill-managed forests or climate change are more to blame for driving the blazes. Mr. Sragow chalked up the contrast to the different personalities and management styles of the two Democratic governors, saying Mr. Newsom βhas been willing to be more visible and more outspoken.β βI think theyβre different people. In general, Jerry Brown has been more likely to hold his fire, and I think thatβs a function of his personality and experience in office,β Mr. Sragow said. βAnd Gov. Newsom may feel emboldened because of the November election.β California Republicans were hit hard in November, losing seven of their 14 House seats, and Mr. Trumpβs threat could make their political prospects even worse. Of course, the reverse also applies. Mr. Trump may feel like he has little to lose in taking on Mr. Newsom, given the GOPβs bleak prospects in California. βIt would be perfectly reasonable for our new governor to feel heβs on very solid ground with his voters in being more open in opposing the president,β Mr. Sragow said. β’ Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com. Copyright Β© 2025 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. SEE MORE VIDEOS Stopping the illegal alien invasion βXβ marks the danger spot in the battle against hostile cyberthreats Carville says Trump playing 4D chess while Democrats still looking for board | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jan/9/gavin-newsom-donald-trump-feud-threatens-fema-cali/ | Washington Times | Double or nothing: Instant Newsom-Trump feud ensnares California emergency funds | 794736fac1e76ed8 | 2 | [
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elections | 2019-02-11 | Election 2020, Amy Klobuchar, Presidential Elections, Elections | left | Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar confers with Committee Chair Lindsey Graham ( R-S.C. ) during a Senate Judiciary hearing on Jan. 15 , 2019 . | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo 2020 ELections Republicans gush over Klobuchar GOP senators praised the Minnesota Democrat for her deal-cutting ways β even as they worried it could doom her presidential bid .
Amy Klobuchar has an unusual constituency behind her as she launches her run for president : Senate Republicans .
In a Democratic Caucus filled with presidential hopefuls taking a hard line against Donald Trump β s presidency , the Minnesota senator β s brand of pragmatic politics stands out . And numerous Republicans are raving about Klobuchar β her personality , her respect for the other party , even her competitiveness in a general election .
In fact , a dozen GOP senators were so effusive in interviews this month that some worried they might damage her candidacy in a Democratic nomination fight that has many candidates embracing the party β s left flank .
β I hope I β m not condemning her nascent run for the presidency , β Sen. John Cornyn ( R-Texas ) said , praising Klobuchar . β She β s too reasonable , too likable , too nice . β
β She wants to achieve a solution and I would hope that β s not a disqualifying thing for someone who would like to be president , β said Sen. Roy Blunt ( R-Mo . ) , who runs the Senate Rules Committee , on which Klobuchar serves as ranking member . β I like her a lot and hope that β s not harmful to her . β
The three-term senator is no Joe Manchin . Klobuchar votes with her party when it comes to big issues like abortion and immigration . She β s embraced progressives β ambitious β Green New Deal β and is rarely a headache for Democratic leadership . But she β s also established herself as someone who can cut deals with Republicans and occasionally tacks to the center . It β s a combination that that could give her a boost among primary voters seeking a candidate with bipartisan bona fides if it doesn β t doom her with a party running to the left .
In a brief interview , Klobuchar made clear she doesn β t compromise just for compromise β s sake but acknowledged it β s something she seeks as a senator .
β Oftentimes I β ll stand my ground , β she said . β But if I can find common ground to get something done , I do . β
Last year , she reached an agreement with Blunt to combat sexual harassment on Capitol Hill that drew ire from liberals . And she β s never bought into purity contests , finding herself at odds with other presidential candidates on surveillance issues , a budget deal and some Trump nominees , like Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross .
Klobuchar also was the Democratic presidential aspirant most involved with a centrist Senate effort last year to address the plight of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who had been brought to the country illegally as children . She was in a series of meetings intended to forge a bipartisan immigration deal that came up short . Sen. Thom Tillis ( R-N.C. ) . said Klobuchar was one of the β more reasonable voices β in the room .
β She β s a person of character and great ability , β Sen. Johnny Isakson ( R-Ga. ) , a fellow negotiator , said . β She β s the whole package . That β s probably too nice . β
It β s not just on major legislation that Klobuchar collaborates with the GOP . She runs the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute with Blunt and has teamed with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito ( R-W.Va. ) on combating eating disorders and expanding rural broadband . She β s worked with conservative Sen. Ron Johnson ( R-Wis. ) on improving a bridge between their states and pushed through legislation with Tillis to treat veterans exposed to toxic burn pits in combat zones .
Beyond her ideology and legislative acumen , Klobuchar offers a stylistic contrast from the sharp-edged politics of Sens . Bernie Sanders ( I-Vt. ) , Kirsten Gillibrand ( D-N.Y. ) and Elizabeth Warren ( D-Mass . ) and the attention-grabbing inquisitions of Sens . Kamala Harris ( D-Calif. ) and Cory Booker ( D-N.J. ) .
Republicans have said Klobuchar was one of the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee who was most respectful when questioning then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh last year about sexual assault allegations , even as Klobuchar found herself being asked by the nominee whether she had a drinking problem . But befitting her β Minnesota nice β style , Klobuchar moved on and didn β t linger on the confrontation .
β Her questioning [ on ] the Judiciary Committee is excellent , β Sen. Susan Collins ( R-Maine ) said . β Her questions can be thoughtful and respectful . Still probing , they β re not easy , but it β s a good model . β
β Of the folks that are running , she β s probably more responsible , β Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts ( R-Kan. ) said .
Klobuchar β s Republican pals say that her political abilities would be imposing in a general election against Trump , noting her strong appeal in the Midwest β the region that tipped the presidency to Trump in 2016 .
Some Democrats are β going to be looking for somebody that is actually going to be electable in a general election . And I think it β s a spot she could fill , β said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota , the GOP whip .
β I don β t like to give Democrats advice but they β ve got to be able to carry the Midwest , β Collins said .
It β s not just Republican senators who are fans . George Will , a conservative columnist for The Washington Post , penned an op-ed recently that described Klobuchar as β the person perhaps best equipped to send the current president packing , β pointing to her Midwest roots as an asset for Democrats and praising her even-keeled temperament .
However , Klobuchar β s β Minnesota nice β reputation has taken a hit in recent days amid multiple reports she has mistreated staff .
Regardless , the very qualities that have earned Klobuchar so much love on the right could be liabilities in a Democratic primary .
Cornyn said Klobuchar β doesn β t strike me as ideological enough to be competitive. β Tillis said she has a β legitimately centrist argument to make , but she β s going to find herself in a field that β s going to out-liberal themselves . β
β She β ll probably have a pretty hard time in the nominating process , β Thune said .
Yet Democrats aren β t so sure . For one , many Democrats believe Klobuchar , former Vice President Joe Biden or Montana Gov . Steve Bullock could offer a compelling contrast to the more liberal candidates in the field .
Members of her caucus have said Klobuchar is results-driven , which inevitably means embracing bipartisanship .
β She β s someone that β s more oriented toward getting some things done . And in order to do that you β ve got to work with both sides . That β s the arithmetic around here , β Sen. Angus King ( I-Maine ) , who caucuses with the Democrats , said .
And in early states , bipartisanship might not be a dirty word . Even as New Hampshire keeps electing Democrats to Congress , the Granite State also has a popular GOP governor β and allows undeclared voters to participate in either party β s primary .
β We like our leaders to work together , β Sen. Jeanne Shaheen ( D-N.H. ) said . β That β s probably the No . 1 concern I hear when I go around the state . β¦ β Why can β t you all work together to address the challenges facing this country ? β β | https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/11/klobuchar-president-republicans-1159345 | Politico | Republicans gush over Klobuchar | 43b7629775ff6574 | 0 | [
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culture | 2020-07-08 | Culture, Cancel Culture, Polarization, Free Speech | center | Democrats are taking aggressive steps to highlight President Trump Donald John TrumpDavis : Supreme Court decision is bad news for Trump , good news for Vance Meadows trying to root out suspected White House leakers by feeding them info : Axios Pressley hits DeVos over reopening schools : ' I would n't trust you to care for a house plant let alone my child ' MORE β s focus on the hot-button cultural topics of race and heritage , betting it will play to their party β s advantage in November .
Democrats have embraced the Black Lives Matter campaign , and are now moving swiftly to carve out a clear distinction between the parties when it comes to issues of racial injustice .
The movement has spiked in popularity since the brutal death of George Floyd in police custody in May , and Democrats are hoping to tap that momentum not only to move long-sought legislative reforms β which have little chance of being signed by Trump β but also to attract voters to the party in November .
β In this historic moment , it is critical that we listen to and trust the leadership of Black activists around the country , β Rep. Rashida Tlaib Rashida Harbi TlaibDemocrats see victory in Trump culture war βββ 's Campaign Report : Colorado , Utah primary results bring upsets , intrigue Progressive lawmakers call for conditions on Israel aid MORE ( D-Mich. ) said Tuesday , promoting legislation to shift police funding to other community services .
β They have been on the front lines in defense of Black lives for decades , and it is our responsibility as legislators to hear them , respect them and follow their example , β she said .
Last month , House Democrats passed broad-based criminal justice reforms designed to eradicate racial profiling and police brutality . Days before that , Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiBattle over reopening schools heats up Pelosi : Trump wearing a mask is 'an admission ' that it can stop spread of coronavirus Sunday shows - Spotlight shifts to reopening schools MORE ( D-Calif. ) ordered the removal of four portraits of Confederate figures displayed outside the House chamber .
And on Monday , Pelosi and members of her leadership team announced that the House Democratic Caucus β with its most diverse membership on record β had adopted a new internal rule encouraging lawmaker offices to prioritize diversity in their hiring practices .
Democratic appropriators are further charging ahead this week with government funding bills that seek to remove Confederate symbols from the Capitol and national parks β setting up a collision course with Trump , who has vowed to veto any effort that he views as a dismantling of history .
Trump in recent weeks has doubled down on the β America First β message he rode to a stunning victory in 2016 . The message attracted the support of white , working-class voters who helped the president win crucial Midwestern states that were traditionally Democratic strongholds .
Yet the country β s political environment is far different in 2020 than it was during Trump β s inaugural victory . And Floyd β s death has prompted a national reckoning on systemic racism , providing a very different context than four years ago .
Trump in recent days has bashed NASCAR for banning the Confederate flag , attacked sports teams that are considering changing their names deemed offensive to Native Americans , referred to the coronavirus as the β Kung flu β or the β China virus , β called New York City β s decision to paint β Black Lives Matter β on Fifth Avenue a β symbol of hate β and vowed to veto a defense spending bill if it orders erasing the names of Confederate generals from U.S. military bases .
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway Kellyanne Elizabeth ConwaySources say DeSantis undercutting fundraising for Republican National Convention because of personal dispute : report Democrats see victory in Trump culture war Kellyanne Conway on Trump niece 's book : ' I believe family matters should be family matters ' MORE defended those positions on Tuesday , describing Trump as a β visionary β who is simply being β positive and patriotic. β While liberals attack Trump online , she said , the president has advanced policies , like school vouchers and tax cuts , to help minorities .
β Here is my main problem with cancel culture , ripping down statues , and the whole like : How does it get one more kid of color , who is in a failing school , a better opportunity , better education ? β she said in a Fox News interview .
In the eyes of Trump β s Democratic critics , the president is leaning on divisive cultural issues both to energize the politics of white resentment and shift the nation β s attention away from the fast-moving spread of COVID-19 across the country . And a number of Republicans are voicing similar concerns , privately pressing their White House ally to drop the talk of race and focus on his policy agenda for a second term .
β I believe the majority of Americans want some calm and stability , not focusing upon divisive issues that most days impact their lives very little , β a GOP lawmaker told βββ . β I ask again β what is his vision for the next term if he wins ? What is his vision of the future of America ? β
But the issue of Confederate symbols also divides Republicans . While some GOP lawmakers support Democrats β proposals to remove Confederate imagery from military bases and elsewhere , others β particularly from Southern states β are resistant .
β The soldiers in my district have valiantly served and don β t deserve to be unjustly punished because of the name on the front gate , β said Rep. John Carter John Rice CarterHouse panel advances bill banning construction on bases with Confederate names Democrats see victory in Trump culture war George Floyd and the upcoming Texas Democratic Senate runoff MORE ( R-Texas ) , a senior appropriator whose district includes Fort Hood β which is named after the Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood .
Democrats β plans later this month to consider appropriations bills will force Republicans to take a stand on Confederate imagery on multiple fronts .
A spending bill for legislative branch operations includes a provision directing the Architect of the Capitol to remove statues of people who served the Confederacy , as well as four other figures with histories of advocating for white supremacy , and put them in storage within 45 days . The legislation specifically targets artwork depicting people like Roger Taney , the former Supreme Court chief justice who authored the 1857 Dred Scott ruling declaring that Black people shouldn β t be considered citizens , and John Calhoun , the former vice president and member of Congress who was a proponent of slavery .
Another spending bill for the Interior Department would order the National Park Service to remove β all physical Confederate commemorative works β including statues and memorials within 180 days . It would also prohibit using taxpayer funds to buy Confederate flags unless they are to provide historical context .
Two other spending bills would allot $ 1 million for the Army to rename any installations and streets honoring people who served the Confederacy and prohibit funding for construction projects on military installations named after Confederate officers unless they are being renamed . They reflect a similar provision in the annual defense policy bill also slated for a House floor vote later this month that requires the renaming of military bases named after Confederate officers .
Rep. Tim Ryan Timothy ( Tim ) RyanDemocrats see victory in Trump culture war House Democrat calls for 'real adult discussion ' on lawmaker pay βββ 's Coronavirus Report : San Francisco Gay Men 's Chorus Artistic Director Tim Seelig says choirs are dangerous ; Pence says , 'We have saved lives ' MORE ( D-Ohio ) , the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee responsible for the legislative branch funding bill , framed it as one step lawmakers can take on their own turf as β part of a larger national debate . β
β We need to make a statement now on something we can control : the removal of statues that many visitors to the Capitol find offensive , β Ryan said Tuesday . | https://thehill.com/homenews/house/506295-democrats-see-victory-in-culture-war | The Hill | Democrats see victory in Trump culture war | 11380811bea0de40 | 1 | [
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