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mexico | USA TODAY | https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2019/09/23/immigration-issues-migrants-mexico-central-america-caravans-smuggling/2026215001/ | The 2019 migrant surge is unlike any we’ve seen before. This is why | 2019-09-23 | mexico | Historically , 90 % of the migrants who illegally crossed the southwest border of the United States came from Mexico .
They were single adult men , typically seeking work in the U.S . They paid smugglers – known in Mexico as coyotes or polleros – to help them evade the U.S. Border Patrol . When caught , they were usually quickly deported .
The percentage of adult males from Mexico crossing the border has plummeted . Meanwhile , the percentage of asylum-seeking adults with children in tow or children arriving without parents has soared , especially from Guatemala , Honduras and El Salvador , three countries in Central America with high rates of poverty and violence .
Smugglers once guided groups of adult males through remote and often dangerous areas of the desert to evade the Border Patrol . Now , they are known to take migrant families and children to areas in plain sight of the Border Patrol , where the migrants simply surrender . Other migrants travel together in large caravans , perceived as a cheaper and safer alternative to traveling through Mexico to the U.S. border .
President Donald Trump has tried to stop the flow of migrant families and unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border through enforcement measures . One measure , last year 's zero-tolerance policy , resulted in several thousand children being separated from their parents at the border , drawing an international outcry .
Trump also tried to halt migration by making asylum-seekers from Central America wait across the border in Mexico for their court hearings in the U.S. , pressuring Mexico to stop Central Americans from passing through and by making it even harder for migrants fleeing gang violence and domestic violence , two common claims , to win asylum cases .
Through August of the current fiscal year , the Border Patrol apprehended 457,871 migrants arriving as “ family units. ” That was a 406 % increase compared to the 90,554 family unit apprehensions during the same period the previous year .
Migrant families from Guatemala , Honduras and El Salvador made up almost 92 % of the total . Honduras and Guatemala both had more than 180,000 family members reach the U.S. this fiscal year .
GUATEMALA - Guatemalans pack a pickup truck on their way to the Mexican border on June 30 , 2019 . Nick Oza , ███ Network
The number of unaccompanied minors arriving at the border also spiked this year . Through August , the Border Patrol apprehended 72,873 migrant children . That 's up 60 % from the previous year and has already surpassed the record 68,631 apprehended in fiscal year 2014 .
Experts say Trump 's enforcement policies send the message that the door may soon close and gives smuggling organizations the perfect advertising campaign : Head for the U.S. now or never .
“ I ’ ve heard people saying that these smugglers are seeing a closing window and are offering deals because that window is closing , ” said Vicki Gass , senior policy adviser for Central America and Mexico at Oxfam America . “ So , ‘ If you take your 5-year-old daughter , I will give you a 30 % discount. ’ That type of thing . ”
Trump blames “ legal loopholes ” for creating a “ catch and release ” system that human smugglers exploit to profit off migrants .
“ Current law and federal court rulings encourage criminal organizations to smuggle children across the border , ” Trump said on May 16 during remarks in the White House Rose Garden calling on Congress to make changes to the nation ’ s immigration system , including closing the so-called loopholes .
But the reasons behind the wave of Central Americans migrating to the U.S. are far more complicated than simply blaming `` loopholes '' or human smugglers .
Central American migrants often cite violent gangs that demand extortion payments or target teenage boys for gang recruitment or force teenage girls to become their “ girlfriends ” as some of the main reasons for fleeing .
The region 's two largest and most menacing gangs , 18th Street gang and MS-13 , originated in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1980s and were exported to Central America through deportations . They have expanded significantly in all three Northern Triangle countries through the recruitment of unemployed teens and young men , according to the Congressional Research Service .
While homicide rates in Guatemala , Honduras and El Salvador have improved in recent years , the Northern Triangle countries still have some of the highest murder rates in the world .
Central American families and unaccompanied children are also migrating to the U.S. to escape pervasive poverty , domestic violence , economic inequality , political turmoil , the aftermath of civil wars , narco-trafficking , natural disasters and droughts caused by climate change , experts say .
“ People are leaving because of failed states , and desperation and poverty and repression and lack of hope , ” Gass said . “ I think that is the biggest thing , the lack of hope . ”
One week . Thousands of migrants . A system on the brink of collapse .
What happens to migrant children detained by the US government ? One immigrant 's story
How the ███ Network spent a week reporting on the border to learn more about migrants
More migrants arrive from Guatemala than anywhere else . A dangerous flower is partly to blame
Local governments spend millions caring for migrants dumped by Trump 's Border Patrol
Under surveillance : The lives of asylum-seekers and undocumented immigrants in the US
Is President Trump provoking illegal immigration by cutting aid to Central America ? | eEOdKHUxxvmf6kY9 | 1 | Border Crisis | -0.6 | Unauthorized Immigration | -0.6 | CBP | -0.4 | Mexico | -0.3 | Immigration | 0 |
elections | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/05/opinion/ghitis-hillary-clinton-convention/index.html?hpt=op_t1 | Where's Hillary? Not in Charlotte | 2012-09-05 | elections | Story highlights Hillary Clinton , the most popular Democrat in the U.S. , is in Asia tour during convention
It 's customary for a current secretary of state to stay above politics , avoid election season
Frida Ghitis : Being removed puts her above it all , positioned for a 2016 run for president
Ghitis : Hillary insists she will not run , but Democrats are hoping fervently she will
Do n't bother looking for her this week on the podium of the Democratic National Convention . Do n't try to catch a glimpse of her in the backrooms where the powerful gather or on the convention floor where delegates wave signs proclaiming their love for Obama or Clinton ( the other Clinton ; the husband ) .
No , while Democrats try to stoke the troops with passion for their party and excitement for Barack Obama 's re-election , the most popular member of the Democratic Party , possibly the most popular major politician in America , will stay far away from the national spotlight , about 10,000 miles away .
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is occupied with other matters , serious matters of state . No time for cheering or voter-rousing . She 's keeping her distance from politics , and that might work out just fine in a few years . As Democrats started streaming to North Carolina , she jetted off to the middle of nowhere . Or , more precisely , to the Cook Islands in the Pacific . Look it up . It 's far away .
By now , Hillary -- as everyone calls her unofficially ( and we 're speaking unofficially ) -- has moved on in her busy Asian itinerary . As you read this , she may be in China , or in Timor-Leste , or perhaps Brunei . The official explanation is that she had important business and as a sitting secretary of state , she is supposed to stay above politics , above the partisan fray . Indeed , former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it is customary for the current secretary to avoid the political season , as she did in 2008 .
JUST WATCHED Land disputes await Clinton in China Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Land disputes await Clinton in China 02:08
JUST WATCHED Hillary Clinton 'does not sweat ' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Hillary Clinton 'does not sweat ' 04:30
Hillary , however , is not just any secretary of state . She is the woman who almost beat the current president for the nomination . She 's the one millions hope will lead the ticket in 2016 .
She is the one Democrat on everyone 's mind this week even if she made it a point to move her operations to the other side of the world . Journalists will find it difficult to ask her opinion about the convention or ask the real question , the one people have not stopped asking in four years : Will she run for president in 2016 ?
The standard answer is that she has no interest in running again and looks forward to private life after Obama 's first term . But few people believe she has made that decision . The reluctance to take her at her word stems partly from the stunning phenomenon of worldwide popularity that Hillary Clinton has become .
For every one of the past 10 years , Americans have ranked her the Most Admired Woman , ahead even of Oprah when she had her show . Hillary is probably among the most popular women in the history of the United States , having won the title 16 times , more than any other woman .
She consistently scores the highest approval ratings of any top member of the Obama administration , and she has developed an extraordinary level of personal rapport with the masses , with the millions who have never met her but have seen her evolve over the decades .
People feel an emotional connection after having witnessed the visible pain she endured during her husband 's public cheating scandals . They watched her raise her chin , battle adversity and come out ahead . Everyone knows it has not been easy .
Liberated from campaigning , she has relaxed . She has become more spontaneous and genuine , leaving behind some of the calculated deliberateness of the politician . Hillary 's most private moments seem to fill her admirers with vicarious joy . When images surface of her dancing or drinking a beer during a break from work in Colombia , they immediately go viral . As if people felt glad that she 's happy .
The Internet parody `` Texts from Hillary '' became all the rage , as it purported to show the ubercompetent SecState whipping the world into line . In one image , President Obama , stretched out on a couch , sends a text , `` Hey Hil . Whatchu doing ? '' Hillary , looking stylish in shades , with giant briefing books before her , texts back : `` Running the world . ''
It 's a joke , but it 's funny because it reflects an image that has taken hold . Hillary seems to work harder than anyone . She has traveled to more countries -- 108 so far -- than any of her predecessors . She 's always at it . And it always seems important . The mere mortals , the regular politicians , are out campaigning , telling half-truths and slinging mud . Hillary 's busy , working to keep the world running .
As secretary of state , she is in a perfect position to work on issues that are much less controversial than domestic dilemmas . She does n't need to talk about tax increases , health care reform or the deficit . She does n't have to spar with the Republicans and look petty or nasty in the process .
It makes her look superior to the others . It puts her in great shape for 2016 , when she will be 69 , not too old to run for president .
Hillary first electrified activists back in 1995 , when she declared in her famous Beijing speech `` it is no longer acceptable to discuss women 's rights as separate from human rights . '' And she has never let up on her efforts on behalf of women . But men , too , even the most rugged ( even Republicans ) have come to respect her .
Back in 2010 , when a Rolling Stone reporter quoted senior military men in Afghanistan disparaging the Obama administration , he revealed that , `` Only Hillary Clinton receives good reviews . ''
And she has not stopped getting great reviews . Staying out of the political mud-pit , she is the subject of popularity polls , breathless speculation and gushing profiles , like a recent cover story -- complete with photo spread -- in Conde Nast Traveler . In addition to the glamor and the competence , the writer revealed `` one very intimate detail that most people still do n't know about Hillary Clinton . '' The secret ? `` She does not sweat . Literally . She does not even glow . No matter how high the heat , not a drop nor a drip nor a bead ... ''
The polls show voters want Hillary to run again . In Iowa , a look at presidential preferences showed Hillary beating Vice President Biden 60 to 18 . No one else reached 5 % . In New York , voters want Hillary to run even more than they want their very popular governor to do so .
So , while the Democrats shout themselves hoarse in Charlotte , Hillary will be far away , busy with affairs of state . But do n't be so sure her absence means she 's not interested in politics .
Like everyone in Charlotte , she too is probably pondering what Hillary will do in 2016 . She may be absent , out of sight . But staying away only makes the Democrats ' heart grow fonder . | f2o7qPujx8iUNbpD | 0 | Presidential Elections | -0.4 | Election2012 | 0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
north_korea | BBC News | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44751283 | North Korea: US is making 'gangster-like' demands on denuclearisation | 2018-07-08 | North Korea, World | North Korea has accused the US of using `` gangster-like '' tactics to push it towards nuclear disarmament after a fresh round of high-level talks .
It branded the US attitude at the meeting as `` extremely troubling '' .
The statement , by an unnamed foreign ministry official , gave a starkly different account from one provided by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just hours before .
He had said progress was made during his two-day visit to Pyongyang .
It is the first time he has visited North Korea since a summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore .
The leader 's meeting ended with a promise from Mr Kim to work towards denuclearisation , but details on how this will be achieved remain thin .
A key aim of Mr Pompeo during his visit was to firm up North Korea 's commitment to disarmament .
But the North Korean statement , carried by the official KCNA news agency , said the US had gone against the spirit of the summit by putting unilateral pressure on the country to abandon its nuclear weapons .
`` We had anticipated the US side would come with a constructive idea , thinking we would take something in return , '' the North Korean statement said , warning its `` resolve for denuclearisation ... may falter '' .
`` The US is fatally mistaken if it went to the extent of regarding that [ North Korea ] would be compelled to accept , out of its patience , demands reflecting its gangster-like mindset , '' it added .
At the talks , Mr Pompeo did not meet with Mr Kim , but instead with Kim Yong-chol , who is seen as his right-hand man .
In his assessment Mr Pompeo gave little away , but he said they had discussed at length a timeline for disarmament , including the destruction of a missile engine testing facility .
`` These are complicated issues , but we made progress on almost all of the central issues , some places a great deal of progress , other places there 's still more work to be done , '' he said .
After the Singapore summit , which also saw the US offer `` security guarantees '' to North Korea and promise to end its military drills with South Korea , Mr Trump claimed that the North no longer posed a nuclear threat .
However , the president has since renewed sanctions on North Korea , while US intelligence officials have said there is evidence North Korea continues to upgrade the infrastructure for its nuclear and missile programmes .
A state department spokesperson said Mr Pompeo had been `` very firm '' in focusing on denuclearisation , as well as on security assurances and another important US demand - the return of remains of US service personnel from the Korean War .
As Saturday 's meeting got under way Kim Yong-chol joked that Mr Pompeo may not have slept well during his overnight stay at a guesthouse in Pyongyang . Mr Pompeo said he `` slept just fine '' .
On Sunday , the US secretary of state will meet the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea in Tokyo . | 100e0877fd17350c | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
abortion | Breitbart News | http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/09/05/Texas-Wendy-Davis-reveals-abortion-in-memoir | Wendy Davis Memoir: I Had 2 Abortions During 2nd Marriage | 2014-09-05 | Abortion, Wendy Davis, Politics | AUSTIN , Texas ( AP ) — Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis reveals in a new campaign memoir that she terminated two pregnancies for medical reasons in the 1990s , including one where the fetus had developed a severe brain abnormality .
Davis writes in “ Forgetting to be Afraid ” that she had an abortion after an exam revealed that the brain of the fetus had developed in complete separation on the right and left sides . The Associated Press purchased an early copy of the book , which hits stores Tuesday .
The memoir also describes ending an earlier ectopic pregnancy , in which an embryo implants outside the uterus . Davis disclosed the terminated pregnancies for the first time since her nearly 13-hour filibuster last year over a tough new Texas abortion law .
Both pregnancies happened before Davis , a state senator from Fort Worth , began her political career and after she was already a mother to two young girls .
She writes that the ectopic pregnancy happened in 1994 . Terminating the pregnancy was considered medically necessary . Such pregnancies generally aren ’ t considered viable , meaning the fetus can ’ t survive , and the mother ’ s life could be in danger . But Davis wrote that in Texas , it ’ s “ technically considered an abortion , and doctors have to report it as such . ”
Davis said she and her former husband , Jeff , wound up expecting another child in 1996 after they decided to stop taking birth-control measures . During her second trimester , Davis said she took a blood test that could determine chromosomal or neural defects , which doctors first told her didn ’ t warrant concern . After a later exam revealed the brain defect , Davis said she sought opinions from multiple doctors , who told her the baby would be deaf , blind and in a permanent vegetative state if she survived delivery .
“ I could feel her little body tremble violently , as if someone were applying an electric shock to her , and I knew then what I needed to do , ” Davis writes . “ She was suffering . ”
She goes on to write that an “ indescribable blackness followed ” the pregnancy and that the loss left her forever changed .
Davis catapulted to national Democratic stardom after her filibuster temporarily delayed passed of sweeping new abortion restrictions . She ’ s now running for governor against Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott , who is heavily favored to replace Republican Gov . Rick Perry next year .
Abbott spokesman Matt Hirsch did not return messages seeking comment .
Anti-abortion groups , including those that have attacked her candidacy , expressed sympathy for the tough choice Davis confronted with the second terminated pregnancy but said they hoped all decisions end in choosing to continue a pregnancy .
“ That ’ s an incredibly difficult position for anyone to find themselves in . While our heart goes out for the decision she had to make , again , still the value of life is precious , ” said Melissa Conway , spokeswoman for Texans Right to Life .
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards , daughter of former Texas Gov . Ann Richards , said in a statement that she was grateful for Davis sharing her story , though “ no woman should have to justify her decision . ”
Davis ’ filibuster in June 2013 set off a chaotic scene in the Texas Capitol that extended past midnight . Thousands of people watched it live online , with President Barack Obama at one point tweeting , “ Something special is happening in Austin tonight . ”
In the book , Davis recalls reading testimony during the filibuster about a woman who had had an abortion after learning her daughter would be born with a terminal illness . She says the story could have been hers and writes about her hands shaking and wiping tears from her eyes .
At one point during the filibuster , Davis said she almost felt compelled to talk about her failed pregnancies but said she knew it would overshadow her effort to block the bill .
The bill required doctors who perform abortion to obtain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and mandated that clinics upgrade its facilities to hospital-level operating standards . A federal judge in Austin last month blocked a portion of the law that would have left Texas with only seven abortion facilities statewide . | 97140779e0d784f0 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_house | Politico | http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/veterans-affairs-reform-house-109555.html?hp=l4 | House approves VA reform bill | 2014-07-30 | us_house | Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Jeff Miller unveiled the comprise bill earlier this week . House approves VA reform bill
The House on Wednesday approved legislation 420-5 to drastically reform the Department of Veterans Affairs .
In a strong bipartisan vote , lawmakers backed the $ 17 billion compromise bill crafted by Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-Vt. ) and Rep. Jeff Miller ( R-Fla. ) . The Senate is expected to sign off on the legislation later this week .
The bill gives the VA secretary new authority to fire senior employees accused of mismanagement and gives veterans the ability to leave the VA to seek medical care if they have waited longer than 14 days for treatment .
The agency has been widely criticized in the wake of reports that it manipulated data on its wait times , hiding delays that in some cases contributed to the deaths of veterans . There has been overwhelming support in Congress to overhaul the agency after the White House found a “ corrosive culture ” of corruption within the department - a report that prompted former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign .
Shinseki was replaced by Robert McDonald , a former executive with Proctor & Gamble who was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday .
Sanders and Miller unveiled the compromise bill earlier this week after spending more than a month debating the cost of reforms and how to pay for them .
“ The Department of Veterans Affairs is in the midst of an unprecedented crisis caused by corruption , mismanagement and a lack of accountability across the board , ” Miller said . “ This is an honest solution to an urgent problem . One that is focused on making government more accountable and providing veterans with real choice in their health care decisions . ”
A Senate vote could come as early as Thursday , Sanders said .
“ My expectation is that the Senate will do the same thing as soon as tomorrow . The veterans of this country are entitled to quality and timely health care . This legislation will take us a long way toward making good on that promise , ” he said . | 1FYnPAquc97Ge9wp | 0 | Veterans Affairs | 0.2 | Veterans | 0.2 | US House | 0 | Politics | 0 | null | null |
economy_and_jobs | Vox | http://www.vox.com/2015/4/2/8335203/mcdonalds-wages-nlrb-joint-employer | McDonalds' wage announcement is in part about a massive legal battle with consequences for the whole fast food industry | 2015-04-02 | economy_and_jobs | McDonald 's announced Wednesday it was raising the wages for tens of thousands of McDonald 's workers nationwide . But the company did n't just announce the feel-good news that it 's giving workers higher pay , not to mention paid leave — it also pointed out that its high-profile wage hike will only affect workers at the 10 percent of its stores that are company-owned .
The company emphasized in its press release that the other 90 percent of stores would n't be affected , as ███ reported yesterday : `` The more than 3,100 McDonald 's franchisees operate their individual businesses and make their own decisions on pay and benefits for their employees . ''
McDonald 's is n't just being open about its business model here ; it 's making a point that it sees itself as separate from its franchisees . And that makes sense when you understand the legal battle heating up this week at the National Labor Relations Board .
The very nature of the company 's relationship to its workers is in question in that case , and it could have massive implications for franchises nationwide .
One of the big points of franchising is to create a mutually beneficial relationship : the franchisee benefits from the parent company 's brand and well-known products while also getting to make his or her own business decisions . And franchisers , meanwhile , can get more rapid growth and more revenues , without dealing with day-to-day minutiae of managing all these smaller outlets . Meanwhile , both sides give up some measure of control — a franchisee follows franchiser rules about what it serves , for example , while the franchiser gives the franchisee some independence in hiring , firing , and scheduling .
But the NLRB is trying to decide right now whether McDonald 's is more than just a distant parent company to its franchisees . The question is whether McDonald 's is a `` joint employer , '' along with its franchisees .
NLRB hearings began this week that could help determine the answer to this question . In December , the board issued complaints against the company , alleging ( among other things ) that it retaliated against workers who protested in favor of higher wages . In naming McDonald 's as a joint employer , the NLRB 's general counsel , Richard Griffin , is essentially arguing that if McDonald 's has enough control over its restaurants , it should have to also share in the liability of labor law violations . Griffin has also argued for a broader definition of what it means to be a `` joint employer . ''
Because of its rules governing day-to-day operations at its restaurants , from the use of scheduling software to bag folding , some have argued the company is just as much an employer to its workers as franchisees are .
And if a franchiser is not a joint employer , under current law , that means it also plays no part in other issues that can happen at the franchisee level — like negotiating with unions or , say , setting the pay of workers .
As it stands now , the decision to boost pay could put franchisees in a bind , the New York Times writes . On the one hand , the franchisees could feel the pressure to raise their own wages . But one anonymous franchisee told the Times that `` business in his restaurants had been 'horrible ' and that he did not see how he could increase his employees ’ pay . ''
This question of who is a joint employer is n't just about franchisers and franchisees . The question of the increasingly `` fissured workplace '' has become a central one in the US labor market . David Weil , now the administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the Department of Labor , argued in a 2014 book that as businesses have distanced themselves from workers through means like subcontractors and temp agencies , shrugging off their roles as direct employers , it has led to lower wages , worse benefits , and growing inequality .
In addition to the McDonald 's cases , the NLRB has yet to rule on another high-stakes case involving waste management firm Browning Ferris . The question in this case is whether Browning Ferris is a joint employer and therefore has to negotiate with unionized workers at a subcontractor . In this and the McDonald 's case , the broader question of what it means to be an employer is at stake . And as attorney Michael Lotito told me in December , this could have `` cataclysmic '' effects on the nearly 9 million US workers who work in franchises , not to mention the relationship between contractors and subcontractors and even between businesses and their suppliers .
`` It has a way of upsetting these business relationships and employers thinking they were separate suddenly finding they are combined , '' he said . `` That has just enormous implications for business relationships . '' | Keqc3es4Vsa7sfz9 | 0 | McDonald's | 0.2 | Economy And Jobs | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
china | Axios | https://www.axios.com/special-report-why-china-scares-politicians-of-all-stripes-35b2a5b3-935e-4881-bc0c-fde9390308c2.html | Why China scares politicians of all stripes | 2018-05-26 | china | In an era where political adversaries seem to agree on nothing , their takes were shockingly similar :
Ryan , a Democrat who represents the classic Rust Belt town of Youngstown , Ohio : `` I ’ m getting more and more worried every day ... China has a grand strategy that includes all of government — economy , military , education and politics — with the goal of elevating China to the number one military and economic power in the world . ''
a Democrat who represents the classic Rust Belt town of Youngstown , Ohio : `` I ’ m getting more and more worried every day ... China has a grand strategy that includes all of government — economy , military , education and politics — with the goal of elevating China to the number one military and economic power in the world . '' Rubio , Republican of Florida : `` The Chinese know our pressure points . ... Americans benefit every day from the fact that America is the most powerful nation on earth . If that 's erased , this wo n't be the same country . If economic and military power move to China , an authoritarian state , that affects things we take for granted like free speech , equal opportunity and human rights . ''
Republican of Florida : `` The Chinese know our pressure points . ... Americans benefit every day from the fact that America is the most powerful nation on earth . If that 's erased , this wo n't be the same country . If economic and military power move to China , an authoritarian state , that affects things we take for granted like free speech , equal opportunity and human rights . '' Bannon , President Trump 's former chief strategist : `` China has survived intact for 4,000 years because they have perfected 'barbarian management . ' They view us as a 'tributary state , ' a natural resource and agriculture provider — Jamestown to their Great Britain . ... Trump must keep the hammer down . ''
Both Ryan and Rubio say the issue is getting increasing resonance with constituents , but they remain frustrated with the lack of urgency among their colleagues , and the mixed signals from Trump .
Trump ’ s blunt view of the Chinese : They ’ re ripping us off so hit them hard with tariffs .
That mindset may not lend itself to the comprehensive , targeted and strategic response that many believe is required .
Be smart : Experts say the U.S. is falling further behind , and that the nation needs a massive strategic and investment plan similar to the post-World War II mobilization that included the Marshall Plan , the G.I . Bill and the space race .
Go deeper ... VandeHei 's seminal take on Beijing 's plans for 2018 , 2025 and 2050 , `` China is the greatest , growing threat to America . ''
Be smart : While America dawdles and bickers , China is thinking long-term — and acting now , everywhere . | t9BMhk3OShmbPgWj | 1 | China | -1.3 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
general_news | The Federalist | https://thefederalist.com/2021/05/31/why-honoring-those-who-sacrificed-their-lives-for-our-nation-should-never-be-overlooked/ | Why Honoring Those Who Sacrificed Their Lives For Our Nation Should Never Be Overlooked | 2021-05-31 | Holidays, Memorial Day, US Military, General News | Emily Domenech discusses how she banded with the Travis Manion Foundation to found The Honor Project and encourage Americans to gather to recognize the fallen on Memorial Day. On this episode of The Federalist Radio Hour, Emily Domenech joins Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky to discuss how she banded with the Travis Manion Foundation to found The Honor Project and encourage Americans to gather to recognize the fallen on Memorial Day. “Part of what makes The Honor Project really magical is it’s a stranger recognizing a stranger from far away and honoring their names, saying their name, sharing it with the rest of the world, and giving a moment to remember that person,” Domenech said. “I think most people, most civilians, go into Memorial Day and they know what it means, they know how important it is, they appreciate the military, but they haven’t got a clue how to reach out to touch those families who have really lost someone and they don’t have a clue how to really appropriately honor those who sacrifice.” “I think the lesson for civilians looking at our service members who are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan today is to talk to them, ask them how they want their comrades to be remembered. Ask, ask them how they want their service appreciated,” Domenech said. “Because I think the Vietnam generation did not get that opportunity. And it’s only just now coming out how many of them sort of I think needed it and needed the ability to share with their family and friends their experience overseas. And I always find those stories to be really incredible.” Read more about The Honor Project here. © 2025 The Federalist, A wholly independent division of FDRLST Media. All rights reserved. We won't sell or share your personal information to inform the ads you see. You may still see interest-based ads if your information is sold or shared by other companies or was sold or shared previously. Dismiss Opt out | cda682d809ae19c1 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/11/politics/republican-debate-takeaways/index.html | Takeaways from the Republican debate - CNNPolitics.com | 2015-11-11 | elections | ( CNN ) As the first primaries creep ever closer , candidates are feeling the pressure to rise above the pack and prove their electoral viability .
Each candidate came in with different marks to hit . Jeb Bush needed a game-changing performance . Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz wanted to maintain their momentum . And Rand Paul wanted to get into the act .
Rubio was once again the debate 's maestro -- hitting all the right notes and not once appearing to bend under pressure .
The Florida senator skillfully weaved his personal biography as the son of immigrant parents as he answered almost every question he fielded .
He also flashed his foreign policy chops and seized the opportunity to set up a contrast between himself and the less mainstream non-interventionist views of his opponent , Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul .
`` I know that Rand is a committed isolationist , '' Rubio needled , before offering a deftly handled rebuttal to Paul 's questioning of how spending billions on the U.S. military was conservative .
`` We ca n't even have an economy if we 're not safe , '' Rubio argued . `` Yes I believe the world -- I do n't believe , I know the world is a safer and better place when America is the strongest military power in the world . ''
As during most of Rubio 's responses -- the audience roared in approval .
While Ben Carson did have to answer one question about the controversy that has swirled around his campaign in the last week , Rubio did not have to field the rolling questions about his finances , notably his use of a Republican Party credit card for personal expenses .
The Texas senator gave another classic Cruz performance on Tuesday night , one that could serve to further his steady rise in the polls -- and the rising chorus of pundits viewing him as the eventual conservative alternative to whichever establishment candidate emerges in a two- or three-person race .
The firebrand conservative slammed critics who dub his hardline position on illegal immigration as `` anti-immigrant , '' calling that `` offensive '' ; he staked out the middle ground as Rubio and Paul argued for opposing degrees of American intervention in Middle East conflicts ; and he played to his base by slamming moderate , establishment Republicans .
`` The Democrats are laughing -- because if Republicans join Democrats as the party of amnesty , we will lose , '' Cruz said .
He hit one snag reminiscent of a memorable 2011 debate moment when Rick Perry forgot the name of the third agency he would eliminate . Cruz , naming five federal agencies he would abolish , named just four -- twice naming the Department of Commerce , leaving the Department of Education off of his list .
The retired neurosurgeon is sticking with what works , offering supporters more of the same mild-mannered , reserved demeanor that has rocketed him into a dead heat with Trump .
Carson 's most notable moment is one that is sure to please his supporters , who have been devouring his upbraiding of the mainstream media over the course of more than a week of questions about crucial elements of his inspirational biography .
`` Thank you for not asking me what I said in the 10th grade , '' Carson said to laughter as Fox Business moderator Neil Cavuto asked him about the impact of the media scrutiny on his campaign .
`` We should vet all candidates . I have no problem with being vetted . What I do have a problem with is being lied about and then putting that out there as truth , '' Carson proclaimed . `` People who know me know that I 'm an honest person . ''
His closing statement was also a memorable break from the feisty tenor of the evening , coming right after Rubio and Cruz trumpeted their campaign websites . Carson , softly showed why he is connecting on the trail .
`` In the two hours of this -- of this debate , five people have died from drug-related deaths , $ 100 million has been added to our national debt , 200 babies have been killed by abortionists , and two veterans have taken their lives out of despair , '' he said . `` This is a narrative that we can change , not we the Democrats , not we the Republicans , but we the people of America , because there is something special about this nation , and we must embrace it and be proud of it and never give it away for the sake of political correctness . ''
The former Florida governor improved , but he was still upstaged by the competition .
After his widely panned debate performance last month , Bush got to work . He hired a media coach , got angrier on the campaign trail and attempted to reboot his struggling campaign with a new slogan : Jeb Can Fix It .
Bush forced his way into more speaking time , got his points across more clearly and concisely , and -- perhaps most importantly -- did n't pick a fight he was n't going to win ( against Rubio ) .
But he also still appeared awkward at times and let up too easily where other candidates would have pressed further , adding to the impression that he lacks the verve to lead his party into the general election . And with several other candidates -- namely Rubio -- soaring above the field with exceptionally strong debate performances , Bush 's slightly above-average performance just does n't rank in the same category .
Bush 's two best moments came when he confronted Trump . Bush jumped in as Trump suggested the U.S. should stop being the policeman of the world to say that the billionaire `` is absolutely wrong on this . ''
And on Trump 's plan to deport the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. , Bush said `` it 's just not possible and it 's not embracing American values '' -- drawing more applause .
As he did in the last debate , Trump once again showed that he can be one man on the stump before a crowd of zealous supporters , and another when he 's debating a range of issues before a national audience .
Trump 's tone was measured and his message was largely policy-centric . Even when he faced pointed criticism and pushback from his rival candidates -- notably Ohio Gov . John Kasich , former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina -- Trump did n't get personal . He challenged their contentions and stuck to his message : Yes , the federal government should deport all undocumented immigrants and build a wall , he insisted ; No , the U.S. should not be the world 's policeman .
And while sticking with the debating style he first debuted at the CNBC debate , Trump even appeared to show some improvement -- delivering longer and more in-depth responses to questions on everything from the economy to foreign policy .
But some of Trump 's persona bled out . When Carly Fiorina tried to get a word in , declared : `` Why does she keep interrupting everybody ? '' The crowd was n't happy and booed .
The former Fortune 500 CEO reclaimed her spot as one of the field 's most effective and hard-hitting debaters -- - a quality that first hoisted her onto the main debate stage after a stand-out performance in the cycle 's first primary debate .
Fiorina played to her strengths as a business executive , status as an outsider and displayed her command of the biggest foreign policy issues confronting the U.S .
Her sharp-elbowed strategy produced results as she nabbed her most impressive moment of the night when she jumped into a foreign policy debate between Trump and Bush -- piling onto Bush 's critique of the brash front-runner before putting forward her own credentials for the commander-in-chief post .
Skipping from country to country in the Middle East after laying out specific steps she would take to bolster the U.S. 's standing in the face of Russian aggression , Fiorina came away breathless , over time -- but wildly successful .
The Ohio governor did n't miss an opportunity to jostle his opponents and the moderators for more speaking time .
As Trump defended his plan to deport all undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. , Kasich looked to get in a word edgewise .
`` Maria , can we comment on that ? Can we comment on that ? '' he asked a moderator in one of the rare occasions in which he actually asked -- and got -- permission to interject .
But it 's a strategy that Kasich has applied to previous debates -- both taking on Trump and jumping in at every opportunity -- without earning any real upward movement in the polls following the last debate .
The Kentucky senator with strong libertarian-leanings showed up at the Republican debate Tuesday night -- diving into an impassioned defense of his foreign policy views , challenging the hawkish instincts of the Republican Party and most of his fellow contenders .
Paul has n't shined through in the previous debates , but a relatively long back and forth with the surging Rubio gave Paul the face time and the speaking time he needed to make his mark . | fTjd58PnHekDsQA9 | 0 | Presidential Elections | 1.3 | Elections | -0.4 | Debates | 0 | null | null | null | null |
politics | Mother Jones | https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/09/gun-control-background-checks-beto-trump-biden/ | 6 Years Ago, Democrats Failed on Guns. Have They Learned From Their Mistakes? | politics | Beto O ’ Rourke reshaped the national gun debate when , in response to a string of deadly mass shootings , he called for a mandatory buyback of the military-style assault weapons used in the massacres . “ Hell yes , we ’ re going to take your AR-15 , your AK-47 , ” he said during last week ’ s debate . “ We ’ re not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore . ”
“ If we really wanted universal background checks , we ’ d be talking about an assault weapons ban . If we really wanted an assault weapons ban , we would be talking about a constitutional amendment . ”
Gun rights advocates were enraged ; one right-wing Texas lawmaker responded with what appeared to be a death threat . Even some Democrats—who for years had assured voters that no one wants to confiscate their weapons—worried that O ’ Rourke had gone too far . “ I frankly think that that clip will be played for years at Second Amendment rallies with organizations that try to scare people by saying Democrats are coming for your guns , ” Sen. Chris Coons ( D-Del . ) told CNN on Friday . Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey—one of the few Republican supporters of gun control on Capitol Hill—agreed . He suggested O ’ Rourke ’ s comments could complicate negotiations to close loopholes that allow many gun-buyers to avoid being screened for mental health concerns and criminal records when they purchase firearms from private sellers . “ This rhetoric undermines and hurts bipartisan efforts to actually make progress on commonsense gun safety efforts , like expanding background checks , ” he tweeted .
But according to some veterans of past legislative fights over background checks , unapologetic attempts to push the gun control envelope are exactly what is needed . “ Nobody who ever got half a loaf asked for half a loaf , ” says Mark Glaze , who served as the executive director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns—now called Everytown for Gun Safety—at the time of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting . “ If we really wanted universal background checks , we ’ d be talking about an assault weapons ban . If we really wanted an assault weapons ban , we would be talking about a constitutional amendment . ”
In the wake of Sandy Hook , Glaze says , he attempted to plant a story that Senate Democrats and gun control groups were working on an assault weapons ban—when the real goal was a modest measure sponsored by Toomey and Sen. Joe Manchin ( D-W.V . ) that would have expanded background checks to cover more , but not all , purchases . The bill , which had overwhelming public support , was ultimately blocked by Republican senators ( and a few Democrats ) in April 2013 .
For the first time since Manchin-Toomey ’ s spectacular failure , Congress and the White House may be ready to do something about the problem . Democrats are largely united behind a universal background checks bill passed earlier this year by the House , and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) says he ’ ll hold a vote on anything President Donald Trump signals he ’ ll support . For his part , Trump has said that background checks are on the table , though he seems to be pushing for something short of universal checks . Manchin and Toomey—as well as Sen. Chris Murphy ( D-Conn. ) , one of the Senate ’ s most vocal gun control advocates—have been in conversations with the White House , hoping to get the president to back a compromise measure that would expand background checks for sales at gun shows and online . Negotiations have dragged on for more than a month amid a furious lobbying campaign from the National Rifle Association and its allies .
There were multiple factors that doomed Manchin-Toomey in 2013 , including the strength of the gun lobby and the lack of expertise on the issue in Democratic circles . But seven gun control advocates and former Hill staffers involved in negotiations over the measure told me that the laser-like focus on a popular but fairly unambitious background check bill was a strategic mistake . “ To this day , I ’ m convinced that when we make background checks our first priority , the NRA screams in public and privately lights up cigars , ” Glaze says . “ We ’ ve got this decades-long fight to achieve a 90-percent issue . When we finally beat the NRA on passage , which we will , the NRA will lose nothing , but they will have held off our movement for decades . ”
Sandy Hook had all the makings of a political tipping point . After two decades of avoiding gun debates at all costs , Democrats were suddenly energized around the issue . Nancy Pelosi ( D-Calif. ) , then the House minority leader , convened weekly conference calls with gun control advocates . Vice President Joe Biden , deputized by President Barack Obama to lead the White House ’ s response , convened a group of experts to put together a background checks bill , the movement ’ s top priority .
But the real deal-making was happening elsewhere . Manchin , a moderate Democrat with an A-rating from the NRA , mobilized his staff to begin drafting legislation . The senator had been devastated by Sandy Hook , recalls Jan Brunner , a former Manchin staffer who worked on the measure . “ He was always so pro-NRA , and all of a sudden , he ’ s sitting there crying , ‘ Nobody kills babies—they killed babies , ’ ” she says .
“ When we make background checks our first priority , the NRA screams in public and privately lights up cigars . ”
Manchin ’ s staff teamed up with Glaze and staffers for Sen. Chuck Schumer ( D-N.Y. ) The idea was to craft a background checks bill that could pass the Senate with enough Republican votes to be compelling to the GOP-held House . The effort culminated in a secret meeting in early 2013 between Glaze , John Feinblatt—then a top aide to Michael Bloomberg , now the president of Everytown—and a prominent gun industry lawyer at Manhattan ’ s Odeon restaurant . The trio discussed sweeteners that could be added to the bill to win over the NRA and the National Shooting Sports Foundation , which represents the interests of gun sellers and manufacturers .
“ The reason [ the gun industry lawyer ] did this was because the industry was scared shitless , ” Glaze recalls . “ They thought Sandy Hook was so catastrophic that unless they gave somewhere , they were just done in the eyes of the public. ” Glaze hoped that by floating a ban on assault weapons—among the industry ’ s most profitable products—advocates could pressure the gun lobby into agreeing to expanded background checks instead .
That conversation produced the Manchin-Toomey measure , which was far from comprehensive . It would have required a background check for most commercial sales—including any firearm purchased at a gun show or through a print or online advertisement—but other private sales and transfers would still have been permitted without a background check . It also contained concessions for the industry , such as making it easier to sell and transport certain firearms across state lines . For a time , things looked promising : The NSSF appeared ready to back the bill , as did influential conservative Sen. Tom Coburn ( R-Okla. ) , whose state was home to one of the nation ’ s biggest gun shows .
But the negotiations with Coburn and the gun lobby wore on for months . Coburn ultimately demanded that the newly instituted background checks not be recorded , a proposal that the bill ’ s authors rejected . In the end , Toomey was the only Republican willing to sponsor the bill , and by that point , much of the political pressure created by Sandy Hook had dissipated . “ Delay was the NRA ’ s friend , and it almost certainly wasn ’ t accidental , ” Glaze says . “ We waited too long , possibly because the NRA dragged us there . ”
And because the Manchin-Toomey measure failed , it set the movement up to ask for too little in future negotiations , says Arkadi Gerney , who worked on gun issues at the Center of American Progress at the time . It would have been better , he says , to have voted on a universal background checks bill that didn ’ t include a raft of exceptions . “ That might have gotten only 48 or 49 votes in the Senate , but it would have been better in hindsight , ” he argues .
It ’ s been more than six weeks since the tragedies in El Paso and Dayton , and it ’ s still not clear how committed Trump might be to background checks . But Democratic leaders seem to have internalized at least some of the lessons of 2013 . “ We made it clear to the president that any proposal he endorses that does not include the House-passed universal background checks legislation will not get the job done , ” Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement Sunday .
Gerney thinks that ’ s a wise strategy—one that O ’ Rourke and his rivals have also taken to heart . “ The Democrats running for president do not want to pass a weak bill or just a red flag bill , ” he says . “ They want to keep this issue in the news , take it to the election , win the White House and Senate , blow up the filibuster , and then they can do a universal background checks bill , and assault weapons ban—all of it . ” | VSz35e2Y655QTVGg | 0 | Gun Control And Gun Rights | -1.7 | Democratic Party | 1.7 | Barack Obama | 1.1 | Politics | 0 | null | null | |
elections | Newsmax | http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/midterms-GOP-Democrats-congress/2014/10/20/id/601737/ | Poll: Likely Voters Favor a GOP-Led Congress | 2014-10-20 | Elections, Midterm Elections | People who are likely to vote in the Nov. 4 midterm elections this year say they prefer Congress to be controlled by the Republicans instead of the Democrats , a new poll has found.According to a Wall Street Journal/ NBC News/ Annenberg survey conducted Oct. 10-16 of 1,172 voters , 49 percent of likely voters prefer a Republican-led Congress compared to 44 percent who would like a Democratic-controlled Congress.Republicans also have the advantage among all registered voters . Forty-five percent of those surveyed said they 'd prefer Congress to be led by the GOP , compared to 43 percent who prefer to have the Democrats at the helm . This is the first time in five weeks that the GOP came out ahead , according to The Journal.The findings appear to reinforce polling results from last week that showed that Democrats are less interested in the election than Republicans.The Wall Street Journal/ NBC News/ Annenberg survey also found that among those most interested in the election , 51 percent favored the Republicans compared to 44 percent for Democrats.Lower-interest voters support the Democrats by 52 percent compared to 37 percent . `` [ Today 's ] survey is yet more evidence that Democratic voters are tuning out the midterms . Democrats carried a 10-point lead among low-interest voters , who the party is trying to reach and motivate with vigorous turnout operations across the country . Republicans carried a 10-point lead in the new survey among voters who said they were highly interested in the election , '' The Journal said.The findings come as pundits continue to predict that the Republicans have the best chance of taking control of the Senate.Last week , Larry Sabato , director of the University of Virginia 's Center for Politics , projected that the GOP could take up to eight seats . `` Our projection remains a five- to eight-seat Republican gain in the Senate , and with less than three weeks to go , we would much rather be holding the cards Republicans have been dealt versus the ones dealt to the Democrats as both sides play for a Senate majority , '' Sabato said in his `` Crystal Ball '' analysis . The Washington Post also predicted last week that Republicans will take control of the upper chamber , and explained its analysis by looking at the most competitive races.And as of Sunday , The New York Times election model gives Republicans a 69 percent chance of winning the Senate.President Barack Obama 's low approval ratings are believed to be a major factor dragging down the Democrats ' chances . His support among women , in particular , has dropped sharply in battleground states where Democrats are already lagging among male voters . | e2651e56aee7183a | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
environment | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/29/cop-21-climate-deal-hinges-on-cash-payouts-to-deve/ | The cost of climate change: Cold, hard cash sought for support of Obama’s deal | 2015-11-29 | environment | Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa was explicit earlier this year when asked what it would take for developing countries to sign up for the emerging U.S.-led climate deal : “ Money . ”
His candor was recounted in an April email between two of the Obama administration ’ s top global warming officials , who called the succinct wisdom from Mr. Kutesa — at the time the president of the U.N. General Assembly — the “ best answer of [ the ] night . ”
Indeed , as Todd Stern , the State Department ’ s top climate official , and Brian Deese , President Obama ’ s top climate adviser , are trying to rally a deal ahead of a major meeting in Paris that kicks off Monday , it ’ s becoming clear that any diplomatic breakthrough will be far less about converting hearts and minds than it will be about finding enough money to seal the agreement .
That payoff will come in the form of the Green Climate Fund , the U.N. ’ s green bank , to which the world ’ s rich countries are supposed to donate $ 100 billion a year beginning in 2020 , with the money going to the developing world , where it is supposed to be split between converting economies to green energy and helping mitigate the worst effects of changing temperatures .
“ It ’ s not about climate . It never was , ” said Christopher Horner , a researcher who obtained the Obama administration email detailing Mr. Kutesa ’ s stance . “ All they want is wealth transfers , for the poor in rich countries to pay the rich in poor countries . ”
Neither the Ugandan foreign ministry nor Mr. Stern returned emails seeking comment on the exchange , but the sentiment is echoed by all sides ahead of COP 21 , the two-week meeting to hammer out a new global climate deal , which begins Monday in Paris .
“ Everyone knows that money will need to be on the table to seal the deal , but climate finance has been the biggest unknown in the lead-up to Paris , ” Oxfam , a British-based nonprofit , said in a new report ahead of the meetings . “ Negotiations on climate finance have been at a glacial pace , and only really began in earnest at the final negotiating session in October . ”
Oxfam said the $ 100 billion target for annual aid must be a floor , not a ceiling , and warned that the number could need to rise much higher if governments can ’ t agree to stricter emissions targets .
It ’ s all a matter of math , the nonprofit said . The target was to reduce emissions enough so that the earth ’ s temperature would rise no more than 2 degrees Celsius — leading to costs of about $ 1.6 trillion a year in both economic losses and adaptation costs .
But current pledges would produce a rise of 3 degrees in world temperatures , which would add nearly $ 1 trillion to those annual costs , Oxfam calculates . That should put pressure on developed countries to pony up more , the nonprofit said , calling “ climate finance ” one of the major moving parts of the negotiations .
“ The Paris COP won ’ t save the world . But it must serve as a springboard for increasing climate ambition in the years ahead . The Paris outcome will be a legal agreement , lasting for the next 15 years at the very least . As a consequence , we can not afford to lock in low ambition , and we can not settle for a deal at any price , ” Oxfam said .
Nearly 150 heads of state will attend the Paris meeting , dubbed COP 21 because it is the 21st session of the Conference of Parties . Monday ’ s opening ceremonies will be followed by two weeks of negotiations lasting six hours a day , broken into morning and afternoon sessions .
The meeting comes as the World Meteorological Organization reported last week that the average global surface temperature in 2015 is likely to be the warmest recorded by humans , and will be 1 degree Celsius above the benchmark temperature before the industrial era .
A weather pattern known as El Nino is responsible for some of the warmth recorded this year , but the WMO scientists said 2011 to 2015 is the hottest five-year period on record , suggesting something more than weather is at work .
The Paris gathering is seen as a chance for the world community to erase the failure of Copenhagen in 2009 — COP 15 — which broke up in chaos , with major developing nations such as China and India refusing to agree to binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions .
The climate fund is one way to try to get developing nations on board , but perhaps anticipating difficulties , Mr. Obama and other world leaders plan to announce a clean energy initiative , dubbed Mission Innovation , designed to double research and development on green energy projects .
Mr. Obama himself will be in Paris only for several days , holding one-on-one meetings with key leaders such as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi . But his personal involvement is likely to be derailed by the need to confront the resurgent Islamic State , which struck in horrific fashion in Paris just a few weeks ago .
Instead , it ’ s his Cabinet officials who will do most of the heavy lifting : Secretary of State John F. Kerry , Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy .
“ We have come so far , but we know we can ’ t go the distance alone , ” Ms. McCarthy said in a video released ahead of her trip . “ Nations around the world must come together in Paris and commit to leaving our kids a healthy , safe planet that is full of promise . ”
But the president ’ s hands are somewhat tied by a GOP-led Congress back home , which has warned Mr. Obama he can not sign any binding deals , and his own plans to impose cuts to U.S. emissions are facing tough challenges in the courts .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , in an op-ed in The Washington Post on Sunday , said whatever the president agrees to could be undone by his successor in 2017 .
“ Few expect this anti-middle class power plan to last much beyond the months remaining in Obama ’ s term though . The courts appear likely to strike it down , the next president could tear it up , more than half of the 50 states have filed suit against it , and — critically — a bipartisan majority in both chambers of Congress just approved legislation to expressly reject it , ” Mr. McConnell said .
One test for the U.S. will be to see if Mr. Obama offers to up the U.S. pledge to the climate fund .
The current pledge is for $ 3 billion — the biggest share of the $ 10.2 billion in total world pledges , from 38 countries . But the U.S. hasn ’ t signed over any of its money yet , with Congress reluctant to carve that much money out of already-stretched discretionary budgets .
Japan is the second-largest contributor , having pledged $ 1.5 billion . The United Kingdom is next at $ 1.2 billion , followed by Germany at $ 1 billion . | 0OkyUI9nUa7Fiyv6 | 2 | Environment | 0.7 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
public_health | Fox Business | https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/fda-approves-biogens-alzheimers-drug | FDA approves Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug | 2021-06-07 | Public Health, FDA, Healthcare, Science, Pharmaceuticals | Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Alzheimer’s treatment revival The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday approved Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug, marking the first new authorized therapy to treat the disease in nearly two decades. The drug, Aduhelm (aducanumab), had received mixed reviews following earlier clinical trials. In a statement following the approval, Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said the agency used the Accelerated Approval pathway, which is when the FDA "approves a drug for a serious or life-threatening illness that may provide meaningful therapeutic benefit over existing treatments when the drug is shown to have an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict a clinical benefit to patients and there remains some uncertainty about the drug’s clinical benefit." The drug, which is the first approved for Alzheimer’s since 2003, works to remove sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid beta from the brain. Cavazzoni said in her statement that the clinical trials for Aduhelm were the first to show that a reduction in these plaques is expected to lead to a reduction in the clinical decline of patients. The Alzheimer's Association called the approval "the beginning of a completely new future for Alzheimer's treatments." BREAST CANCER PILL REDUCES RECURRENCE, DEATH RISKS, STUDY SHOWS The uncertainty surrounding whether it would receive regulatory approval surrounds two phase 3 clinical trials. One study met the primary endpoint and showed a reduction in clinical decline, while the other did not. In November 2020, the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee had said it was not reasonable to consider the clinical benefit of the drug based on one successful study. However, Cavazzoni said that despite not meeting the endpoint, there was still evidence of consistent and convincing reduction of amyloid plaque levels, and that the advisory committee did not discuss the Accelerated Approval option for the drug. STOCKS MIXED AS INVESTORS EYE MINIMUM CORPORATE TAX DEAL "With a treatment for a serious, life-threatening disease in the balance, it makes sense that so many people were following the outcome of this review," Cavazzoni said. "Further, the data included in the applicant’s submission were highly complex and left residual uncertainties regarding clinical benefit. There has been considerable public debate on whether Aduhelm should be approved. As is often the case when it comes to interpreting scientific data, the expert community has offered differing perspectives." Cavazzoni said the FDA "followed our usual course of action" during the review process, and reviewed all relevant data as well as perspectives from the patient community. CLICK HERE TO GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO "In determining that the application met the requirements for Accelerated Approval, the Agency concluded that the benefits of Aduhelm for patients with Alzheimer’s disease outweighed the risks of the therapy." Get a brief on the top business stories of the week, plus CEO interviews, market updates, tech and money news that matters to you. We've added you to our mailing list. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. | 74a5d388cb0c46fa | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | The Hill | https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/421341-trump-leaves-gop-in-turmoil-with-shutdown-looming | Trump leaves GOP in turmoil with shutdown looming | 2018-12-14 | politics | Republicans are girding themselves for a partial government shutdown , just in time for Christmas .
The partial shutdown has grown more and more likely , they say , because of President Trump Donald John TrumpGOP senators balk at lengthy impeachment trial Warren goes local in race to build 2020 movement 2020 Democrats make play for veterans ' votes MORE ’ s self-defeating comments at a White House meeting with congressional Democrats earlier this week about how he would accept blame for a shutdown caused by his demands for $ 5 billion in wall funding .
Two days later , the GOP has no plan for keeping the government open — or for escaping blame for a partial shutdown .
“ There is no discernable plan , none that ’ s been disclosed , ” Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn John CornynGOP senators balk at lengthy impeachment trial Overnight Health Care : Trump officials making changes to drug pricing proposal | House panel advances flavored e-cig ban | Senators press FDA tobacco chief on vaping ban Senate GOP waves Trump off early motion to dismiss impeachment charges MORE ( Texas ) said when asked how President Trump and GOP leaders would avoid a shut down .
GOP lawmakers are waiting on Trump to signal what kind of funding bill he ’ s willing to sign into law in the face of staunch Democratic opposition to spending any new money on a border wall .
“ Everybody is looking to him for a signal about what he wants to do , and so far it ’ s not clear , ” Cornyn said of the president .
The House held its last vote of the week Thursday and will not be back in session until Wednesday — just two days before the deadline for keeping the government open .
GOP leaders have talked about moving a funding bill that includes the $ 5 billion in funding for a wall . They ’ ve even said they believe they could get the votes for the legislation . But the fact that they have not brought a bill to the floor suggests they lack the votes , since passing the bill could give them more leverage in the fight with Democrats .
Trump at the Tuesday meeting with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Charles ( Chuck ) Ellis SchumerOvernight Health Care : Trump officials making changes to drug pricing proposal | House panel advances flavored e-cig ban | Senators press FDA tobacco chief on vaping ban Chad Wolf becomes acting DHS secretary Schumer blocks drug pricing measure during Senate fight , seeking larger action MORE ( D-N.Y. ) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiOvernight Health Care : Trump officials making changes to drug pricing proposal | House panel advances flavored e-cig ban | Senators press FDA tobacco chief on vaping ban Speaker Pelosi , it 's time to throw American innovators a lifeline Why Americans must tune in to the Trump impeachment hearings MORE ( D-Calif. ) said he could have a bill passed by the House easily . “ Then do it , ” Pelosi said , goading the president .
Rep. Patrick McHenry Patrick Timothy McHenryTrump roasts Republicans at private fundraising event North Carolina ruling could cost GOP House seats Divides over China , fossil fuels threaten House deal to reboot Ex-Im Bank MORE ( R-N.C. ) , the chief deputy whip , asked whether the GOP would gain leverage by passing the funding bill with $ 5 billion in wall funding , said he wasn ’ t sure it was in the House GOP ’ s interest to send the bill to the Senate if it couldn ’ t get through that chamber .
“ Ok , so it 's December after the election . We should n't be here for show , we should be here to get our work done and get out of here , ” he told reporters Wednesday evening . “ We have to look at where we are in this process and what is the additive piece here : Is it the stay and wait or is it to take action ? So those two things matter for a call like this . ”
Republicans are coming off an election in which they lost 40 seats , and their leadership is in transition .
Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan Retirees should say 'no thanks ' to Romney 's Social Security plan California Governor Newsom and family dress as 2020 Democrats for Halloween DC 's liaison to rock ' n ' roll MORE ( R-Wis. ) , who is retiring at the end of the year , has largely kept out of public view . His deputies , House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthyHouse Republicans call impeachment hearing 'boring , ' dismiss Taylor testimony as hearsay ███ 's Morning Report - Diplomats kick off public evidence about Trump , Ukraine House Republicans prepare for public impeachment proceedings with mock hearing MORE ( R-Calif. ) and Majority Whip Steve Scalise Stephen ( Steve ) Joseph ScaliseLive updates on impeachment : Schiff fires warning at GOP over whistleblower Bottom Line Trump allies assail impeachment on process while House Democrats promise open hearings soon MORE ( R-La . ) , aren ’ t always on the same page .
Scalise announced Thursday that the House would advance a bill with Trump ’ s requested $ 5 billion for the border wall .
But McCarthy seemed unaware of that plan , according to Bloomberg News , which reported that when asked about it , McCarthy told a reporter , “ I didn ’ t hear him say that . ... Interesting . ”
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby Richard Craig ShelbyWhite House prepared to support December CR On The Money : Trump seeks to shift spotlight from impeachment to economy | Appropriators agree to Dec. 20 funding deadline | New study says tariffs threaten 1.5M jobs Appropriators agree to Dec. 20 funding deadline MORE ( R-Ala. ) said the House ’ s failure to pass a bill presented a significant problem .
“ That ’ s a central question , ” he said . “ We ’ re at an impasse and at the moment it doesn ’ t look like things are getting any better . ”
He floated the possibility of Congress passing an emergency stopgap bill funding the government until Dec. 26 or Jan. 3 . He also said there is discussion about a stopgap lasting until late January or early February .
A House GOP aide said the negotiations now are primarily between the president and Senate leaders .
“ At this point it ’ s really between Chuck Schumer Charles ( Chuck ) Ellis SchumerOvernight Health Care : Trump officials making changes to drug pricing proposal | House panel advances flavored e-cig ban | Senators press FDA tobacco chief on vaping ban Chad Wolf becomes acting DHS secretary Schumer blocks drug pricing measure during Senate fight , seeking larger action MORE and Trump , ” the source said .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison ( Mitch ) Mitchell McConnellGOP senators balk at lengthy impeachment trial Graham : Senate trial 'must expose the whistleblower ' Graham says Schiff should be a witness in Trump impeachment trial MORE ( R-Ky. ) is the GOP 's Senate point man in talks with Trump , but he and the president disagree on tactics .
While Trump declared Tuesday that he would be proud to shut down the government over border security , McConnell strongly wants to avoid that scenario .
“ He has zero interest in going through a government shutdown , ” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito Shelley Wellons Moore CapitoHillicon Valley : Facebook to remove mentions of potential whistleblower 's name | House Dems demand FCC action over leak of location data | Dem presses regulators to secure health care data Senators introduce bill to create 'parity ' among broadband programs Republicans warn election results are 'wake-up call ' for Trump MORE ( R-W.Va. ) , the chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee , said of McConnell .
Rank-and-file Republicans are also pushing back against Trump ’ s threat to shut down the government .
“ This is a case where I think people are putting their political interests ahead of the best interests of the American people . The best interest of the American people is for the government to function smoothly , ” said Rep. Tom Cole Thomas ( Tom ) Jeffrey ColeBottom Line Juan Williams : Republicans flee Trump Sunday shows - Next impeachment phase dominates MORE ( R-Okla. ) , a member of the House Appropriations Committee .
“ I personally don ’ t think a government shutdown will work , ” he added .
Schumer on Thursday morning declared in a Senate floor speech that Democrats won ’ t budge from the offer they made to Trump in the Oval Office Tuesday .
He said Democrats will pass a yearlong stopgap bill funding the Department of Homeland Security or a measure funding all the departments and agencies covered by the seven unfinished appropriations bills .
Both options would keep funding for border fencing at the same level Congress appropriated for fiscal 2018 : $ 1.3 billion .
“ I want to be crystal clear . There will be no additional appropriations to pay for the border wall . It ’ s done , ” Schumer declared on the Senate floor .
In the House , some Republicans sounded ready to try to find a compromise — and a way out .
“ We need to secure our borders , I support that , I support the president , but at some point and time we need to get things done , ” said Rep. Paul Mitchell Paul MitchellEd Markey , John Rutherford among victors at charity pumpkin-carving contest Trump says his Doral resort will no longer host G-7 after backlash House Republicans voice concerns about White House 's impeachment messaging MORE ( R-Mich. ) .
With few bargaining chips left on the table , a lame-duck Speaker and Democrats set to retake the majority in January , House Republicans are acknowledging their colleagues across the aisle may have the upper hand .
“ Well , with the dynamic of the Senate , I think there 's certainly some degree of truth there and with the change of the majority in the House , that I think gives the Democrats a little more leverage than they would have otherwise , ” Rep. Dan Newhouse Daniel ( Dan ) Milton NewhouseBipartisan group reveals agricultural worker immigration bill From state agriculture departments to Congress : Our farmers need the USMCA House passes bill to protect 'Dreamers ' MORE ( R-Wash. ) told ███ . “ I do n't know if they have the upper hand , but they certainly have a more equal hand than they would have otherwise . ” | MnAapDPCQPF9MAPA | 1 | Government Shutdown | -0.4 | Politics | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
republican_party | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/06/13/republicans-push-for-house-vote-to-force-doj-to-release-documents-on-trump-investigation.html | Republicans push for House vote to force DOJ to release documents on Trump investigation | 2018-06-13 | republican_party | Republican lawmakers on Tuesday said that they will be pushing for a vote on a resolution that compels the Department of Justice to cease the delays and finally release all remaining documents related to the Trump campaign probe .
Reps. Mark Meadows , R-N.C. , and Jim Jordon , R-Ohio , both members of the House Freedom Caucus , told Fox News ’ Laura Ingraham that they will push for a vote on the resolution , which will be filed on Wednesday , that would encourage Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to comply with their requests at the House intelligence committee .
“ It 's all about compelling DOJ to turn over documents so we could do proper oversight . If they have nothing to hide , turn over the documents , ” Meadows said on “ The Ingraham Angle . ”
`` It 's all about compelling DOJ to turn over documents so we could do proper oversight . If they have nothing to hide , turn over the documents . '' — U.S. House Rep. Mark Meadows , R-NC .
Jordan said the resolution is different from other the committee requests because it would come from the entire Congress .
“ [ It ’ s ] one thing for us to say , one thing for the chairman of subpoena – it 's another thing if the House of Representatives would actually go on record and say , 'Mr Rosenstein , we as the House , a majority of the House , say you 're not giving us the information we need , ” he said .
ROSENSTEIN THREATENED TO ‘ SUBPOENA ’ GOP-LED COMMITTEE IN ‘ CHILLING ’ CLASH OVER RECORDS , EMAILS SHOW
The resolution comes in the wake of a bombshell report that Rosenstein threatened to “ subpoena ” emails , phone records and other documents from lawmakers and staff on a Republican-led House committee during a meeting earlier this year .
The reviewed emails recalled a January 2018 closed-door meeting involving senior FBI and Justice Department officials and members of the House Intelligence Committee .
“ The DAG [ Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein ] criticized the Committee for sending our requests in writing and was further critical of the Committee ’ s request to have DOJ/FBI do the same when responding , ” the committee 's then-senior counsel for counterterrorism Kash Patel wrote to the House Office of General Counsel . “ Going so far as to say that if the Committee likes being litigators , then ‘ we [ DOJ ] too [ are ] litigators , and we will subpoena your records and your emails , ’ referring to HPSCI [ House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence ] and Congress overall , ” the email added .
The Republican-led intelligence committee is seeking a vast array of documents related to the potential abuses of intelligence and memos that kick-started the investigation into the Trump campaign and whether it colluded with the Russian government .
NUNES SETS DEADLINE FOR DOJ TO PROVIDE DOCUMENTS ON ALLEGED FBI INFORMANT , CLAIMING ‘ OBSTRUCTION ’
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes , R-Calif. , sent a letter last week to Rosenstein demanding to the requested documents concerning the FBI 's alleged informant looking into any Russian ties to President Trump 's 2016 campaign .
`` DOJ continues to obfuscate and delay its production using an array of tactics , such as incorrectly categorizing the requested documents as Gang-of-Eight-level material in order to limit access , '' wrote Nunes , referring to an April 30 subpoena for the documents .
The so-called Gang-of-Eight refers to Republican and Democratic leaders in both houses of Congress as well as top lawmakers from the intelligence panels . `` Such conduct by DOJ is unacceptable because the Gang-of-Eight is a legal fiction that has no basis outside of the confines of Presidential approval and reporting of covert actions . ” | hjqvfFw7ddLJDeuT | 2 | Republican Party | 0.1 | US Congress | 0.1 | White House | 0 | Russia Probe | 0 | null | null |
media_bias | Washington Times | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/mar/19/blaming-donald-trump-for-the-new-zealand-massacre-/ | When the media makes Trump a target | 2019-03-19 | media_bias | The national Sunday morning talk shows blamed President Trump for the New Zealand massacre that left 50 dead . CNN ’ s Jake Tapper warned : “ I don ’ t think moderate Republicans are doing enough to hold President Trump accountable for his rhetoric. ” NBC ’ s Chuck Todd noted supposed parallels to the killer ’ s rhetoric , and asked : “ When the president uses the term ‘ invaders , ’ does that dehumanize to the point where it can get misused ? ”
The media made Mr. Trump its singular target , but not even Democrats were completely spared from the frenzy of critical reactions . In a viral video , an angry NYU student confronted Chelsea Clinton and blamed her “ rhetoric ” for the New Zealand massacre . What was Ms. Clinton ’ s offense ? She criticized Rep. Ilhan Omar , Minnesota Democrat , for making anti-Semitic remarks .
Blaming Mr. Trump or even Chelsea Clinton is nonsensical . The media acts like mass public shootings in other countries are something new , but they are actually much more common outside of the United States . And , well before Mr. Trump became president , foreign shooting , bombing and vehicle attacks were increasing in frequency at a much faster rate .
Research by the Crime Prevention Research Center , over which I preside , shows that there were 2,354 attacks and at least 4,880 shooters outside of the United States from 1998 through 2015 . This excludes incidents that occurred in the course of guerrilla or civil wars . In contrast , our country had 53 attacks and 57 shooters . By our count , the United States accounts for 1.49 percent of mass public shooting murders , 2.20 percent of attacks , and less than 1.15 percent of shooters . All of these figures are much smaller than the United States ’ 4.6 percent share of the world population .
Of the 97 countries in which we have identified mass public shootings , the United States ranks 64th per capita in frequency of attacks and 65th in fatalities . Major European countries such as Norway , Finland , France , Switzerland and Russia all have at least 25 percent higher per capita rates of mass public shooting murders .
Although Americans are concerned by the increased frequency and severity of mass public shootings at home , the rest of the world is experiencing much larger increases . Including all of the attacks in the United States up until the end of last year , the per capita frequency of foreign mass public shootings since 1998 has grown 291 percent faster than in the United States . The growth rate of mass public shooting murders was well more than twice as fast .
Bombings across the world that soared by five-fold from 2007 to 2015 have also dropped by 40 percent over the next two years . It is hardly a pattern that fits the media narrative for responsibility . Worldwide mass killings from vehicle attacks began increasing in 2016 before Mr. Trump became president .
The media also conveniently ignores the killer ’ s manifesto with his stated objective . When he asks himself if “ won ’ t your attack result in calls for the removal of gun rights ” for New Zealanders and Americans , he responded : “ Yes , that is the plan all along ” And within a day , politicians in both countries were doing what the killer wanted . The New Zealand government has already promised to enact a complete ban on semi-automatic guns .
This isn ’ t even the first time that mass public shooters have supported gun control . The Columbine school killers were also gun control advocates .
The media consistently fails to note that these attacks keep occurring where people aren ’ t allowed to defend themselves . No one talks about how lives may have been saved in the New Zealand massacre or the previous day ’ s school shooting in Suzano , Brazil , if people had been able to protect themselves .
Gun control has not been the answer . Brazil has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world , with less than one percent of adults possessing a license to own a gun ( most are police officers ) . In New Zealand , just 250,000 ( 6.56 percent ) out of 3.81 million adults have such licenses .
It is simply a mistake for the media to see a significant share of these attacks as having been egged on by political rhetoric . Doing so only serves to divide people even further .
• John Lott is the president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and a former chief economist at the U.S . Sentencing Commission . | ogzoMHi7rWsMcnSb | 2 | Media Bias | -0.3 | Gun Control And Gun Rights | -0.2 | New Zealand | -0.1 | Donald Trump | -0.1 | null | null |
elections | Breitbart News | http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/08/22/donald-trump-clinton-foundation-must-shut/ | Trump: Clinton Foundation ‘Must be Shut Down’ | 2016-08-22 | Clinton Foundation, Donald Trump, Presidential Elections, Elections | Donald Trump is calling for Hillary Clinton to shut down the controversial Clinton Foundation .
“ Hillary Clinton is the defender of the corrupt and rigged status quo . The Clintons have spent decades as insiders lining their own pockets and taking care of donors instead of the American people , ” Trump says in a press release .
He continued , “ It is now clear that the Clinton Foundation is the most corrupt enterprise in political history . What they were doing during Crooked Hillary ’ s time as Secretary of State was wrong then , and it is wrong now . It must be shut down immediately . ”
Trump ’ s statement comes after the editorial boards at the Boston Globe and the New York Post called for the foundation to be shut down in the wake of the IRS investigation into the Clinton Foundation and the newly released emails that present a conflict of interest and ethical problems between the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton ’ s state department .
Even the Huffington Post , which has strongly opposed Trump ’ s presidential campaign , posted a large headline reading , “ Just Shut It Down . ”
The Republican nominee joined Fox News ’ Fox and Friends on Monday saying the Clintons should return the foreign donations that were made to the Clinton Foundation from “ countries that influence her totally and also countries that discriminate against women and gays . ”
“ They should not take that money , ” he stressed , urging them to return it , alleging that “ it ’ s pay for play . ”
Trump in the past had donated to the Clinton Foundation , explaining recently he did so because he was a businessman .
“ I did give to the Clinton Foundation . What I didn ’ t know is they ’ d be using it for private aircraft and things like that , ” Trump told Fox News ’ Chris Wallace . “ The Clinton Foundation was helping with Haiti and with lots of other things and I thought it was going to do some good work . So , it didn ’ t make any difference to me . ”
“ Again , I was a businessman and it was my obligation to get along with everybody , including the Clintons , including Democrats and liberals and Republicans and conservatives , ” he added . | bd724c0692f5a8df | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | The Daily Wire | https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-far-left-billionaire-activist-tom-steyer-ends-presidential-campaign | BREAKING: Far-Left Billionaire Activist Tom Steyer Ends Presidential Campaign | elections | Far-left billionaire activist Tom Steyer ’ s campaign announced on Saturday that the candidate was dropping out of the presidential race after failing again in another Democratic primary .
“ The news came after Mr. Steyer , 62 , failed to capitalize on his investment of millions of dollars in South Carolina , where he had pinned the hopes of his campaign , ” The New York Times reported . “ Despite spending more than $ 175 million on adverting throughout his campaign , Mr. Steyer did not earn any national pledged delegates in Iowa , New Hampshire or Nevada , making South Carolina something of a make-or-break state for his continued viability . ”
“ There ’ s no question today that this campaign , we were disappointed with where we came out , I think we got one or two delegates from congressional districts , which I thank South Carolina for and the people , ” Steyer said . “ But I said , ‘ if I didn ’ t see a path to winning , that I would suspend my campaign . And honestly , I can ’ t see a path where I can win the presidency . So am I going to continue to work on every single one of these issues ? Yes , of course I am , because I ’ ve never stopped . That ’ s what I ’ m here for . ”
“ And let me say , I kept trying to say this during the campaign , I ’ m a huge grass roots person , ” Steyer continued . “ I of course will be supporting , I ’ ve said from the beginning , every Democrat is a million times better than Trump . Trump is a disaster and let me this , we ’ re in South Carolina , Lindsey Graham is a disaster , he ’ s a disaster for the people here . ”
“ And let me say once last thing , ” Steyer concluded , “ When the Lord closes a door , he opens a window . I will find that window and crawl through it with you , I promise you that . ”
Steyer was widely mocked online after he danced and sang along with a rapper on Friday night in an apparent attempt to appeal to his targeted audience .
When you have to `` back that azz up '' out of the race after you spend $ 22.5 million in ad buys and ca n't hit 15 % pic.twitter.com/DI06UM3yk5 — Mike Hahn ( @ mikehahn_ ) March 1 , 2020
Back that campaign up — Tom Steyer is dropping out of 2020 race . — Ari Melber ( @ AriMelber ) March 1 , 2020
Others attacked the amount of money that he spent on his hopeless campaign .
“ Tom Steyer spent a quarter of a billion dollars on his campaign and he might end up without a single delegate , ” Josh Jordan wrote . “ Just imagine all of the good he could ’ ve done with that money instead of burning it on the ultimate ego trip , which ended with America resoundingly rejecting him . lol . ”
Tom Steyer spent a quarter of a billion dollars on his campaign and he might end up without a single delegate . Just imagine all of the good he could 've done with that money instead of burning it on the ultimate ego trip , which ended with America resoundingly rejecting him . lol . — Josh Jordan ( @ NumbersMuncher ) March 1 , 2020
███ highlighted last year Steyer ’ s general stance on political issues :
Perhaps more so than any of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates , Steyer ’ s candidacy revolves around one core issue : Environmentalism . He has made global warming prevention , opposition to the oil and natural gas industries , and a concomitant greater government role in investing in alternative energy sources the central tenets of his public activist profile . Steyer has a less prolific track record and history of commentary on other issues , but all available evidences points toward his being an across-the-board , full-spectrum progressive/leftist . For example , his 2020 campaign website also touts his work in “ promot [ ing ] social justice and increas [ ing ] participation in our democracy through voter registration and grassroots organizing . ” | CxIQyZfBgPEZyB10 | 2 | South Carolina | -0.9 | Presidential Elections | -0.7 | Democratic Party | -0.7 | Tom Steyer | -0.7 | Elections | 0 | |
coronavirus | National Review (News) | https://www.nationalreview.com/news/intel-agencies-split-over-covid-19-origin-in-long-awaited-report/ | Intel Agencies Split over COVID-19 Origin, in Long-Awaited Report | 2021-08-27 | Coronavirus, Coronavirus Origins | National Review BlackRock, Vanguard Pause Corporate Meetings to Avoid Violating SEC Guidance Targeting ESG Activism Trump Administration Designates Eight Cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations House Oversight Investigating Underreported Foreign Funding at American Universities Trump Administration Pulls Approval of NYC Congestion Toll Ernst Pushes for Kelly Loeffler’s Confirmation as SBA Administrator Ahead of Senate Vote A newly declassified U.S. intel report on the origins of the novel coronavirus reveals that one intelligence agency has assessed with moderate confidence that the virus emerged from a lab-leak, while four others assessed with low confidence that COVID-19 originated from natural exposure to an infected animal. The report says that the intelligence community “remains divided on the most likely origin of COVID-19” and that “all agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated incident.” “The IC judges they will be unable to provide a more definitive explanation for the origin of COVID-19 unless new information allows them to determine the specific pathway for initial natural contact with an animal or to determine that a laboratory in Wuhan was handling SARS-CoV-2 or a close progenitor virus before COVID-19 emerged,” the report adds. It says that China’s cooperation “most likely would be needed to reach a conclusive assessment of the origins of COVID-19.” “Beijing, however, continues to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information and blame other countries, including the United States,” the report reads. “These actions reflect, in part, China’s government’s own uncertainty about where an investigation could lead as well as its frustration the international community is using the issue to exert political pressure on China.” The report comes after President Biden in May tasked the intelligence community with redoubling their investigative efforts to bring the U.S. closer to a “definitive conclusion” within 90 days. “I am grateful for the thorough, careful, and objective work of our intelligence professionals, and while this review has concluded, our efforts to understand the origins of this pandemic will not rest,” Biden said in a statement on Friday. “We will do everything we can to trace the roots of this outbreak that has caused so much pain and death around the world, so that we can take every necessary precaution to prevent it from happening again.” Biden added: “Critical information about the origins of this pandemic exists in the People’s Republic of China, yet from the beginning, government officials in China have worked to prevent international investigators and members of the global public health community from accessing it. To this day, the PRC continues to reject calls for transparency and withhold information, even as the toll of this pandemic continue to rise.” Peter Ben Embarek, the WHO food safety and animal diseases expert who led the organization’s investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus, said in a documentary first aired earlier this month that Chinese colleagues influenced the presentation of the team’s findings. In The Virus Mystery, Ben Embarek said Chinese researchers in the group fought against connecting the origins of the pandemic to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in a report detailing the investigation. The team, which included experts from ten countries, released a report in March saying the virus was likely spread from an animal to humans, calling a theory that the virus was released in a lab accident “extremely unlikely.” The researchers said they would not recommend further investigation. Health experts the world over have said that the novel coronavirus likely originated in Wuhan, China in November 2019. Scientists in recent months have questioned whether the virus originated at a live animal market in Wuhan or was the result of a lab accident at one of the city’s two laboratories — the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Wuhan Centers for Disease Control — that had been studying coronaviruses that originated in bats. China has argued that the virus did not start within its borders and instead has peddled other theories that the virus may have originated elsewhere. Beijing has worked hard to control the narrative surrounding the virus, punishing citizen journalists who spoke out against the government’s explanation of events. The government has also controlled all research in the country into the origins of the virus, according to the Associated Press. Last month, the head of the WHO said it was “premature” to rule out the possibility that the novel coronavirus leaked from a laboratory. The WHO is “asking actually China to be transparent, open and cooperate, especially on the information, raw data that we asked for at the early days of the pandemic,” director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference on July 15. He said there had been a “premature push” to rule out a lab-leak as the origin of the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, mounting evidence appears to suggest that the virus originated with a lab leak. In May, Liang Wannian, the Chinese head of the joint Chinese–WHO effort, acknowledged that Chinese authorities “tested 50,000 animal specimens, including 1,100 bats in Hubei province, where Wuhan is located. But no luck: a matching virus still hasn’t been found.” As National Review previously reported, the virus found in nature that is closest to SARS-CoV-2 was found in a copper mineshaft in Tongguan, Mojiang, Yunnan Province, China, where three of six miners were killed by viral respiratory infections in 2012 after working in the shaft. However, Wuhan is roughly 1,140 miles away from the mineshaft and the first COVID-19 patient in Yunnan Province was not diagnosed until January 21, 2020, well after the outbreak began in Wuhan. NR Daily is delivered right to you every afternoon. No charge. Yet in 2012 and 2013, the Wuhan Institute of Virology collected numerous virus samples from the bats in the Yunnan Province mineshaft. Professor Richard Ebright of Rutgers University’s Waksman Institute of Microbiology says that, “Bat coronaviruses at Wuhan [Center for Disease Control] and Wuhan Institute of Virology routinely were collected and studied at BSL-2, which provides only minimal protections against infection of lab workers.” Additionally, DRASTIC uncovered that the main database of samples and viral sequences of the Wuhan Institute of Virology went offline on September 12, 2019. “Researchers at Wuhan University asked for [genetic] sequences to be removed from the Sequence Read Archive (SRA), a repository for raw sequencing data maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH),” according to Nature. Send a tip to the news team at NR. Gotham-mayhem pics still jolt while Hollywood-glam pics merely amuse. Europe can again become the place the world talks about when it talks about the economic frontier. Europeans have nothing to lose but their August of leisure. There’s moral equivalence, and then there’s a total moral inversion. Trump breaks things only to pretend he is fixing them. On the sights, sounds, and tastes of a mammoth capital, and a bit beyond. There is no way to meet the goal of reducing deficits by $1 trillion without significant cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. © 2025 National Review Newsletters © 2025 National Review | be234a02307bbd6d | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
mexico | The Hill | https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/447070-mexican-officials-to-meet-with-pence-in-last-ditch-effort-to-avert | Mexican officials to meet with Pence in last-ditch effort to avert tariffs | 2019-06-05 | mexico | Vice President Pence on Wednesday will meet with top Mexican officials who are seeking to persuade the Trump administration to abandon plans to impose sweeping tariffs that leaders on both sides of the border warn could damage the continent ’ s economy .
Frustrated by increasing levels of illegal migration , an issue he pledged to address during the 2016 campaign , Trump suddenly announced last week he would slap a 5 percent tariff on all Mexican goods beginning on Monday , tariffs which could rise to 25 percent by October unless Mexico cracks down on illegal border crossings .
Trump said Tuesday during a press conference in London that “ it ’ s more likely that the tariffs go on ” according to schedule , dimming hopes for a quick resolution during Wednesday ’ s meeting at the White House .
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard plans to argue that his country has already taken steps to detain more migrants as well as other steps designed to prevent them from crossing into the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Michael ( Mike ) Richard PompeoDemocrats clash at debate over keeping US troops in Mideast Democrats request briefing on intel behind Trump 's embassy threat claim Hillicon Valley : Apple , Barr clash over Pensacola shooter 's phone | Senate bill would boost Huawei alternatives | DHS orders agencies to fix Microsoft vulnerability | Chrome to phase out tracking cookies MORE left Trump ’ s trip in Europe to attend the meeting in Washington . U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer Robert ( Bob ) Emmet LighthizerGOP senator warns quick vote on new NAFTA would be 'huge mistake ' Pelosi casts doubt on USMCA deal in 2019 Pelosi sounds hopeful on new NAFTA deal despite tensions with White House MORE is also expected to be in attendance .
Ebrard told reporters Tuesday that the delegation 's time in Washington had been spent preparing for the Wednesday meeting , which had been quickly convened with Pompeo over the weekend .
“ What Mexico must do and we are doing is to prepare , and we have our strategy on how to coexist with what sometimes can be unpredictable , '' said Ebrard . “ We can ’ t guarantee that in the future there wo n't be another sort of differences with the United States , but we have to be prepared to manage them . ”
Trump , who decided with a small cadre of advisers to go ahead with the tariffs , has faced major blowback from Republican senators who say the tariffs could slow the U.S. economy and stymie progress on ratifying the revised North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ) with Canada and Mexico .
Some GOP senators have warned the White House that it should not count on their support , as opposed to earlier this year when Trump declared a national emergency to circumvent Congress in order to obtain money for his long-promised border wall . Lawmakers are considering legislation that would disapprove of the tariffs and curb Trump ’ s ability to impose future import duties on his own .
“ This would certainly give me great pause in terms of supporting that type of declaration to enact tariffs versus building the wall , which I completely supported , ” Sen. Ron Johnson Ronald ( Ron ) Harold JohnsonHillicon Valley : Barr asks Apple to unlock Pensacola shooter 's phone | Tech industry rallies behind Google in Supreme Court fight | Congress struggles to set rules for cyber warfare with Iran | Blog site Boing Boing hacked Congress struggles on rules for cyber warfare with Iran Senators set for briefing on cyber threats from Iran MORE ( R-Wis. ) told reporters on Tuesday . “ Listen , Republicans do n't like taxes on American consumers — what tariffs are . ”
The Trump administration has been vague about what steps Mexico would need to take in order to prevent the tariffs from taking effect , adding further confusion to the situation .
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro , who has pushed for the tariffs , said they might not need to take effect at all .
“ We believe that these tariffs may not have to go into effect precisely because we have the Mexicans ' attention , ” Navarro said on CNN .
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan told ███ in an interview the administration wants to see Mexico help create a “ vast reduction ” in illegal crossings by tightening security on its border with Guatemala , expanding intelligence sharing with U.S. law enforcement agencies targeting criminal gangs and cracking down on migrants crossing its northern border with the U.S .
“ He believes Mexico can do more to address this flow from Central America and that ’ s the No . 1 metric we are looking for , ” McAleenan said of Trump . “ We can ’ t have the situation where 1,000 people in one group can cross the border at 4 a.m. without any interdiction or without any effort to stop that unlawful activity . ”
McAleenan was referring to the recent detention of more than 1,000 migrants at the crossing near El Paso , Texas , the largest number on record .
But those changes could take months , if not longer , to take effect . Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney John ( Mick ) Michael MulvaneyNew Parnas evidence escalates impeachment witnesses fight Senate begins preparations for Trump trial Trump accuses Democrats of a 'con job ' as impeachment managers are announced MORE said last week Mexico ’ s progress would be judged on an “ ad hoc ” basis .
In the meantime , many in Washington fear they might not have that long until the tariffs take a toll on the economy .
The private sector added just 27,000 jobs in May , according to a key study , a sign the president ’ s multifront trade war is beginning to have an effect . Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday the central bank is “ closely monitoring ” the situation and indicated it could respond by slashing interest rates in order to prevent widespread damage .
The diplomatic and economic tensions could slow or stop progress toward the president ’ s NAFTA revision , which Pence has previously vowed that Congress would approve by this summer .
The trade pact was signed by the leaders of all three countries last year but must still be ratified by their legislatures . The U.S. and Mexican governments have both started the formal legislative process , but consideration could be delayed with the tariffs in place .
Mexico recently became the U.S. ’ s largest trading partner . Last year , the U.S. imported $ 346.5 billion in goods from Mexico , according to the U.S. trade representative . Automakers , agricultural companies and retailers are expected to be hit hardest by the duties that will be paid for by U.S. importers , which often pass along the cost to consumers .
Rafael Bernal contributed to this report , which was updated at 1:14 p.m . | xBM0QTVKRtQk1Bw6 | 1 | Mexico | -0.4 | Tariffs | -0.3 | Trade | 0.2 | Mike Pence | -0.2 | null | null |
us_house | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/08/16/house-republicans-detail-perjury-allegations-against-clinton.html | House Republicans detail perjury allegations against Clinton | 2016-08-16 | us_house | House Republicans have detailed perjury allegations against Hillary Clinton , citing the apparent conflict between her 2015 congressional testimony about her email practices and the FBI 's conclusions announced in July , according to a letter to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia .
`` The four pieces of sworn testimony by Secretary Clinton described herein are incompatible with the FBI 's findings , '' House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz , R-Utah , and Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte , R-Va. , wrote to U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips . `` We hope this information is helpful to your office 's consideration of our referral . ''
The Justice Department Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs , Peter Kadzik , confirmed in an Aug. 2 letter to both committees they had the perjury investigation request and the department would `` take appropriate action as necessary . ''
The one-page response offered no timeline nor specific commitment to act on the allegations .
According to the Justice Department website , Kadzik , `` led the successful effort to confirm Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Sally Q . Yates . '' Both women were central players handling the Clinton email matter .
Chaffetz and Goodlatte , who have direct oversight for the FBI , wrote to the U.S. attorney that Clinton testified under oath on Oct. 22 , 2015 , before the Benghazi Select Committee , where she also took questions about her email practices from Republican congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio .
`` Secretary Clinton stated 'there was nothing marked classified on my emails , either sent or received , '' the letter states . However , FBI Director James Comey said July 5 that a `` very small number of the emails containing classified information bore the markings indicating the presence of classified information . '' At least three emails had a ( C ) for Confidential which is the lowest level of classification . Fox News first reported in June that classified markings existed , despite Clinton 's public claims .
The letter continued , `` Contrary to her sworn testimony , Secretary Clinton 's lawyers did not read each email in her personal account to identify all the work related messages . ''
Clinton told Jordan that her team `` went through every single email . '' The FBI Director said his investigators found that Clinton 's lawyers did not read all the emails , and relied on a narrow set of search terms to identify which emails were work-related .
`` The lawyers doing the sorting for Secretary Clinton in 2014 did not individually read the content of all her e-emails , '' Comey said July 5 . Instead , they `` relied on header information and used search terms . ''
Clinton also testified to Congress there was only one server .
But the FBI Director said investigators found `` Clinton used several different servers and administrators of those servers during her four years at the State Department and used numerous mobile devices to review and send e-mail on that personal domain . ''
The congressmen emphasized that while Clinton told Congress , and the public , she turned over all her work-related emails , the FBI found otherwise .
`` I provided you , with all my work related emails , all that I had . Approximately 55,000 pages . And they are being publicly released , '' Clinton testified . But FBI investigators found `` several thousand work related emails that were not in the group of 30,000 that were returned by Secretary Clinton to State in 2014 . ''
In the course of its investigation , the FBI recovered most but not all of the deleted records . The search included “ the laborious review of the millions of email fragments dumped into the slack space of the server decomissioned in 2013 . ''
A retired assistant FBI director , and 28-year-veteran of the bureau , said a perjury review is generally straightforward for agents .
`` They look at the transcript of the testimony they provided in light of what they know to be , suspect to be the truth . They investigate both sides and take the aggregate and turn it over to the prosecuting authority for a decision , '' Steven Pomerantz said .
`` Since the Director ( Comey ) already established what she ( Clinton ) said and the investigation is complete , it would be a relatively simple matter to make a decision about perjury ... given the history of this , it 's hard to say - it would seem to me a matter of weeks not months in this case . ''
A violation of 18 USC 1621 can lead to a fine , imprisonment up to five years , or both though legal experts said the crux of the case will rely on showing intent .
When Comey testified July 7 , Clinton 's campaign said some of his statements vindicated the candidate 's public statements .
“ In his testimony today , Comey has reconciled most every apparent contradiction between his remarks Tuesday and Clinton 's public statements , ” Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said on Twitter . | mjh2WHt7eIRMvqR3 | 2 | Politics | -0.8 | Emails | -0.8 | Hillary Clinton | -0.8 | US House | -0.2 | null | null |
free_speech | Vox | https://www.vox.com/2017/8/20/16167870/aclu-hate-speech-nazis-charlottesville | Why the ACLU is adjusting its approach to “free speech” after Charlottesville | 2017-08-20 | free_speech | It was a not-uncommon sentiment in the wake of last week ’ s Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville , in which 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed ( allegedly at the hands of white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. ) and far-right activists assaulted and intimidated counterprotesters .
The ACLU had sued the city of Charlottesville to allow the Unite the Right rally to happen downtown . And now , it had happened , and blood had been spilled .
The ACLU ’ s been through this cycle before . When the ACLU famously defended the rights of a Nazi group to march through a largely Jewish neighborhood in Skokie , Illinois , in the 1970s — a case that ’ s set the parameters of First Amendment protections for protests for the last 50 years — it lost thousands of members and faced bitter questions from liberal American Jews about how it could defend the group that had killed their relatives ( and in some cases tortured them ) just a few decades before .
But these aren ’ t the same Nazis who marched through Skokie , and this isn ’ t the same progressive movement — and it isn ’ t the same ACLU , either . The backlash has already spurred other ACLU chapters to declare that they don ’ t believe free-speech protections apply to events like the one in Charlottesville , and led the ACLU ’ s national director , Anthony Romero , to declare the group will no longer defend the right to protest when the protesters want to carry guns .
The ACLU ’ s response didn ’ t resolve the underlying problem . It didn ’ t fully address a criticism put forward everywhere from Twitter to the New York Times , which published a column from former ACLU volunteer K-Sue Park on Thursday called “ The ACLU Needs to Rethink Free Speech . ”
And with city governments already moving to restrict future far-right rallies to prevent a recurrence of what happened in Charlottesville — the city of Berkeley just passed an emergency ordinance allowing the police to dissolve gatherings that don ’ t have permits , for example , in anticipation of a forthcoming “ alt-right ” rally there — the ACLU is going to have to make some very quick decisions about when and how it will defend the far right in 2017 .
The ACLU seemed like it was in the midst of a partial reinvention as an explicitly progressive organization for the Donald Trump era . It was one of the biggest beneficiaries from the # resistance groundswell of small donations and grassroots interest after the 2016 election , and it ’ s leaned into the idea of itself as a movement organization rather than just the country ’ s most powerful public-interest law firm .
But the Charlottesville rally called attention to an important fault line between the ACLU ’ s traditional vision of justice and the way the progressive grassroots movement sees justice in 2017 : a fight over whether the best way to protect the powerless is to stand against the principles that could be used to crush them , or simply to stand on the side of people seeking social equality by whatever means are necessary .
The ACLU ’ s new line post-Charlottesville : firearms and free speech don ’ t mix
In the days before the Unite the Right rally , it became clear that Charlottesville would be a gathering point for both right-wing rallygoers and left-wing counterprotesters . The city of Charlottesville attempted to defuse the situation by moving the Unite the Right rally away from its original location — Lee Square , in downtown Charlottesville , featuring the statue of Robert E. Lee that was the ostensible cause of the rally — to a location farther away from the center of the city .
The city argued it was trying to prevent confrontation . But to free-speech activists — including the ACLU of Virginia — it was a pretty standard attempt to use a rally permit to marginalize unpopular speech . So the organizers of the rally sued , with the ACLU ’ s support , and won the right to keep the rally downtown .
You know what happened next . The Unite the Right rally was disbanded before it had officially begun , after the hours before the rally were marked by clashes between rallygoers and counterprotesters . The bulk of the violence was initiated by rallygoers , and as counterprotesters marched down a street hours after the rally , a car ( allegedly driven by Fields , who had attended the rally carrying a shield with the logo of white-supremacist group Vanguard America ) killed Heyer and injured 19 other counterprotesters .
Almost immediately , some progressives began to ask why the ACLU had fought to allow this to happen . ACLU of Virginia board member Waldo Jaquith resigned , alleging on Twitter that the organization ignored signs that rally organizers were encouraging violence — and that “ what is legal is not always right . ”
What ’ s legal and what ’ s right are sometimes different . I won ’ t be a fig leaf for Nazis . — Waldo Jaquith ( @ waldojaquith ) August 13 , 2017
With more “ alt-right ” rallies planned for the weeks after Charlottesville , and mounting pressure on the ACLU to stop “ defending Nazis , ” the ACLU ’ s California affiliates issued a statement on Wednesday declaring , “ We review each request for help on a case-by-case basis , but take the clear position that the First Amendment does not protect people who incite or engage in violence . If white supremacists march into our towns armed to the teeth and with the intent to harm people , they are not engaging in activity protected by the United States Constitution . ”
At first , it seemed like the California affiliates were subtweeting , or even splitting with , their Virginia counterpart . But on Thursday , the national organization appeared to side with the Californians — and draw a new line that would have prevented them from defending Unite the Right . ACLU director Anthony Romero told the Wall Street Journal : “ If a protest group insists , ‘ No , we want to be able to carry loaded firearms , ’ well , we don ’ t have to represent them . They can find someone else . ”
The ACLU ’ s apparent shift of position angered some of the civil-libertarians who ’ d been defending it most forcefully early in the week . “ Until now , ” lawyer and blogger Scott Greenfield wrote , the ACLU has “ never quite come out and announced that they will refuse to defend a constitutional right . This announcement says that when someone seeks to exercise two rights at the same time , the ACLU is outta there . ”
At the same time , though , it ’ s not clear that Romero ’ s statement is enough to appease the progressives who believe that the ACLU has blood on its hands for Charlottesville . Because not only is what ’ s legal not always the same as what ’ s right ( as Waldo Jaquith said ) , but in this case , the answers to both of those questions are hotly contested .
Legally , the relationship between the 1st and 2nd Amendments is complicated — and the ACLU stepped in it
In practice , freedom of speech isn ’ t exactly absolute : “ Government may not censor speech because of its viewpoint , ” says former ACLU director Nadine Strossen , “ but it may censor speech because of its effects . ”
To be specific , government can prevent speech in the case of an “ emergency ” — when it ’ s clear that there ’ s no other way to prevent or protect against violence . But for more than a century , the courts have wrestled with what responsibility someone has when their speech results in violence — and when it ’ s okay to outlaw the former to prevent the latter .
One speech emergency is a “ true threat ” — speech that is intended to provoke a “ reasonable fear that you are going to be attacked or harmed by the person engaging in the expression. ” Another ( the one that the ACLU ’ s California affiliates appeared to be invoking in their statement ) is incitement : as defense lawyer and blogger Ken White puts it , “ Is it intended to , and likely to , cause imminent lawless action ? ”
The “ imminent ” is important . “ Speech about why it ’ s morally appropriate to do lawless things is not incitement , ” White says .
An earlier legal standard held that the government could prohibit speech that had a “ bad tendency ” to result in lawless action down the road — a standard that was used to censor Communists and antiwar protesters , among other groups . But in 1969 , the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Ohio couldn ’ t prosecute speakers at a KKK rally simply for advocating for “ reveangeance ” against “ n * * * * * rs ” and “ Jews. ” The reason , as Strossen puts it : “ They were having a rally just for themselves . There was nobody else there , and nobody could see it , ” so there wasn ’ t an imminent danger . ( The KKK , in that case , was represented by the ACLU . )
But as that case makes clear , incitement isn ’ t just about what someone says but the context in which they say it . The same is true for “ true threats ” — the question is what about the context in which the speech is offered makes it clear that it ’ s reasonable for someone to feel afraid of harm .
And in the 21st century , the context in which this sort of speech is being delivered as part of a public protest is different for one big reason : guns .
“ The cases acknowledging an individual right to bear arms are very recent , ” White points out . After decades of maintaining that the Second Amendment applies to groups of people ( a “ well-organized militia ” ) instead of individuals seeking to own and carry guns , the Supreme Court sided with the “ individual right ” in the 2008 case Heller v. District of Columbia . That puts it “ like 50 years behind where the First Amendment is , ” White says , in terms of case law about what that right actually means : who it refers to , when it applies , and what if any “ emergencies ” justify the government curtailing it .
In other words , when groups of people decide to rally at a location for political purposes , and many of those people decide to bring guns , they ’ re sitting at the intersection of two different rights . And , White says , “ I don ’ t think that we ’ ve really developed the law yet very well on the connection between ” them .
And there isn ’ t an obvious bright line about what kind of speech is turned into a threat or an incitement when there ’ s a gun involved .
“ I can certainly imagine if I were for example a counterdemonstrator , and I ’ m demonstrating against people who are there brandishing firearms , I think I would feel very frightened and I think that would be a reasonable fear , ” says Strossen . “ Even as I ’ m describing it , I think my imagination ’ s pretty good , because I ’ m feeling a little chill go down my body . ”
But White is adamant that “ carrying weapons isn ’ t in itself incitement , ” and that someone can ’ t argue they face “ reasonable fear ” from a demonstrator simply carrying a weapon in a place where it ’ s legal to do so . “ Combine open carry with a statement like ‘ we are coming for you , ’ and you 've got something , ” he says . “ But you still need a threat . ”
In other words , all of these cases are inevitably going to come down to the details of who said what and when — details that are hard enough to figure out in advance , when the question is whether government will allow a future event to happen , and that are certainly not easy to draw a general principle on .
Strossen interprets Romero ’ s statement of the ACLU ’ s new policy as a commitment to “ look even closer at the facts ” before deciding which cases to take on . But “ at a time when legal specificity is needed , ” says White , “ they ’ re being dangerously vague about what they think the law is . ”
He points out that the California affiliates ’ statement “ was issued in the context of imminent ( right-wing ) marches in California . Are they saying it isn ’ t constitutionally protected ? Are they saying it shouldn ’ t be ? ”
And are they saying that the real problem is the guns , or that the people holding them are white supremacists ?
The people mad at the ACLU don ’ t believe there ’ s an easy distinction between speech and violence
Without being vague enough to drive lawyers like Ken White crazy , though , the ACLU ’ s statements would have seemed totally tone-deaf and non-responsive to the controversy raging around them . Because the question that ’ s engulfed the progressive movement in the week after Charlottesville is whether the mere existence of outspoken white supremacy , in public performance , is an existential threat .
From a leftist perspective , there ’ s more to violence than physical aggression — it ’ s also violent to promote ideas that see other groups of people as less than human , marginalize them , or prevent them from speaking . Those are the people who believe that “ hate speech ” either isn ’ t protected as free speech , or that it shouldn ’ t be — because in the case of “ hate speech , ” speech and violence are the same thing .
The NYU law professor Jeremy Waldron laid out this case in a 2012 book , The Harm in Hate Speech . He argued that the message sent by “ hate speech ” was “ to negate the implicit assurance that a society offers to the members of vulnerable groups — that they are accepted ” and that they can go about their day “ with no need to face hostility , violence , discrimination or exclusion by others. ” To Waldron , that ’ s an assurance the government is obligated to provide to all people equally , and if hate speech undermines it then hate speech ought to be curtailed .
Even some progressives who don ’ t believe in outlawing “ hate speech ” in general believe that white supremacy and Naziism are inherently violent ideologies , and therefore that adhering to them is a call for violence in its own right .
Not with words -- you can ’ t fight it with words . With fists . — C.A . Punchallnazis ( @ EyePatchGuy ) August 17 , 2017
The debate isn ’ t over punching Nazis with guns , it ’ s over punching Nazis .
But the ACLU has built its reputation , for decades , on the idea that there is no ideology so dangerous it doesn ’ t deserve vigorous First Amendment protections . “ Going back to the organization ’ s founding in 1920 , ” says Strossen , “ it was defending freedom of speech for anti-civil-libertarians , everybody from fascists to communists. ” ( This is something of a whitewash of the ACLU ’ s institutional history — like a lot of other establishment liberal organizations in the 1950s , it was too afraid of McCarthyism to defend Communists and even required members to abjure Communism in an oath — but it ’ s a decent account of its impact on the current state of free-speech law . )
From the perspective of civil libertarians , those cases — and the Skokie Nazi case — prevented a dangerous slippery slope : any legal precedent that gets set restricting speech because of what it says can easily be turned against any other speech the government doesn ’ t favor . If the paradigmatic free-speech cases of 50 years ago protected racist right-wingers , the precedents they overturned had prosecuted communists , pacifists , labor unionists , and civil-rights and racial-justice advocates .
It ’ s mind-boggling to civil libertarians like Strossen and White that any progressive , in the Trump era , would be okay with the government deciding what speech is inherently hateful or violent and what isn ’ t .
Advocating for punching Nazis is your 1st Amendment right ! Though it probably would n't be if we expand the legal definition of 'incitement ' . — Trevor Timm ( @ trevortimm ) August 17 , 2017
“ If people understood that US law draws very sensible lines between punishable and protected speech , ” says Strossen , “ I think they would have a lot more confidence that current law is the way to go. ” The unspoken counterpart : if people tried to move those lines , they wouldn ’ t end up being able to control where the law ended up .
Civil libertarians see a bright line in terms of law — they have to protect a particular legal principle unconditionally , because otherwise the principle will disappear . Meanwhile , their critics see a bright line in terms of power . To many progressives , the question of who needs to be protected is much more important than the ideas being used to justify it — and they feel it ’ s simply not all that difficult to step in when a principle is being used to benefit the powerless , and step back when it ’ s used to benefit the powerful .
This won ’ t be the last time the ACLU comes under fire for whose rights it chooses to defend
In retrospect , it ’ s a little surprising that the ACLU wasn ’ t better prepared to come under fire from the left over Charlottesville ; after all , it had just survived another progressive uproar about taking on a right-wing client .
The week before the Charlottesville rally , the national ACLU and the DC and Virginia affiliates announced that they were suing the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which regulates the Metro subway system in DC , for rejecting ads deemed “ political . ”
The group of rejected advertisers represented by the ACLU included a women ’ s-health network that specializes in contraceptives and abortion — but it also included right-wing firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos , who ’ s managed to squeeze 15 minutes of fame out of saying inflammatory things and being protested on ( and banned from ) college campuses because of them .
Perhaps unsurprisingly , the headline became “ ACLU defends Milo. ” And several progressives were annoyed at best and outraged at worst — not because they were particularly invested in keeping Yiannopoulos ’ ads off the DC Metro , but because they didn ’ t understand why the ACLU was choosing to take him on as a client ( especially when they could have taken a lower-key approach , like filing a brief on his behalf ) .
This is the root of the progressive objection to the ACLU : not that the things it is doing are legally wrong , but that by picking battles that don ’ t always align with progressive objectives it ’ s missing the forest of justice for the trees .
“ The danger that communities face because of their speech isn ’ t equal , ” K-Sue Park wrote in her Thursday New York Times column . “ The A.C.L.U. ’ s decision to offer legal support to a right-wing cause , then a left-wing cause , won ’ t make it so . ”
It ’ s a charge that ’ s been leveled against the ACLU since Skokie and earlier . In a post-Skokie debate between the ACLU ’ s then-director and a leftist lawyer from the National Lawyers Guild , the leftist lawyer opened with : “ The law is not neutral . The courts are not neutral . The A.C.L.U . is not as neutral as it pretends . ”
But the progressive critique now , as articulated by Park , is actually that the ACLU is neutral , and reality isn ’ t . It ’ s an argument progressives also made in 2010 , when the ACLU supported the Supreme Court ’ s controversial decision in Citizens United , which struck down restrictions on campaign finance as a First Amendment violation . Park writes that power determines whose speech matters , and that a real defense of “ free speech ” would “ imagine a holistic picture of how speech rights are under attack right now ” — for everything from corporations to criminal law and voting restrictions — “ not focus on only First Amendment case law . ”
From this perspective , allowing the government to pick and choose whose speech is protected isn ’ t a slippery slope — it ’ s already happening . ( The fact that state legislatures in Tennessee and Florida considered bills in 2017 that would give immunity from civil lawsuits to drivers who ran into protesters blocking streets was used both by Ken White in arguing for “ viewpoint-neutral ” free speech protection , and by Park in her op-ed arguing against it — with both of them using the example to make the case that the current power structure is biased against left-leaning dissent . ) The difference is that it ’ s happening in ways that they allege are too subtle for the ACLU ’ s current strategy .
The ACLU rebranded itself for the resistance . And now it ’ s reaping the backlash .
What ’ s odd about Park ’ s critique is that the ACLU is involved in many , if not most , of the issues she thinks are posing a more urgent threat to free speech than attempts to restrain Nazis from marching on Lee Square . The contemporary ACLU has whole divisions dedicated to voting rights , criminal justice , and LGBTQ rights . It consistently advocates for affirmative action . It ’ s poured millions into an effort to protect immigrant rights at the state level . It has become , in many ways , enmeshed with the rest of the progressive movement .
But that ’ s also what makes Park ’ s critique , and the critique of others who agree with her , hit so close to home . Because the ACLU does look like a progressive organization right now , it ’ s particularly striking when it disagrees with the rest of the progressive movement .
This was true before the 2016 election ( it ’ s why the ACLU took so much heat for Citizens United ) . But in the wake of the election of Donald Trump , it really looked like the ACLU itself was embracing an identity as a leader of the progressive movement .
In the immediate aftermath of the election , the ACLU became a touchstone organization for progressives ( from people on Twitter to celebrities ) to broadcast their support for and call for donations to . After all , it was an umbrella organization working on a range of issues that tracked with the people most likely to be made vulnerable under a Trump administration , but the fact that it was not explicitly on the Democrats ’ “ side ” made it look like a symbol of the transpartisan decency that the country had lost by electing Trump .
By February , the organization had raised $ 79 million since the election ( from 1 million donors ) . Its membership had more than doubled . But along with that flood of support came the expectation that the ACLU actually do something with it , and become a # resistance leader .
Grassroots movement-building wasn ’ t the organization ’ s traditional strength , but it became a new focus . Visit the ACLU ’ s website today , and this is the banner you ’ ll see , above a picture of Trump and the headline “ THE FIGHT IS ON ” :
And they ’ ve used that network to mobilize on progressive economic issues beyond the organization ’ s traditional mission — during the fight over Congressional repeal of the Affordable Care Act , for example , the ACLU fought hard to resist cuts to Medicaid .
If someone didn ’ t know anything about the ACLU before the election — or if they believed , with some reason , that the group was remaking itself for the Trump era — it makes sense they ’ d be alarmed to see the ACLU defending Trump allies like Milo Yiannopoulos , or helping the white supremacists who Trump was excoriated for calling “ very fine people ” in Charlottesville . That doesn ’ t seem like resistance , it seems like helping the people trying to crush the resistance .
As far as the ACLU ’ s traditional values are concerned , resistance is what you do , not the side you ’ re on . And they ’ re used to members not agreeing with everything they ’ re working on : “ no thinking person could possibly agree with every single thing that the ACLU does , ” says Strossen .
But she hastens to add , “ I think it ’ s essential that there be at least one organization that is striving to do what our government is required to do , which is to defend all fundamental freedoms for all people regardless of the color of skin and regardless of the color of your ideology . ”
Traditionally , that principle has been immune to pressure from members . But with more members — and members with higher expectations , than ever before — it ’ s not yet clear whether the post-Charlottesville reset the ACLU ’ s attempting is a way to smooth over the difference between their vision of justice and many of their members ’ — or a step to bring themselves in line with the progressive resistance group members may want them to be . | at3NfgOlmn4TXi8W | 0 | Free Speech | 0.8 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_house | Vox | http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/21/13358274/paul-ryan-bernie-sanders | Paul Ryan attacked Bernie Sanders. It backfired spectacularly. | 2016-10-21 | us_house | A specter is haunting Speaker Paul Ryan — the specter of Bernie Sanders controlling the Senate budget committee .
Speaking at an event with College Republicans in Wisconsin earlier this week , Ryan warned that letting the Senate slip back into Democratic hands might give Vermont ’ s democratic socialist one of the most powerful positions for shaping the federal budget .
“ If we lose the Senate , do you know who becomes chairman of the Senate budget committee ? , ” Ryan said , according to the Nation . “ A guy named Bernie Sanders . Ever heard of him ? That ’ s what we ’ re dealing with here if we lose control of the Senate . ”
Ryan ’ s hit on Sanders backfired , badly . Citing Ryan ’ s comments in a fundraising blast , Sanders was able to raise just under $ 2 million in two days for about a dozen Democratic Senate and House candidates — furthering his chances of actually becoming budget committee chair .
I heard what @ SpeakerRyan said : If the GOP loses the Senate , I 'll be the Budget chairman . Sounds like a good idea . https : //t.co/9EFfzgimCX — Bernie Sanders ( @ BernieSanders ) October 19 , 2016
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the fundraising haul was North Carolina Democrat Deborah Ross , who could unseat Republican Sen. Richard Burr in the state , according to the Washington Post . Sanders has made helping in down-ballot races a big priority since exiting the presidential primary , and he was quick to jump at the opportunity created by Ryan ’ s remarks .
For the audience he was addressing , Ryan ’ s remarks made sense : Conservatives , even young conservatives , have no great love for Bernie Sanders . In that context , citing the Vermont senator to frame the stakes of the 2016 election makes sense .
The problem for Ryan was that his remarks quickly ricocheted around the web and national media . And Sanders doesn ’ t just retain a big and loyal following that can quickly raise big gobs of cash — he also remains wildly popular with the American public at large .
In fact , as Princeton historian Matt Karp noted this week in Jacobin , Sanders has the highest favorability ratings of any major American politician . Turning the congressional elections into a referendum on Sanders himself is not , from any strategic standpoint , a good move for Ryan :
Moreover , as John Nichols notes in the Nation , Sanders really does stand to dramatically increase his clout if the Democrats retake the Senate . Nichols writes :
Sanders could also end up chairing the powerful Senate Health , Education , Labor , and Pensions ( HELP ) Committee , which he could use to advance many of the proposals ( for affordable college , empowering unions , and investing in public-health programs ) that made his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination so popular . The final list of committee assignments will be influenced by the choices of senior senators , such as Washington ’ s Patty Murray . “ There ’ s lots of individual choices ahead , of people who are senior to Bernie , ” says Senator Charles Schumer of New York , who is set to replace retiring Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada . Yet Schumer says of Sanders , “ He will chair a significant committee if we win the majority . ’ ’
In other words , nobody knows exactly how much standing Sanders will have in the next Senate Democratic caucus . But he seems poised to play a big role .
And just trying to imagine how Ryan and Sanders might try to strike a budget deal may make your head spin . Sanders has called for raising taxes on the top 0.1 percent by an average of $ 3 million . Ryan ’ s plans would slash the taxes paid by each member of the 1 percent by a quarter-million . Sanders proposed the most dramatic expansion of welfare programs out of every candidate in this year ’ s race . Ryan would decimate programs for the poor by two-thirds . Sanders wants a single-payer health care system . Ryan wants to raise the Medicare retirement age and has pushed a health care plan that risks leaving millions uninsured .
This week ’ s minor skirmish between Ryan and Sanders will quickly fade into the background noise of a loud campaign . But in a few years , we may look back and see it as a preview of the major power struggle in the next Congress . | DuTbGJdgHEWqZrc9 | 0 | Bernie Sanders | 0.8 | Paul Ryan | -0.4 | US House | -0.2 | Politics | 0 | null | null |
polarization | American Spectator | https://spectator.org/the-moralizing-cuomo-brothers/ | The Moralizing Cuomo Brothers | 2020-03-26 | Andrew Cuomo, Chris Cuomo, New York, Democratic Party, Polarization, Morality, Abortion | Turn on the TV these days and you are bound to catch one of the Cuomo brothers inveighing against the “ selfish. ” Chris Cuomo on CNN harangues any one who dares suggest that America restart its economy , while Andrew Cuomo delivers lectures on the importance of staying home lest one expose the elderly to illness . Both brothers have inherited their father ’ s penchant for high and moralistic rhetoric . They have also inherited his incoherent moral philosophy .
Mario Cuomo was given to flowery denunciations on many subjects , but not abortion . There he would fall silent and simply say that he is “ personally opposed ” to it . His sons don ’ t even maintain that conceit . Andrew and Chris are both personally and publicly supportive of abortion .
Recall Andrew ’ s comment that pro-lifers don ’ t even belong in New York : “ Who are they ? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life , pro-assault-weapon and anti-gay ? Is that who they are ? Because if that ’ s who they are , and they ’ re the extreme conservatives , they have no place in the state of New York , because that ’ s not who New Yorkers are . ”
Last year , he signed into law the most liberal abortion law in the country . “ Today we are taking a giant step forward in the hard-fought battle to ensure a woman ’ s right to make her own decisions about her own personal health , including the ability to access an abortion , ” Cuomo said . “ With the signing of this bill , we are sending a clear message that whatever happens in Washington , women in New York will always have the fundamental right to control their own body . ”
After passage of the law , he ordered , “ I am directing that New York ’ s landmarks be lit in pink to celebrate this achievement and shine a bright light forward for the rest of the nation to follow . ”
Part of his justification for abortion rights is that women need them in order to have careers . In other words , he is perfectly willing to sacrifice unborn children for the perceived economic good of women — a line of reasoning that he rejects in the case of the elderly . At a press conference this week , he said he would not put the “ elderly at risk ” in order to “ boost the economy. ” He said , “ That ’ s not who we are . ”
Actually , it is . New York is responsible for many of the abortions in America today .
“ My mother is not expendable and your mother is not expendable and our brothers and sisters are not expendable , and we ’ re not going to accept a premise that human life is disposable , and we ’ re not going to put a dollar figure on human life , ” Cuomo said this week . “ You can do both but not in a clumsy , ham-handed way . ‘ Well , we ’ ll just sacrifice old people ; they ’ re old people anyway and the old get left behind. ’ What is this ? Some modern Darwinian theory of natural selection ? You can ’ t keep up so the band is going to leave you behind ? God forbid . ”
Cuomo would never extend this ethic of life to the unborn . He finds them highly “ expendable . ” | 410b277a6bd13d6a | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
technology | CNN Business | https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/01/tech/meta-canada/index.html | Meta begins blocking news access on its platforms in Canada | 2023-08-03 | Technology, Media Industry, Social Media, Big Tech, Canada, Facebook, Meta, Business | Washington CNN —Meta has begun to remove news content from Facebook and Instagram in Canada, the social media giant said Tuesday, in response to recently passed legislation in the country that requires tech companies to negotiate payments to news organizations for hosting their content.As a result of the move — which Meta had previously said would occur before the law takes effect — Meta’s Canadian users will no longer be able to click on links to news articles posted to Facebook and Instagram.The changes began Tuesday and will roll out gradually over the coming weeks, said Meta spokesperson Andy Stone.The decision comes amid a global debate over the relationship between news organizations and social media companies about the value of news content, and who gets to benefit from it.Google has also announced that it plans to remove news content from its platforms in Canada when the law takes effect, which could happen by December.The Canadian legislation, known as Bill C-18, was given final approval in June. It aims to support the sustainability of news organizations by regulating “digital news intermediaries with a view to enhancing fairness in the Canadian digital news marketplace.”It comes after the passage of a 2021 Australian law that the tech platforms initially opposed by warning it would similarly force them to remove news content. Since then, the platforms have reached voluntary agreements with a range of news outlets in that country.Like-minded proposals have been introduced around the world amid allegations that the tech industry has decimated local journalism by sucking away billions in online advertising revenues.In May, Meta also threatened to remove news content from California if the state moved ahead with a revenue-sharing bill. The legislation was put on hold last month.And at the federal level, the US Senate in June advanced a bill that would grant news organizations the ability to jointly negotiate for a greater share of advertising revenues against online platforms, thanks to a proposed antitrust exemption for publishers and broadcasters.In a blog post Tuesday, Meta said the Canadian legislation “misrepresents the value news outlets receive when choosing to use our platforms.”“The legislation is based on the incorrect premise that Meta benefits unfairly from news content shared on our platforms, when the reverse is true,” the blog post said. “News outlets voluntarily share content on Facebook and Instagram to expand their audiences and help their bottom line.”Canadian users of Meta’s platforms will still be able to access news content online by visiting news outlets’ websites directly or by signing up for their subscriptions and apps. | 81131609ead60f6a | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
religion_and_faith | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/12/04/pope-francis-is-catholic-churchs-obama-god-help-us/ | Pope Francis is the Catholic Church's Obama? God help us | 2013-12-04 | religion_and_faith | Pope Francis is undergoing a popularity surge comparable to the way Barack Obama was greeted by the world in 2008 . And just as President Obama has been a disappointment for America , Pope Francis will prove a disaster for the Catholic Church .
My fellow Catholics should be suspicious when bastions of anti-Catholicism in the left-wing media are in love with him .
Much is being made of his ‘ compassion ’ and ‘ humility , ’ but kissing babies and hugging the sick is nothing new . Every pope in recent memory has done the same , yet only now are the media paying attention . Benedict XVI and John Paul II refused to kowtow to the liberal agenda , and so such displays of tenderness were under-covered .
But Francis is beating a retreat for the Catholic Church , and making sure its controversial doctrines are whispered , not yelled – no wonder the New York Times is in love .
Just like President Obama loved apologizing for America , Pope Francis likes to apologize for the Catholic Church , thinking that the Church is at its best when it is passive and not offending anyone ’ s sensibilities .
In his interviews with those in the left-wing media he seeks to impress , Francis has said that the Church needs to stop being ‘ obsessed ’ with abortion and gay marriage , and instead of seeking to convert people , “ we need to get to know each other , listen to each other and improve our knowledge of the world around us . ”
This softly-softly approach of not making a fuss has been tried before , and failed . The Second Vatican Council of the 1960 ’ s aimed to “ open the windows ” of the Church to the modern world by doing just this .
The result was the Catholic version of New Coke . Across the West where the effects were felt , seminaries and convents emptied , church attendance plummeted , and adherence to Church doctrine diminished .
John Paul II and Benedict XVI worked hard to turn this trend around , but now Pope Francis wants the bad old days to resume .
Proof of this is Francis ’ aforementioned statement of the Church being obsessed with controversial issues and the need to rebalance by talking about it less .
That Francis didn ’ t see that this would be translated into headlines of “ Pope tells Catholics to shut up about things that offend Sandra Fluke ” by every left-wing media outlet shows a terrifying naivety .
For years , the majority of priests did n't dare cover controversial topics in their homilies in fear of getting angry letters from pick-and-choose Catholics outraged that their pastor dared to say something out of line with the Democratic Party .
Most parishioners therefore haven ’ t heard the Church ’ s argument on controversial topics . Consequently , usage of contraception is only slightly lower in Catholics than in the general population , and support of gay marriage is actually higher in Catholics than the general population . Perhaps talking about it even less isn ’ t the answer ?
In trying to please the media and the modern world , Francis mistakes their glee for respect . Just like Obama thought he ’ d won over Putin by promising a reset , Francis thinks by talking vacuously about the poor , he will be respected . And it is vacuous -- the pontiff recently asked why it ’ s news that the stock market drops but not when an old person dies . When your leader is asking , “ Why isn ’ t the newspaper a laundry list of obituaries ? ” you know you elected the wrong guy .
What effect is this having ? For all we ’ re being told about how ‘ disenfranchised ’ Catholics are being brought back by Francis ‘ reaching out , ’ a recent Pew Research study showed that in America , the number of people who identify as Catholic has actually decreased . Lesson : rubbing the egos of Church-hating left-wingers doesn ’ t make more Catholics , it just makes the Church less respected .
Francis not only panders to enemies and professional grievance mongers , but also attacks his allies . Just as Obama snubs Britain and Israel , Pope Francis swipes at practicing Catholics .
So not only has he insulted , and severely damaged the work of , pro-life and pro-marriage groups with his comments , he has also gone on the attack , dismissing Catholics who attend the older rites in Latin as ‘ ideologizing ’ and being guilty of ‘ exploitation. ’ Apparently “ Who am I to judge ? ” doesn ’ t apply here .
On world matters , Francis ’ statements are embarrassing . About communism , a destructive ideology that slaughtered millions of Catholics , he said :
“ Learning about it through a courageous and honest person was helpful . I realized…an aspect of the social , which I then found in the social doctrine of the Church . ''
Not such kind words for the free market , however . In his recent apostolic exhortation he slammed unfettered capitalism , calling it ‘ a new tyranny . ’
Apart from the fact that there is no major nation practicing unfettered capitalism ( like Obama , Francis loves attacking straw men ) there is more real tyranny in socialist cesspools like Francis ’ home of Argentina than in places where capitalism is predominant .
In the document he rejects the free market and calls for governments to overhaul financial systems so they attack inequality . In doing so he shows himself painfully misguided on economics , failing to see that free markets have consistently lifted the poor out of poverty , while socialism merely entrenches them in it , or kills them outright .
Like Obama , Francis is unable to see the problems that are really endangering his people . Like Obama he mistakes the faithful for the enemy , the enemy for his friend , condescension for respect , socialism for justice and capitalism for tyranny .
As a Catholic , I do hope Francis ’ papacy is a successful one , but from his first months he seems hell-bent on a path to undo the great work of Benedict XVI and John Paul II , and to repeat critical mistakes of the past .
Adam Shaw is a News Editor for FoxNews.com and writes about Anglo-American and Catholic issues . He can be reached here or on Twitter : @ AdamShawNY | 1SpzkFnw3uWZweTP | 2 | Catholic Church | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
taxes | USA TODAY | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/09/13/trump-hurricanes-mean-tax-cuts-more-important-than-ever/661040001/ | Trump: Hurricanes mean tax cuts are more important than ever | 2017-09-13 | taxes | CLOSE President Donald Trump is preaching bipartisanship as he meets with a group of moderate members of Congress from both parties Wednesday . ( Sept. 13 ) AP
WASHINGTON – President Trump is once again trying his hand at bipartisanship – even suggesting on Wednesday that rich people may be taxed higher under a plan he would negotiate with congressional Democrats .
After meeting with moderate members of Congress on Wednesday , Trump said he expects wealthy Americans to be `` pretty much where they are '' under a new tax plan – but it 's possible their tax bills could increase .
`` If they have to go higher , they 'll go higher , frankly , '' Trump told reporters after meeting with a group of Democratic and Republican House members who could hold the balance of power on close votes .
Trump 's comments could open another rift with Republicans , who oppose tax hikes . But Trump ’ s eagerness to strike a deal on tax reform may mean he ’ s willing to partner with Democrats .
As part of his tax push , Trump also scheduled a private dinner at the White House on Wednesday with congressional Democratic leaders , Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California .
The meetings come just one week after Trump made a deal to raise the debt ceiling with the Democratic leaders he referred to as `` Chuck and Nancy , '' angering some Republicans and scrambling their legislative strategy through the end of the year .
Buoyed by last week 's deal , Trump appeared confident about an even bigger agreement over taxes .
“ The rich will not be gaining at all with this plan , '' Trump said . `` We are looking for the middle class and we are looking for jobs – jobs being the economy . So we ’ re looking at middle class and we ’ re looking at jobs . ''
Earlier , Trump tweeted : `` The approval process for the biggest Tax Cut and Tax Reform package in the history of our country will soon begin . Move fast Congress ! ''
The approval process for the biggest Tax Cut & Tax Reform package in the history of our country will soon begin . Move fast Congress ! — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) September 13 , 2017
In his morning tweets , Trump linked his efforts to pass tax cuts with the need for recovery efforts from hurricanes Harvey and Irma . `` With Irma and Harvey devastation , Tax Cuts and Tax Reform is needed more than ever before . Go Congress , go ! '' Trump tweeted .
With Irma and Harvey devastation , Tax Cuts and Tax Reform is needed more than ever before . Go Congress , go ! — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) September 13 , 2017
Some Republicans who generally oppose tax hikes said they would not reject out of hand Trump 's idea that the wealthy may face higher taxes .
“ That ’ s not a non-starter for me , '' said Rep. Mark Meadows , R-N.C. , leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus . Meadows says his priorities are cutting corporate taxes and doubling the standard deduction , but said , `` I ’ m willing to look at everything in trying to make sure that we get hard working American taxpayers the most relief that we can . ”
Trump has argued that cutting taxes and simplifying the tax code will spur economic growth , helping recovery in communities damaged in the recent storms .
Most of the House moderates – eight Democrats , five Republicans – who met with Trump on Wednesday belong to the self-described “ Problem Solvers ” caucus , led by Reps. Tom Reed , R-N.Y. , and Rep. Josh Gottheimer , D-N.J .
Trump and his team , according to White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders , will work with any Democrat `` willing to work with us to deliver this critical relief for the American people . ''
The president is in no way abandoning Republicans , she said .
Asked why GOP congressional leaders Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan were n't invited to dinner with Schumer and Pelosi , Sanders said simply : `` You 've got the leader of the Republican Party sitting at the table . ''
A tax overhaul is a key promise for Trump and other Republcians . Rep. Mark Sanford , R-S.C. , said the GOP base is “ very frustrated ” about the failure of Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare , so the party must now deliver on tax reform . “ They want to see a pelt on the wall , ” he said of conservative voters . `` If it ’ s not this , I don ’ t know what it is . ”
Despite Trump 's enthusiasm for a deal , skeptics note that that neither the Trump administration nor Congress have a specific tax plan yet .
What 's more , Trump 's own positions remain unclear , as has called for reducing the corporate tax rate , a move that would benefit wealthier taxpayers .
And others questioned the connection between tax reform and hurricane relief – including key congressional Democrats such as Schumer .
`` With all due respect to the president , a tax cut , particularly one for the very wealthy , is not going to help Florida or Texas rebuild from these storms , '' the Senate Democratic leader said .
Economic analyst Stan Collender , a professor of public policy at Georgetown University , said the president has no way to leverage hurricane relief against a tax bill when it comes to votes in Congress .
`` Trump is n't going to veto a hurricane relief bill if it does n't include tax reform and Congress is n't going to be ready to do tax reform when the next relief dollars are needed , '' Collender said . `` More than anything , this shows that Trump does n't understand legislative politics or process . ''
Republicans are wary of Trump 's outreach to Democrats after last week 's deal with Schumer and Pelosi that secured a three-month extension of the debt ceiling and the current federal spending plan .
Trump 's dinner meeting with Schumer and Pelosi could open the door to cooperation on other fronts .
For example , Schumer and Pelosi are pushing to protect undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country illegally by their parents . Trump has announced the end of the Obama-era policy that protected these 800,000 young immigrants from deportation , and but he gave Congress a six months deadline to address the issue and has indicated sympathy for these immigrants .
More : Trump official : White House may not link DREAMers to border wall funding
Trump 's bipartisan push this week began at dinner Tuesday night at the White House with a group of senators in both parties .
The White House said that Trump and his guests discussed `` advancing the administration ’ s legislative priorities , in particular tax cuts for the middle class . ''
House Speaker Paul Ryan , R-Wis. , who has clashed with Trump on some issues , said he would `` love to have the Democrats supporting and working with us in a constructive way on tax reform , '' but he pointedly added that `` we ’ re going to do it no matter what . ” | zWEagI0KxHXmG9WP | 1 | Tax Cuts | 0.2 | Taxes | -0.2 | Hurricane | 0 | null | null | null | null |
economy_and_jobs | Washington Examiner | https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/democrats-poised-to-accept-gops-short-term-debt-limit-extension | Democrats poised to accept GOP's short-term debt limit extension | 2021-10-06 | Federal Budget, Debt Ceiling, Economic Policy, Budget Reconciliation, Politics, Capitol Hill, Economy And Jobs | Senate Democrats say they’ll agree to a proposal by Republicans to solve a debt limit impasse by extending the nation’s borrowing limit for only three months. “We are willing to take this offer in order to stave off fiscal ruin,” Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters after the caucus huddled privately Wednesday. Democrats aren’t happy with the plan. MCCONNELL OFFERS SHORT-TERM DEBT LIMIT EXTENSION AMID STANDOFF WITH DEMOCRATS They intended to pass legislation that would extend the debt ceiling until December 2022, but Republicans said they would not provide the necessary 10 votes to stave off a filibuster, citing a plan by Democrats to unilaterally pass a multitrillion-dollar social welfare spending package. Facing an Oct. 18 deadline, McConnell issued a statement Wednesday proposing the three-month extension. You have reached your maximum number of articles. Log in or create an account FREE of charge to continue reading. We won't sell or share your personal information to inform the ads you see. You may still see interest-based ads if your information is sold or shared by other companies or was sold or shared previously. Dismiss Opt out | 3417d33dc9f0f431 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Townhall | http://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2016/10/09/trump-says-hes-engaged-in-a-threeonone-debate-because-anderson-didnt-bring-up-hillary-emails-n2229925 | Trump Says He's Engaged in a 'Three-on-one' Debate Because Anderson Didn't Bring Up Hillary Emails | 2016-10-09 | Presidential Elections, Elections | Trump walked right over to Clinton in the first minutes of the presidential town hall and confronted her with questions about her missing 30,000 emails that were deleted after her work in the State Department. Then, Trump questioned Anderson Cooper, who moderated along with Martha Raddatz as to why he hasn't done his job as a journalist and mentioned the Democratic nominee's email scandal. Cooper said he had, but that didn't convince Trump, who mumbled that he was in a "three-on-one" debate. Trump says the debate is "One-on-three" pic.twitter.com/NoNjkbx12t Trump has statistics on his side, too. After 50 minutes of the debate, the RNC tallied that Cooper and Raddatz had interrupted Trump 14 times, and Clinton just three times. Trump's Victories Are Causing Mass Democrat Panic Tax Cuts on the Line: AFP’s Akash Chougule Optimistic About GOP’s ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ Javier Milei Surprises Elon Musk With A Special Gift Democrats Enraged at Trump Wins Threaten Impeachment and Revolution The Circus and the Tidal Wave: WILDCARD WEDNESDAY Speaker Johnson on DOGE, Israel, Reforming FBI & More | This Week on Capitol Hill Chaos? Congressman Wesley Hunt Is Loving It. 'Root Out This Corruption!' Katie Pavlich Questions Comer, Habba on Left Wing Scheme Stephen Miller Ends CNN Host's Career! Trump Torches Critics! Joe & Mika Rage: Liberal Media Melts Down When Trump Takes Control! This Week on Capitol Hill: Trump's Last Call for Hamas Is This the End of Margaret Brennan's Career? WILDCARD WEDNESDAY: Things You Should Hear About, but Aren’t Brave, Bold, and Bada**: Stacy Washington Stephen Miller Rips White House Reporters for Covering Up Biden Cognitive Decline to Their Faces Parents Want Their Rights Back Dems' Humiliating Moment During Fiery DOGE Hearing RFK Jr. Confirmed! Big Pharma in Shambles Over MAHA Agenda?! JD Vance Has a Message for Young Men WILDCARD WEDNESDAY: DOGE, Bill Belichick, and Droves of Democrats Dems Plan Elon Musk Impeachment While Media Panics Over 'Constitutional Crisis' Media's Panic Attack Over DOGE Sends Liberal Elites & Dems Packing Something Remarkable Happened When Trump Saved Women's Sports From Gender Ideology Title IX Is Still in Trouble Budget Battles in Congress: Akash Chougule Breaks Down Trump’s Latest Move Townhall.com is the leading source for conservative news and political commentary and analysis. Copyright © Townhall.com/Salem Media. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you | b9e2e06d86318d0c | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
white_house | Reuters | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-trump-executive-order-social/trump-considering-legislation-that-may-scrap-law-that-protects-social-media-companies-idUSKBN2340MW | Trump considering legislation that may scrap law that protects social media companies | 2020-05-29 | Executive Orders, Social Media, Twitter, Online Censorship, Donald Trump, White House, Politics | WASHINGTON ( ███ ) - President Donald Trump said he will introduce legislation that may scrap or weaken a law that has protected internet companies , including Twitter and Facebook , in an extraordinary attempt to regulate social media platforms where he has been criticized .
The proposed legislation is part of an executive order Trump signed on Thursday afternoon . Trump had attacked Twitter for tagging his tweets about unsubstantiated claims of fraud about mail-in voting with a warning prompting readers to fact-check the posts .
Trump wants to “ remove or change ” a provision of a law known as Section 230 that shields social media companies from liability for content posted by their users .
Trump said U.S. Attorney General William Barr will begin drafting legislation “ immediately ” to regulate social media companies .
On Wednesday , ███ reported the White House ’ s plan to modify Section 230 based on a copy of a draft executive order that experts said was unlikely to survive legal scrutiny . The final version of the order released on Thursday had no major changes except the proposal for a federal legislation .
“ What I think we can say is we ’ re going to regulate it , ” Trump said before the signing of the order .
“ I ’ ve been called by Democrats that want to do this , so I think you could possibly have a bipartisan situation , ” said Republican Trump , who is running for re-election in November .
Twitter called the order “ a reactionary and politicized approach to a landmark law ” and said attempts to weaken Section 230 would “ threaten the future of online speech . ”
A Google spokeswoman said the order would harm “ America ’ s economy , ” while a Facebook spokesman said it would “ encourage platforms to censor anything that might offend anyone . ”
The order , as written , attempts to circumvent Congress and the courts in directing changes to long-established interpretations of Section 230 . It represents his latest attempt to use the tools of the presidency to force private companies to change policies that he believes are not favorable to him .
“ In terms of presidential efforts to limit critical commentary about themselves , I think one would have to go back to the Sedition Act of 1798 - which made it illegal to say false things about the president and certain other public officials - to find an attack supposedly rooted in law by a president on any entity which comments or prints comments about public issues and public people , ” said First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams .
Jack Balkin , a Yale University constitutional law professor , said “ the president is trying to frighten , coerce , scare , cajole social media companies to leave him alone and not do what Twitter has just done to him . ”
U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a front page of the New York Post as he speaks to reporters while he signing an executive order on social media companies in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington , U.S. , May 28 , 2020 . ███/Jonathan Ernst
Twitter ’ s shares ended over 4 percent down on Thursday . Facebook ended down 1.6 percent and Google parent Alphabet Inc finished slightly up .
Trump , who uses Twitter virtually every day to promote his policies and insult his opponents , has long claimed without evidence that the site is biased in favor of Democrats . He and his supporters have leveled the same unsubstantiated charges against Facebook , which Trump ’ s presidential campaign uses heavily as an advertising vehicle .
On Thursday , Trump said there is nothing he would rather do than get rid of his Twitter account but he had to keep it in order to circumvent the press and get his version of events to millions of followers .
He took to Twitter again Thursday night to cast doubt around voting by mail , tweeting the practice would lead to “ MASSIVE FRAUD AND ABUSE ” and “ THE END OF OUR GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY . ”
The protections of Section 230 have been under fire for different reasons from lawmakers including Big Tech critic Senator Josh Hawley . Critics argue that they give internet companies a free pass on things like hate speech and content that supports terror organizations .
Social media companies have been under pressure from many quarters , both in the United States and other countries , to better control misinformation and harmful content on their services .
Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said on the company ’ s website late Wednesday that the president ’ s tweets “ may mislead people into thinking they don ’ t need to register to get a ballot . Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves . ”
After labeling Trump ’ s tweets , Twitter continued to add fact-checking and ‘ manipulated media ’ labels on hundreds of other tweets .
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump ’ s planned order “ outrageous ” and a “ distraction ” from the coronavirus crisis .
Under the order , the Commerce Department has 60 days to petition the FCC to adopt new rules and then the agency will review the petition . It could take anywhere from 12 to 24 months for the FCC to propose and adopt final rules .
Federal spending on online advertising will also be reviewed by U.S. government agencies to ensure there are no speech restrictions by a company . | 7ba9f27c5f2a33c1 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
2024_presidential_election | National Review (News) | https://www.nationalreview.com/news/warnock-says-biden-should-absolutely-not-drop-out/ | Warnock Says Biden Should ‘Absolutely Not’ Drop Out | 2024-07-01 | 2024 Presidential Election, Joe Biden | National Review U.S. Catholic Bishops Condemn Trump’s Push to Make IVF Cheaper, More Accessible L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Claims She Wasn’t ‘Aware’ of Wildfire Warnings When She Left the Country Senate Confirms Kash Patel as FBI Director Trump Pushes for Federal Takeover of D.C. as GOP Bill Remains in Limbo Mitch McConnell Announces He Won’t Seek Reelection Next Year Senator Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.) on Sunday joined a number of other Democrats in publicly defending President Biden’s reelection bid in the wake of his disastrous debate performance last week. Asked during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press whether Biden should drop out, the Georgia Democrat said, “Absolutely not.” As a pastor, Warnock said, “I can tell you that there have been more than a few Sundays when I wish I had preached a better sermon.” “But after the sermon was over, it was my job to embody the message, to show up for the people that I serve,” he added. “And that’s what Joe Biden has been doing his entire life, his entire life of public service, and over the last four years, he has been showing up for the American people.” Warnock’s defense comes the same day that the editorial board of Georgia’s largest newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, published an editorial calling on Biden to exit the race. The New York Times editorial board published a similar call-to-action on Friday. But Warnock argued, “We’ve had a primary. It is our job to demonstrate that the world is watching and our children are counting on us to get this right.” The senator, meanwhile, chose to attack Donald Trump’s debate performance, suggesting the former president spent the debate “trash talking the whole country.” “The question this morning is not, ‘what is Joe Biden going to do?’ The question is, who has Donald Trump ever showed up for other than himself and people like himself? I’m with Joe Biden, and it’s our assignment to make sure that he gets over the finish line come November, not for his sake, but for the country’s sake,” Warnock said. But according to a new CBS News poll, it was Biden’s debate performance that was viewed unfavorably among voters, with just 18 percent of voters saying Biden inspired confidence, compared to 44 percent who said the same of former president Donald Trump. Just 21 percent of voters said Biden presented his ideas clearly, while 47 percent said the same of Trump. Send a tip to the news team at NR. Acting ICE director Caleb Vitello is being removed from his post and reassigned. We should be wary of throwing tax dollars at an industry that commodifies babies and bodies and is rife with risk. Trump reiterated his threat to withhold federal funding from Maine over its defiance of his executive order barring men from women’s sports. The men successfully changed voter registration information for about three dozen people in Delaware County in 2021. The suit claims that SpaceX violated federal law by requiring applicants to be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Senate Republicans are likely to be more on defense than offense in 2026, but the field will be small unless and until the environment deteriorates. © 2025 National Review Newsletters © 2025 National Review End your day with an after-hours roundup of NR’s top stories and biggest headlines. You have been subscribed! Check out our full lineup of newsletters to get more of our insight delivered straight to your inbox. | 4b602202fc1833ed | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Guest Writer - Left | https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/23/politics/donald-trump-democrats-fight-investigations/index.html | OPINION: Trump walkout marks point of no return | 2019-05-23 | Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, Politics | Washington ( CNN ) President Donald Trump seems to have realized that despite the end of the Mueller probe , his administration may never escape the vise handed to Democrats by their midterm election wins last year .
The President is doing what he always does when he 's in a dark political corner : fight harder than any man alive , adopting a relentless strategy of total political warfare and lashing out in a way that may ultimately be self-defeating .
Trump complained Wednesday , in an angry and , at times , even poignant televised outburst , that he 's not getting any breaks -- and it 's just not fair !
He complained about taking hits from the courts , from Democrats , from the press , from enemies old and new . He bemoaned the treatment of his son , Don Jr. , who he said was a `` good young man who 's gone through hell . ''
This all came amid worrying signs for the President from a brace of judicial rulings that financial and tax records he 's fought desperately to keep private may -- sooner or later -- find their way into Democratic hands .
`` We 've had a House investigation . We have Senate investigations . We have investigations like nobody 's ever had before , '' he said , speaking behind banners taped to the presidential podium , reading `` No Collusion '' and `` No Obstruction . ''
Trump 's Wednesday walkout marked a clear strategic shift . He 's decided that as long as he 's under investigation , his hopes of finding any common ground with Democrats on issues that could help both sides in 2020 are a busted flush .
`` You can go down the investigation track , and you can go down ... the track of let 's get things done for the American people , '' he said .
`` We 're going to go down one track at a time . Let them finish up , '' Trump said , adopting an absolutist position that could strip his legacy of badly needed domestic achievements .
By Thursday morning , the President was trying to spin the stalemate to his advantage , painting Democrats as uncooperative on issues important to Americans including health care , infrastructure and high prescription drugs prices .
`` All they are geared up to do , six committees , is squander time , day after day , trying to find anything which will be bad for me , '' Trump tweeted .
`` The Democrats have become known as THE DO NOTHING PARTY ! ''
JUST WATCHED Trump vows he wo n't work with Democrats until they drop investigations Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump vows he wo n't work with Democrats until they drop investigations 05:04
Of course , Democrats and Trump critics would argue he 's brought it all on himself -- with the shady meetings between his campaign aides and Russians , with apparent efforts to throw shade at Robert Mueller 's investigation and his strategy of all-out non-cooperation with oversight efforts by the Democratic-led House .
But the Rose Garden rant came with Trump under extreme pressure .
For the second time in as many days , a judge repudiated his strategy of ignoring congressional subpoenas . Trump will fight all the way up to the Supreme Court if necessary . But the ruling was more proof that the bluster and the alternative state of constitutional reality created by the President struggle to stand up in a court of law .
Outside political pressure is also building on the President . CNN reports this week suggest his position in the Rust Belt states that sent him to the White House is weakening , and he 's having to share TV time with Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden -- who poses a threat to Trump 's blue-collar heartland voters .
The last straw for Trump on Wednesday , according to aides , was a shot by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- painting Trump as a Nixon-style conspirator -- just before she went to the White House to discuss a proposed $ 2 trillion infrastructure package .
`` Instead of walking in happily into a meeting , I walk in to look at people that have just said that I was doing a cover-up , '' Trump said . Instead of discussing the plan , he rebuked the California Democrat and went to find the waiting , pre-positioned White House press to vent his anger .
JUST WATCHED Bernie Sanders trolls Trump for storming out of meeting Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Bernie Sanders trolls Trump for storming out of meeting 02:07
Trump 's strategy of torching a meeting , turning on his heel and raising the stakes is familiar from his life as a real estate magnate . But there is increasing evidence that walking away from the table does n't work as well for a President as it can for businessmen .
He tried it with North Korea , and the Stalinist state still has its nuclear weapons . He did it with China , and a trade war is deepening . A previous walkout also killed off a nascent immigration deal with Democrats that could have funded his border wall , the centerpiece of his 2016 campaign .
`` To watch what happened in the White House would make your jaw drop , '' said another old Trump foe , Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , twisting the knife .
It 's possible that Trump 's counterattack against Pelosi is designed to crank up pressure on the speaker from left-wing members of her restive Democratic caucus .
She has previously questioned whether Trump is trying to goad her into initiating impeachment hearings -- in the belief that he could paint her as captive to extreme `` socialist '' elements and urge voters to reject Democratic overreach .
But Pelosi seemed to stabilize her position on Wednesday after a meeting with Democratic House members .
And a ruling by a federal judge that Trump could not block House subpoenas seeking his financial records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One appeared to validate her strategy of using investigatory tools short of impeachment .
`` Very excited , no surprise , '' Pelosi told reporters . `` Two in one week . ''
JUST WATCHED Tapper : This clue shows Trump 's tirade was n't spontaneous Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Tapper : This clue shows Trump 's tirade was n't spontaneous 01:05
In theory , it is possible for a President who is under scrutiny from a hostile Congress to still get things done . Bill Clinton proved that in the 1990s even as he was impeached .
`` The President is , frankly , taking a position that no other president in history has ever taken , which is that somehow if you are being investigated by the Congress you ca n't do anything else , '' said Clinton 's former chief of staff Leon Panetta .
`` Bill Clinton did not always agree with what Speaker ( Newt ) Gingrich 's Republicans were doing in the House . But at the same time , he was working with Speaker Gingrich on getting legislation passed , '' Panetta told CNN 's Jake Tapper .
But Trump lacks Clinton 's supernatural capacity to compartmentalize bad news . The current President showed Wednesday that he 's driven by emotion and grievance . And he 's just being true to himself in responding to perceived insults by striking back hard .
The result of Wednesday 's angry exchange is a Washington facing the prospect of a prolonged period of complete breakdown between the Congress and the White House .
Infrastructure reform may always have been a pipe dream . It 's been a consistent punchline after multiple failed efforts during the Trump administration . But there is crucial business that Democrats and the President need to get done . If they do n't , there could be grave economic and even global reverberations .
On Tuesday , hope rose in Washington for a budget deal that would stave off $ 120 billion in automatic cuts , head off a fiscal cliff over raising the debt ceiling and set spending levels for two years .
But it 's not clear whether such an agreement between House and Senate Republicans and Democrats and the White House would survive Trump 's refusal to stop working with Democrats until they stop investigating him .
And the President 's aspirations of finally passing his replacement deal with Canada and Mexico for the North American Free Trade Agreement -- a plank of his 2020 reelection platform -- could also fizzle in a prolonged estrangement between the White House and the Democrats on Capitol Hill . | 872ff7e1272b3716 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
abortion | NPR Online News | https://www.npr.org/2019/05/16/723922182/missouri-senate-passes-bill-that-would-ban-abortions-after-8-weeks | Missouri Senate Passes Bill That Would Ban Abortions After 8 Weeks | 2019-05-16 | abortion | Missouri Senate Passes Bill That Would Ban Abortions After 8 Weeks
Missouri 's Senate has passed a bill that would ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy or later , except in cases of medical emergency . There are no exceptions for rape or incest .
It 's the latest in a series of sweeping abortion restrictions passed by Republican-controlled state legislatures aimed at pushing abortion challenges to the U.S. Supreme Court .
The measure , which saw a series of changes before passing , will now return to the state House . If approved there , it would head to the desk of Republican Gov . Mike Parson .
`` Thanks to the leaders in the House and Senate , we have the opportunity to be one of the strongest pro-life states in the country , '' Parson said on Wednesday .
The bill passed the Senate early Thursday morning by a 24-10 vote , as NPR member station St. Louis Public Radio reported .
The text states that performing abortions in violation of the measure would be considered a felony . The legislation states that `` any person who knowingly performs or induces an abortion of an unborn child in violation of this subsection shall be guilty of a class B felony , as well as subject to suspension or revocation of his or her professional license . '' Women who undergo abortions would not be prosecuted .
In addition to having no exceptions for rape or incest , the bill also bans all abortions because of race , sex or a diagnosis of Down syndrome .
As St. Louis Public Radio reported , Democrats succeeded in changing a provision that would have required in most cases that the second parent be notified before a minor has an abortion . `` Now , that second-parent notification only applies to the 'parent of a minor who has been awarded joint legal custody or joint physical custody ' by a court , '' the member station writes .
A previous version of the bill also would have prohibited abortions after heartbeat activity could be detected — which is about six weeks into a pregnancy .
The Missouri Senate vote comes less than 24 hours after Alabama Gov . Kay Ivey signed into law what is considered the most restrictive abortion law in the U.S . It bans nearly all abortions , at any stage of pregnancy . The only exceptions are when a woman 's life is threatened or if there is a lethal fetal anomaly .
Georgia , Mississippi , Kentucky and Ohio have also recently passed laws banning abortion after heartbeat activity is detected .
Prior to the Missouri vote , Republican state Sen. Bob Onder said , `` The time for negotiations is over . Every provision of the Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act ... is a provision that would protect innocent human life , protect pregnancy care centers and ensure that they get the resources they need to perform their valuable mission , and measures to protect the health and safety of Missouri women . ''
Asked about the possibility that Missouri women might seek less-safe forms of abortion , Republican Sen. Andrew Koenig told NPR 's Here & Now , `` I think there 's a low risk . ... The abortion rate is plummeting , even in places where there is access to abortion and the Constitution says that every person has a right to life and it should be protected . ''
Some Missouri Senate Democrats spoke out against what has been called an `` extreme '' bill .
`` This language four years ago would be unthinkable . But elections have consequences , '' state Sen. Lauren Arthur said , according to the member station . `` And with new Supreme Court justices , there is a renewed attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade . And with that , there is a push in this Legislature to pass what I would characterize as very extreme legislation . '' | 4crEUWky3zMCo1FS | 1 | Missouri | 0 | Abortion | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
abortion | The Daily Wire | https://www.dailywire.com/news/law-order-svu-episode-pushes-cringe-worthy-abortion-propaganda | ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Episode Pushes Cringe-Worthy Abortion Propaganda | abortion | Abortion propaganda has become so pervasive in the entertainment industry that the dialogue on TV shows is now starting to sound like “ Fireproof ” for abortion enthusiasts . Take the latest episode of NBC ’ s “ Law & Order : Special Victims Unit ” for example – an episode that almost literally treats its characters like puppets to spout talking points that could have come from a Planned Parenthood pamphlet .
As reported by Newsbusters , the October 17 episode “ The Burden of Our Choices ” focuses on a 13-year-old girl from an evangelical Christian family in Ohio who escaped to New York in order to obtain an abortion after her stepfather rapes her . Since Ohio requires minors to have permission from family members in order to obtain an abortion , the girl ’ s case becomes a major court battle . At one point in the episode , members of the SVU debate the case and it ’ s hard not to see a Planned Parenthood executive writing the script where the showrunners left off .
Carisi : Appeals court just refused to hear Ohio ’ s case . Even some pro-life groups thought the charges were ridiculous . Olivia : Well , they are . Tamin : So you guys aren ’ t under arrest ? What about the stay on the abortion ? Carisi : Family court didn ’ t want to make a ruling until Ohio ’ s arrest warrants have been dismissed . They ’ re still deliberating . Tamin : For how long ? She ’ s 12 weeks pregnant . Any day after the first trimester , it gets more complicated . Olivia : And that ’ s part of Ohio ’ s plan , is to run out the clock . Tamin : I ’ m sorry , what century is this ? All these old white men trying to control women ’ s bodies ? I mean , how far off are we from “ The Handmaid ’ s Tale ” ? Olivia : You grew up taking these rights for granted . My mother , there was a time when she considered abortion , and her only option was – was back-alley . The bottom line is , if you have enough money , there ’ s always a way . But it ’ s these poor women , these girls – in some states , they ’ re gon na see deaths . That ’ s where this is going . Tamin : They think that ’ s what we ’ re going back to . Carisi : Fundamentalists , Catholics – they see abortion as deaths . Tamin : You ’ re Catholic , right ? Is that what you think ? Carisi : What I think is what I think . But if a woman is the victim of rape or incest – Tamin : I hear that , and it sounds like you ’ re saying that a woman has to be a victim in order to have control over her own body . Olivia : That ’ s not what he ’ s saying . Tamin : Good . Because it ’ s not a decision that should ever be made by a group of men or a prosecutor who ’ s never had to make that choice . Olivia : Guys , guys , guys . Carisi : J-just so we ’ re clear . My job is to uphold that girl ’ s rights , and that ’ s what I ’ m doing . But I ’ m sorry , I don ’ t see this as black-and-white . In my experience , no woman wants to have an abortion . Olivia : Okay . Tamin : Fair enough . But these laws that are getting passed , they are not the answer . Olivia : No , they ’ re not .
Spoilers : The episode ends with the 13-year-old girl receiving the abortion . | xQXcce3QHTPrXJly | 2 | Politics | 0.5 | Immigration | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | |
democratic_party | American Spectator | http://spectator.org/hillary-speeds-democrats-in-the-wrong-direction/ | Hillary Speeds Democrats in the Wrong Direction | 2016-11-06 | Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, Politics | Democrats ’ 2016 best-case scenario is now just a vanishing point in their rearview mirror . Instead , they find their worst case scenario rapidly filling their front windshield . It is easy to blame this dream-turned-nightmare on FBI Director Comey ’ s announcement that the FBI was renewing its investigation into Clinton ’ s emails , but the fault really lies with Hillary herself — and the Democrats who ignored her past record .
Even before FBI Director Comey made his October 28th announcement to Congress that newly discovered emails warranted a renewed investigation into Clinton ’ s improper use of a private email server while Secretary of State , Democrats ’ utopian visions had disappeared . With the race already tightening , Comey ’ s letter to Congress only accelerated Clinton ’ s waning momentum .
It is hard to imagine now , but throughout a good portion of this year Democrats did not just imagine winning in November , they seriously contemplated annihilating the Republicans . It was going to be McGovern ’ s revenge — this time it was Republicans ’ turn for everything to go wrong .
The Republican establishment had lost control of their party . The Tea Party , which Democrats disdained , was running amuck , had kicked to the curb a host of credible Republican presidential candidates , and was now nominating a rank amateur outsider . With every passing day he said something politically incorrect that Democrats believed was going to set the Republican Party back a decade as it fractured into fratricide .
In addition to losing the White House in a landslide , Democrats and their allies in the media foresaw Republicans losing both the House and the Senate — possibly becoming minorities so inconsequential they would return them to their proper pre-1994 status .
In their headiest moments , 2016 was going to be a realignment election that created a new dominant alliance of disenfranchised establishment Republicans and Democrats . It was not too bold to question the very future of the Republican Party .
Now just days before the election that was supposed to Republicans ’ doom , none of these Democratic delusions remain .
On November 3 , Real Clear Politics ’ average of national polling showed Clinton holding a minuscule 45.3 % -43.6 % lead in the popular vote . Well within any particular poll ’ s margin of error , even this small lead exists only because older polls inflated the average . National polls showing ties ( like the IBD/TIPP poll ) or even Trump leads ( like Rasmussen or the LA Times tracking poll ) are common .
Clinton ’ s favorable/unfavorable ratings too are now coming in below Trump ’ s . The Economist/YouGov ( 10/30-11/1 ) had Clinton 41 % /59 % , while Trump was 41 % /58 % . And ABC/Washington Post ( 10/26-29 ) , had Clinton 38 % /60 % versus Trump ’ s 39 % /58 % .
Even Clinton ’ s seemingly unassailable Electoral Vote lead is all but vanished . In RCP ’ s November 3rd count , Clinton leads just 226-180 in electoral votes . If all the toss-ups are distributed , Clinton ’ s lead is a bare 273-265 .
The hopes of down-ballot windfalls are also gone . RCP projects the Senate at 46-46 now with 8 toss-up races . If those toss-ups are apportioned according to the latest polling , Republicans would retain a 51-49 Senate majority . That would amount to just a paltry 3-seat Democratic gain — despite Republicans having to defend 24 of the 34 seats up this year .
In the House , RCP projects a 224-190 Republican majority with 21 toss-up races . If those 21 toss-ups effectively split ( even giving Democrats an 11-10 advantage in them ) , Republicans would still have 234 seats — just 12 seats fewer than their current 246 .
Instead of being their champion by knockout , Democrats are trying to hold Hillary up , as she struggles to hang on to the last vestiges of what was — and what once seemed so close . If Hillary can hang on , it will be by the slimmest of margins .
A Pyrrhic victory , it will come with a cloud of legal issues above her . Clinton will have astronomical unfavorable ratings , which only promise to get worse as she seeks to govern . She could well face a Republican-controlled Congress free to investigate what Obama ’ s Justice Department ignored . And Clinton would not be able to count on Congressional Democrats terrified at electoral retribution in midterms less than two years away — midterms which devastated Congressional Democrats during her two more popular Democratic predecessors ’ presidencies in 1994 and 2010 .
And this is not even Democrats ’ worst case scenario any more . The truly unthinkable is becoming thinkable : What if she loses ? Gone would be the Obama legacy , which that was the only real reason for most of Hillary ’ s Democratic support in the first place . A Trump presidency , coupled with a Republican Congress , could mean revocation and repeal of Obama executive orders and his scant legislative accomplishments .
Ephemeral as Democrats ’ best-case scenario has proved to be , their anger toward Hillary would prove quite lasting . If Clinton finds that she has lost , she will also find that there is no love lost among Democrats for her .
Democrats have already proved adept at blaming someone else for their predicament — i.e. , Comey for his announcement — like the policeman who pulled them over . How much easier to blame the actual driver ?
Both are also a lot easier than facing the blame they deserve themselves . Democrats knew Clinton ’ s driving record when they climbed and gave her the keys . They should not be surprised now as she speeds them in the wrong direction . | 611ab88892280475 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
healthcare | Associated Press | https://apnews.com/article/ozempic-biden-rfk-jr-trump-antiobesity-drugs-caaa2f888435af1d32bedb83e9ddbc0a | Biden proposes Medicare and Medicaid cover costly weight-loss drugs for millions of obese Americans | 2024-11-27 | Joe Biden, Medicare, Medicaid, Weight Loss, Obesity And Malnutrition, Biden Administration, Ozempic, Healthcare, Department Of Health And Human Services, Public Health, Robert F Kennedy Jr | Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Biden proposes Medicare and Medicaid cover costly weight-loss drugs President Joe Biden speaks as first lady Jill Biden looks on at a Friendsgiving event with service members and their families in the Staten Island borough of New York, Monday, Nov. 25 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) FILE - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra speaks in Sacramento, Calif., Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) FILE - Donna Cooper holds up a dosage of Wegovy, a drug used for weight loss, at her home, March 1, 2024, in Front Royal, Va. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Americans with obesity would be eligible to have popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Zepbound covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a new rule the Biden administration proposed Tuesday morning. The costly proposal from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services immediately sets the stage for a showdown between the powerful pharmaceutical industry and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an outspoken opponent of the weight-loss drugs who, as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the agency, could block the measure. While the rule would give millions of people access to weekly injectables that have helped people shed pounds so quickly that some have labeled them miracle drugs, it would cost taxpayers as much as $35 billion over the next decade. “It’s a good day for anyone who suffers from obesity,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told The Associated Press in an interview. “It’s a game changer for Americans who can’t afford these drugs otherwise.” The rule would not be finalized until January, days after Trump takes office. A bipartisan coalition of congressional members has lobbied for the drugs to be covered by Medicare, saying it could save the government from spending billions of dollars on treating chronic ailments that stem from obesity. While it’s unclear where Trump himself stands on coverage of the weight-loss drugs, his allies and Cabinet picks who have vowed to cut government spending could balk at the upfront price tag. Under the proposal, only those who are considered obese — someone who has a body mass index of 30 or higher — would qualify for coverage. Some people may already get coverage of the drugs through Medicare or Medicaid, if they have diabetes or are at risk for stroke or heart disease. Becerra estimated that an additional 3.5 million people on Medicare and 4 million on Medicaid could qualify for coverage of the drugs. But research suggests far more people might qualify, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimating roughly 28 million people on Medicaid are considered obese. Medicare has been barred from offering the drugs under a decades-old law that prohibits the government-backed insurance program from covering weight-loss products. The rule proposed by the Biden administration, however, would recognize obesity as a disease that can be treated with the help of the drugs. The anti-obesity drug market has expanded significantly in recent years, with the Food and Drug Administration approving a new class of weekly injectables like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound to treat obesity. People can lose as much as 15% to 25% of their body weight on the drugs, which imitate the hormones that regulate appetites by communicating fullness between the gut and brain when people eat. The cost of the drugs has largely limited them to the wealthy, including celebrities who boast of their benefits. A monthly supply of Wegovy rings up at $1,300 and Zepbound will put you out $1,000. Shortages of the drugs have also limited the supplies. Kennedy, who as Trump’s nominee for HHS secretary is subject to Senate confirmation, has railed against the drugs’ popularity. In speeches and on social media, he’s said the U.S. should not cover the drugs through Medicaid or Medicare. Instead, he supports a broad expansion of coverage for healthier foods and gym memberships. “For half the price of Ozempic, we could purchase regeneratively raised, organic food for every American, three meals a day and a gym membership, for every obese American,” Kennedy said to a group of federal lawmakers during a roundtable earlier this year. Ozempic is a diabetes drug that can stimulate weight loss. 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 “Confirm My Choices” button at the bottom. | 57425a8eac673cd3 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Washington Examiner | https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-threatens-to-hold-up-funding-to-michigan-over-mail-in-voting | Trump threatens to 'hold up' funding to Michigan over mail-in voting | 2020-05-20 | Voter ID, Voting Rights And Voter Fraud, Michigan, Nevada, Coronavirus, Donald Trump, Elections | President Trump threatened to withhold funding from Michigan after he alleged that the state sent absentee ballots to all registered voters. “Breaking: Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election,” the president tweeted Wednesday morning. “This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!” Trump, in a subsequent tweet, tagged acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and the Treasury Department. Breaking: Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. We won't sell or share your personal information to inform the ads you see. You may still see interest-based ads if your information is sold or shared by other companies or was sold or shared previously. Dismiss Opt out | c29dff302614ca29 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Fox News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/18/with-video-leak-romney-goes-back-to-bold-approach/ | With Video Leak, Romney Goes Back to Bold Approach | 2012-09-18 | elections | “ There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what . All right , there are 47 percent who are with him , who are dependent upon government , who believe that they are victims , who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them , who believe that they are entitled to health care , to food , to housing , to you-name-it . That that ’ s an entitlement . And the government should give it to them . And they will vote for this president no matter what . ”
-- Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaking at a May 17 fundraiser in Boca Raton , Fla. in a video obtained by liberal magazine Mother Jones .
Political pundits are comparing the leaked video of Mitt Romney at a fundraiser writing off the 47 percent of the electorate who don ’ t pay federal income taxes to the leaked 2008 fundraiser video of then-Sen. Barack Obama blaming his problems in the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary on bitter voters who “ cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who are n't like them . ”
But while Obama was talking about something in contradiction to his campaign message – talking down the very voters he was trying to persuade to come to his side – Romney was actually on message , just in more blunt fashion than usual .
In his secretly recorded fundraiser comments , Obama was saying that he needed to convince the bitter clingers that he really was on their side and show them that he would increase taxes on what even back then he was calling the “ 1 percent ” in order to provide them more generous benefits .
Obama ’ s message was that he could show blue-collar voters that he was on their side with his message about tax increases and make them overcome their own racist or xenophobic tendencies . He could win them over with promises of government spending . He partly succeeded with the bitter clingers in 2008 but his party failed in 2010 .
Romney ’ s message , however , was that he won ’ t get the votes of the 47 percent who pay no federal income taxes and isn ’ t going to try . While Obama was explaining his bid to woo voters opposed to him and favorable to Hillary Clinton in the primary and a Republican candidate in the general election , Romney was explaining why he was writing off a huge chunk of the electorate .
And while Democrats may disagree with Romney about what motivates those who are bound to choose Obama , no one can disagree that he ’ s pretty close to right about the number and the fact that they aren ’ t coming over to the red side this year .
The current of Romney ’ s campaign is an idea that has long animated the American right : the makers versus the takers . Those who believe in smaller government are driven by the fear that government expansion is a perpetual-motion machine . The more people who receive benefits from the government , the more people who will vote for increased government benefits .
It ’ s a national version of the same one that has been playing out on the state and local level in recent years .
In Chicago , the public school union is on strike over some modest changes proposed by the city ’ s Democratic mayor , Rahm Emanuel . But the previous 30 years in the city have been largely a love affair between government worker unions and the Democratic politicians .
It has mostly worked well for both sides in Chicago and in Democrat-dominated cities and states across the country . Government-worker unions provide the funds and organization to elect Democrats , who in turn expand the pay , benefits and privileges of government union members . Lather , rinse , repeat .
But the cycle can not go on forever . In California , Wisconsin , Michigan and many other states and cities , budgets eventually would not allow for this ongoing expansion , forcing a conflict between politicians and their patrons in government unions . In California , the future remains uncertain and hinges on a massive tax hike proposed by the Democratic governor . In Wisconsin and Michigan , Republican governors won reductions .
Romney is trying to expand that argument beyond the government workers fight . He is , in some moments at least , calling for a national referendum on the question of how much government we can afford , even if we like the benefits obtained from it .
In other moments , Romney seems to retreat into an argument basically about competency . Who is a better manager , him or Obama ? Romney says he can manage better and should be given the big job on the grounds of competency alone .
But the video is evidence that there is an ideological current running through the former Massachusetts governors ’ campaign – a current best exemplified in Romney ’ s decision to tap Paul Ryan as his running mate .
This idea about the dangers having too many citizens reliant on government outlays has animated Ryan ’ s entire career . Republicans like Ryan have long warned of a tipping-point moment in which Democrats will have included so many voters in federal benefits that there aren ’ t enough net contributors to vote in favor of reducing the size of government .
Romney and his campaign have seemed to back off that argument in their convention and subsequent campaigning , shifting back to the competency argument rather than the message that the country is heading off a cliff off government dependency that once breached , can not be undone .
It ’ s an approach that carries the risk of a big defeat , but it ’ s still a better one for Romney . With the press talking endlessly about Romney gaffes and every bumble becoming a cause célèbre , Romney will lose the competency argument against the incumbent .
He has to make this a battle of ideas and visions . Picking Ryan was a step in that direction . He took another step Monday night when came out and owned the comments in the video . Rather than ducking or hiding , he owned it .
Perhaps with this video out and being replayed over and over again , Romney won ’ t be able to retreat from his embrace of boldness .
“ The reason the administration is hanging on to this preposterous explanation it 's all about the film that may not even exist is because they ca n't face the larger fact that this is an expression , both in the polls and in the riot a demonstration , of the collapse of Obama 's Cairo doctrine speech he made the 4th of June , 2009 , where he proclaimed new condition with Islam . ”
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for ███ , and his POWER PLAY column appears Monday-Friday on FoxNews.com . Catch Chris Live online daily at 11:30amET at http : live.foxnews.com . | sfnMHsQqU0rk09E2 | 2 | Presidential Elections | -0.3 | Taxes | -0.1 | Mitt Romney | -0.1 | Elections | 0.1 | null | null |
politics | Daily Kos | http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/6/1617889/-Open-thread-for-night-owls-Nat-l-intelligence-report-unlikely-to-change-minds-about-Russian-hacking | Nat'l intelligence report unlikely to change minds about Russian hacking | 2017-01-06 | politics | David A. Graham at The Atlantic takes a look the most detailed public report yet from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on alleged Russian hacking :
The 25-page report states that the CIA , FBI , and NSA have concluded that Russia was behind a series of attacks , as well as disinformation disseminated via various media , with the goal of undermining faith in U.S. elections and harming Hillary Clinton ’ s presidential prospects and her prospective administration . They have concluded , however , that there was no meddling in vote tallying . Although the unclassified report , which is based on a longer , classified report , uses the strongest language and offers the most detailed assessment yet , it does not or can not provide evidence for its assertions . That virtually guarantees that it will not change many minds in the debate , which has become heavily partisan . The intelligence community is in effect telling readers , “ trust us ” —something the president-elect , among others , has been unwilling to do . [ ... ] A [ n ] unusual coalition—ranging from Trump and his closest allies to the liberal journalist Glenn Greenwald , a longtime skeptic of U.S. intelligence agencies—have refused to accept the evidence without a smoking gun . The ODNI report does not , and for reasons of classification perhaps can not , offer anything more than repeatedly , sternly worded judgment from the intelligence agencies . [ ... ] As the release of the ODNI report approached , there was an air of hope that it might put to rest the ongoing debate over who conducted the hacks and why . Director of National Intelligence James Clapper ’ s tight-lipped answers about its contents during a Senate hearing on Thursday telegraphed that it might set the issue to rest . And who knows ? Perhaps the classified version is full of specific , detailed , irrefutable evidence connecting the hacks to the Kremlin . But as of now , the situation seems identical to what it was Friday morning : The president-elect rejects the intelligence community ’ s assessment , Congress accepts it , and the spies can not or will not publicly produce the evidence it would take to persuade the skeptics .
At ███ on this date in 2003—Ring of Truth ?
I went to see The Two Towers last night , and I enjoyed it immensely – although not quite as much as the first Lord of the Rings movie , for esthetic reasons I won ’ t bother with here . My real problem with the movie—the one I do want to talk about—is political , and it applies to the entire Lord of the Rings saga . As much as I love and admire Tolkien ’ s books , and Peter Jackson ’ s brilliant adaptations , I think it ’ s probably unfortunate these particular stories are being re-injected into the popular culture at this particular moment in history . My fears were best captured in a single scene from The Two Towers , in which the traitorous and lecherous Grima Wormtongue accuses one of King Theoden ’ s bravest soldiers of being a `` warmonger . '' This at a time when the foul orc brigades of the evil wizard Saruman are overrunning Theoden ’ s kingdom . The scene is unquestionably effective—and true to the spirit , if not the precise text , of Tolkien ’ s original . But it also comes dangerously close to an Ann Coulter view of the world , in which anyone who seeks to avoid war is , by definition , either a traitor , a terrorist stooge , or both . The entire Lord of the Rings saga can—and has been—interpreted the same way : As a parable for our times , a mythic lesson in the virtue and necessity of moral clarity in the face of evil . And that is wrong : wrong and ignorant and , yes , in its own way , evil—or at least an open invitation to evil . Because this isn ’ t Middle Earth . Our enemies are human beings , not subhuman orcs . George W. Bush isn ’ t Aragorn son of Arathorn . Osama bin Laden isn ’ t the Dark Lord Sauron , and neither is Saddam Hussein . But I don ’ t know if our culture—or , as Aragorn might put it , `` our peeepul '' —can still recognize the boundary between fantasy and reality . So much of what we say , do , believe and expect has been shaped by the entertainment industry , I don ’ t know if we ’ re capable of seeing the world as it really is , instead of as we would like it to be .
On today ’ s Kagro in the Morning show : One more review of the electoral college issues on the day Congress verifies the vote . And it turns out that Joseph “ Joey No Socks ” Cinque might just be the most “ legitimate businessman ” of all the “ legitimate businessmen ” Trump associates with !
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general_news | Breitbart News | http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/05/02/boy-scouts-name-change-looms-now-girls-allowed-join/ | Boy Scouts Name Change Looms Now that Girls Allowed to Join | 2018-05-02 | General News | The Boys Scouts organization will change its name to reflect its coming new membership now that girls are allowed to join the formerly all-male organization. This marks an end to a 108-year tradition due to the forces of political correctness.The Boy Scouts of America announced on May 2 that starting in February, its flagship program will be called “Scouts BSA,” according to the Chicago Tribune.Saying the name change process was “incredibly fun,” Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh stated that many different names were considered during the deliberations.“We wanted to land on something that evokes the past but also conveys the inclusive nature of the program going forward,” Surbaugh said. “We’re trying to find the right way to say we’re here for both young men and young women.”The famed youth organization noted that the parent group will still be known as the Boy Scouts of America and that its program for seven- to ten-year-olds will continue to be called the Cub Scouts. But the Boy Scouts program for ages 11 to 17 will change.The group has already eliminated the boys-only rules for the Cub Scouts, and approximately 3,000 girls have joined, the group claimed. Scouts BSA will begin admitting girls later this year.As far back as 2015, BSA began the process of considering allowing girls to join the group, and by 2017, it had decided to eliminate its boys-only focus.Scouts BSA units, though, will not be co-ed. The sexes will be separated into their own groups, though the two programs will be similar.But the BSA’s move has caused strained relations with the Girls Scouts of America (GSA), according to reports. In the face of BSA’s move, GSA reported plans to launch an aggressive campaign to recruit new girls into its organization to counter BSA’s move to search for new female members.One Girl Scouts official reported that the relationship between her group and the BSA is “very chilly.”“How do you manage these strategic tensions?” said Fiona Cummings of Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois. “We both need to increase our membership numbers.”Both organizations will be fighting to enroll a dwindling number of interested members. The two youth groups have lost membership during the last few decades as interest in such groups wanes in America. BSA claims to have 2.3 million members, down from its peak of 4 million. GSA notes it has 1.76 million members, down from the more than 2 million it reported in 2014.Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston. | 966d24e351586f04 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
republican_party | Salon | http://www.salon.com/2014/01/17/gops_next_moral_disgrace_how_right_wing_crazies_may_kill_a_voting_rights_fix/ | GOP?s next moral disgrace?: How right-wing crazies may kill a voting rights fix | 2014-01-17 | Voting Rights And Voter Fraud, Republican Party, Politics | The 2012 elections were supposed to create the political space Republicans needed to make their agenda more welcoming to growing Democratic constituencies , but instead it pushed conservatives into a deeper defensive crouch , from which they intimidated GOP leaders into squandering just about every opportunity they 've had to broaden the party 's appeal .
In some cases , GOP leaders themselves have been reluctant to support the kinds of social and economic policies that might stanch the demographic bleeding that threatens to cost them the White House for another four or eight years .
If you 're a regular reader , this is old news . It 's been a recurring theme here . The general shape of things in 2013 was that House Speaker John Boehner and the House Republican leadership just ignored legislation they had no interest in passing ( the Employment Non-Discrimination Act , for instance ) , but attempted to legislate when they either sympathized with the cause ( immigration reform ) or were compelled by deadline to act ( the debt limit ) . In either case , rank and file conservatives threatened full-scale rebellion , which led to a three-week government shutdown and rendered immigration reform comatose .
By the end of the year , Boehner said he 'd had enough with the right 's reactionary BS , which some people viewed as a harbinger of a long-awaited moderation ( I dissented ) . But then he and other GOP leaders made it clear they are n't terribly excited about extending emergency unemployment benefits . And on Thursday they hinted that they wo n't be rising to the next occasion either .
A bipartisan group of senior House and Senate lawmakers has introduced legislation that would partially patch the giant hole the Supreme Court blew in the Voting Rights Act last year . And now it 's more or less up to Boehner and company to decide whether they support the fix , and , if so , whether they want the right to have veto power over it .
In other words , will the Voting Rights Act fix be like ENDA ? Like immigration reform ? Or will GOP leadership surprise everyone and adhere to democratic principles , even if it means conservative hard-liners have to grouse among themselves about how poor black people will find it too easy to exercise their franchise .
From Roll Call : `` The effort does not yet have full buy-in from Republican leadership , said a senior GOP aide . ''
Leaders are wary of pushback from conservative members and are skeptical that the bill could attract the support of a majority of the Republican Conference . They are also concerned that Democrats would politicize the issue to make gains in the 2014 midterm elections .
Furthermore , Sensenbrenner , a former chairman of the Judiciary Committee and an author of the last extension of the Voting Rights Act in 2006 , has occasionally voted against leaders ’ priorities , most recently casting a “ no ” vote on the omnibus appropriations bill . That has damaged his clout with leaders , the aide said .
Part of the objection here is just bizarre . Democrats will politick the issue during the midterms if Republicans kill the VRA patch .
In 2012 , the GOP 's vote suppression tactics may have backfired by increasing minority voter determination and forcing Democrats to improve their GOTV ( Get Out the Vote ) operation . Pocket vetoing the VRA patch would invite the same dynamic .
But the full menu of objections suggests that Republicans are considerably more focused on the internal and external political ramifications of fixing the VRA than on the substantive and moral questions the Supreme Court thrust upon them . Not a hopeful sign .
There are one or two countervailing dynamics at work , though .
The bill is designed to attract some non-trivial amount of GOP support , including from Southern Republicans . Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner , R-Wis. , who co-authored the bill , told reporters on Thursday that Reps. Trey Gowdy , R-S.C. , and Spencer Bachus , R-Ala. , have both signed on to the bill , and Sen. Patrick Leahy , D-Vt. , expressed unusual confidence that the bill will pass the Senate .
And at the risk of veering into amateur psychology , I 'm pretty convinced that some Republican leaders -- particularly Majority Leader Eric Cantor , R-Va. -- sincerely believe it would be wrong to let the Supreme Court 's decision be the final word on voting rights in states and districts with histories of minority disenfranchisement .
But with $ 2 and a bundle of Eric Cantor 's best intentions , you can buy a slice of pizza after getting turned away at your polling place in November . And at this point it does n't look like GOP leaders are interested in putting more than their intentions on the line . | 9e8c9036718dedd1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
white_house | Reuters | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-shutdown/trump-signs-deal-to-end-brief-government-shutdown-increase-u-s-spending-idUSKBN1FS232 | Trump signs deal to end brief government shutdown, increase U.S. spending | 2018-02-10 | Donald Trump, White House, Politics | WASHINGTON ( ███ ) - A brief U.S. government shutdown ended on Friday after Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law a temporary spending deal expected to push budget deficits past $ 1 trillion annually with new military and domestic outlays .
But Trump is expected to unveil on Monday a fiscal 2019 budget plan that will be based on rosy assumptions , including economic growth of 3.2 percent next year , a White House official said .
That level is well above the 2.5 percent growth achieved in 2017 and the 2.5 to 2.7 percent range of economists ’ forecasts for this year . The White House ’ s plan also anticipates that the strong growth will go on for years , the official said , with 3 percent growth in 2021 , only tapering to 2.8 percent in 2026 .
The growth assumptions in Trump ’ s budget were first reported by the Wall Street Journal .
The Trump budget also assumes very low interest rates , with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield averaging 2.6 percent this year . But the 10-year yield closed at 2.86 percent on Friday , and the Federal Reserve is expected to hike rates three times this year .
Such optimistic assumptions would make deficits look smaller in Trump ’ s budget plan after Republicans in December approved massive tax cuts expected to add about $ 1.5 trillion in new debt over a decade . Republicans contend that the tax cuts will fuel a spike in economic growth .
The White House also will amend the budget plan to take into account the higher spending levels in the budget deal passed just before dawn on Friday , a senior official in the Office of Management and Budget said .
Friday ’ s spending measure , which ended an hours-long partial government shutdown , was approved by a wide margin in the Senate and survived a rebellion from conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives who objected to non-military spending increases .
It was the second shutdown this year under the Republican-controlled Congress and Trump , who played little role in attempts by party leaders this week to end months of fiscal squabbling .
In a Twitter post that acknowledged the misgivings of fiscal conservatives , the Republican president said after signing the measure , “ Without more Republicans in Congress , we were forced to increase spending on things we do not like or want in order to finally , after many years of depletion , take care of our Military ” with additional funding .
Trump also wrote that negotiations will “ start now ! ” on an immigration measure that he and Democrats have been battling over for months .
The deal , the fifth temporary funding measure for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 , replenishes federal coffers until March 23 , giving lawmakers more time to write a full-year budget .
It also extends the U.S. government ’ s borrowing authority until March 2019 , sparing Washington politicians difficult votes on debt and deficits until after mid-term congressional elections in November .
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington , U.S. February 8 , 2018 . ███/Jonathan Ernst
The Republican Party was once known for fiscal conservatism , but congressional Republicans and Trump are now quickly expanding the U.S. budget deficit and its $ 20 trillion national debt .
Nearly $ 300 billion in new spending included in the bill approved on Friday will mean the annual budget deficit will exceed $ 1 trillion in 2019 , said the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget , a private fiscal policy watchdog group .
Friday ’ s deal allows for $ 165 billion in additional defense spending over two years , helping Trump deliver on his promise to boost the military . That won over many Republicans , but some were furious over the $ 131 billion extra allocated for non-military spending , including health and infrastructure .
None of the added spending will be offset by budget savings elsewhere or revenue increases , relying instead on government borrowing . There also is no offset reduction for nearly $ 90 billion in new disaster aid for U.S. states and territories ravaged by hurricanes or wildfires last year .
The brief shutdown came at a sensitive time for financial markets , with world stock markets diving in the past week . Markets barely flinched at the last shutdown in January , but that was before a selloff that started on Jan. 30 amid concerns about inflation and higher interest rates .
Wall Street ’ s main stock indexes climbed more than 1 percent on Friday , giving investors some solace after a week of huge swings that shook the market out of months of calm .
Republican Senator Rand Paul , objecting to deficit spending in the bill , launched a nine-hour , on-again , off-again protest and floor speech late on Thursday that delayed passage of the deal past midnight , when funding for the government ran out . He had harsh words for his own party .
“ Now we have Republicans hand in hand with Democrats offering us trillion-dollar deficits , ” Paul said .
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and others in her party had opposed Friday ’ s bill because Republican House leaders would not guarantee her a debate later on bipartisan steps to protect about 700,000 “ Dreamer ” immigrants from deportation .
These young adults were brought illegally to the country as children , mostly from Mexico . Trump said in September that he would end by March 5 former Democratic President Barack Obama ’ s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ( DACA ) program that protects the Dreamers from deportation . | 21701f9af16b6338 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
terrorism | Los Angeles Times | http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-san-bernardino-shooters-preplanning-20151209-story.html | San Bernardino shooters began plotting attack before their marriage, FBI chief says | 2015-12-09 | Terrorism | A photo from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows Tashfeen Malik, left, and Syed Farook as they passed through O’Hare International Airport in July 2014. Reporting from Washington — San Bernardino killers Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik began scheming to carry out a terrorist attack long before they were engaged or he moved her to the United States on a fiancee visa in July 2014, a widening and increasingly complex FBI investigation has found. Testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director James Comey said Wednesday that the FBI has determined “they were radicalized before they started courting or dating each other online, and as earlyas the end of 2013 were talking to each other about jihad and martyrdom.” See the most-read stories this hour >> The couple thus evaded scrutiny by federal law enforcement, intelligence and counterterrorism agencies for two years before they shot and killed 14 people and wounded 21 others at a holiday party on Dec. 2. It also means they began communicating before the rise of Islamic State. The couple jointly pledged allegiance to Islamic State on social media shortly before they were killed in a shootout with police, Comey said. Previous reports had indicated that only Malik had done so. Comey said the FBI is “working very hard to see if anyone else was involved in assisting, equipping or helping them, and did they have other plans.” Although evidence is still murky, it’s possible the seeds of the San Bernardino plot were planted far earlier. Paid Content Andrew B. Serwin, Partner, Chair of Data Protection, Privacy and Security Practice, DLA Piper By LA Times Studios Farook and possibly others may have planned a terrorist act as early as 2011 or 2012 but dropped it after four men were arrested — three of them in Chino — and ultimately convicted in a plot to kill Americans in Afghanistan, according to a government official briefed on the matter. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the FBI has developed information that Farook told at least one associate in 2011 or 2012 that he was considering a terrorist plot. “Farook was interested in guns then,” the source said FBI agents have learned. “He was going to gun ranges.” Around that time, Farook’s friend and neighbor, Enrique Marquez, legally purchased the two semiautomatic rifles that Farook and his wife used in their rampage at the Inland Regional Center. Farook, 28, and Marquez, 24, were next-door neighbors in Riverside until a few months ago. In November 2014, Marquez married the sister of Farook’s sister-in-law. The sisters came separately to the U.S. from Russia on J-1 visas, which allow foreigners to enter for work-study cultural exchange programs, said a federal official speaking on the condition of anonymity because the inquiry is ongoing. The circumstances of the marriage are now under investigation, the official said. Marquez was interviewed by investigators after he checked himself in to a mental health facility following the shooting. The FBI director’s comments suggest Farook, a U.S. citizen born in Illinois, may have specifically sought a confederate long before Islamic State gained international attention in 2014 to help him plan and conduct the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001. Malik, 29, who was born in Pakistan but lived for some time in Saudi Arabia, was “radicalized” before she met her future husband, Comey said, although it’s still unclear who was the driving force behind the plot. Asked whether the marriage might have been purposely arranged by a foreign terrorist organization to sneak them into the United States to conduct an attack, Comey said, “I don’t know the answer to that yet.” If it turns out a terrorist group had sent them that far in advance and had carefully kept them undercover for two years, “that would be a very, very important thing to know,” he acknowledged. Friends and relatives of Sierra Clayborn gather for her funeral at Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in South Los Angeles. A memorial service was held for Nicholas Thalasinos on Saturday morning at the Shiloh Messianic Congregation in Calimesa. A Shabbat service was part of the memorial for Nicholas Thalasinos at Shiloh Messianic Congregation in Calimesa, where Thalasinos and his wife, Jennifer, were integral parts of the congregation. A hired mover carries out personal items from the home of San Bernardino shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. Residents turn out to greet President Obama’s motorcade in San Bernardino. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet San Bernardino Mayor R. Carey Davis, center, and Supervisor James Ramos outside Air Force One at the San Bernardino airport on Friday night. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama leave in a motorcade, after arriving at San Bernardino International Airport, to meet privately with the families of the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama depart Air Force One at San Bernardino International Airport. San Bernardino residents Ashrie Matthews, left, Leah Brown and James Matthews line the street to cheer the president’s motorcade. President Obama stopped in San Bernardino on Friday evening to privately visit with the families of some of the victims of the Dec. 2 terrorist attack. Ashrie Matthews, left, Leah Brown and James Matthews joined others to cheer as the president’s motorcade passed. Anti-Obama protester Deann D’Lean, right, holds some of the many signs she brought to a small protest. In the background, Paul Rodriguez, Jr., with America First Latinos holds a bullhorn. Protesters were out on some San Bernardino street corners voicing their opposition to the president and Islamic State. People continue to visit the memorial just down the street from where the terrorist attack occurred. Family members and friends pay their respects to Robert Adams, one of the 14 victims killed in the San Bernardino shooting, during his graveside funeral service at Montecito Memorial Park in Colton. Summer Adams, center, grieves at the graveside ceremony for her husband, Robert Adams, at Montecito Memorial Park in Colton. A mourner sits on the curb with her head in her hands during the graveside ceremony for San Bernardino shooting victim Robert Adams at Montecito Memorial Park in Colton. Mourners embrace at the funeral for Aurora Godoy at Calvary Chapel in Gardena on Wednesday. Godoy was one of 14 killed in the attack in San Bernardino on Dec. 2. Mourners arrive for the funeral for San Bernardino shooting victim Aurora Godoy at Calvary Chapel in Gardena on Wednesday. Shemiran Betbadal, mother of Bennetta Betbadal, is hugged by family after funeral services at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga. Pallbearers carry the casket of Bennetta Bet-Badal during funeral services Monday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga. Bet-Badal was one of the 14 people killed in the San Barnardino shooting rampage. The husband and children of Bennetta Bet-Badal hug Monday following her funeral services at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga. Funeral services were held for Bennetta Bet-Badal, one of the 14 people killed in the San Barnardino shooting rampage, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga. Funeral services were held for Bennetta Bet-Badal at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga. Funeral services were held for Bennetta Bet-Badal at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga. Twelve days after the mass shooting attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino the flowers are beginning to wilt but hugs and paryers are still in abundance. Gwen Rodgers, assistant pastor at the Church of Living God, hugs Cindy Quinones, cousin of the slain Aurora Godoy, during a vigil at the makeshift memorial for the victims of the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, Calif. Visitors arrive to pay their respects at the makeshift memorial outside the fenced off Inland Regional Center, in the background, the site of the deadly terrorist attacks, in San Bernardino, Calif. San Trinh, the longtime boyfriend of Tin Nguyen, 31, one of the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack, is consoled by family members as Nguyen’s casket is loaded into a hearse at St. Barbara’s Catholic Church in Santa Ana. Cousins of Tin Nguyen -- Trang Le, left, Tram Le and Krystal Le -- hold onto some of her personal items and cry as they watch her casket being lowered into the ground at her funeral at the Good Shepherd Cemetery in Huntington Beach. Pallbearers stand guard over the casket of the Tin Nguyen, a Cal State Fullerton graduate, at the start of her memorial service at St. Barbara’s Catholic Church in Santa Ana. Van Thanh Nguyen shouts her daughter’s name during her funeral at the Good Shepherd Cemetary in Huntington Beach. Tin Nguyen was 31. Family members and friends write messages on the side of the Tin Nguyen’s burial vault. Van Thanh Nguyen places her hand on her daughter’s casket while surrounded by friends and family. The casket of San Bernardino shooting victim Isaac Amanios leaves the St. Minas Orthodox Church during his funeral service in Colton. Two women cry during Isaac Amanios’ funeral service at the St. Minas Orthodox Church in Colton. Amanios, 60, is survived by his wife and three children. Funeral goers cry during Isaac Amanios’ service. Amanios had shared a cubicle with the male shooter at the San Bernardino County Public Health Department. Frineds and family stand during the funeral service for Isaac Amanios. Trenna Meins, center with daughters after the funeral for her husband Damian Meins at St. Catherine Of Alexandria in Riverside. Pallbearers escort the casket of Damian Meins at St. Catherine of Alexandria church in Riverside. Mourners gather at St. Catherine Of Alexandria in Riverside on Friday morning for the funeral of Damian Meins, one of 14 people killed in the San Bernardino shooting. Trenna Meins places a cross on her husband’s coffin. Damien Meins was killed in a terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Mourners gather for the funeral of Damian Meins. Community members sing Amazing Grace during a candlelight vigil for Nicholas Thalasinos and the 13 other San Bernardino shooting victims at Fleming Park in Colton, Calif. A portrait of Yvette Velasco, one of the victims of the deadly San Bernardino terrorist attacks, is placed at her funeral service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Covina, Calif. Robert Velasco, father of Yvette Velasco, consoles a family member during Yvette’s funeral service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Covina, Calif. COVINA, CALIF.--December 10, 2015 - The coffin of San Bernardino shooting victim, Yvette Velasco, is carried to the hearse following a private viewing for family at Forest Lawn Mortuary in Covina, Calif. An FBI dive team searches a lake located about two miles north of the Inland Regional Center in connection with last week’s terrorist attack and shootout that left the two attackers and 14 victims dead. An FBI dive team searches a lake near the Inland Regional Center in connection with last week’s terrorist attack. A memorial to victims of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino continues to grow near the Inland Regional Center, where the attack took place during a holiday party. One week after the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, the public is posting signs of gratitude and thanks like this one found at the San Bernardino Police Department. Family members and survivors paid their respects with a moment of silence at 11 a.m., exactly one week after the shooting occured at the Inland Regional Center. Customers wait for the doors to open at Turner’s Outdoorsman in San Bernardino Wednesday morning. Speaking during a Dec. 8 news conference, dispatcher Michelle Rodriguez of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department becomes emotional as she recounts the events of the deadly San Bernardino attack. Trenna Meins, right, of Riverside, hugs friends and family during a vigil t the Riverside County Health Complex for her husband, Damian Meins, and 13 others killed in the San Bernardino shooting rampage. On Dec. 8, people bring flowers, candles and remembrances to a memorial to the San Bernardino shooting victims near the Inland Regional Center, the scene of the attack. Frank Cobet of the Get Loaded gun store in Grand Terrace shows a customer an AR-15 rifle on Dec. 8. Monica Gonzales relights candles Tuesday morning at a memorial for victims of the shooting rampage in San Bernardino. Community members and students gather for a Dec. 7 vigil on the Cal State San Bernardino campus to remember the victims of the deadly attack in the city. Patricia Corona of Colton, Calif., holds her children, Dejah Salvato, 7, and Brandon Salvato, 9, as they attend a Dec. 7 vigil at the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors headquarters to pay tribute to the victims of the city’s recent mass shootings. A prayer is said at the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors headquarters to honor the victms of the city’s recent mass shootings. FBI agents put up a screen to block the view of onlookers as they investigate the building at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Syed Farook, father of the suspect in the San Bernardino mass shooting, Syed Rizwan Farook, arrives at his home to a swarm of reporters in Corona, Calif. Roses are laid at the entrance to San Bernardino County headquarters as thousands of employees returned to work Monday, five days after Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire on a gathering of his co-workers, killing 14 people and wounding 21. Trudy Raymundo, director the the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, is surrounded by San Bernardino County supervisors as she addresses the media during a press conference Monday. John Ramos of Riverside pays his respects Monday at a makeshift memorial site honoring Wednesday’s shooting victims in San Bernardino. Claudia Zaragoza writes a message on a banner at the ever-growing memorial site to the victims of the recent mass shootings near the Inland Regional Center. Caroline Campbell, from left, Jessie Campbell and Rylee Ponce embrace as they pay their respects at the ever-growing memorial site for the victims of the recent mass shootings. Caroline Campbell embraces her son, David Malijan, 6, as they pay their respects at the ever-growing memorial site to the victims of the recent mass shootings near the Inland Regional Center. The Zafarullah family of Chino, originally of Pakistan, watches Obama’s address. Arshia, at left, is holding her 18-month-old nephew, Sohail Ahmed. One of several signs supporting the city of San Bernardino hang above the 215 Freeway on Sunday evening. Members of the Muslim community, such as Khadija Zadeh, lit candles and wrote messages to the families of victims of the San Bernardino shooting rampage during a memorial service at the Islamic Community Center of Redlands in Loma Linda. Ajarat Bada prays during a memorial service at the Islamic Community Center of Redlands in Loma Linda to remember the victims of the San Bernardino shooting rampage. Alaa Alsafadi, center, holds her son, Yousef, 4, during a memorial service at the Islamic Community Center of Redlands in Loma Linda. Riders from the Christian Motorcycle Association in San Bernardino pray at a growing makeshift memorial for San Bernardino shooting victims near the Inland Regional Center. A candlelight vigil dubbed “United We Stand,” took place at Granada Hills Charter High School on Saturday evening. The event was organized by Muslim Youth Los Angeles and Devonshire Area in Partnership. Ryan Reyes, boyfriend of San Bernardino shooting victim Larry Daniel Kaufman, hugs members of Dar Al Uloom Al Islamiyah of America mosque who brought roses to a memorial at the Sante Fe Dam on Saturday. A bullet hole in the window of a pick up truck where the shootout took place on San Bernardino Avenue. People kneel in prayer for victims of the recent mass shootings at the Inland Regional Center, in San Bernardino. After sunset, people continue to arrive at the memorial site for the victims of the recent mass shootings at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. The scene after landlord Doyle Miller opened the doors and allowed the news media inside the Redlands town home where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly the recent mass shootings in San Bernardino, lived. Josie Ramirez-Herndon, center, and her daughter, Chelsie Ramirez, bottom left, join other community members as they pray during a candlelight vigil. Fabio Ahumada, a San Bernardino EMT, attends a vigil at San Manuel Stadium A couple embrace at the candlelight vigil to honor the victims of the mass shootings at the Inland Regional Center. Angel Meler-Baumgartner 11, who was a member of the Inland Regional Center, where the shooting occurred, attends a vigil at San Manuel Stadium for the victims. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA held a press conference and prayer vigil at Baitul Hameed Mosque in Chino. The group denounced the massacre. Amy Mahmood, right, holds hands with a woman named Shenaz during the vigil at San Manuel Stadium. Ryan Reyes, center, breaks down after finding out his boyfriend of three years, Daniel Kaufman, 42, was one of those killed during Wednesday’s mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Ryan Reyes holds an image of his boyfriend Daniel Kaufman who was confirmed as one of the 14 victims of Wednesday’s mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Larry Jones, left, pastor of Crossover Outreach Church; Dr. Jeannetta Million, pastor of Victoria’s Believers Church; and Arnold Morales, pastor of King of Glory Church, pray for the victims and those involved in the mass shooting in San Bernardino. A coalition of church leaders comes together to pray for the victims and those involved in the San Bernardino shootings. FBI investigators inside the suspects’ Redlands home on Thursday morning. The investigation continues Thursday morning on San Bernardino Avenue, where two suspects in the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center died in a shootout with police. Law enforcement stands guard at a police line as investigators work at a Redlands home after the San Bernardino attack. A SWAT team stands guard with a rifle pointed at a home that is being investigated by police after today’s San Bernardino’s mass shootings. Farhan Khan, second from right, who was identified as the brother-in-law of San Bernardino shooting suspect Syed Rizwan Farook, joins religious leaders during a news conference at the Council of American Islamic Relations in Anaheim. San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies draw guns behind a minivan on Richardson St. during a search for suspects involved in the mass shooting of 14 people at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Marie Cabrera, Sonya Gonzalez and Christine Duran, all of San Bernardino, pray after the mass shooting in San Bernardino. A woman and a man enter the Rudy C Hernandez Community Center after they and other people, who were at the scene of a mass shooting, arrived by bus to be reunited with their familys. Emergency personnel bring in a wounded person into Loma University Medical Center after the shooting in San Bernardino on Wednesday. A SWAT unit is on the move in San Bernardino. A member of the San Manual Fire Department takes the names of people evacuated from the scene of a mass shooting in San Bernardino before they are loaded onto buses and taken away from the area. Sheriff’s department SWAT members deploy on Richardson Street in San Bernardino on Wednesday. Sheriff’s department SWAT members deploy near San Bernardino Avenue and Richardson Street in San Bernardino on Wednesday. Evacuated workers join in a circle to pray on the San Bernardino Golf Course across the street from where a shooting occurred at the Inland Regional Center. Malik’s role came under additional scrutiny as investigators found a false address on part of her K-1 visa application, the so-called fiancee visa, that allowed her to enter the United States to marry Farook and become a U.S. resident. “Our government apparently didn’t catch the false address in Pakistan she listed on her application or other possible signs that she was radicalized or an operative,” said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who chaired the Senate hearing. Two government sources told The Times that Malik used the name of a neighborhood or street near her home in Pakistan, rather than her family’s home address. Investigators speculate that she sought to deflect any investigation of her family’s reputed ties to Islamic militants in Punjab. Pakistani security officials questioned teachers and students at an Islamic seminary she had attended in 2013. They also searched the house where she apparently had lived in Multan, a small city in central Pakistan, where she attended a university from 2007 to 2013. The Bush and Obama administrations used drones to conduct hundreds of lethal airstrikes against militant groups in northwest Pakistan during those years, stoking widespread public anger. The 2011 killing of Osama Bin Laden by U.S. Navy SEALs in Abbottabad, close to the capital city of Islamabad, led to furious anti-American protests. But security officials in Islamabad said Wednesday that they have found no evidence showing that Malik had contact with Al Qaeda or other militant organizations. Her ability to obtain the K-1 visa — which required her to give fingerprints and other information that was checked against U.S. immigration, terrorism and criminal databases — sparked concern in Congress. The Senate Homeland Security Committee demanded more information on how her visa application was handled and whether Farook’s background was checked as well. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the committee chairman, and the ranking Democrat, Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, suggested the process was tilted toward approvals. The State Department processed 36,542 K-1 visas in fiscal year 2014 and denied only 618, they said. For now, the FBI is focusing on how they missed the secret radicalization of Farook and his wife, and Farook’s apparent comments as early as 2011 that he was considering a terrorist attack. The FBI believes Farook abandoned that plan after the arrests of three men in November 2012 as they left an apartment in Chino. They had allegedly planned to drive to Mexico, fly to Afghanistan and join radical Islamic militants. A fourth suspect was taken into custody by U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan. Soheil Omar Kabir, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan and living in Pomona, and Ralph Deleon of Ontario, a legal permanent resident and citizen of the Philippines, were convicted in 2014 on charges related to providing material support to terrorists and plotting to kill Americans in Afghanistan. The other two defendants, Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales and Arifeen David Gojali, previously had pleaded guilty. In announcing the convictions last year, U.S. Atty. Stephanie Yonekura said the case showed the danger of local residents being influenced by foreign terror groups — precisely what appears to have happened in the San Bernardino massacre. “Extremist ideologies can reach from Afghanistan to America,” Yonekura said, “demonstrating the clear need for continued vigilance in rooting out homegrown violent extremists.” richard.serrano@latimes.com brian.bennett@latimes.com Contributing to this report were Times staff writers Christi Parsons in Washington, Kate Mather in Riverside and Shashank Bengali in Mumbai, and special correspondent Aoun Sahi in Islamabad. MORE ON SAN BERNARDINO U.S. worried about foreign fighters returning from Syria and Iraq A look at the K-1 visa that gave San Bernardino shooter entry into U.S. One brother hatched a terrorist massacre, the other served his country in the U.S. Navy Sign up for Essential California The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Richard A. Serrano was a federal law enforcement and terrorism reporter in the Los Angeles Times’ Washington, D.C., bureau. He left The Times in 2015. Brian Bennett previously covered the White House, national security and immigration in the Los Angeles Times Washington bureau, where he worked from 2010-18. World & Nation Politics World & Nation California World & Nation World & Nation World & Nation World & Nation Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map Follow Us MORE FROM THE L.A. TIMES | f2b017c854f9a8e4 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Vox | http://www.vox.com/2015/5/20/8630515/hillary-clinton-community-bank | Hillary Clinton's plan for small business contains a potentially huge idea | 2015-05-20 | politics | Being for small business in American politics is like having a favorable attitude toward Mom or apple pie . But campaigning in Iowa this week , Hillary Clinton 's thus-far policy-light campaign rolled out the germ of a small-business idea that has big implications : the federal government should help smaller businesses by showing more favorable treatment to small banks .
Unlike giant companies , small businesses ca n't raise money by issuing bonds and tapping public debt markets . They need to rely on loans for banks .
`` For many small businesses , '' Clinton argued at a Tuesday event at a Des Moines bike shop , `` these loans have always come from community banks with deep local ties . But today those same local banks are being squeezed by regulations that do n't make sense for their size and mission . ''
Clinton did n't offer a specific policy remedy , though her rhetoric suggested a desire to let small banks get away with less-frequent and less-intense examinations .
Small banks are probably good for small business , maybe good for America
The specific claim that the health of the community banking sector is critical for small businesses is a piece of longstanding conventional wisdom within the small business community , a point of pride for community bankers , and backed up by a fair amount of expert analysis . It is not , however , a point of universal agreement .
In a 2013 paper for the Federal Reserve System , Allen Berger , Williams Goulding , and Tara Rice concluded that the link between small business and small banks is largely obsolete , `` perhaps because of changes in lending technologies and deregulation of the banking industry . ''
Naturally , Terry Jorde of the Independent Community Bankers of America disagrees with this conclusion noting that `` while community banks comprise just 20 % of the banking industry 's assets , institutions with less than $ 10 billion in assets provide nearly 60 % of the industry 's small-business loans . '' In other words , a community bank is much more likely to channel deposits into small-business lending than into derivatives trading , making strong small banks an attractive source of money for small businesses . Dan Tarullo of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors seems to agree , citing several pieces of research on the importance of small banks ' relationship-centric approach to lending versus larger banks ' algorithmically driven behavior .
Of course , a separate question is whether a financial model that disproportionately benefits smaller companies is good for the country overall .
Ultimately , however , small banks may be less important for their role in small-business lending than for their role as political pawns . After all , while doing regulatory favors for Wall Street is n't very politically palatable , helping out small banks sounds great — and if laxer regulation also happens to help the JP Morgans and Goldman Sachses of the world , well , that 's great for fundraising .
Clinton specifically called out this behavior , arguing that Republicans `` insist on using this issue to give relief to community banks as a Trojan horse for rolling back the protections for consumers and rolling back the rules for the big banks . '' This is , obviously , not how Republicans would characterize their actions . But they are , broadly speaking , seeking to roll back Obama-era bank regulation , which some experts argue disproportionately burdens small banks .
Conversely , whatever the specific merits of the small banking sector , it can be a potent political ally for progressives looking to bring Wall Street to heel .
As Ryan Lizza detailed in a recent New Yorker profile of Elizabeth Warren , the key to her legislative successes against Wall Street megabanks has been an alliance with the small banks ' lobby . By stipulating that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will exempt smaller banks from some of its strictures , for example , Warren was able to turn the creation of a strong CFPB into a competitive advantage for community banks . That gave Warren the legislative juice she needed to get it passed into law .
This kind of hard-nosed politicking is n't the kind of thing elected officials like to talk about , but there was a lot of it in the real history of bank regulation in the 1930s . Many progressives are deeply skeptical of Clinton 's bona fides as an enemy of Wall Street , and a speech at an Iowa bike shop is n't going to change that . But the basic principle Clinton outlined — tougher rules on Wall Street combined with generous exemptions for smaller banks — is the most politically plausible vision for bringing megabanks to heel . | sCtyAbIM7icWTMHO | 0 | Hillary Clinton | 0.5 | Small Business | 0.5 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null |
elections | John Fund | https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/08/nancy-pelosi-damaging-democrats-midterm-election-chances/ | OPINION: Nancy Pelosi Is Damaging Democrats’ Takeover Chances | 2018-08-12 | elections | Will her party reach out to swing voters by persuading her to step aside ?
Will Democrats pull an “ October Surprise ” this year and announce that the highly polarizing Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco won ’ t be their candidate for House speaker after all ? Growing up in the Bay Area , I saw Pelosi ’ s iron will and stubbornness up close for decades . The possibility of her stepping back seems remote . But she ’ s also the shrewd tactician who always tells moderate Democrats they can publicly spurn her because the imperative is “ Just win , baby. ” If the race for House control is close in October , many Democrats hope she ’ ll step back to deprive the GOP of a campaign issue .
Some Democrats are willing to publicly acknowledge that the highly liberal Pelosi alienates independents and moderates . “ People pretend that it isn ’ t a problem , but it ’ s a problem that exists , ” Representative Brian Higgins ( D. , N.Y. ) told the Washington Post last week . He said frustrated colleagues told him that Republicans ’ anti-Pelosi ads cost Democrats the House special election in Ohio , where they trailed by only 1,500 votes . One third of the national ads run by Republicans in that race mentioned Pelosi , and she became a real issue when Democrat Danny O ’ Connor , after first saying that Democrats need “ new leadership , ” finally admitted he would vote for her as speaker over a Republican if Democrats put her forward : “ I would support whoever the Democratic party put forward. ” This comment dominated local coverage of the House race for the week leading up to the special election .
Higgins says that challengers in other competitive districts are getting the same treatment when it comes to Pelosi : “ They are stuck with that question , and they do not deal with it well . You equivocate , and it jams you up , and it costs you votes . ”
Pelosi is toxic enough that NBC News reported on Friday that she might have trouble winning the necessary 218 votes for speaker even if Democrats become a majority of the House :
At least 42 of the party ’ s nominees for House seats have declared they will not back Pelosi , and nine incumbent Democratic lawmakers are on the record opposing her , bringing the total to 51 . An additional 34 Democratic nominees are neither for nor against Pelosi , who has led her party in the House since 2003 .
Donna Edwards , a former Democratic congresswoman of Maryland , supported Pelosi while she was in the House , but said on Meet the Press today that if Democrats win back the House in November , the current nervousness of their candidates about Pelosi doesn ’ t mean they ’ ll abandon her if she runs for speaker :
Nancy Pelosi is the best vote counter ever . And she ’ s not going to run for speaker unless she believes that she can get the votes to do it . . . . But you know what , I think she may deserve it . I mean , she ’ s already raised almost $ 90 million for Democrats across the country . She knows that , you know , she can be a lightning rod . And you know what she says ? She says , “ Just win , baby. ” Because she knows that when they come in , they ’ re going to have to make the decision , she ’ s the one who brought them there .
The attacks on Pelosi will only intensify as Election Day approaches , and her current poll numbers are already remarkably low . A new American Barometer poll found that only 27 percent of voters wanted her to stay as Democratic leader . Nearly half of Democrats thought it was time for a fresh start . So did 79 percent of independents .
“ Democrats are split on whether to keep Nancy Pelosi as leader , and independents and most voter groups want someone else to step up , ” said Dritan Nesho , the CEO of HarrisX , the survey taker . “ The findings suggest a yearning for change . ”
Every election season , speculation rises about whether there will be an “ October surprise ” that will upend the contest . In 2016 , we had two : the reopening of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton ’ s private server and emails , and the infamous Access Hollywood tape that was supposed to sink Donald Trump but didn ’ t .
Republicans will probably fall back on warning voters about what a return to power by Democrats would mean : efforts to scale back border controls and even abolish ICE , higher taxes and more regulation , and a focus on impeaching the president .
Democrats privately scoff that Pelosi ’ s departure could be this year ’ s surprise . Instead , they are focusing on the recent accusations from disgruntled former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault-Newman , who also was a guest on today ’ s Meet the Press . Omarosa predicted that a tape of Trump using the “ N-word ” against African Americans would surface shortly before the election : “ I know it exists , and what I regret is that these people are probably trying to leverage it as this October surprise. ” I have no idea whether such a tape exists , but I rate Omarosa ’ s overall credibility on a par with that of fabulists .
A “ Bye , Nancy ” pass to appeal to swing voters strikes me as at least as likely if not more so as an October surprise . Republicans haven ’ t been buoyed by the strong economy as much as they thought they would be . They will probably fall back on warning voters about what a return to power by increasingly liberal Democrats would mean : efforts to scale back border controls and even abolish ICE , higher taxes and more regulation , and a focus on impeaching President Trump . Despite her best efforts to downplay such issues , Nancy Pelosi is easily identified with this left-wing agenda .
Democrats know that such last-minute attacks have worked before . In previous elections , such as 1996 and 2012 , their late-summer optimism turned to November ashes under withering Republican attack ads that warned what a return to Democratic control would mean .
IN THE NEWS : ‘ Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings to Begin in September ’ | BpHrhq9t691NOgoW | 2 | Midterm Elections | -0.6 | Nancy Pelosi | -0.2 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null |
coronavirus | Associated Press Fact Check | https://apnews.com/article/us-coronavirus-vaccine-8e846e47cd71f39fed71dcd6700d729b | US shifts to speed COVID shots as cases and deaths rise | 2021-01-12 | Coronavirus, Coronavirus Vaccine, Healthcare | WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a slower-than-hoped coronavirus vaccine rollout, the Trump administration abruptly shifted gears Tuesday to speed the delivery of shots to more people. The move came as cases and deaths surged to alarming new highs.Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced a series of major changes to increase supply of vaccines, extend eligibility to more seniors and provide more locations for people to get shots. Administration officials describing the new policies conveyed a notable sense of urgency.One change will have some teeth to it. Azar said going forward the federal government will base each state’s allocation of vaccines partly on how successful states have been in administering those already provided.“If you are not using vaccines that you have the right to, then we should be rebalancing to states that are using that vaccine,” Azar said at news conference.That won’t happen overnight, not until officials try to sort out whether lags in reporting could be the reason for what appears to be subpar performance. Currently, the government allocates vaccines based on state population.Azar also said the government will stop holding back the required second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, practically doubling supply. Both those shots require two doses to achieve optimum protection.Additionally, Washington is urging states to immediately start vaccinating other groups lower down the priority scale, including people age 65 and older and younger people with certain health problems.The move to increase the supply of vaccines better aligns the outgoing administration with the new Biden-Harris team. On Friday, President-elect Joe Biden said he will rapidly release most available vaccine doses to protect more people. He said he supported immediately releasing vaccines that health authorities were holding back out of caution, to guarantee they would be available for people needing their second dose.“This next phase reflects the urgency of the situation,” said Azar. “Every vaccine dose sitting in a warehouse rather than going into an arm could mean one more death that could have been avoided.”Initially the government had been holding back second doses as a safety precaution against potential shortfalls in production. Now, officials say they are confident the needed supply will be there. And people needing a second dose will have priority.“This is not a supply issue at this moment in time,” Vice President Mike Pence told governors on a White House call. A recording was provided to The Associated Press.Azar also gave states the green light to designate more places where people can get shots. Those locations can include tens of thousands of pharmacies, federally supported community health centers that serve low-income communities, and mass vaccination sites already being set up in some states.The flurry of changes raised questions for some local officials, still trying to get vaccination campaigns into full swing.As of Monday morning, the government had distributed about 27.7 million doses to states, U.S. territories and major cities. But only about 9.3 million people had received their first shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s online tracker. That means only about 34% of the available vaccines had been administered.Initially, the shots were going to health care workers and nursing home residents. Those 75 and older were next in line. But problems arose even in vaccinating that limited pool of people. Some hospital and nursing home workers have been hesitant to get the vaccine. Scheduling issues created delays in getting shots to nursing homes.Some states, including Arizona, have or are planning to open up mass vaccination centers, aiming to inoculate thousands of people a day in a single location. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis opened up vaccinations to people 65 and older. In other states, local health authorities have started asking residents 65 and older to register, in anticipation the vaccination campaign would be expanded.Although Azar said the shift in strategy was a natural evolution of the Trump administration’s efforts, as recently as Friday he had raised questions about whether Biden’s call to accelerate supplies was prudent.On Tuesday, he also sought to deflect blame to the states for the slow uptake of vaccines. Azar said some states are being “overly prescriptive and trying to micromanage every single dose of vaccine,” leading to bottlenecks.Azar also criticized what he called “the hospitalization of vaccine distribution,” saying “we have too much vaccine sitting in freezers in hospitals.”State and local officials are sure to point out that it was the federal government that recommended putting health care workers at the front of the vaccination line.The Trump administration directed a crash effort to develop, manufacture and deliver vaccines, hoping to avoid a repeat of earlier debacles with coronavirus testing. Dubbed “Operation Warp Speed,” it has produced two highly effective vaccines, with more on the way.Each state has its own plan for who should be vaccinated, based on CDC recommendations that gave first priority to health care workers and nursing home residents. Some critics say the administration’s planning should have extended into helping states administer the shots after they were delivered. Congress has recently approved more than $8 billion for that.The slow pace of the vaccine rollout has frustrated many Americans at a time when the coronavirus death toll has continued to rise. More than 376,000 people in the U.S. have died, according to the Johns Hopkins database.Azar said the pace of vaccinations has picked up, on track to reach 1 million daily within a couple of weeks. But the American Hospital Association estimates 1.8 million vaccinations a day are needed, seven days a week, to achieve widespread immunity by the middle of this year. Biden has set a goal of 100 million shots administered in his first 100 days.Local public health officials were surprised by Tuesday’s announcement and scrambling to figure out how to implement the changes, said Adriane Casalotti of NACCHO, the National Association of County and City Health Officials.“All levels of the governmental public health system really need to be on the same page. Surprises don’t benefit anyone,” she said.Letting more groups in line “all of a sudden makes a lot more people potentially eligible and certainly interested and we need to have the systems in place to get them the vaccine,” Casalotti added.But administration officials pressed their case urgently.“We think right now getting the vaccine into (more) individuals, now, could really make a huge difference in the hospitalizations that you would see in your jurisdictions say four to six weeks from now,” CDC Director Robert Redfield told governors on the call, adding it was his strong recommendation.Biden, who has been highly critical of the Trump administration’s pandemic response, is expected to give a speech Thursday outlining his plans. He’s looking for a turnabout in his first 100 days.Azar said they’ll brief the Biden transition team on the changes, but didn’t seek their blessing.___AP writers Alan Suderman in Richmond, Virginia; Candice Choi in New York; Carole Feldman in Washington; Lauran Neergaard in Alexandria, Virginia; and Michelle R. Smith in Providence, Rhode Island;, contributed. | 693fec493b76a521 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
foreign_policy | Townhall | http://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2016/05/23/obama-lifts-decadesold-vietnam-arms-embargo-n2167317 | Obama Lifts Decades-old Vietnam Arms Embargo | 2016-05-23 | foreign_policy | President Obama on Monday fully lifted the United States ’ 41-year arms embargo against Vietnam .
`` At this stage both sides have developed a level of trust and cooperation , including between our militaries , that is reflective of common interests and mutual respect , '' Obama said at a news conference in Hanoi .
“ This change will ensure that Vietnam has access to the equipment it needs to defend itself and removes a lingering vestige of the Cold War , ” he added .
But the move also comes as a means of boosting the communist nation ’ s defenses against China , although President Obama denied this .
“ The decision to lift the ban was not based on China or any other considerations , ” he said . “ It was based on our desire to complete what has been a lengthy process of moving towards normalization with Vietnam .
“ I want to emphasize that my decision to lift the ban really was more reflective of the changing nature of the relationship . ”
Washington partially lifted the embargo on arms in 2014 , but Vietnam wanted full access as it tries to deal with China 's land reclamation and military construction in the disputed South China Sea . Vietnam has not bought anything , but removing the remaining restrictions shows relations are fully normalized and opens the way to deeper security cooperation . In Beijing , China 's Foreign Ministry outwardly praised the move , with a spokeswoman saying China hoped `` normal and friendly '' relations between the U.S. and Vietnam would be conducive to regional stability . China itself remains under a weapons embargo imposed by the U.S. and European Union following 1989 's bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations centered on Beijing 's Tiananmen Square . Obama said the United States and Vietnam had mutual concerns about maritime issues and the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation in the South China Sea . He said that although Washington does n't take sides on the territorial disputes , it does support a diplomatic resolution based on `` international norms '' and `` not based on who 's the bigger party and can throw around their weight a little bit more , '' a reference to China .
While the announcement is certainly a big step in terms of normalizing relations with Vietnam , Obama added that the country will not immediately be receiving a flood weapons . Each U.S. arms sale , he said , would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis .
“ As with all our defense partners , sales will need to still meet strict requirements , including those related to human rights , ” he said .
Activists and members of Congress had hoped the president would wait to fully lift the embargo until Vietnam improved its human rights record . | TP5Xt0WP9fVm1NhP | 2 | Vietnam | 0.8 | Foreign Policy | 0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
violence_in_america | USA TODAY | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/07/el-paso-shooting-trump-clashes-beto-orourke-before-texas-visit/1941344001/ | 'El Paso will not be quiet': Trump, Beto O'Rourke clash before presidential visit to El Paso | 2019-08-07 | violence_in_america | WASHINGTON – Before a Wednesday trip to El Paso , Texas , to meet with survivors of a deadly mass shooting , President Donald Trump picked another fight with former Texas congressman and Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke .
While O'Rourke has said Trump should stay away from El Paso because of his past comments about migrants , Trump said in a tweet near midnight that his Democratic foe `` should respect the victims & law enforcement - & be quiet ! ''
O'Rourke quickly responded with a tweet saying that Trump 's rhetoric disqualifies him from talking about a shooting by a man who said his motive was a Hispanic `` invasion '' of the United States .
`` 22 people in my hometown are dead after an act of terror inspired by your racism , '' said O'Rourke , who represented the city in Congress . `` El Paso will not be quiet and neither will I . ''
Trump will travel to El Paso and Dayton , Ohio , on Wednesday to meet with the victims of back-to-back shootings that have reopened a pointed debate over whether his own campaign trail rhetoric has contributed to the violence . The weekend shootings killed at least 31 people .
In his salvo , Trump also mocked O'Rourke 's first name – `` phony name to indicate Hispanic heritage '' – as well as his standing in Democratic presidential polls . Trump also took credit for O'Rourke 's loss in a 2018 Texas Senate race to incumbent Ted Cruz .
`` I trounced him , '' said Trump , who made a campaign trip to Texas on Cruz 's behalf .
In another pre-trip tweet , Trump again complained about news coverage surrounding the mass shootings , in this case a flap over how The New York Times changed a headline related to his Monday speech about the attacks .
Trump also called on the news media to play up reports that the shooter in Dayton had expressed support for Democrats like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders . | g8P7KMgDn3Kneaew | 1 | Violence In America | -0.2 | Race And Racism | -0.1 | Beto O'Rourke | 0 | Donald Trump | 0 | null | null |
politics | Vanity Fair | http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/04/has-bill-clinton-lost-his-political-mojo | Has Bill Clinton Lost His Political Mojo? | politics | During the early George W. Bush years , when a boy king seemed to be inhabiting the White House , Bill Clinton appeared as sage as King Solomon , minus the latter ’ s 700 wives and 300 concubines ( although it might depend on how you count ) , and people sought him out as a shepherd . In 2008 , however , Barack Obama made Clinton lose his cool , in more than one way , and , today , people are suggesting that Clinton has lost the magic entirely . This Wednesday , he defended his support for tough crime measures in 1994 and welfare reform in 1996 , putting on a spirited and sincere show , but one that earned him accusations of being condescending and tone-deaf and “ very dehumanizing. ” Just a couple of weeks ago , he spoke of the “ awful legacy of the last eight years , ” a complaint probably uttered with Republican opposition in mind , but one that could not have pleased the current White House . Some have now urged Hillary Clinton to bench her husband . “ She can ’ t divorce him , ” Michelle Goldberg wrote recently in Slate , “ but she can fire him . ”
Picking on the Clintons is not without its rewards , campaign stumbles aside . Their habit of approaching the line of vulgarity ( or illegality ) , like a drunk trucker swaying almost ( but not quite fully ) out of his lane , can drive even their fans crazy . But while Clinton ’ s mind may be as disorganized as ever , it is still strong ; his unvetted remarks are excusable ; and his voice—for all its foibles—remains valuable . In fact , it might be insidiously valuable during this particular election cycle .
We ’ ll start with the gaffes , which have set people talking about mental decline . This narrative is a pesky one that ’ s hard to get rid of once it takes root , and every misstep becomes another confirmation of it . But it ’ s silly . While all of us are going downhill after age 25 , more so at 70 than at 50 , Clinton ’ s mind still seems to be in fine repair . Politicians say rash things all the time . That ’ s unavoidable in the profession , unless you want to go pure robot . Anyone remember “ I didn ’ t inhale ” ? That dumb line was voiced over two decades ago , but no one thought it meant Bill Clinton had lost his political gifts . They simply concluded that he could be full of it , a belief that subsequent years didn ’ t dispel . This year , however , Clinton is making far less trouble than in 2008 , when he was insisting , for instance , that Hillary and Obama hadn ’ t really differed on Iraq . Despite a few glancing digs at Bernie Sanders , he has been pretty peaceful . Even when protesters try to disrupt events , he ’ s patient .
The charitably minded will also acknowledge that mastering the twin roles of ex-president and spousal campaign surrogate is tough , not to mention unprecedented . Sit out the campaign , and it looks weird , generating other sorts of embarrassment and headlines . Is Bill under house arrest ? Is Bill being hidden ? Exclusive : Bill has 6 months to live ! On the other hand , any president , even a former one , looms dangerously large on a stage next to a mere aspirant . Get too involved in the mud-throwing of a primary , and you not only lose your statesmanlike aura but also look like you ’ re taking the wheel of the car . That happened in 2008 , when Clinton couldn ’ t help but act like someone desperate to be in charge again . In 2016 , though , he looks much more like a supporting player . He ’ s performing before Podunk venues across New York and doing his best to play to his strength : connecting with people in a non-giant room . Are you going to advise Hillary not to send her husband to talk to 850 people at the Grapevine Banquets in Depew ( just east of Cheektowaga , if you ’ re looking to place it ) on the grounds that it ’ ll hurt more than help ? Please . | 7ax9wh9BOgT4oCsC | 0 | Bill Clinton | -0.2 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | |
elections | Politico | http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83275.html | Battleground Tracking poll: Mitt Romney, Barack Obama tied | 2012-11-04 | elections | Romney and Obama are now at parity on likability . Battleground Tracking poll : It 's tied
DENVER— With just two days to go until Election Day , Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama are tied in the race for president .
A new ███/George Washington University Battleground Tracking Poll of 1,000 likely voters — taken Monday through Thursday of this past week — shows the two presidential candidates tied at 48 percent .
It ’ s a fitting end to a presidential contest that has teetered on parity in recent months — Obama was ahead by one point in the Battleground poll last week , while Romney edged the president by two points the week before .
History shows that most of the three percent of remaining undecided voters probably won ’ t go to the polls on Tuesday , so the winner will be determined by which candidate can turnout more of their supporters in the 10 or so competitive states .
Obama continues to be perceived as the frontrunner . Regardless of who they ’ re supporting , 53 percent of voters say they believe the nation ’ s first African-American president will win a second term . Historically , this question offers a good predictor of who winds up the victor .
The race is not just neck-and-neck on the head-to-head matchup . A host of fresh data reflects just how closely divided the country is two days before voters choose the next president .
Independents are now split evenly , with Obama up 44 to 43 percent . A week ago , Romney had a 10-point advantage among this key demographic . The ranks of independents shrunk partly because more right-leaning voters now supporting Romney identified with the Republican Party .
On the generic congressional ballot , Republicans are tied with Democrats at 46 percent . On this measure , Republicans led the last two weeks after Democrats had an advantage for much of the fall .
An identical number approve the president ’ s job performance , 49 percent , as disapprove .
Romney and Obama are now at parity on likability : 51 percent view Obama favorably while 50 percent view Romney favorably . Meanwhile , 45 percent of respondents view Obama unfavorably and 44 percent view Romney unfavorably .
Democrats continue to have an advantage on early voting , but Republicans closed the gap somewhat over the past week .
A full 27 percent of those surveyed said they ’ ve already cast their ballot . Of them , Obama leads 50 to 48 percent . | xAy5OCpVrB9yN8Z7 | 0 | Presidential Elections | 0.1 | Elections | 0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
trade | The Hill | https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/419401-trump-touts-big-leap-forward-in-relations-with-china-after-g-20 | Trump touts ‘big leap forward’ with China after G-20 meeting | 2018-12-03 | trade | President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal judge halts California law targeting Trump tax returns Trump agriculture chief : No guarantee small farms can survive Harris presses Twitter to 'do something ' over Trump 's 'coup ' tweet MORE on Monday touted “ strong ” relations with China in the wake of his Group of 20 summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping , claiming in a series of tweets that only he and the Chinese leader could reach an agreement on trade and other matters .
`` President Xi and I have a very strong and personal relationship , '' Trump wrote on Twitter . `` He and I are the only two people that can bring about massive and very positive change , on trade and far beyond , between our two great Nations . A solution for North Korea is a great thing for China and ALL ! ''
President Xi and I have a very strong and personal relationship . He and I are the only two people that can bring about massive and very positive change , on trade and far beyond , between our two great Nations . A solution for North Korea is a great thing for China and ALL ! — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) December 3 , 2018
The president appeared to revel in the outcome of his meeting with Xi on Saturday , where the two sides agreed to hold off on further tariff increases amid trade negotiations . The pact was seen as a step forward between the world 's top two economies as the two sides had been locked in an escalating trade dispute for months .
`` My meeting in Argentina with President Xi of China was an extraordinary one . Relations with China have taken a BIG leap forward ! Very good things will happen , '' the president tweeted Monday morning .
`` We are dealing from great strength , but China likewise has much to gain if and when a deal is completed , '' he added .
My meeting in Argentina with President Xi of China was an extraordinary one . Relations with China have taken a BIG leap forward ! Very good things will happen . We are dealing from great strength , but China likewise has much to gain if and when a deal is completed . Level the field ! — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) December 3 , 2018
In a subsequent tweet , the president said farmers , in particular , would benefit from an agreement with China . The White House announced on Saturday that China had agreed to start purchasing agricultural products `` immediately , '' though it did not specify which products or how much .
Farmers will be a a very BIG and FAST beneficiary of our deal with China . They intend to start purchasing agricultural product immediately . We make the finest and cleanest product in the World , and that is what China wants . Farmers , I LOVE YOU ! — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) December 3 , 2018
Trump said late Sunday night that China had agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S . He did not say when the change would take place , or what the new level would be .
CNN reported Monday that a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the tweet , and referred questions to `` the relevant authorities . '' The Chinese Commerce Ministry did not respond to the network 's request for comment .
China earlier this year cuts it tariffs for foreign automobiles to 15 percent , but leveled an additional 25 percent tariff on American cars over the summer in response to duties from the Trump administration , bringing the total to 40 percent .
Trump returned late Saturday from his two-day trip to Argentina , where trade was a focal point of many of his meetings . The president signed the new United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement , negotiated as a revised version of the North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ) .
Trump told reporters that he intends to terminate NAFTA , meaning Congress will have to approve the new trade pact or there will be no such deal . Some lawmakers have expressed skepticism about the updated version .
Trump met with Xi on Saturday , the first in-person negotiations between the two leaders since the countries had slapped tens of billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs on the other 's goods .
`` It ’ s an incredible deal . It goes down , certainly — if it happens , it goes down as one of the largest deals ever made , ” Trump told reporters on Saturday .
The president had previously indicated that he was open to a truce on trade with China , but would not rush into one .
The Chinese foreign ministry also touted the agreement , saying the two sides had `` proposed a series of constructive plans on how to properly resolve existing differences and problems . ” | G5SNuL0gHCxQ9F6N | 1 | Trade | 0.9 | Global Economy | 0.6 | China | 0.4 | null | null | null | null |
politics | BBC News | https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57409049 | US Senate passes sweeping bill to counter China tech reach | 2021-06-09 | US Senate, China, Technology, Science, Semiconductors, Chuck Schumer, Bipartisanship, Politics | US Senate lawmakers have approved a massive spending plan to boost technology research and production. The proposed measures come in the face of growing international competition, particularly from China. A Beijing official hit back at the bill on Wednesday, saying it "exaggerated the 'China threat'". The bill, which must pass the House of Representatives before being signed into law, is a rare point of agreement between Republicans and Democrats. In a vote in the upper chamber of the US Congress, 68 of the 100-member Senate supported the measure, with 32 against. The Senate is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, and experts say the vote shows how the two political parties are united on the need to counter Beijing's economic and military ambitions. Supporters say the package is one of the largest industrial bills in US history and the biggest investment in scientific research that the country has seen in decades. "I believe that this legislation will enable the United States to out-innovate, out-produce, and out-compete the world in the industries of the future," Senate majority leader and co-sponsor of the bill Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. It authorises roughly $250bn (£176bn) in funding for technology research, semiconductor development and manufacturing, as well as subsidies for robot makers and chipmakers amid a shortage of computer chips worldwide. The computer chip shortage has hit automobile production at a time of rebounding global demand and bosses of big tech firms have told the BBC it could last as long as two years. The bill includes a number of China-specific provisions, including the prohibition of the social media app TikTok from being downloaded on government devices. The purchase of drones manufactured and sold by Chinese state enterprises would also be blocked under the legislation. Chinese organisations engaged in US cyber attacks or theft of US intellectual property from US firms would face sanctions too, once the bill is passed. The legislation was passed amid some signs of a thaw in relations between Beijing and Washington. In May, China and the US held virtual talks between trade negotiators in the first such meeting of the Biden presidency. China's Commerce Ministry said in early June that China and the US had agreed to restart normal communications. But on Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin suggested the bill could harm these efforts, saying it was "full of Cold War and zero-sum thinking and runs counter to the public aspiration in both countries to strengthen exchanges and cooperation". "The China-related content of the bill passed by the US Senate distorts facts and slanders China's development path and its domestic and foreign policies," he said. "It exaggerates the 'China threat', advocates traditional competition with China and seriously interferes with China's internal affairs on Taiwan." A version of the legislation must still pass the US House of Representatives and then be reconciled with the Senate version before being signed by President Joe Biden to become law. However, President Biden praised the bill's passage. "It is long past time that we invest in American workers and American innovation," President Biden said in a statement. "We are in a competition to win the 21st century, and the starting gun has gone off. As other countries continue to invest in their own research and development, we cannot risk falling behind." There's a lot to unpack from the rapper's trial, including what AWGE means and the impacts to the A$AP Mob Eighteen states have sued the federal government over the executive order, showing the legal challenges the president will face. The SS United States prepares to become the world's largest artificial reef off the Florida coast. New York's governor criticised Trump's declaration of himself as a "king" in the announcement. The Cessna 172S and a Lancair 360 MK II had two passengers each aboard when they crashed. Copyright 2025 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. | cf342291bb7064c1 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_senate | Vox | https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/8/1/16079904/christopher-wray-fbi-confirmed-senate-james-comey-trump | Christopher Wray will lead the FBI. He has a tough road ahead. | 2017-08-01 | us_senate | Christopher Wray has just been confirmed as the next FBI director in a 92-5 Senate vote , replacing James Comey and thrusting himself squarely in the middle of the investigation into the Trump campaign ’ s possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 election .
But getting a bitterly divided Senate to confirm him was an easy challenge compared with what comes next . Wray will have to convince government officials — especially FBI employees — and the general public that he will be an independent-minded leader and not a Trump lackey .
He addressed this very issue during his confirmation hearing . `` I think the relationship between any FBI director and any president needs to be a professional one , not a social one , ” Wray said .
Still , he will face skepticism when he walks into FBI headquarters on his first day . As my ███ colleague Dara Lind explains :
Wray is a former Justice Department official . He ran the criminal division of the Department of Justice under George W. Bush , from 2003 to 2005 . That means he has professional experience working with the FBI , though not experience working within it . FBI agents might see that as a crucial difference . They value their independence , which they feel is under attack from the White House . And they have reason not to trust that the Trump administration ( and Trump family ) is doing everything it can to help with the investigation .
So Wray has his work cut out for him : not only proving himself to his new colleagues , but also overseeing the Russia investigation , which reaches all the way to the White House ’ s power center . Yesterday , for example , the Washington Post reported that Trump dictated his son Donald Trump Jr. ’ s misleading response about the meeting he and other campaign officials had with a Kremlin-tied lawyer during the election .
It remains to be seen if Wray will be able to do the job — and for how long an anxious president will allow him to do it . One thing is for sure : Wray won ’ t want to meet the same fate Comey did .
One noteworthy thing about Wray is that he appears to disagree with many of the president ’ s views .
First — and most critically — he doesn ’ t believe special counsel Robert Mueller is on a witch hunt as he leads the Russia probe . “ I do not consider Director Mueller to be on a witch hunt , ” he told Sen. Lindsey Graham ( R-SC ) .
Wray also believes Russia acted in an adversarial manner toward the United States when it tried to influence the 2016 election . And he believes he and the president should not meet one on one unless there is an important national security matter to discuss . Finally , he ’ s not of the opinion that Comey is a “ nut job , ” as Trump described him back in May .
Throughout his hearing , Wray made a point to show that he is not Trump ’ s guy — just his pick . He even noted he would leave his post if he felt he were being asked to do something unethical by the president . “ I would try to talk him out of it , ” Wray said , if that kind of inquiry came in to him . “ And if that failed , I would resign . ”
But for now , Wray has the job . Many will be interested to see what he does with it — especially the president . | yD5qhEexF8l0U20S | 0 | Politics | 0.4 | US Senate | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | New York Times (News) | https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/us/politics/trump-loses-election-lawsuits.html | Trump Loses String of Election Lawsuits, Leaving Few Vehicles to Fight His Defeat | 2020-11-14 | Elections, Voting Rights And Voter Fraud, Donald Trump, 2020 Election, William Barr, Rudy Giuliani | Trump Administration Advertisement Supported by The president’s efforts to use the courts to delay or block President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory were turned aside in cases in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona. By Alan Feuer President Trump suffered multiple legal setbacks in three key swing states on Friday, choking off many of his last-ditch efforts to use the courts to delay or block President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory. In quick succession, Mr. Trump was handed defeats in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Michigan, where a state judge in Detroit rejected an unusual Republican attempt to halt the certification of the vote in Wayne County pending an audit of the count. The legal losses came as Mr. Biden was declared the victor in Georgia and a day after an agency in the president’s own Department of Homeland Security flatly contradicted him by declaring that the election “was the most secure in American history” and that “there is no evidence” any voting systems malfunctioned. On Friday, 16 federal prosecutors who had been assigned to monitor the election also directly debunked claims of widespread fraud, saying in a letter to Attorney General William P. Barr that there was no evidence of substantial irregularities. Advertisement In his first public remarks of the week, Mr. Trump ignored the developments during an appearance in the Rose Garden. But he showed a momentary crack in his previously relentless insistence that he would eventually be proclaimed the winner of the campaign, saying at one point, “Whatever happens in the future, who knows, which administration, I guess time will tell.” Mr. Trump’s bad day at the bar began at dawn when news emerged that lawyers from the Ohio-based law firm Porter Wright Morris & Arthur had abruptly withdrawn from a federal lawsuit they had filed only days earlier on his behalf in Pennsylvania. The firm’s withdrawal followed internal tensions at the firm about its work for Mr. Trump and concerns by some lawyers that Porter Wright was being used to undercut the integrity of the electoral process. Then, shortly after noon, a lawyer for the Trump campaign effectively dropped its so-called Sharpiegate lawsuit in Arizona. That lawsuit had claimed that some ballots cast for Mr. Trump were invalidated after voters in Maricopa County had used Sharpie pens, causing “ink bleeds.” The lawyer, Kory Langhofer, acknowledged that not enough presidential votes were at stake in the case to affect the outcome of the race. The lawsuit, which stemmed from a viral rumor that falsely claimed Arizona’s voting machines were incapable of tabulating ballots filled out with Sharpies, was already on the rocks. At a hearing on Thursday, Mr. Langhofer told the court that the county’s vote count had been affected merely by “good-faith errors,” not by fraud, as Mr. Trump has been claiming for days. “We are not saying anyone is trying to steal the election,” Mr. Langhofer said. With victories in Arizona and Georgia, Mr. Biden has matched the 306 electoral votes that Mr. Trump racked up four years ago. Mr. Biden was declared the winner of Arizona’s 11 electoral votes on Thursday night after he finished more than 11,000 votes ahead of Mr. Trump. At the court hearing earlier that day, a Maricopa County elections official testified that only 191 presidential votes in the county might have been affected by Mr. Langhofer’s suit. Advertisement Around 2 p.m. Friday, the state court judge in Michigan, Timothy M. Kenny, dealt Mr. Trump another blow by denying an emergency motion filed by two Republican poll workers who had asked him to halt the certification of the vote in Wayne County — home to Detroit — pending an audit of the count. States have to certify the results of the election — confirming that the vote tabulation was accurate — in order to apportion their Electoral College votes. The ruling by Judge Kenny meant that the formal completion of the vote in Wayne County — and the broader vote in Michigan — could continue on pace. Some legal scholars have suggested that delaying certification of the vote in key states is part of a last-ditch strategy by the Trump campaign to throw the election to Republican-led state legislatures. At a hearing this week in Detroit, lawyers for the city had asked Judge Kenny not to delay certification out of concern about this gambit. In his ruling, the judge noted that the audit requested by the two Republican plaintiffs, Cheryl Costantino and Edward McCall, would have been “unwieldy” and forced the rest of Michigan to wait. “It would be an unprecedented exercise of judicial activism for this court to stop the certification process,” Judge Kenny added. In a lawsuit filed last week, Ms. Costantino and Mr. McCall had made wide-ranging claims of irregularities during the vote count at Detroit’s TCF Convention Center. Advertisement They charged that some poll workers in the heavily Democratic city were coaching voters to cast their ballots for Mr. Biden, that some Republican poll challengers were not given adequate access to monitor the vote count, and that loads of ballots were improperly brought into the convention center in the middle of the night. Lawyers for Detroit and for the Michigan Democratic Party had argued in court papers that about 100 Republican poll challengers had in fact been let into the convention center, but that some were not allowed to return after leaving once the room filled up. Judge Kenny wrote that while he took some of these accusations seriously, some were too general to be proved and others were “rife with speculation and guesswork.” He dismissed an affidavit by one Republican poll observer charging that computers at the convention center had been improperly connected to the internet, noting that the observer’s credibility was suspect: Before the election, the observer had posted on Facebook that the Democrats were using the coronavirus crisis as “a cover for Election Day fraud.” In between the events in Arizona and Michigan, another court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, handed the president another defeat. Advertisement The court upheld Pennsylvania’s three-day extension for the deadline to accept mail-in ballots, against which the Trump campaign has vociferously fought. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had already issued a similar decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to accept Mr. Trump’s attempt to challenge it. As the president was speaking in the Rose Garden, Marc E. Elias, a lawyer who has handled several election cases on behalf of the Democrats, wrote on Twitter: “Another Friday afternoon with more good news coming from the courts.” That turned out to be two more victories in Pennsylvania. In one, a Montgomery County Common Pleas Court denied the Trump campaign’s request to invalidate a batch of mail-in ballots. In the other, a Philadelphia County Common Pleas Court rejected the campaign’s appeal seeking to invalidate five more batches of mail-in ballots. The total number of ballots at stake in the two decisions: 8,927. Mr. Trump was not ready to give up. He posted on Twitter on Friday evening that he would win in Pennsylvania, making a baseless assertion about vote counting in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. With the legal fight not going well, the president put his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, in charge of his campaign lawsuits related to the outcome of the election, as well as all public communications related to them, four people familiar with the move said. Advertisement Mr. Trump has been trying every possible option to change the outcome and has been trying to get what he sees as “fighters” making his case, often conflating a media strategy with a legal one. But the involvement of Mr. Giuliani, who held a widely mocked news conference last weekend in front of a landscaping company in Philadelphia in which he claimed widespread fraud, has vexed people on the campaign and in the White House. The Trump campaign and its proxies still have some cases working their ways through the courts, including one in Federal District Court in Grand Rapids, Mich., that closely mirrors the Michigan state case that Judge Kenny ended on Friday. A lawsuit seeking to delay certification of the vote in several counties in Wisconsin was filed on Thursday in Federal District Court in Green Bay. On Tuesday, a federal judge in Williamsport, Pa., will hear arguments in a lawsuit that seeks to halt the certification of the vote in several counties in that state. Maggie Haberman contributed reporting. Alan Feuer covers courts and criminal justice for the Metro desk. He has written about mobsters, jails, police misconduct, wrongful convictions, government corruption and El Chapo, the jailed chief of the Sinaloa drug cartel. He joined The Times in 1999. More about Alan Feuer Advertisement | 978a40661406092d | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | New York Times - News | https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/us/politics/democrats-2020-moderates.html | How Moderates Are Seizing the Moment in the Democratic Primary | 2019-11-18 | elections | Ms. Warren has attempted to allay voters ’ reservations on that front in recent weeks by pledging not to raise middle-class taxes to pay for her plans . She also described how she would prioritize improvements to the Affordable Care Act , including the creation of an optional government health-insurance plan , before attempting to create a single-payer system .
Both Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders remain among the best-positioned candidates in the primary election , with distinctive appeal to young people and other voters seeking a large-scale redraw of the political system — an overlapping agenda that drew roars of approval at the “ First in the West ” dinner .
At the dinner , both expressed disdain for incremental politics , with Mr. Sanders saying that “ tinkering around the edges just won ’ t do what needs to be done ” and Ms. Warren dismissing more modest policies as “ a nibble here and a nibble there. ” Both are polling at or near the top of the pack in three of the four early primary states , including Nevada .
And both are actively working to persuade voters that their approach is the better bet in a general election , including by appealing to voters who feel alienated from the political system . “ If the best that Democrats can offer is business as usual after Donald Trump , then Democrats will lose , ” Ms. Warren said at a campaign stop here on Sunday afternoon . “ We win when we have solutions for the problems in people ’ s lives . ”
Andrea Griffin , an elementary school nurse in Las Vegas , said she had been wary of Ms. Warren as a general-election candidate but came away feeling more confident after watching her on Sunday .
“ I was a little skeptical about a plan for everything , but she has a pretty good grasp on what the major issues are and I kind of think that she might be able to get it done , ” said Ms. Griffin , 56 , a former independent voter who said she registered as a Democrat two weeks ago .
Ms. Griffin said she was also curious about Mr. Buttigieg , but had essentially ruled out Mr. Biden , explaining , “ I think America is not ready to go back to business as usual . ” | Wgx3Gui2MuAhHEmR | 0 | Presidential Elections | -0.8 | Moderate Democrats | -0.3 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null |
energy | The Daily Caller | https://dailycaller.com/2023/06/04/saudi-arabia-announces-cuts-to-oil-production-to-boost-prices-opec/ | Saudi Arabia Announces Cuts To Oil Production To Boost Prices | 2023-06-05 | Energy, Economy And Jobs, OPEC, Saudi Arabia, Oil, Gas Prices, World | 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: 915bfa199af4ce7c • Your IP: Click to reveal 47.251.53.233 • Performance & security by Cloudflare | f669e1162041e7e8 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
environment | HotAir | http://hotair.com/archives/2013/03/30/the-economist-has-a-climate-change-of-heart/ | The Economist has a climate change of heart | 2013-03-30 | environment | The Economist has been pretty reliable about beating the climate-alarmist drum for years on end now , often peddling the urgent need for an overarching global climate treaty to combat the threat . In a piece this week , however , the British publication took a much more moderate approach and hashed out some of the different studies suggesting that the planet actually might not be quite as sensitive to changes in carbon dioxide levels as the global-warming scaremongers have long been insisting .
OVER the past 15 years air temperatures at the Earth ’ s surface have been flat while greenhouse-gas emissions have continued to soar . The world added roughly 100 billion tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere between 2000 and 2010 . That is about a quarter of all the CO₂ put there by humanity since 1750 . And yet , as James Hansen , the head of NASA ’ s Goddard Institute for Space Studies , observes , “ the five-year mean global temperature has been flat for a decade. ” Temperatures fluctuate over short periods , but this lack of new warming is a surprise . Ed Hawkins , of the University of Reading , in Britain , points out that surface temperatures since 2005 are already at the low end of the range of projections derived from 20 climate models ( see chart 1 ) . If they remain flat , they will fall outside the models ’ range within a few years . … If , however , temperatures are likely to rise by only 2°C in response to a doubling of carbon emissions ( and if the likelihood of a 6°C increase is trivial ) , the calculation might change . Perhaps the world should seek to adjust to ( rather than stop ) the greenhouse-gas splurge . There is no point buying earthquake insurance if you do not live in an earthquake zone . In this case more adaptation rather than more mitigation might be the right policy at the margin . …
None of this is to say that climate change is a fantasy — the planet is not and never has been a stable place — and that we don ’ t have real environmental problems that we need to consider and address . But are we hurtling toward imminent , irreversible catastrophe directly because of humanity ’ s prosperous machinations , and we need to voluntarily undertake measures to cut back on our economic growth post-haste ? It definitely sounds like they ’ re cooling their jets on that one .
Which , really , is a much smarter approach . Eco-radicals seem to think that hysterical doomsaying is the only way to rouse people to action , yet somehow , we have miraculously managed to roll right by past every one of their apocalyptic benchmarks ( global cooling , peak oil , famine and drought , rising oceans , etcetera ) , and it isn ’ t really helping their case . Being a little more honest and a little less emotional about the science , the range of possibilities , and how much we still don ’ t know — rather than excommunicating any dissenters as heretics — is probably a much better way to recruit people to your cause in the long run . | lonIIzdnfWVKpQJJ | 2 | Environment | 0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-cabinet-nominees-meet-growing-ethical-questions/2017/01/18/a7d82af8-ddaf-11e6-acdf-14da832ae861_story.html?utm_term=.78061538ff28 | Trump Cabinet nominees meet growing ethical questions | 2017-01-19 | Politics | clockThis article was published more than 8 years ago Three of Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks came under growing fire Wednesday on ethical issues, potentially jeopardizing their nominations. The most serious concerns surround personal investments by Trump’s health and human services nominee, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), in health-care firms that benefited from legislation that he was pushing at the time. Additionally, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), Trump's choice to head the Office of Management and Budget, has acknowledged during his confirmation process that he failed to pay more than $15,000 in state and federal employment taxes for a household employee. | 0a485ddbff367333 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
national_security | The Flip Side | https://www.theflipside.io/archives/john-bolton-out | John Bolton Out | national_security | The left is cheering Bolton ’ s departure , but worried about Trump ’ s chaotic impulses .
“ A rigid ideologue , Mr. Bolton has a long record of championing military action against U.S. adversaries , which Mr. Trump resists , and opposing negotiation with the likes of North Korea and Iran , which is the president ’ s natural instinct . He didn ’ t alter those views to suit Mr. Trump , and instead battled those who catered to the president ’ s wishes…
“ Yet Mr. Bolton , who served in previous Republican administrations , can hardly be blamed for the falling-out . His ultra-hawkish views and habit of bureaucratic infighting were well known , even notorious , in Washington when Mr. Trump hired him in April of last year . But the president , in the hunt for his third national security adviser in just 15 months , simply disregarded the facts . Apparently Mr. Bolton was picked because Mr. Trump had enjoyed watching him on television . The result was to compound the chaos that has characterized the administration ’ s foreign policy and left Mr. Trump without meaningful accomplishments . ”
“ Experts have said that Iran is no closer to denuclearization than it was two years ago . Just two days ago , Iran announced that it would speed up its already restarted uranium enrichment . And far from being restrained , Iran has seized tankers , shot down a drone , and continued its support for militias across the Middle East . Bolton ’ s policy record is equally unimpressive on Venezuela , where the Trump administration seeks the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro ’ s regime and has thrown its support behind self-declared ‘ interim president ’ Juan Guaido . Bolton said the U.S. military needed to be ‘ ready to go ’ in Venezuela . But since a planned May 1 uprising dubbed ‘ Operation Freedom ’ by Guaido fizzled into a series of street protests , Maduro ’ s position appears as strong as ever . ”
“ Some have openly worried about what Bolton ’ s departure could mean for U.S. national security . Senator Mitt Romney lamented the loss of Bolton ’ s ‘ contrarian ’ voice . At a time when the administration has been censoring contrarian views—including factual ones—telling the president what he needs to hear , and not just what he wants to hear , is an asset…
“ But painting Bolton as a heroic truth teller is missing the point . Bolton was a hugely ineffective national security adviser . He didn ’ t occupy the role in any substantive way and failed to carry out the basic tasks that NSAs are expected to do—including holding regular national security policy meetings and getting through to the president . While he was ignoring his job , he instead focused on building up his own ego , publicly airing his disagreements with the president and pursuing his own policy convictions… Let ’ s hope that the next national security adviser does a lot better than Bolton . ”
“ Mr . Bolton ’ s singular achievement was to dismantle a foreign-policymaking structure that had until then kept the president from running foreign policy by the seat of his pants . Mr. Bolton persuaded Mr. Trump he didn ’ t need the National Security Council to make decisions ; it is no surprise that the president eventually felt confident deciding he did not need a national security adviser , either . Whether Mr. Trump names a replacement for Mr. Bolton does not matter : No one is going to convince the president he needs a system now , let alone the one that existed for 70 years . ”
Some argue that “ As wrong as Bolton has been on many matters — his fingerprints could be seen on plans threatening American military intervention in Iran and Venezuela — his presence at least provided a healthy corrective to a president naively disposed to aligning with the some of the world ’ s worst authoritarian regimes , provided they butter him up . With no illusions , Bolton saw Vladimir Putin , Kim Jong Un and their ilk for who they were — as tyrants and enemies of American values . That an impulsive president has now dispensed with him in order , apparently , to be more comfortably surrounded by sycophants means America ’ s role in the world will be that much more at the mercy of the whims and ego of a mercurial president . Hold on . ”
“ Trump ’ s defenders will say this evidence is all circumstantial . But circumstantial evidence is not weak evidence : it ’ s simply evidence based on the circumstances in which an act of wrongdoing is committed — such as the license plate of a car that speeds away from a bank just after that bank is robbed . Criminals are convicted on such evidence all the time . They will also say that there ’ s no explicit quid pro quo proposal here . But… ‘ even when a corrupt deal is struck implicitly , the government can still prosecute extortion on a quid pro quo basis . Circumstantial evidence can be enough to prove a criminal exchange. ’ … “ In the absence of an explicit quid pro quo over restarting aid , the context and circumstances are what will become the focus of the investigation . There is enough here to support impeachment . Whether it is also enough to convince Republicans and lead to removal is another matter . ” | q5sUuPNAFasvcEeU | 1 | John Bolton | 0 | National Security | 0 | Defense And Security | 0 | null | null | null | null | |
education | NPR Online News | http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/02/08/how-has-google-affected-the-way-students-learn/ | How Has Google Affected The Way Students Learn? | 2016-02-08 | Education, Technology | Now , with the advent of personal assistants like Siri and Google Now that aim to serve up information before you even know you need it , you do n't even need to type the questions . Just say the words and you 'll have your answer .
But with so much information easily available , does it make us smarter ? Compared to the generations before who had to adapt to the Internet , how are those who grew up using the Internet — the so-called `` Google generation '' — different ?
Heick had intended for his students to take a moment to think , figure out what type of information they needed , how to evaluate the data and how to reconcile conflicting viewpoints . He did not intend for them to immediately Google the question , word by word — eliminating the process of critical thinking .
There is a relative lack of research available examining the effect of search engines on our brains even as the technology is rapidly dominating our lives . Of the studies available , the answers are sometimes unclear .
Some argue that with easy access to information , we have more space in our brain to engage in creative activities , as humans have in the past .
Whenever new technology emerges — including newspapers and television — discussions about how it will threaten our brainpower always crops up , Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker wrote in a 2010 op-ed in The New York Times . Instead of making us stupid , he wrote , the Internet and technology `` are the only things that will keep us smart . ''
Daphne Bavelier , a professor at the University of Geneva , wrote in 2011 that we may have lost the ability for oral memorization valued by the Greeks when writing was invented , but we gained additional skills of reading and text analysis .
Writer Nicholas Carr contends that the Internet will take away our ability for contemplation due to the plasticity of our brains . He wrote about the subject in a 2008 article for The Atlantic titled `` Is Google Making Us Stupid . ''
`` ... what the [ Internet ] seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation , '' Carr wrote .
The few studies available , however , do not seem to bode well for the Google generation .
A 2008 study commissioned by the British Library found that young people go through information online very quickly without evaluating it for accuracy .
A 2011 study in the journal Science showed that when people know they have future access to information , they tend to have a better memory of how and where to find the information — instead of recalling the information itself .
That phenomenon is similar to not remembering your friend 's birthday because you know you can find it on Facebook . When we know that we can access this information whenever we want , we are not motivated to remember it .
Michele Nelson , an art teacher at Estes Hills Elementary School in Chapel Hill , N.C. , seems to share Carr 's concerns . Nelson , who has been teaching for more than nine years , says it was obvious with her middle school students and even her 15-year-old daughter that they are unable to read long texts anymore .
`` They just had a really hard time comprehending if they went to a website that had a lot of information , '' Nelson says . `` They could n't grasp it , they could n't figure out what the important thing was . ''
`` I 'm always on my computer . ... I do n't read books as much as I used to , '' she says . `` It 's a lot harder for my brain to get to a place where I can follow and enjoy the reading , and I get distracted very easily . ''
The bright side lies in a 2009 study conducted by Gary Small , the director of University of California Los Angeles ' Longevity Center , that explored brain activity when older adults used search engines . He found that among older people who have experience using the Internet , their brains are two times more active than those who do n't when conducting Internet searches .
Internet searching , Small says , is like a brain exercise that can be good for our mental health .
`` If somebody has normal memory when they 're older , I always encourage them to use the computer , '' he says . `` It enhances our lives . ''
For Small , the problem for younger people is the overuse of the technology that leads to distraction . Otherwise , he is excited for the new innovations in technology .
`` We tend to be economical in terms of how we use our brain , so if you know you do n't have to memorize the directions to a certain place because you have a GPS in your car , you 're not going to bother with that , '' Small says . `` You 're going to use your mind to remember other kinds of information . ''
Heick has since left teaching to start TeachThought , a company that produces content to support teachers in `` innovation in teaching and learning for a 21st century audience . ''
To him , the Internet holds great potential for education — but curriculum must change accordingly . Since content is so readily available , teachers should not merely dole out information and instead focus on cultivating critical thinking , he says .
`` Classroom walls and school building walls are transparent , with technology essentially bringing the outside world to the classroom and vice versa , '' he says .
Heick says his company recently started working with schools and organizations in a few states , including North Carolina , Texas and New York , to develop lesson plans .
`` Google really lubricates that access to information and while that is fantastic , it makes us have to change a bit the way we think about things , '' Heick says . `` Because we 're so busy , we have this false security that we understand something because we Googled it . Now we 're moving on to the next thing instead of really rolling around with this idea and trying to understand it . ''
`` Design it so that Google is crucial to creating a response rather than finding one , '' he writes in his company 's blog . `` If students can Google answers — stumble on ( what ) you want them to remember in a few clicks — there 's a problem with the instructional design . ''
Meanwhile , teenagers are also aware of how the Internet is taking ahold of their lives . Caitlyn Nelson , teacher Michele Nelson 's daughter , finds it hard to focus when she is forced to do readings or even exams online . Like most teenagers , sometimes she finds herself surfing the Web when she 's supposed to be reading PowerPoint slides in class .
Caitlyn talks about a video they watched in English class about the impact of technology .
`` We talked about how technology is changing ... how most people are basically becoming zombies and slaves to the Internet because that 's all we can do , '' she says . | dc0dd908d3319aaa | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
federal_budget | Politico | http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/senate-passes-budget-89244.html | Senate passes budget - first for four years | 2013-03-23 | federal_budget | GOP senators argued Patty Murray 's budget only raised spending . Senate passes first budget in 4 years
In the early morning hours Saturday after almost 13 continuous hours of voting , the Senate passed a budget resolution for the first time in nearly four years .
The proposal , which Democratic drafters say will reduce the deficit by $ 1.85 trillion between spending cuts and tax increases , passed narrowly 50-49 on a largely partisan vote at 4:56 a.m .
A handful of Democrats , all up for reelection next year and representing conservative states , voted against the measure : Sens . Kay Hagan ( D-N.C. ) , Mark Pryor ( D-Ark . ) , Max Baucus ( D-Mont . ) and Mark Begich ( D-Alaska ) . Sen. Frank Lautenberg ( D-N.J. ) was absent .
Nerves started to fray about 2 a.m. , with Democrats pushing to end the voting and Republicans trying to continue to consider amendments . In total , they considered 101 amendments .
The standoff brought leadership from both parties to hushed huddles on the floor as tired senators tried to intercede and speed the process .
More than an hour of negotiations ensued until a deal was struck , more than 30 amendments would be passed without a vote as a package . Another 14 amendments would be voted on beginning just after 3 a.m. to allow them to finally be able to vote on the budget .
It was then that conservatives in the Senate were finally able to move on some of their more controversial amendments . Sen. Ted Cruz ( R-Texas ) offered amendments dealing with foreign relations in the Middle East and U.N. funding related to the legality of abortion , all of which were defeated . Sen. Mike Lee ( R-Utah ) offered an amendment reiterating the rights in the 2nd Amendment , which was shot down after being ruled unrelated to the budget .
As part of a deal to move forward , the members agreed to remain seated and vote out loud as their names were called , an unusual event on the Senate floor .
The 12-hour series of votes — more than 100 amendments were considered , breaking a previous “ vote-a-rama ” record — is mostly political theater and gives both sides the opportunity to force votes on pet issues . The budget is non-binding , therefore none of the passed amendments will likely carry the weight of law .
But the votes are symbolic victories , demonstrating the ability of one side to rally enough senators to support a measure in hopes of using those votes for future bills . It also gives both sides a litany of roll calls to try to clobber their opponents during the next election .
Republicans claimed victory on some key amendments , including passage of one to repeal the medical device tax included in Obamacare and one calling for the approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline . | fpLihepXYXcdX7Lq | 0 | Economy And Jobs | -0.3 | Federal Budget | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
coronavirus | CNBC | https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/30/amazons-brand-value-tops-400-billion-according-to-kantar-report.html | Amazon’s brand value tops $400 billion, boosted by the coronavirus pandemic: Survey | 2020-06-30 | coronavirus | Amazon has maintained its position as the world 's most valuable brand , increasing its worth by almost a third to $ 415.9 billion compared to last year , according to a ranking by consultancy Kantar published Tuesday .
The annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranks companies by combining their market capitalization with consumer research of over 3.8 million people around the world .
Apple came in at second on the list , valued at $ 352.2 billion followed by Microsoft at $ 326.5 billion , which this year overtook Google to become the world 's third-most-valuable brand . This rise is due in part to the increased use of its Microsoft Teams collaboration software as employees worked from home during the coronavirus pandemic , according to the report .
While news of the coronavirus outbreak caused stocks to plunge in March , the share prices of online businesses like Amazon , which deliver consumer staples saw a surge in April as brick-and-mortar stores shuttered ( the e-commerce giant 's response to the pandemic has been criticized , however ) .
`` Although consumer reliance on home delivery during the pandemic stretched Amazon 's logistics capabilities , it also affirmed Amazon 's strength , '' the Kantar report stated .
Alibaba is ranked sixth in the BrandZ list , valued at $ 152.5 billion , up 16 % on the year prior , while JD.com 's brand valuation went up 24 % to $ 25.5 billion , according to Kantar .
`` Brands that enabled people to navigate life with digital devices , and achieve convenience and comfort , generally increased in value or at least outperformed their category , '' the report said .
Brands are also better placed to survive this financial crisis than they were in 2008-2009 , according to David Roth , chair of BrandZ . `` Businesses understand the importance of investing in brand-building and are stronger and more resilient as a result , '' he said in a release emailed to ███ .
Chinese video-sharing app TikTok is the highest new entry in the top 100 list , with a valuation of $ 16.9 billion and ranking higher than brands such as KFC , Uber and Adidas . `` TikTok is one of the most exciting and creative brands we have seen for a while entering the Top 100 and has been a game-changer during the pandemic , '' Elspeth Cheung , global head of BrandZ valuations at Kantar , said in an emailed statement . But the ByteDance-owned brand is still dwarfed by rival social media app Instagram , whose brand is valued at $ 41.5 billion by Kantar , as well as Facebook .
The total value of the 100 brands in the list reached $ 5 trillion , up 5.9 % . Pre-pandemic , their value was expected to rise by 9 % according to Kantar .
The BrandZ ranking was commissioned by advertising group WPP and is conducted by Kantar . It looked at more than 17,000 brands in 51 countries . The large majority of consumers were researched online across a one-year period , with some in lower-income groups surveyed face-to face . For a typical brand the margin of error for survey data is less than 3 % , according to Kantar . | WEBLiC1uWBLo1uSp | 1 | Amazon | 1.2 | Business | 0.8 | Economy And Jobs | 0 | Coronavirus | 0 | Public Health | 0 |
republican_party | Fox Online News | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-republicans-worry-that-states-tax-return-law-will-devastate-their-down-ballot-hopes-in-2020 | California Republicans worry state's tax return law could devastate their down-ballot hopes in 2020 | republican_party | Republicans in California are crying foul over a new law that requires gubernatorial and presidential candidates to disclose tax returns in order to appear on 2020 primary ballots -- worried about voter turnout implications for their party in numerous races , even though the law is largely aimed at President Trump .
The Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act – signed in late July by Democratic Gov . Gavin Newsom – was an obvious bid to compel Trump to make public his financial records if he wants his name on the ballot . But the president is unlikely to cave to the law ’ s provisos given his previous resistance to making tax returns public .
CALIFORNIA GOV . NEWSOM CALLS TRUMP INCOMPETENT IN INAUGURAL SPEECH ; VOWS TO FIGHT WH POLICIES
Republican leaders in the Golden State , however , argue that if the law actually keeps Trump off the March primary ballot , it would all but assure a depressed Republican turnout statewide -- hurting down-ballot candidates in congressional and other races and locking many out of the general election due to the state 's unique primary system .
“ We ’ re not talking about keeping President Trump off the ballot in the general election , ” Jessica Patterson , the California Republican Party chairwoman , told Fox News . “ But what this will do is make sure that Republican voters stay home for the primaries and give Democrats a big opportunity when it comes to the general election . ”
Here ’ s why : Under California ’ s so-called jungle primary system , all candidates , regardless of party , vie for the same elected office and the top two vote-getters move on to the general election . Since it was implemented in California in 2010 , this system has often ensured a Democrat-on-Democrat general election battle in all but California ’ s most conservative areas . Depressed GOP turnout in 2020 could mean even fewer Republicans move on to the general election .
The Democratic lawmakers who introduced the transparency bill balk at the notion that it is meant to hinder Republican chances of making it onto the general election ballot , however . They argue that its aim is to keep all presidential candidates honest about their income and where their money comes from .
“ While Donald Trump surfaced the tax return loophole that SB 27 closes , this isn ’ t about Trump , ” California state Sen. Scott Wiener said in a statement to Fox News . “ Rather , it ’ s about all presidential candidates from all parties . When someone is seeking to become the most powerful person in the world , the voters deserve basic information about the person ’ s finances . That ’ s all we ’ re asking for . ”
Wiener , along with fellow Democratic state Sen. Mike McGuire , first proposed the changes to the ballot qualifications back in May and , despite their assurances that the law is meant to monitor candidates of all political parties , both lawmakers have been adamant in their condemnation of Trump ’ s unwillingness to release his tax returns .
“ The people are on our side , over 60 percent of Americans want President Trump to release his returns , ” McGuire said in a statement . “ Voters deserve to know , for example , if the president is putting America ’ s security at risk through his tangled web of business dealings with corporate interests and his dealings with foreign governments and foreign banks . Here ’ s the bottom line : What does he have to hide ? ”
Whether the law is actually on the books by next year ’ s primary election is still to be determined – as both the Trump campaign and conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch have filed separate federal lawsuits in the Eastern District of California challenging its constitutionality .
Experts say the law will have little effect on the presidential race -- at this stage , Trump could lose California 's primary yet easily wrap up the nomination . Congressional and other down-ballot races , however , could feel the brunt of the legislation 's impact .
“ You ’ re already going to see a big discrepancy in voter turnout between Republicans and Democrats because Trump is an incumbent without any real challengers in the primary , ” Eric McGhee , a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California , told Fox News . “ But if this does go through , it could have a big effect on the down-ballot races because of the top-two primary system in the state . ”
Republicans see a slim silver lining . GOP officials in California say they 'll try to use the law to motivate Republicans who would normally stay home to the polls .
“ We ’ re going to use this as a rallying cry to show Californians the arrogance of the Democratic Party in this state , ” Patterson said .
Some experts , however , are skeptical – given Trump ’ s unpopularity in the state and the fact that California ’ s primary has been moved up to Super Tuesday on March 3 – that Republican efforts to expose any Democratic power play will be enough to drive a large turnout and offset what is expected to be a sizable and motivated Democratic electorate .
Paul Mitchell , a political consultant and vice president of Political Data Inc. , told Politico that 2020 looks like an “ asymmetric election ” where Democrats will be much more driven to head to the polls than Republicans .
“ This does have enough potential impact that it could impact primaries by boxing out a Republican here and there , ” Mitchell said , especially if Republicans “ boycott ” the primary in protest over the new law . “ ... [ I ] t ’ s a not-trivial likelihood . ” | 7OfameeYJOgqxUWl | 2 | Taxes | -0.2 | Republican Party | 0.1 | California | 0 | null | null | null | null | |
us_house | Christian Science Monitor | http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2015/1008/McCarthy-drops-out-of-speaker-race-as-House-asks-Who-wants-this-job-video | McCarthy drops out of speaker race as House asks: Who wants this job? | 2015-10-08 | us_house | Shortly after Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy stunned Washington with another development in the race for speaker of the House – the front-runner announced Thursday that he was dropping out – names of new candidates began circulating .
Inevitably , the chatter quickly reached Rep. Paul Ryan ( R ) of Wisconsin – former vice presidential candidate , chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee , and budget hawk who many members believe is the person most capable of uniting the deeply divided and turbulent House Republican conference .
But Chairman Ryan promptly put down this second attempt to draft him . As his Texan GOP colleague , Rep. Blake Farenthold tweeted :
. @ RepPaulRyan ( paraphrased ) `` I 'm grateful for the support I 've received in the last 4 seconds , but I 'm STILL out . '' — Blake Farenthold ( @ farenthold ) October 8 , 2015
Can you blame him ? The speakership is one of the toughest jobs in Washington – especially this speakership , which is tasked with trying to end or contain a Republican civil war in the chamber .
“ It ’ s going to take a lot of gumption and a lot of finesse and talent to bridge the gap . So yeah , it ’ s a difficult chore that very few people are willing to take on , ” Rep. Harold Rogers ( R ) of Kentucky told a scrum of reporters Thursday afternoon .
Just hours earlier , majority leader McCarthy , an affable Californian known for his listening skills and outreach , capitulated in the face of revolt from the hard-line House Freedom Caucus . Its 40 or so members were set to vote against him in secret balloting .
His unscripted comments about the political nature of the Benghazi special committee , which is calling Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to testify later this month , also played a role in his decision , he said . McCarthy was attacked from all sides for that comment , from Democrats , Republicans , and the media , when he was tagged as a future speaker who can ’ t speak .
McCarthy was likely to survive the hard-liner defection Thursday , and win the majority support from his GOP conference needed to nominate him for the speakership . But it was not at all clear that he could win the 218 votes needed to elect the speaker on the House floor later this month .
Standing before cameras in the brightly lit marbled lobby of the Longworth House Office Building , his wife beside him , the leader capitulated . “ We need a new face.… If we 're going to be strong , we got ta be 100 percent united , '' he said .
“ There ’ s too much anger , ” McCarthy told Congressman Rogers , after taking himself out of the running at the closed-door balloting session , according to Roll Call . The Washington Post reported members crying at the news .
“ Who knows what ’ ll happen . People are crying , they don ’ t have any idea how this will unfold , at all , ” Rep. Peter King ( R ) of New York , told the Post .
What most people see of the speakership is what shows up on television . But the job carries awesome responsibility : second in line to the presidency , manager of the Capitol complex , presiding officer of the House . And that ’ s the easy part .
Then there ’ s the role of chief messenger of your party , shaping the agenda , and trying to keep your members in line every day to cross the 218-vote threshold – the number of votes it takes to pass a bill in the 435-member body . And don ’ t forget incessant fundraising , which takes up most weekends . Oh , and negotiating with the White House and Senate .
Then add the “ hell no ” caucus of 40 to 50 right-wingers to this mix .
The hard-liners drove Speaker John Boehner ( R ) of Ohio to announce his early retirement for Oct. 30 . In light of the decision of his No . 2 to withdraw , Speaker Boehner says he will stay on “ until the House votes to elect a new speaker. ” McCarthy says he is willing to stay on as leader . No date has been set for another leadership election .
Some Republicans want Boehner to finish out his term as a congressman and speaker .
“ It ’ s a very difficult job and having someone like John Boehner there who has a lot of experience and has the courage to do what ’ s right … is a good thing , ” says Rep. Carlos Curbelo ( R ) of Florida .
Congressman Curbelo , who describes the speakership as “ more difficult than being the president , ” says he doesn ’ t see any candidate from either party able to get 218 votes .
That hasn ’ t stopped new names from being floated , even while the other two candidates – Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida , backed by the Freedom Caucus , and Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah , the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee – kept their hats in the ring .
Right-wingers were pleased to see McCarthy drop out . They see him as `` Boehner 2.0 . '' In a statement , the Freedom Caucus said it respects his decision to `` put the conference ahead of himself '' and said the next speaker `` needs to yield back power to the membership . ''
The Republican caucus is going through a period of transition , says John Feehery , former spokesman to Dennis Hastert ( R ) of Illinois , the longest serving Republican speaker . McCarthy represented a new generation of leaders in the House , where nearly half of the members have served four years or less .
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“ They ’ re going to have to chart their own course and they ’ re going to have to figure out how the House works together , and they ’ re going to make mistakes , '' he says . | H3KlLZ8hKnsdgdol | 1 | Politics | 0.2 | US House | 0.1 | Kevin McCarthy | 0.1 | null | null | null | null |
coronavirus | Associated Press | https://apnews.com/article/biden-easing-foreign-travel-restrictions-requiring-vaccines-5d78d14dab51389b02fd70228a5b55b9 | US easing virus restrictions for foreign flights to America | 2021-09-20 | Coronavirus, Travel, Coronavirus Vaccine, Vaccine Mandates | WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major easing of pandemic travel restrictions, the U.S. said Monday it will allow foreigners to fly into the country this fall if they have vaccination proof and a negative COVID-19 test — changes replacing a hodgepodge of rules that had kept out many non-citizens and irritated allies in Europe and beyond where virus cases are lower.The changes, to take effect in November, will allow families and others who have been separated by the travel restrictions for 18 months to plan for long-awaited reunifications and allow foreigners with work permits to get back to their jobs in the U.S.Airlines, business groups and travelers cheered — though they also called the step long overdue.“It’s a happy day. Big Apple, here I come!” said French entrepreneur Stephane Le Breton, 45, finally able to book a trip to New York City that had been put on hold over the virus restrictions.The new policy will replace a patchwork of travel bans first instituted by President Donald Trump last year and tightened by President Joe Biden that restrict travel by non-citizens who have in the prior 14 days been in the United Kingdom, European Union, China, India, Iran, Republic of Ireland, Brazil or South Africa.White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients announced the new policies, which still will require all foreign travelers flying to the U.S. to demonstrate proof of vaccination before boarding, as well as proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of flight. Biden will also tighten testing rules for unvaccinated American citizens, who will need to be tested within a day before returning to the U.S., as well as after they arrive home.The tougher rules for unvaccinated Americans come as the White House has moved to impose sweeping vaccination-or-testing requirements affecting as many as 100 million people in an effort to encourage holdouts to get shots.Fully vaccinated passengers will not be required to quarantine, Zients said.There will be no immediate change to U.S. land border policies, which restrict much cross-border travel with Mexico and Canada.The travel bans had become the source of growing geopolitical frustration, particularly among allies in the UK and EU. The easing comes ahead of Biden meeting with some European leaders on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly this week.“This is based on individuals rather than a country-based approach, so it’s a stronger system,” Zients said.The EU and UK had previously moved to allow vaccinated U.S. travelers in without quarantines, in an effort to boost business and tourism. But the EU recommended last month that some travel restrictions be reimposed on U.S. travelers to the bloc because of the rampant spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus in America.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will require airlines to collect contact information from international travelers to facilitate tracing, Zients said.The U.S. will accept full vaccination of travelers with any of the vaccines approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization, the CDC said. The WHO is reviewing Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine but hasn’t yet approved it.Monday’s announcement was met with applause by the air travel industry, which has lost significant revenue from declines in international travel.Delta Air Lines spokesman Morgan Durrant said, “Science tells us that vaccinations coupled with testing is the safest way to re-open travel, and we are optimistic this important decision will allow for the continued economic recovery both in the U.S. and abroad and the reunification of families who have been separated for more than 18 months.”Worldwide, air travel is still down more than half from pre-pandemic levels, and the decline is much sharper for cross-border flying. By July, domestic travel had recovered to 84% of 2019 numbers, but international travel was just 26% of the same month two years ago, according to figures this month from the airline industry’s main global trade group, the International Air Transport Association.The numbers are similar but not quite as stark for the U.S., where international travel in August was 46% of that in August 2019, according to Airlines for America. Arrivals by non-U.S. citizens were only 36% of the 2019 level.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that he was “delighted” by the news. He said: “It’s a fantastic boost for business and trade, and great that family and friends on both sides of the pond can be reunited once again.”Airlines hailed the U.S. decision as a lifeline for the struggling industry. Tim Alderslade, chief executive of industry body Airlines U.K. said it was “a major breakthrough.”Shai Weiss, chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, said it was “a major milestone. ... The U.K. will now be able to strengthen ties with our most important economic partner, the U.S., boosting trade and tourism as well as reuniting friends, families and business colleagues.”“The travel bans were really behind the times,’’ said Maka Hutson, counsel specializing in immigration issues at the law firm Akin Gump. She said they were very frustrating to European executives who’d been vaccinated but still couldn’t fly to the United States to conduct business.The changes also drew praise from business groups, who have been contending with labor shortages as the economy bounces back with unexpected strength from last year’s coronavirus recession. U.S. employers have been posting job openings — a record 10.9 million in July — faster than applicants can fill them.Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs for the U..S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement, “Allowing vaccinated foreign nationals to travel freely to the United States will help foster a robust and durable recovery for the American economy.”___Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Thomas Adamson-Koumbouzis in Paris, Paul Wiseman in Washington and David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.___This story corrects “he” to “she” in 3rd paragraph from the end. | dafdb40e55f4f92d | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
immigration | Vox | http://www.vox.com/2014/11/10/7174503/ted-cruz-mitch-mcconnell-immigration-fight | The new GOP Senate is already fighting with itself over immigration | 2014-11-10 | immigration | Republicans have just taken the majority of seats in the Senate . But before they even get to officially take over the Senate early next year , they 're already fighting with each other over what to do in the next month .
The fight 's ostensibly over whether to pass a spending bill in December that funds the government through October of next year , or only for a few months . But it 's really over Obama 's upcoming executive actions on immigration — or rather , what Republicans will do in response to those executive actions .
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell wants to pass a longer-term bill now , so that the Senate does n't have to deal with another government-funding battle until next fall . But a group of Senate conservatives , led by Sen. Ted Cruz ( R-TX ) , do n't want to fund the government for any longer than they have to right now , so they can use funding as a weapon against any executive relief program early next year .
On November 5 , during his first press conference after his party took the Senate , McConnell made a promise on behalf of the new GOP Congress : `` Let me make it clear , there will be no government shutdowns and no default on the national debt . ''
In order for him to keep that promise , the GOP is going to need to stop risking government shutdown by playing chicken with bills to continue funding the government . That 's going to be a lot easier if this upcoming funding deal lasts through next October , as opposed to just a few months . A short-term funding deal means that Congress would have to go through the whole funding rigamarole again early next year — with another chance for the government to shut down if it fails . And McConnell very much wants to avoid that :
McConnell has signaled to GOP colleagues that he wants to start his reign as majority leader in 2015 with a clean slate . He wants to avoid a messy fight over spending levels at the beginning of next year , which could derail one of his top priorities , passing a budget .
This is n't to say that McConnell is cool with Obama 's plans to implement executive immigration action . To the contrary , he 's warned Obama that it would be like `` waving a red flag in front of a bull '' — though it 's not clear whether McConnell meant it would enrage all Republicans , or whether he meant that McConnell would n't be able to control Cruz and company . But he would rather pass a longer-term bill now , see what Obama does on executive action afterwards , and try to stop it in 2015 without interfering with the typical budgetary process .
It 's generally assumed , by both Democrats and Republicans , that Obama is going to act on immigration before the end of the year — but that he 's going to wait until after December 11th . The White House wants to stay out of Congress ' way while it passes a funding fix , and then make its move on immigration .
This is frustrating to Senate conservatives who want to stop executive action that would protect unauthorized immigrants from deportation .
There are at least six senators who are in this camp : in addition to Sen. Cruz , there 's Sen. Mike Crapo ( R-ID ) ; Sen. Mike Lee ( R-UT ) ; Sen. Pat Roberts ( R-KS ) ; Sen. Jeff Sessions ( R-AL ) ; and Sen. David Vitter ( R-LA ) . They 've declared that their highest priority is to prevent Obama from implementing any executive relief program — and that they 're determined to use `` all procedural means necessary '' to try to make that happen .
Their plan is to make sure any funding bill explicitly says the money ca n't be used to implement any executive relief programs . But they ca n't start writing funding bans until they know what they 're banning — which means they have to wait until after the administration announces its move . So naturally , they want the opportunity to write a new funding bill as soon after January 1st as possible , rather than having to wait until October .
Fundamentally , though , what Senate conservatives are fighting for here is the ability to continue to use all the tools at their disposal to keep any future Obama immigration plan from going into effect . Both Cruz and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Preibus have promised that Republicans will do anything they can to block `` executive amnesty . '' But Sen. McConnell , along with House leaders like Rep. Kevin McCarthy ( R-CA ) , have promised that nothing is going to stop the government from functioning smoothly . It 's going to be very difficult to keep both of those promises .
CORRECTION : This article originally misidentified Senator David Vitter ( R-LA ) . The error has been corrected . | fjgq8imNO0kTEzO2 | 0 | Senate | -0.7 | Immigration | -0.3 | Republican Party | -0.3 | null | null | null | null |
immigration | Reason | http://reason.com/archives/2018/07/21/the-us-needs-more-immigrants | The U.S. Needs More Immigrants | 2018-07-21 | Immigration | In times of economic trouble—and with gross domestic product ( GDP ) growth still below 2 percent in the United States , today surely qualifies—many Americans instinctively become more cautious about immigration . If we let in more workers , they fret , the newcomers will be a drain on the economy , dragging down wages and gobbling up services .
In fact , precisely the opposite is true . The National Academy of Sciences recently released a comprehensive report finding that immigration has an overall positive impact on economic growth . Moreover , while new immigrants may have a slight depressing effect on the wages of prior immigrants , they have small to no effects on wages and employment for the native-born population .
If we want our economy to grow , what America needs more than anything is workers . Domestic fertility rates are plummeting even as the boomers are rushing into retirement . The U.S. birth rate hit an all-time low in 2017 : 1.7 children per woman , well below the `` replacement rate '' of 2.1 . At the same time , the number of immigrants entering the country has slowed considerably , thanks in part to the Great Recession of 2007–09 . Not only do these trends put enormous pressure on the country 's entitlement system , they are already causing a drag on the economy . And this problem will only get more serious in the decades to come . Unless the U.S. finds a way to welcome more foreigners , and quickly , it is headed for a demographic crisis .
The concerns are understandable—but if we use them to justify constricting immigration , we 'll be doing a devastating disservice , not just to outsiders who want to start a life here , but to those of us who are already here .
Anti-immigration politicians and activists often paint a picture of America as a place where immigrants are pouring across our southern border , where the overall number of outsiders is exploding , and where illegals dominate the foreign-born population . The reality could n't look more different . As fertility rates have crept downward in Mexico and Latin America , far fewer young people have been trying to enter the United States .
It 's true that since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act began allowing family unification , the number of foreign-born people in the country has greatly expanded . As a share of the U.S. population , it rose from 4.7 percent in 1970 to over 13 percent in 2015 . That is higher than it has been at any time since the early 20th century , when immigrants reached almost 15 percent . In 2015 , more than a quarter of all immigrants living in the U.S. were of Mexican origin , four times as many as from any other country .
Yet the total volume of new immigrants has fallen off in the last few years . In the two decades from 1980 to 2000 , the share of foreign-born residents in the U.S. nearly doubled , from 6.2 percent to 11.1 percent . In the next decade and a half , from 2000 to 2015 , it rose only from 11.1 percent to 13.4 percent .
Far from being out of control , the number of net new migrants to the U.S. has been falling . Out of a U.S. population that totaled 323 million in 2016 , the annual increase in the foreign-born population from 2000 to 2010 was only 878 thousand per year . And that dropped to 648,000 per year , or about two-tenths of a percent of U.S. population , from 2010 to 2015 .
Today , Latin America contributes little to U.S. immigration . Since 2009 , more Mexicans living here have returned to that country than new Mexican immigrants have arrived . Although migration to the U.S. from the smaller Central American states has increased , the overall fraction of immigrants arriving who are Hispanic has dropped from more than half in 2001 to just over one-quarter in 2015 . Asians , coming mainly from China , India , and Pakistan , now far exceed Hispanics among new immigrants .
Finally , it 's important to observe that the vast majority ( 76 percent ) of immigrants in the country are legal . Of 44.7 million foreign-born residents of the United States , only about 11 million are unauthorized ; 19.8 million have become naturalized citizens , 11.9 million are legal permanent residents , and 2 million are here on valid temporary ( student or work ) visas . Moreover , the reverse flow of Mexican migrants in the aftermath of the Great Recession means that the total number of illegals in the U.S. has recently dropped . After hitting about 12.2 million in 2007 , it has been holding steady at 11 million for the last seven years .
If this strikes you as good news , think again . For an economy to grow , the average worker must produce more output over time and/or more workers must be employed in productive jobs over time . Since 2005 , U.S. labor productivity ( that is , real GDP per employed worker ) has grown slowly if at all , averaging under 1 percent per year and even turning negative in 2016 . The number of employed workers , meanwhile , has also been rising by just 1 percent per year . As a result , real GDP growth , somewhat disappointingly , has remained stuck at around 2 percent per year , rather than the 3–4 percent typical from 1960 to 2000 .
America 's working-age population is about to put a further brake on that expansion . The baby boomers are retiring , and while the millennials—now the largest living generation—are entering the labor force , the cohorts coming up behind them are getting smaller . In 2015 , the population of 15- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. was 44.2 million . That 's twice what it was in 1955 . Yet in 2050 , even assuming immigration increases to 1 million per year , that age group will be about 46.4 million , or just 5 percent higher . The strong growth in the number of young people entering the U.S. labor market essentially ended three years ago .
If not for immigrants and the children of immigrants , the size of the American labor force ( that is , residents between 25 and 64 ) would decline over the next 20 years . From 2015 to 2035 , the number of working-age Americans who are U.S.-born and who have U.S.-born parents will fall by 8 million workers . Without an influx of foreigners , we 're in for a bad time : Even if the rate of productivity growth doubled overnight , real GDP growth would be less than 1.6 percent per year .
We currently expect to gain , on net , 18 million immigrants in the next two decades . Assuming that 's correct , the total workforce will still grow by only 0.3 percent per year , thanks to retirements . Again , even if the productivity growth rate doubles , the small increase in the labor force will limit real GDP growth to less than 2 percent per year during that span .
Far from overwhelming the U.S. economy , Hispanic immigration is being lost as a driver of the economy . Before the recession of 2007 , the U.S. Census Bureau predicted that the country 's population would reach 439 million by 2050 . By contrast , the latest forecast , issued in 2017 , is that U.S. population will reach only 388 million by that date—a difference of 51 million people . That means fewer workers and fewer taxpayers .
Where did those 51 million people go ? They 're the immigrants and children of immigrants , mostly Hispanic , who would have materialized if immigration rates had continued as they were in the lead-up to 2007 . But as we have noted , immigration has dropped sharply . Even more important , the fertility of Hispanics within the U.S. has also dropped by about a quarter since 2007 .
As the Hispanic population becomes more like the native population in terms of education and employment , it also comes to resemble the rest of the population in terms of fertility . In the 1990s , Hispanic women in the United States had almost twice as many children as non-Hispanic whites . By 2016 , the number was only 20 percent higher—70.6 births per 1,000 Hispanic women between 15 and 34 , compared to 58.8 for non-Hispanic white women of the same age range .
While immigration rates have declined and the growth in the working-age population has slowed to a crawl , elderly Americans are the demographic sector that is truly exploding . The number of people aged 65 and older in the United States is projected to grow from 49 million to 80 million by 2040 , an annual rate of increase of 2 percent . The costs of providing pensions and health care for this group will rise at least as quickly as their numbers , but likely even more , as health care costs continue to go up faster than inflation .
Earlier , we allowed the rate of worker productivity to double overnight so projected GDP growth could remain at 2 percent per year . Yet that estimate assumed immigration would continue at current rates , providing 18 million new U.S. residents from 2015 to 2035 . And despite our allowance , productivity growth is not likely to double . More realistically , it would do well to rise from 0.8 percent to 1.2 percent per year , resulting in annual GDP growth of 1.5 percent . While technology will continue to improve , the workforce is getting older . The number of young workers is going to be virtually flat for the foreseeable future , and workers over 40 , whose productivity is usually stable or declining , will provide the bulk of the increase in the labor force . This means that the population of nonworking seniors is likely to grow faster—and the cost of their health care is likely to grow much faster—than GDP will .
The current rate of growth puts the United States squarely on track to exhaust the Social Security and Medicare trust funds in less than two decades . The best hope for stimulating faster growth to prevent this fiscal meltdown is to add more workers . To simply restore the U.S. population in 2050 to where we expected it to be a decade ago , America would have to admit at least an additional 1 million immigrants per year from now until then , for a total of 53 million over that period . This would raise the foreign-born population of the United States to 26 percent . If that seems like an intolerably high number , observe that it 's less than Australia has today .
It is also the price of America 's success in extending the life spans of its seniors and in enabling women to gain education and enter more professions . These achievements , while wonderful in their own right , have helped create the current problem : too few young workers and many more people surviving long years after retirement .
From 2010 to 2040 , just two regions of the world are likely to enjoy increasing labor forces : India and Africa . After 2040 , sub-Saharan Africa is projected to become the only region in the world with a growing workforce .
This is where many of our workers will need to come from . Imposing extra barriers on people from regions that are seen as `` undesirable '' is therefore a catastrophically bad idea . But it 's also a mistake to create strong preferences for skilled as opposed to unskilled migrants .
Anticipating a future driven by robots and artificial intelligence , some may think there is no point worrying about America 's future labor needs ; the problem will be too many workers rather than too few . And some jobs may indeed disappear , such as taxi drivers , production line workers , and cashiers . Yet skilled workers—whether with craft skills in carpentry , masonry , or plumbing ; with advanced technical skills such as writing computer code or welding complex alloys ; with human skills such as caring for the elderly , troubled youth , children , or those with disabilities ; or with creative skills in the arts , literature , or basic science , not to mention the professions of law , medicine , teaching , and religious ministries—will remain essential to the growth and functioning of modern economies . Robots are not likely to replace workers in these fields within the next two or three decades , while the growth of America 's young labor force has ended right now .
But unskilled immigrants too will be vital—for elder care ( much of which is labor intensive ) , for craft and construction work , for landscaping and maintenance work , and for service work in the hospitality and tourism sectors .
Even more important than all that , however , are the incredible contributions of the children of immigrants , which are often impossible to predict . Almost half of the companies in America 's Fortune 500 today were founded by immigrants or their children . Eight U.S presidents had at least one parent born in another country , including both Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump ( whose mother was an unskilled domestic servant from Scotland ) .
America 's main allies and adversaries—Europe , Japan , South Korea , Russia , and China—are facing even more severe problems of falling youth and rapidly increasing aging populations . They will need to bring in young people from elsewhere in the world to refuel their economies . Whether they accept migrants and train them or seek to recruit the most skilled workers from abroad , they will be looking to scoop up talent . If the U.S. instead shuts its doors to immigration , it will inflict upon itself the severe shrinkage in the number of new workers that is challenging other developed countries . The economy will grind nearly to a halt as more and more resources are devoted to taking care of the aging rather than improving the productivity of the young .
The solution is to substantially increase immigration from today 's diminished levels . To be sure , we will want many of our new workers to be trained to be productive . But many of the most valuable immigrants will be those who come to the U.S. and gain skills here , as college students or as children of immigrants who then go to school in America . Inevitably , most of them will come from India and Africa .
These young workers are the key resource of the 21st century . If we welcome them , we can unlock faster economic progress . If we disdain them , we condemn the nation either to slower growth and higher taxes or to major cuts in pensions and health care benefits for our native-born population . | 14149c119c7bd3a2 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
immigration | Townhall | https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2018/06/25/trump-illegal-aliens-back-from-where-they-came-n2494158 | Trump Wants Illegal Immigrants Who 'Invade' US Sent Immediately Back Home | 2018-06-25 | immigration | President Trump on Sunday called for illegal immigrants who “ invade ” the U.S. to be sent “ back from where they came ” from without due process for deportation cases .
“ We can not allow all of these people to invade our Country . When somebody comes in , we must immediately , with no Judges or Court Cases , bring them back from where they came . Our system is a mockery to good immigration policy and Law and Order , ” he tweeted . “ Most children come without parents… ”
“ Our Immigration policy , laughed at all over the world , is very unfair to all of those people who have gone through the system legally and are waiting on line for years ! Immigration must be based on merit - we need people who will help to Make America Great Again ! ” he added .
We can not allow all of these people to invade our Country . When somebody comes in , we must immediately , with no Judges or Court Cases , bring them back from where they came . Our system is a mockery to good immigration policy and Law and Order . Most children come without parents ... — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) June 24 , 2018
.... Our Immigration policy , laughed at all over the world , is very unfair to all of those people who have gone through the system legally and are waiting on line for years ! Immigration must be based on merit - we need people who will help to Make America Great Again ! — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) June 24 , 2018
The president 's suggestion was quickly criticized by groups like the ACLU , which said what he was calling for was illegal .
“ What President Trump has suggested here is both illegal and unconstitutional , ” Omar Jadwat , director of the ACLU ’ s Immigrants ’ Rights Project , told the AP . “ Any official who has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and laws should disavow it unequivocally . ”
The House is expected to vote on immigration legislation this week , but Trump has signaled the lawmakers are `` wasting their time . ''
`` Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration until after we elect more Senators and Congressmen/women in November . Dems are just playing games , have no intention of doing anything to solves this decades old problem . We can pass great legislation after the Red Wave ! '' he wrote on Twitter Friday . | 4nnxfsiD4t3J7CwK | 2 | Immigration | 0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
russia | Politico | http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/28/trump-kushner-kelly-mcmaster-russia-238900 | Trump, Republicans push back on Kushner reports | 2017-05-28 | russia | President Donald Trump went on the offensive Sunday after returning from his nine-day trip to the Middle East and Europe to growing scandals at home over his administration ’ s communications with Russian officials , including an explosive report about Trump son-in-law and confidant Jared Kushner .
Trump attacked the news media on Twitter , and the administration dispatched a retired four-star Marine general — Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly — to defend Kushner on the Sunday news talk shows .
“ It is my opinion that many of the leaks coming out of the White House are fabricated lies made up by the # FakeNews media , ” Trump said on Twitter — a likely reference to The Washington Post ’ s story about Kushner on Friday , which was sourced to anonymous U.S. officials . The article said Kushner sought to set up a secret line of communication with Russia during the presidential transition .
Trump also leaned on two administration officials with military experience to defend Kushner , who has become a significant person of interest in the FBI ’ s investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Moscow in its efforts to sway the presidential election toward Trump .
“ I don ’ t see a big deal , ” Kelly , the former head of U.S. Southern Command , said on “ Fox News Sunday. ” “ I think any channel of communication , back or otherwise , with a country like Russia is a good thing . ”
Trump national security adviser H.R . McMaster , a three-star Army general , also defended Kushner , telling reporters that back-channel communications are normal , according to Reuters .
`` We have back-channel communications with any number of individual ” countries , McMaster said . “ So generally speaking , about back-channel communications , what that allows you to do is communicate in a discreet manner . ''
Republicans , meanwhile , downplayed the reports about Kushner — with Sen. Lindsey Graham ( R-S.C. ) joining Trump in casting doubt on the news media .
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Graham , who has been one of Trump ’ s fiercest GOP critics on other issues , said Sunday he does n't `` trust this story as far as I can throw it . ''
“ I think it makes no sense that the Russian ambassador would report back to Moscow on a channel that he most likely knows we ’ re monitoring , ” Graham explained to Dana Bash on CNN ’ s “ State of the Union. ” “ The whole story line is suspicious . ”
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker ( R-Tenn. ) noted on NBC ’ s “ Meet the Press ” that Kushner has agreed to speak with Senate investigators about his contacts with Russian officials .
“ Sounds like he ’ s more than glad to talk about all of these things and instead of getting wrapped up into a lot of hyperbole , as these things can sometimes do , I think talking with him directly and getting him to answer any and all questions as he said he would do would probably be the prudent course of action , ” Corker said to Chuck Todd .
For their part , congressional Democrats were muted in their responses to the Kushner developments on the Sunday news talk shows .
The most aggressive take came from Rep. Adam Schiff , the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee , which is investigating Russia ’ s meddling in November ’ s presidential election , including the possibility of collusion with the Trump campaign .
Speaking on ABC ’ s “ This Week , ” Schiff called for a review of Kushner ’ s security clearance .
“ If these reports are accurate , right after that campaign , after that intervention , to have the president 's son-in-law , a key player within the Trump Organization , trying to establish a back channel with the Russians through a Russian diplomatic facility , you have to ask , well , who are they hiding the conversations from ? ” Schiff said .
Schiff added that he was disappointed that McMaster defended Kushner and said “ this is an administration that takes in people with good credibility and chews them out and spits out their credibility at the same time . ”
Other Democrats , including Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey , did not go so far as to call for a security clearance review , instead saying the FBI investigation now being led by special counsel Robert Mueller is best equipped to get to the bottom of the issue .
Durbin said on “ Fox News Sunday ” that allegations that Kushner sought to set up a back channel with Russia was “ a rumor at this point , ” adding : “ I ’ ll trust Bob Mueller ’ s judgment . ”
On CNN ’ s “ State of the Union , ” Booker said he had “ very serious concerns ” but was not ready to call for Kushner ’ s security clearance to be revoked .
“ That could be a potential outcome that I seek , but I want to understand , at least hear from , Jared Kushner as well as the administration about what was exactly going on there , ” Booker said . | bDYra000V9r8eU9v | 0 | White House | -1.3 | Politics | -0.3 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
europe | New York Times - News | http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/opinion/europes-welcome-sign-to-terrorists.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0 | OPINION: Europe’s Welcome Sign to Terrorists | 2015-11-19 | europe | One of the terrorists in Paris may have used a fake Syrian passport to enter Greece to claim asylum . Serbian authorities subsequently arrested a man whose passport contained details identical to the one found at the scene of the Paris attacks , suggesting that both passports were produced by the same counterfeiter . It should come as no surprise if further evidence shows that the perpetrators of these attacks used fake or stolen passports .
Europe ’ s open border arrangement was negotiated in 1985 in Schengen , a town in Luxembourg , and is known as the Schengen Agreement . It took effect in 1995 . The idea was to abolish internal border controls and initiate a common visa policy , eliminating lines at border crossings and reducing costs to central governments . Twenty-two European Union nations and four others — Iceland , Norway , Switzerland and Liechtenstein — are now parties to the agreement .
In September , the president of the European Commission , Jean-Claude Juncker , called the free movement under the Schengen Agreement “ a unique symbol of European integration . ”
But what once seemed a sensible idea now offers real and present danger . Stolen , doctored and fake passports from the Schengen area are among the most sought-after forms of identification by terrorists , drug smugglers , human traffickers and other criminals . As of last year , eight Schengen countries were on the list of the top 10 nations reporting stolen or lost passports in Interpol ’ s databases . Not one of those countries systematically screened passports at their borders .
Among the European countries that are not parties to the Schengen Agreement is the United Kingdom , which began screening passports against Interpol ’ s database following the 2005 terrorist attacks there that killed 52 people and injured more than 700 . The U.K. now screens about 150 million passports a year , more than all other European Union nations combined , and catches more than 10,000 people a year trying to cross its borders using invalid travel documents . | G7uyCw0qgL8V0VWY | 0 | Europe | -1.2 | Refugees | -0.5 | World | 0 | null | null | null | null |
federal_budget | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/26/politics/faa-delays-congress/index.html | House OKs measure designed to end controller furloughs | 2013-04-26 | Sequester, Federal Budget, Economy And Jobs | Story highlights President Obama expected to sign bill after House passage
Furloughs affected 15,000 flight controllers due to forced , government-wide spending cuts
The bipartisan Senate plan would give transportation planners new budget flexibility
In rare bipartisan accord , normally quarrelsome U.S. lawmakers passed a measure designed to end budget-related air traffic controller furloughs blamed for widespread flight delays .
The House of Representatives approved the legislation , capping a major congressional initiative as delays snarled traffic at airports . The House vote comes a day after unanimous approval by the U.S. Senate .
The measure -- which is expected to be signed into law by President Obama -- gives the Transportation Department budget planners new flexibility for dealing with forced spending cuts .
It would also allow authorities to protect 149 control towers at small- and medium-sized airports that are slated for closure for budgetary reasons .
`` Good news for America 's traveling public , '' White House spokesman Jay Carney said a day before the House vote .
`` But ultimately , this is no more than a temporary Band-Aid that fails to address the overarching threat to our economy posed by the sequester 's mindless across the board cuts . ''
Furloughs affecting some 15,000 Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers began this week with the agency saying it had no flexibility to avert them without action by Congress .
Under the sweeping austerity triggered by congressional inaction on deficit reduction , the FAA was required to cut $ 600 million from its budget .
The furloughs have delayed more than 3,000 flights since Sunday , according to FAA tallies . By comparison , there were more than 4,400 delays due to weather and other factors , the agency said .
Controller furloughs and the planned closure of towers that are privately run but overseen by federal aviation regulators have become political flash points in the partisan-fueled debate over spending in Washington .
They have been highlighted by many to illustrate a clear nationwide consequence of the $ 85 billion in government-wide cuts that took effect in March and may otherwise not be apparent to the public .
Vocal and politically powerful aviation interests have argued that the budget cuts affecting their industry would hurt business , travelers and cost jobs . More than 600 million people fly U.S. airlines each year , figures show .
During the furloughs , controllers have been spacing planes farther apart at key centers so they can manage traffic with current staffing , the FAA said .
Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins said she worried that continued FAA furloughs could jeopardize jobs throughout the travel and hospitality industry .
Earlier this spring , Congress approved a stop-gap budget law that would , among other things , ease budget cuts for the departments of Agriculture , Commerce , Defense , Homeland Security , Justice , and Veterans Affairs .
`` Something rare has happened in Washington ; the Senate came together on a bipartisan basis to put common sense before politics , '' Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas said Thursday . | 1e96f81f7c782876 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
fbi | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/02/politics/clinton-meets-with-fbi-as-part-of-email-probe/index.html | Clinton questioned by FBI as part of email probe | 2016-07-02 | fbi | Washington ( CNN ) Hillary Clinton met with the FBI for three and a half hours Saturday as part of the investigation into her use of a private email server while leading the State Department , her campaign said .
`` Secretary Clinton gave a voluntary interview this morning about her email arrangements while she was secretary , '' Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said in a statement . `` She is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Department of Justice in bringing this review to a conclusion . ''
Clinton told MSNBC 's Chuck Todd Saturday evening that the interview was something `` I had been eager to do . ''
An aide said the interview occurred at FBI headquarters in Washington Saturday morning . The FBI declined to comment .
The meeting signals the investigation is coming to an end , and sources tell CNN the expectation is Clinton will not face charges .
Still , the probe has cast a shadow over Clinton 's campaign , and news of FBI agents interviewing the former secretary of state gave Republicans an opportunity to pounce after Clinton has spent weeks at the top of most polls . It has also put the Justice Department in the position of having a major impact on the 2016 race -- a role made even more awkward this week by an unplanned meeting between former President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch that raised questions about the impartiality of the probe .
The question now becomes how long it will take for the FBI to conclude its probe .
Within the next two weeks or so , the expectation is there will be an announcement of no charges being brought against Clinton so long as no evidence of wrongdoing emerges from her interview with the FBI , sources familiar with the investigation told CNN . CNN has previously reported no charges were expected to be brought against Clinton because the investigators had not found evidence to warrant charges , according to multiple law enforcement officials . A Democrat close to Clinton said Saturday the campaign believes the FBI will announce its decision before the conventions .
Sources familiar with the investigation had previously told CNN the Justice Department 's aim was to wrap up before the Republican and Democratic conventions later this month . The timing is crucial , because if Clinton were to be indicted before the convention , Democrats could perhaps nominate another candidate .
Asked about reports that she is unlikely to face charges , Clinton told Todd , `` I am not going to comment on the process . I have no knowledge of any timelines . This is entirely up to the department . ''
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump said it was `` impossible for the FBI not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton . ''
`` It is impossible for the FBI not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton . What she did was wrong ! What Bill did was stupid ! '' Trump tweeted , referring to the former president 's meeting with Lynch .
It is impossible for the FBI not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton . What she did was wrong ! What Bill did was stupid ! — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) July 2 , 2016
After reports surfaced that Clinton was unlikely to be charged , Trump then tweeted , `` It was just announced-by sources-that no charges will be brought against Crooked Hillary Clinton . Like I said , the system is totally rigged ! ''
It was just announced-by sources-that no charges will be brought against Crooked Hillary Clinton . Like I said , the system is totally rigged ! — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) July 2 , 2016
Asked by CNN 's Brianna Keilar in a `` State of the Union '' interview Saturday about the possibility of the presumptive Democratic nominee being indicted , New Jersey senator -- and potential Clinton running mate -- Cory Booker flatly ruled out the possibility .
`` That 's just not going to happen , '' said Booker , who declined to answer whether the former secretary of state should step aside in favor of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders or Vice President Joe Biden if she 's indicted before the election .
`` That 's something that , to me , is not even within the realm of possibility , '' Booker said .
The interview comes at the end of a week that could have been another win for Clinton as Trump continues to struggle , but instead demonstrated her -- and her husband 's -- inability to avoid unforced errors and leave past controversies behind .
House Benghazi Committee Republicans on Tuesday released their report on the September 11 , 2012 , attack where four Americans died , which drew significant media attention but lacked significant new information that changed the dynamic of the race . The panel 's biggest discovery was finding the email address and server over a year ago .
Clinton has maintained that no emails marked as classified at the time were sent on the server , and that information in some emails was retroactively classified . And her campaign has actively portrayed the congressional investigation into Benghazi as a partisan exercise , highlighted by last October 's 11-hour hearing where Clinton testified .
But the FBI interview , along with news of the Clinton-Lynch meeting , shows Clinton ca n't move past the email issue -- a story that overshadowed the launch of her campaign in early 2015 and helped Bernie Sanders find running room .
Sanders , in fact , is still in the race , pushing for progressive changes to the Democratic platform . As recently as Thursday , the Vermont senator said he 's not ready to endorse Clinton .
For Republicans , the possibility of an indictment is a satisfying one . The GOP has pursued the Clintons for 25 years , from the scandals of Bill Clinton 's presidency and his impeachment to Hillary Clinton 's actions leading up to and during the Benghazi attacks . That the FBI could hamstring her presidential ambitions is a bonus for the GOP .
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement that Clinton is now `` the first major party presidential candidate to be interviewed by the FBI as part of a criminal investigation surrounding her reckless conduct . ''
`` That the FBI wanted her for questioning reinforces her central role in deliberately creating a culture which put her own political ambitions above State Department rules and jeopardized our national security . In over 2,000 emails , Clinton 's decision exposed classified information , including 22 that included top secret intelligence , just so she could skirt transparency laws in order to hide her shady dealings as secretary of state , '' Priebus continued .
He added , `` The American people need to have confidence that the Obama Justice Department is conducting a fair and impartial investigation , but when the attorney general meets secretly with Bill Clinton just days before Hillary 's interrogation is conducted discreetly over a holiday weekend , it raises serious concerns about special treatment . ''
RNC chief strategist and communications director Sean Spicer also pounced on the news Saturday afternoon .
`` . @ HillaryClinton campaign statement says She `` voluntarily '' met w @ FBI for 3.5 hours this morning - yeah , lots of people volunteer 2 do that , '' he tweeted .
. @ HillaryClinton campaign statement says She `` voluntarily '' met w @ FBI for 3.5 hours this morning - yeah , lots of people volunteer 2 do that — Sean Spicer ( @ seanspicer ) July 2 , 2016
He quickly added , `` Now I get it ! After Attorney General @ LorettaLynch & @ billclinton secretly meet @ HillaryClinton spends 3.5 hrs # FourthOfJulyWeekend @ fbi HQ ''
But the interview is a reminder for Republicans that Trump is a major liability himself . He 's more unpopular than Clinton is and his poll numbers are sliding . Her campaign and allies have been airing millions of dollars ' worth of ads against him , many highlighting his impolitic statements about women and minorities -- two groups that are backing Clinton by large margins .
The GOP establishment has yet to fully rally around the billionaire New York businessman , who trails Clinton 46 % to 40 % in the latest CNN Poll of Polls and has struggled to raise money in comparison to the Clinton and Democratic juggernaut .
The revelations of the email server as part of the House 's Benghazi probe have also resulted in lawsuits filed in Freedom of Information Act cases by the conservative Judicial Watch and other groups .
One such lawsuit saw Clinton 's top aide , Huma Abedin , deposed this week , along with other State Department staffers .
A State Department Inspector General report released in late May said Clinton failed to follow rules or inform key staff about the server . | 7plTq363XvMkIRZo | 0 | FBI | 0.1 | Defense And Security | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
general_news | Washington Times | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/mar/15/munilla-construction-management-figg-bridge-engine/ | Two companies in FIU bridge construction accused of ‘shoddy’ work in previous collapses | 2018-03-15 | general_news | Two companies involved in building the bridge that collapsed Thursday at Florida International University have been accused of shoddy work resulting in bridge collapses in recent years .
According to a report in the Miami New Times , lead contractor Munilla Construction Management was sued less than two weeks ago over the collapse of a “ makeshift bridge ” built at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as part of a major airport expansion .
According to a lawsuit filed March 5 in Miami-Dade Civil Court , TSA worker Jose Perez was traversing the bridge last October when it “ broke under [ his ] weight . ”
“ They built this makeshift bridge in the area where all the employees work , and it was poorly done . He fell and hurt himself really badly , ” Tesha Allison , a lawyer representing Mr. Perez , told the New Times . “ He had multiple broken bones and damage to his spine… They did shoddy work . ”
The company that designed the bridge — Figg Bridge Engineers — had an even worse accident on a bigger project happened almost six years ago in Virginia , according to the New Times .
Four workers were injured in June 2012 when Figg-assembled span fell apart , causing “ a 90-ton concrete portion of the South Norfolk Jordan Bridge to drop 40 feet onto railroad tracks below , ” New Times wrote .
“ They were fortunate that the injuries were not more serious , ” Jay Withrow , director of the legal support division for the Department of Labor and Industry , told the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot .
Mr. Withrow ’ s department fined Figg $ 28,000 for several violations of safety rules , though the company ’ s manager on that project called the violations unrelated to the completed bridge ’ s stability .
“ The incident that occurred during construction was a construction equipment property damage issue that had nothing to do with the final bridge , ” W. Jay Rohleder told the Virginian-Pilot . | 2DEKWkMoEhlAZ346 | 2 | Florida | -0.9 | General News | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
immigration | Fox News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/25/republican-senators-slam-obama-for-ordering-review-deportation-program/ | Republican senators slam Obama for ordering review of deportation program | 2014-04-25 | immigration | Twenty-two Republican senators sent a letter to President Obama on Thursday accusing his administration of displaying `` an astonishing disregard for the Constitution '' by considering administrative changes to the nation 's deportations policy .
In a letter to the president , Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky , and 21 of his colleagues said that changes under consideration would amount to `` near complete abandonment of basic immigration enforcement . ''
`` Your actions demonstrate an astonishing disregard for the Constitution , the rule of law , and the rights of American citizens and legal residents , '' read the letter signed by McConnell and other Republicans , including Sens . Jeff Sessions , R-Ala. , and Tom Coburn , R-Okla .
The Associated Press reported this week that Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson , who is conducting a review ordered by Obama on how to make the administration 's policy on deportations more humane , is weighing limiting removals of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who do n't have serious criminal records .
The change , if adopted , could shield tens of thousands of immigrants now removed each year solely because they committed repeat immigration violations , such as re-entering the country illegally after having been deported , failing to comply with a deportation order or missing an immigration court date .
With comprehensive immigration legislation stalled in the GOP-led House 10 months after Senate passage , Obama is under intense pressure from immigrant advocates to act on his own to curb deportations and allow some of the 11.5 million immigrants in the country illegally to stay here .
The move would fall short of the sweeping changes sought by activists who want Obama to expand a two-year-old program that grants work permits to certain immigrants brought here illegally as children to include other groups , such as the parents of any children born in the U.S .
Thursday 's letter , circulated by the Senate Judiciary Committee 's top Republican , Sen. Charles Grassley , R-Iowa , underscores the political risk in an election year as Republicans seize on the review as the latest example of presidential overreach .
`` Our entire constitutional system is threatened when the executive branch suspends the law at its whim and our nation 's sovereignty is imperiled when the commander in chief refuses to defend the integrity of its borders , '' the senators wrote .
The senators complained that the administration 's existing policies . Republicans already accuse Obama 's administration of subverting the law through previous moves to give `` prosecutorial discretion '' to immigration agents .
`` As a result of your policies , individuals here illegally who do not meet administration “ priorities ” are not only largely exempt from the law , but are released even if they come into contact with feder al law enforcement authorities , '' the letter said .
In a statement , Homeland Security spokesman Peter Boogaard did n't respond to the senators ' complaints but said , `` The secretary has undergone a very rigorous and inclusive process to best inform the review . ''
Many activists want sweeping action by Obama to give legal certainty and work permits to millions more immigrants , like he did for those who arrived illegally as children and attended school or served in the military .
But a senior administration official told The Wall Street Journal that no decisions have been made and that immigration activists are engaged in “ extreme wishful thinking ” about what they hope the president will decide to do . | E2OA2LSEi7kXikxg | 2 | Immigration | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
fbi | Washington Times | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jan/6/fbi-gun-background-checks-reached-record-levels-20/ | FBI gun background checks reached record levels in 2019 | 2020-01-06 | fbi | Background checks on gun purchases hit a record of 28.3 million in 2019 , amid calls for tighter gun restrictions by the Democratic presidential candidates .
“ Democrats have been the best gun salesmen of the year , ” said Alan Gottlieb , founder of Second Amendment Foundation , a pro-gun group .
The FBI conducted more than 28.3 million background checks last year through its National Instant Criminal Background Checks Systems , or NICS . That represents a 3 % increase from the record 27.5 million set in presidential election year 2016 .
December was the bureau ’ s second-highest month ever for gun background checks , with more than 2.9 million . The December numbers reflect a ramp-up in gun sales toward the end of the year . On Black Friday alone — Nov. 29 — the FBI ran 202,465 background checks .
NICS checks are largely viewed as an indicator of gun sales .
With the 2020 elections 11 months away and nearly every Democratic presidential candidate proposing stricter access to firearms , gun sales appear to be increasing .
“ We ’ ve been very , very busy this year and in particular , December , ” said Larry Hyatt , owner of Hyatt Guns in North Carolina .
“ The biggest reason is political with the elections in November and rhetoric in the news media . Before we had candidates talking about registering guns , now we ’ ve got candidates talking about confiscating a gun . ”
Mr. Hyatt ticked off several other reasons for his store ’ s sales increase , including an improved economy and increased inventory offered by suppliers .
Shortly after President Trump took office , the gun industry suffered through what was called the “ Trump slump. ” Firearms enthusiasts no longer feared a crackdown , which had led to a massive sales surge during the Obama administration .
The field of Democrats running for the White House have offered a litany of gun control proposals . Perhaps the most startling to gun owners was former Texas Rep. Beto O ’ Rourke ’ s call for a mandatory buyback program of AR- and AK-style rifles .
“ Hell , yes , we ’ re going to take your AR-15 , your AK-47 , ” Mr. O ’ Rourke said in September , just before dropping out of the race .
Now that the calendar has flipped to an election year , analysts expect sales to top 2019 . Small Arms Analytics , which provides data to the gun industry , estimates 14.4 million firearms will be sold in 2020 , falling just shy of the 2016 record of 16.6 million .
“ For gun owners , the election cycle has already started , ” Mr. Gottlieb said . “ Their rights have already been under attack , and you are seeing record turnouts at meetings around the country . ”
David Chipman , a senior policy adviser at Giffords , an organization advocating for stronger gun laws , said the FBI data is misleading .
The NICS numbers include permit checks and rechecks for concealed carry permits , which is inflating the numbers , he said . Mr. Chipman also pointed to slight increases in handgun purchases and a decrease in sales for long guns , a specific firearm with a longer barrel .
“ If you report the FBI is busier this year , that is absolutely right . But if you suggest this is indicative of the gun market , I ’ d say beware , ” he said . “ Based on my view of the data , gun sales have flatlined . ”
The NICS system was created after the passage of the Brady bill , which mandated background checks for firearms purchases . In 1999 , the first full year of the system , just over 9 million background checks were conducted . | Qu6za9HUZxcKc2I6 | 2 | 2nd Amendment | 1 | Gun Control And Gun Rights | -0.5 | Background Checks | 0.2 | FBI | 0 | Privacy | 0 |
culture | National Review | https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2018/05/14/victim-mentality-identity-politics-dominate-modern-left/ | The Church of Grievance | 2018-05-14 | culture | In the days and weeks after the awful massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School , a number of students put themselves forward , to the front of America ’ s ceaselessly reiterated debate about gun rights . That they would have an immediate — even urgent — prominence is predictable . But it is the predictable exception to American political debate , which is usually conducted under the pretense that all its participants — politicians , experts , journalists , and news addicts — belong to a cult of policy expertise . Victims have a unique and growing role in our political culture .
Conservatives also make rhetorical use of victims . The families of 9/11 victims were solicited for their views on everything from intelligence gathering to foreign policy . President Donald Trump , whose political success comes from his intuitive understanding of America ’ s mass culture , made very effective use of victim politics in his 2018 State of the Union address , drawing attention to , among others , the parents of two teenagers , Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas , who were murdered in 2016 ( MS-13 gang members have been charged with the crime ) .
The most obvious reasons for deploying victims in our political life in this way are that tragic news events drive public conversation and that suffering commands human attention and sympathy . Faced with human suffering , we fall silent , or at least think we should . And silence is a reasonable enough proxy for consent . It ’ s good enough for an activist who wants to achieve reforms , even at the price of cutting deliberation short .
But something is changing in victim politics . It is no longer an emotive call for political reform , or restitution for wrongs done . The young activists whom conservatives call “ social-justice warriors ” practice politics in a form that looks spiritual , and their Marxoid political theories are effulgent with longings and aspirations that point far beyond what we normally think of as politics .
It ’ s worth examining the change . At this point , conservative complaints about the political use of victims are a generation old . Twenty-six years ago , in his book A Nation of Victims , Charlie Sykes documented the shift in the American political imagination . Sykes was especially preoccupied with spurious claims of victimhood . Drawing from Tocqueville ’ s observation that Americans “ are forever brooding over advantages they do not possess , ” he noted the way in which displeased customers inflated their trivial grievances into oppressions and how some Americans recast their debilitating personal habits as disabilities . My gambling isn ’ t a moral problem , it ’ s a disease ! The burn from my coffee isn ’ t the predictable result of my clumsiness , but the fault of McDonald ’ s . “ A community of interdependent citizens has been displaced by a society of resentful , competing , and self-interested individuals who have dressed their private annoyances in the garb of victimism , ” Sykes wrote .
He traced the victim mentality to a number of sources , even back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau , and to our novel belief that no harm can befall us that ’ s not in some way the fault of society , and that therefore every one of life ’ s misfortunes calls for recompense from the treasury of resources common to society , or at least from the closest source of wealth .
Although Sykes ’ s account is thorough , he could not fully anticipate the mutation of victim politics into something even larger and more destabilizing . Some conservatives have tried to explain the preeminence of the victim in our politics as the result of cultural Marxism and the teachings of the Frankfurt school . Faced with the manifest failure of the proletariat to take up its assigned role as the true sovereign of history after the Bolshevik Revolution , a group of left-wing theorists built on the work of Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci and came up with a new proletarian class , or classes . Sometimes called “ the subaltern , ” other times simply “ the oppressed , ” this new proletariat was defined by its exclusion from hegemonic cultural power . This cultural hegemony has many names , and we encounter them constantly , in a less sophisticated form , when feminists denounce the patriarchy , when sexual minorities critique heteronormativity , and when racial minorities define their mission as the upending of white supremacy .
The new dominance of victim politics has exerted a gravitational effect on all of American political discourse . The shift in Marxist rhetoric from the proletariat to the subaltern has foreshadowed shifts in American politics writ large . In the 20th century , Americans often claimed their rights and privileges as members of the middle class , demanding what was owed to “ people who work hard and play by the rules. ” Many Americans who were a bit poorer or a bit richer than the middle class still politically identified with that great mass of citizens . It was a rhetoric built around the idea that the middle class works to create wealth and deserves its share of it .
Now , Americans group themselves into ever smaller and more-besieged minorities . “ Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already , ” Thoreau said . In our world , anyone more micro-aggressed than his neighbors constitutes a minority of one . Unsurprisingly , this form of politics is best suited to young people , preferably in college , who live in a world where they are still shaping their identity and their labor is just a notional feature of their life in the future .
Our political vocabulary is now about what is owed to each individual or group , regardless of the value of the work performed by that person or group . And claims for rights are made in a corporate persona . Instead of each person ’ s speaking for himself , people now issue political demands “ as a member of ” this or that community . It ’ s almost as if each individual finds meaning only insofar as he conforms to an abstracted or imagined political model . “ Speaking as a woman ” simply can not be done by a female who is not a feminist .
If the abstruse theories of a handful of Marxists could move the world on their own , this magazine wouldn ’ t exist . But the new victim politics has taken off because it fulfills certain needs of its practitioners . It allows an alternative entry into the heavily guarded political discussion of America ’ s ruling class . And it offers a sense of purpose and identity that , in another age , would have been found in religion .
The American ruling class broadcasts its soulless utilitarianism when it comes to politics . It tries to make every political problem into a mere technical policy challenge . But there is a loophole for those who are not initiated into this highly abstract form of political discourse . Utilitarianism admits just one criterion for allocating sympathy , resources , and attention : suffering .
So if you want to participate in political debate , but you don ’ t want to master all the academic studies on your particular problem or interest , take account of all the methodological biases of these studies , and then find a platform where you can make your case — if , in short , you don ’ t want to become a nerd — your only chance of having a public voice is to become , or represent , a victim . This is the only chance to put passion — or spiritedness — back into a political conversation that is usually lifeless and technical .
It is also likely that the new victim politics is channeling energy that would otherwise express itself in other projects . The ever-narrowing mission of the art world is a likely culprit . Haunted by the corruption of commercialism and disillusioned with the pursuit of genius for its own sake , almost the entire artistic world has looked to politics to find a new purpose . And so every field , from abstract sculpture to film to stand-up comedy , has started to mimic the hectoring voice and social goals of progressive politics . Those seeking to express or sublimate their deepest longings almost inevitably turn away from contemplation and creation and toward activism . Tragedy and comedy are supposed to offer catharsis and make living in an imperfect world easier . But , given an overtly political role , these forms now essentially withhold that salve ; their mission is agitation in the service of social reform . We have an art world that satisfies us less and diverts more dissatisfaction into the political realm .
Borrowing from the thought of Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski , the Christian social critic Alan Jacobs showed that “ woke ” social-justice activists often don ’ t use political terms when talking about the imperatives of their identity politics . Instead , they invoke mythic ones . This partly explains why their response to unwelcome campus speakers takes on the form of an exorcism , with chants repeated in a loud , prayer-like cadence . Sometimes the shouts are enacted as an antiphony — a call and response . At other times , an exemplar is pulled forward to speak and the entire supportive group amplifies that voice by repeating the person ’ s words .
Here victim politics recasts disagreement as desecration and defilement . Someone who walks into these environments looking for the intellectual parry and thrust of debate is instead told , “ Your job is to listen. ” The expectation that no one would dare to interject or question the personal testimony of the victim of oppression is not so different from the expectation of silence during the reading of the Gospel in a church service , or during a homily . Your job is to listen .
And it is here , I would suggest , that the politics of the victim touch something deep in the soul of modern man . They are in some ways the residue of Christian thought and ritual in a Western world that offers little traditional religious education or formation . The premise of victim politics is like a mirror image of devotion to the Suffering Servant . Just as in Christianity , so in social-justice politics : The wounds of the primordial victim testify to the broken state of human nature and society at large . For Christians , the cross is a kind of throne , and the crown of thorns becomes a sign of authority . The paradox of Christianity is that the Lord reigns as King precisely because he offered himself as Victim .
Putting this Victim at the center of the social order , in ritual or in preaching , begins the redemption of all humanity . The faithful confess to the ways their sins contributed to the fate of the victim . The ritual is meant to moralize and inspire those who witness it and motivate them to more fully participate in the effort of redemption . It can also provide its adherents with a demonology that fills the world with invisible oppressors and tormentors , making them oversensitive and fearful .
The religious aspect should be evident to anyone who offers a rational critique of some identity-politics shibboleth only to be told “ You ’ re denying my identity ” or “ You ’ re erasing my existence. ” It ’ s a mysterious response at first . You offer an argument and are told that you disbelieve in someone ’ s existence . It sounds like an accusation of atheism , for a good reason : You ’ re being charged with heresy , and if you do not desist , you reveal yourself as morally reprobate , as one who would , with full knowledge , repeat the Crucifixion . Or if you prefer the current academese , you are one who “ reifies the structures of oppression. ” You love yourself more than you love the victim-god standing before you , the one exposing his wounds and offering you forgiveness on condition that you recognize his pain , confess your unearned privilege , and promise obedience .
Depending on your disposition , you can take this mimicry of the Christian myth and ritual and its transmutation into politics as either a perverse compliment about the endurance of Christian thought or a kind of demonic parody . Either way , we are not here contending over something exclusively political . Once the explicitly political claims are filtered out , what is left over in victim politics is a churchly way of being in a world that has escaped the bonds of religion . We are contending with a longing for recognition and esteem and for a mission that has a transcendent horizon ; no form of human governance can ever satisfy such desires .
And so we must be careful . An anti-PC politics that takes the form of mockery will win converts only among those who are already primed to be disillusioned . Conservatives need to think more holistically . We need a politics freed from the strictures of utilitarianism so that it may admit human passions , in forms other than suffering . The aspirations for transcendence that young people feel so keenly need outlets for expression and cultivation in art and in the devotional life of religion . Young people need to feel that their travails have purpose and meaning beyond the way they might manifest societal dysfunction or be recast as a symbol of political oppression . If we want a politics that is less histrionic , and a society that offers something more empowering than the campus star chamber , what we really need is to re-create our civic , social , and familial life so that people ’ s disappointments and outrages will be met with compassion and understanding , or channeled into great works of art and humble prayers . No small task , I know . | THNT6MlPpUr0LPPq | 2 | Culture | 0.3 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
fbi | Guest Writer - Right | http://nypost.com/2016/10/06/fbi-agents-are-ready-to-revolt-over-the-cozy-clinton-probe/ | FBI agents are ready to revolt over the cozy Clinton probe | 2016-10-06 | fbi | Veteran FBI agents say FBI Director James Comey has permanently damaged the bureau ’ s reputation for uncompromising investigations with his “ cowardly ” whitewash of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ’ s mishandling of classified information using an unauthorized private email server .
Feeling the heat from congressional critics , Comey last week argued that the case was investigated by career FBI agents , “ So if I blew it , they blew it , too . ”
But agents say Comey tied investigators ’ hands by agreeing to unheard-of ground rules and other demands by the lawyers for Clinton and her aides that limited their investigation .
“ In my 25 years with the bureau , I never had any ground rules in my interviews , ” said retired agent Dennis V. Hughes , the first chief of the FBI ’ s computer investigations unit .
Instead of going to prosecutors and insisting on using grand jury leverage to compel testimony and seize evidence , Comey allowed immunity for several key witnesses , including potential targets .
The immunity agreements came with outrageous side deals , including preventing agents from searching for any documents on a Dell laptop owned by former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills generated after Jan. 31 , 2015 , when she communicated with the server administrator who destroyed subpoenaed emails .
Comey also agreed to have Mills ’ laptop destroyed after the restricted search , denying Congress the chance to look at it and making the FBI an accomplice to the destruction of evidence .
Comey ’ s immunized witnesses nonetheless suffered chronic lapses in memory , made unsubstantiated claims of attorney-client privilege upon tougher questioning and at least two gave demonstrably false statements . And yet Comey indulged it all .
What ’ s more , Comey cut a deal to give Clinton a “ voluntary ” witness interview on a major holiday , and even let her ex-chief of staff sit in on the interview as a lawyer , even though she , too , was under investigation .
Clinton ’ s interview , the culmination of a yearlong investigation , lasted just 3½ hours . Despite some 40 bouts of amnesia , she wasn ’ t called back for questioning ; and three days later , Comey cleared her of criminal wrongdoing .
“ The FBI has politicized itself , and its reputation will suffer for a long time , ” Hughes said . “ I hold Director Comey responsible . ”
Agreed retired FBI agent Michael M. Biasello : “ Comey has singlehandedly ruined the reputation of the organization . ”
The accommodations afforded Clinton and her aides are “ unprecedented , ” Biasello added , “ which is another way of saying this outcome was by design. ” He called Comey ’ s decision not to seek charges “ cowardly . ”
“ Each month for 27 years , I received oral and computer admonishments concerning the proper protocol for handling top secret and other classified material , and was informed of the harsh penalties , to include prosecution and incarceration , ” for mishandling such material , he pointed out . “ Had myself or my colleagues engaged in behavior of the magnitude of Hillary Clinton , as described by Comey , we would be serving time in Leavenworth . ”
Former FBI official I.C . Smith knows a thing or two about Clinton corruption . After working at FBI headquarters as a section chief in the National Security Division , he retired as special agent in charge of the Little Rock , Ark. , field office , where he investigated top Clinton fundraisers for public corruption and even Chinese espionage .
“ FBI agents upset with Comey ’ s decision have every reason to feel that way , ” Smith said . “ Clearly there was a different standard applied to Clinton . ”
“ I have no doubt resourceful prosecutors and FBI agents could have come up with some charge that she would have been subject to prosecution , ” the 25-year veteran added . “ What she did is absolutely abhorrent for anyone who has access to classified information . ”
Smith said Congress should subpoena the case ’ s agents to testify about the direction they received from Comey and their supervisors : “ It would be interesting to see what the results would be if those involved with the investigation were questioned under oath . ”
Comey made the 25 agents who worked on the case sign nondisclosure agreements . But others say morale has sunk inside the bureau .
“ The director is giving the bureau a bad rap with all the gaps in the investigation , ” one agent in the Washington field office said . “ There ’ s a perception that the FBI has been politicized and let down the country . ”
Comey has turned a once-proud institution known for its independence into one that bows to election pressure , hands out political immunity to candidates and effectively pardons their co-conspirators . He ’ s turned the FBI into the Federal Bureau of Immunity and lost the trust and respect of not only his agents but the country at large . He ought to step down .
Paul Sperry , formerly Washington bureau chief for Investor ’ s Business Daily , is author of “ Infiltration . ” | x9X8F3qYGZKPaLwf | 2 | FBI | -1.6 | Hillary Clinton | -1.3 | Defense And Security | 0 | null | null | null | null |
education | Allysia Finley (Wall Street Journal) | http://www.salon.com/2014/06/12/woman_dies_in_jail_while_serving_sentence_for_her_kids_unpaid_school_fines/ | Woman dies in jail while serving sentence for her kids’ unpaid school fines | 2014-06-12 | Education, Prisons, Children, Pennsylvania | A Pennsylvania woman died in a jail cell over the weekend while serving a 48-hour sentence for her children 's unpaid school fines . Eileen DiNino was found dead on Saturday in a Berks County jail cell where she was midway through the sentence that would have eliminated around $ 2,000 in fines and related court fees related to her children 's attendance at school . Police have said her death is not considered suspicious , but the cause has yet to be determined . She was 55 years old and a mother to seven children .
`` This lady did n't need to be there , '' District Judge Dean Patton -- who said he was `` reluctant '' to sentence DiNino -- told the Associated Press . `` We do n't do debtors prisons anymore . That went out 100 years ago . '' More than 1,600 people have been jailed in Berks County alone -- the majority of them women -- because of similar fines .
Patton said he has lost sleep over her death . At the same time , he acknowledged that a short jail stint can sometimes `` break the habit '' of parents who 'd rather party into the night than take their children to school the next day . The county started a program a few years ago that gives families 30 to 60 days to keep daily logs of each class and assignment . He estimated that the district truancy rate had dropped more than 30 percent . DiNino did not work or appear to have much help with four children still at home , according to Patton . She frequently skipped hearings , or arrived without requested documents . `` She cared about her kids , but her kids ruled the roost , '' Patton said . `` She was just accepting what was coming , and ( would ) let the cards fall where they may . '' Although she was often unkempt , she came to court clean and neat to surrender Friday , he said . She had on clean sweatpants , had combed her hair , and had tape holding her glasses together . `` She was a different person . She was cleaned up , smiling , '' Patton said . `` I think she realized , when this is done , the weight was off her shoulders . ''
Berks County Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt , chairman of the county prison board , expressed outrage that DeNino died alone and away from her family while serving a sentence that was meted out for the crime of being poor . `` This woman died in prison , away from her family , '' Barnhardt told the Reading Eagle . `` And for what ? ''
The circumstances of DeNino 's death are a stark and tragic reminder of how being poor is considered a crime worthy of punishment in the United States . Thousands have been jailed in Berks County for failure to pay truancy fines , but court fees and other fines have put thousands of others behind bars across the country . As an investigation by National Public Radio revealed , a homeless man was sentenced to a year in jail because he could n't pay the $ 2,600 penalty he incurred after shoplifting a $ 2 can of beer . A teenager was jailed for three days because he could n't pay the fine associated with catching a fish off season . | d8f2d080302aa7c1 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
violence_in_america | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/29/us/baltimore-protests/index.html | Baltimore: After riots, protesters and police ensure peace | 2015-04-29 | Baltimore Riots, Civil Rights, Violence In America | Baltimore ( CNN ) The streets of Baltimore are calm once again . For the second night in a row , protesters peacefully dispersed Wednesday night after a 10 p.m. curfew meant to prevent riots that tore up the city two days earlier .
Many wore T-shirts that said `` Black Lives Matter , '' demanding accountability for the death of Freddie Gray .
While the Baltimore protesters remained calm , some of their counterparts across the country were not .
More than 100 people were arrested in New York during a `` NYC Rise Up & Shut It Down With Baltimore '' rally Wednesday night , New York police said .
And Denver police arrested 11 people for charges such as assaulting a police officer , robbery , resisting police , disobedience to lawful orders and obstructing roadways .
All this comes as protesters demand to know what happened to Gray , who was arrested April 12 and suffered a severe spinal cord injury . He died one week later .
Demonstrations are planned for Thursday in Cincinnati , CNN affiliate WXIX said .
And a `` Philly is Baltimore '' protest will take place at Philadelphia City Hall , Philly.com said .
Seattle , Portland , Oregon , and Oakland , California , are on tap for Friday , which is also May Day or International Workers Day -- often used to call attention to issues affecting the working class and minorities .
More than 100 people arrested during the fracas in Baltimore this week were released Wednesday without charges , the state public defender 's office said .
Authorities either had to charge or release them within 48 hours of their arrests .
`` We 've come up on a time line , '' said Police Commissioner Anthony Batts . But , he added : `` We 're not giving up on them . We 're just going to follow up . ''
Enya Baez-Ferreras , a student at Johns Hopkins University , joined in the protests Wednesday . She said the violence that marred Baltimore this week is not reflective of the city .
`` Baltimore is not violent . We have been under a lot of duress , and the violence that erupted the other day is only in reaction to the years and decades of oppression , of police brutality , of harassment that many of the Baltimore residents have been under , '' she said .
President Barack Obama denounced the `` violence , looting , destruction that we saw from a handful of individuals in Baltimore . ''
`` There 's no excuse for that , '' he said in an interview that aired Wednesday on `` The Steve Harvey Morning Show . ''
Obama said his `` heart goes out '' to injured officers , and he praised police who he said `` showed appropriate restraint . ''
But he also talked about the state of urban communities .
`` If you send police officers into those situations where the drug trade is the primary economy and you say to them basically your job is to contain that and arrest kids and put them in jail , when those police officers know ( it 's not going to fix things ) , then it 's not surprising you end up with a situation of enormous tension between those communities and those police officers , '' he said .
The relative calm that took over Baltimore can be credited in part to peaceful protesters who formed human barricades between hot-tempered demonstrators and police , day and night .
Baltimore residents line up to protect Police . # BaltimoreUprising pic.twitter.com/fLJRWfvv2d — Angie Crouch ( @ AngieNBCLA ) April 29 , 2015
`` We show that we can police ourselves , '' said a man who stood for hours in what protesters called a `` unity line . ''
`` We 're about positivity here in Baltimore . It starts with us . This long line of people came out here because what we seen on TV ( Monday night ) , we did n't like it . ''
The city implemented a 10 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew for a one-week period that started Tuesday .
Asked if she was considering lifting the curfew early , Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told CNN 's Chris Cuomo she had not made a decision yet .
`` We re-evaluate it on a daily basis , '' the mayor said Thursday morning .
Many residents credited police for not overreacting after the curfew went into effect Tuesday night , setting the tone for peaceful dispersal
`` The Line '' . Maybe moved 100 ft in an hour + and made two arrests that we saw ... but the street cleared # OneBaltimore pic.twitter.com/SvNqbTNnMa — Chris Cuomo ( @ ChrisCuomo ) April 29 , 2015
`` The police did a fantastic job tonight , '' one person commented on Twitter . `` Technically they could of arrested everyone at 10:01 . ''
@ popcornreel and the police did a fantastic job tonight . Technically they could of arrested everyone at 10:01 — Lenni Meow ( @ Lenni819 ) April 29 , 2015
Some 2,000 National Guardsmen and more than 1,000 police officers from across Maryland and neighboring states were assigned to the streets of Baltimore on Tuesday night , Maryland Gov . Larry Hogan said .
While there was no major damage Wednesday , the recovery from Monday 's destruction is far from over .
Many saw their homes and vehicles damaged , their livelihoods in shambles .
So residents like Cindy Oxendine took to the streets to sweep up rocks , glass and more , despite her aching back .
the media will only show you what they want to show you . # BaltimoreUprising # BaltimoreRiots pic.twitter.com/NUm8D0BYEf — banksy ( @ thereaIbanksy ) April 29 , 2015
The governor 's office has started a website for those wanting to help Baltimore recover from this week 's riots .
`` We have received an outpouring of support from Marylanders and people all around the country who want to help get our beloved Baltimore back on its feet in the wake of the violence and destruction , '' Hogan said in a statement .
The website , governor.maryland.gov/mdunites/ , allows visitors to volunteer for cleanup efforts , donate to charities helping affected residents and report new incidents to police . | f19fed39a2895286 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
white_house | Politico | https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/15/zinke-bernhardt-deputy-interior-1066658 | Zinke’s likely replacement has been 'the man behind the curtain' | 2018-12-15 | white_house | Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has taken the lead in softening the department ’ s protections for endangered species , which will make it easier for companies to drill on ecologically sensitive lands . | David Zalubowski/AP Photo Energy & Environment Zinke ’ s likely replacement has been 'the man behind the curtain ' David Bernhardt , who is set to become acting Interior secretary , has pleased President Donald Trump but is drawing attacks from environmental groups .
Like former Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt before him , Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has an experienced deputy steeped in the world of bureaucratic infighting ready to fill his shoes — one with longstanding ties to the energy industry he now regulates .
Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt , a former lobbyist for the oil , gas and water industries that rely on Interior ’ s decisions , is poised to become acting secretary following President Donald Trump 's announcement Saturday that Zinke will leave by the end of the year . And that ’ s already alarming environmentalists , some of whom had said they might prefer to see a distracted , scandal-plagued Zinke stay in the job .
Bernhardt , who joined the Trump administration last year , has taken the lead in softening the department ’ s protections for endangered species , a move that will make it easier for oil and gas companies to drill on ecologically sensitive lands . `` He knows how to make that agency work , and he is why Interior is now considered 'best in class ' in terms of agency performance , '' said Stephen Brown , a lobbyist at RBJ Strategies .
Green groups quickly called for more scrutiny of Bernhardt 's record .
“ The bottom line is that Bernhardt is too conflicted to even be acting secretary , ” said Chris Saeger , executive director for Western Values Project , a conservation group that filed a lawsuit in July demanding access to Bernhardt ’ s official communications . “ At the very least , the American public deserves to know more about the man behind the curtain who is actually running the show at Interior and could soon be fully responsible for managing our country ’ s public lands , wildlife and natural resources . ”
“ If Ryan Zinke was bad , his likely replacement , David Bernhardt , is even worse , ” the Alaska Wilderness League said in a statement Saturday .
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And Bernhardt may end up with the post permanently , according to a source who said Trump has been happy with his effectiveness in running the bulk of the agency on Zinke 's watch . The source said it might be too problematic for Trump to find another Interior candidate amid a series of other high-level vacancies in his administration .
Other names have been floated among industry representatives and green groups , including Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers ( R-Wash. ) , whom Trump had reportedly considered for the job two years ago — but who had been quick to criticize Trump 's leaked boasts about sexual assault a month before the 2016 election . McMorris Rodgers is not interested in the job now , a source said Saturday .
The consensus is that picking Bernhardt — already confirmed by the Senate — would be the path of least resistance .
On the other hand , Bernhardt might not want the job , said one lawyer who has business in front of Interior .
“ Some folks think he [ Bernhardt ] may not want to stick around for another two years and may actually see all the of the ceremonial and speech-making functions of the secretary as a distraction from getting done the things he wants , ” said the lawyer , who asked for anonymity to discuss personnel issues .
Bernhardt has been on notice for quite some time that he might need to step in for Zinke , whose troubles included an ongoing investigation of a land deal in Montana — first reported by ███ — tied to the chairman of Halliburton , one of the world ’ s largest energy companies . Interior ’ s inspector general has referred that probe to the Justice Department for potential further investigation or even prosecution , according to several media reports .
`` For the last month , if not longer , it has been a common reference , even from the secretary , that David needs to be ready , '' a source close to Interior ’ s senior staff told ███ for a story published in October . The source requested anonymity to discuss internal department matters .
Bernhardt , a former lobbyist known as “ a lawyer ’ s lawyer ” in the industry , could wind up playing a role similar to the one that longtime Washington lobbyist Andrew Wheeler has played since becoming acting administrator of the EPA this summer . In contrast to former EPA chief Pruitt , who had alienated even many Republican lawmakers with his cascade of personal scandals , Wheeler has kept a relatively low profile while continuing to methodically roll back environmental rules and promote coal and oil production .
Bernhardt worked at Interior as solicitor during the George W. Bush administration , a time when the department had also been rocked by scandal over its division overseeing energy leases . He then went to lobbyist firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck , where he worked for a client seeking to pump water from the Mojave desert to Southern California .
Many environmental activists fear that Bernhardt would be more effective than Zinke in executing Trump ’ s agenda . In fact , they contend he ’ s already doing it , having taken meetings with appropriations staff and led policy on top-tier items like overhauling the Endangered Species Act and reorganizing the department .
“ Why would I want him to take over ? I can ’ t say that I do , ” said Aaron Weiss , media director with the Center for Western Priorities , told ███ earlier this fall .
“ There are so many parallels with the Scott Pruitt and Andrew Wheeler situation [ at EPA ] and the Ryan Zinke and David Bernhardt situation . Andrew Wheeler knows exactly how to pull the levers of policy , '' Weiss added . `` Dave Bernhardt is the exact same way . He is a walking conflict of interest . ''
Zinke ’ s tenure has been under a cloud formed by multiple investigations into his behavior at Interior . The IG office has been looking at his ties to Halliburton Chairman Dave Lesar , who met with Zinke at Interior headquarters to discuss a real estate deal involving land owned by a nonprofit Zinke established that is now controlled by his wife .
The IG is also looking into whether Zinke bowed to political pressure in blocking requests from Native American tribes to open a Connecticut casino . That probe was requested in response to ███ 's report on lobbying by the tribes ' business rivals .
The heat on Zinke was only going to ratchet up in January , when Democrats take control of the House and with it the power to launch new probes into Trump 's Cabinet .
While the investigations kept Zinke ’ s names in headlines , Bernhardt has quietly been taking on much of the responsibility for pushing Trump ’ s agenda , sources have said .
Bernhardt has taken a lead role in what had been Zinke ’ s signature policy effort — reorganizing the department and sending more staff to Western states . Bernhardt has become `` the main point of contact '' on the reorganization , Jay Tilton , a spokesperson for Senate Appropriations Committee Democrats , told ███ in October .
Requests for records have turned up scant communication from Bernhardt — raising additional fears among green groups .
The watchdog group American Oversight urged the investigators who have spent the past year and a half probing Zinke ’ s abundant alleged conflicts of interest and potential misdeeds to turn their attention to his replacement .
“ It is high time for the glare of sunlight to focus on Deputy Secretary Bernhardt , ” the group ’ s Austin Evers said Saturday . “ We ’ ll see if he has the spine to answer questions that Zinke lacked . ” | 0K324oHYtkP3vuvx | 0 | Ryan Zinke | 0.2 | White House | 0 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null |
politics | Christian Science Monitor | http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2017/0215/Tea-party-reversed-How-GOP-town-halls-look-from-the-inside | Tea party, reversed? How GOP town halls look from the inside. | 2017-02-15 | politics | Sitting in the front row of a congressional constituent day in Greensboro , Ga. , with one of his daughters perched on his knee , Ron Denham felt like he was witnessing democracy in action .
The people at the meeting were loudly , assertively , and peacefully demanding accountability and clarity from a federal government official . This , Mr. Denham told his 10-year-old twin daughters , was a real-life “ civics lesson . ”
Then he walked outside after the event , and there “ were state police cars everywhere. ” Someone had called for backup . “ Such a tremendous police response to free speech , ” Denham says , dismayed .
Then former North Carolina Gov . Pat McCrory suggested that a series of similarly contentious town halls across the country were the result of paid protests .
As a result , Denham says he has gone from “ galvanized ” citizen to one “ on fire . ”
Until last month , Denham did not know which congressional district he lived in , he says in a phone interview . But last Friday , he drove an hour and a half from his suburban home near Atlanta to the constituent event held by the offices of Georgia 's two senators and a representative from a different district just so he could see and be heard .
He is one of the citizen activists who has risen up in what appears to be an uncanny reprisal of the 2009 birth of the tea party – but this time on the left .
In 2009 , the Democratic playbook involved avoiding town halls and dismissing protesters as paid stooges . Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D ) famously said the protesters were not grass roots but fake “ Astroturf. ” A year later , tea party fervor reshaped Congress , with Democrats losing 63 seats in the House and five in the Senate . The Democrats have never recovered .
Today , the Republican playbook involves avoiding town halls and dismissing protesters as paid stooges . Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz ( R ) called the protest that shouted him down at a recent town hall a “ paid attempt to bully and intimidate. ” Only 10 Republicans members of Congress are planning town halls next week , notes David Hawkings of Roll Call .
“ That ’ s a dangerous gamble , for democracy over the long haul but also for the lawmakers ’ own self-preservation as soon as the next campaign , ” he writes in his blog .
Many political analysts agree . Republican lawmakers ignore Denham and his twin daughters at their peril . The events are certainly uncomfortable . Chants of “ Shame ! ” and “ Do your job ! ” have punctuated recent town halls . But , as in 2009 , they speak to a deep unease that can not be conveniently ignored .
“ Democracy is a messy thing , and this shows it – and it ’ s also a fragile thing , ” says James Thurber , founder of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington . “ That ’ s why members of Congress have got to get used to this and listen to the feedback or there will be consequences for them , electorally . ”
Some have . Rep. Justin Amash ( R ) of Michigan stayed an extra 40 minutes to talk with angry constituents . And Rep. Gus Bilirakis ( R ) of Florida rejected the allegations that boisterous constituents at his events were bused in and paid , responding : “ Most of these people are my constituents . ''
But many Republicans have been knocked off-balance . One California representative was escorted out of a recent meeting by police , and several others have canceled events , citing the uncomfortable atmosphere .
On one hand , the trend – so soon after the tea party anger of 2009 – points to the rise of what political scientists call “ negative partisanship . ”
“ One of the things we ’ re seeing in American politics right now is it ’ s easier to get people energized in opposition to things they don ’ t like than to get them energized to support anything their party or president is doing , ” says Alan Abramowitz , a political scientist at Emory University in Atlanta . “ People are really angry and worked up , and I don ’ t think it ’ s going to stop . In some ways , this is even more organic than the tea party . ”
Yet for Caroline Keegan , the Greensboro event was about saving something she sees as positive : the Affordable Care Act .
At the Greensboro meeting , Ms. Keegan , a 20-something graduate student at the University of Georgia in Athens , for the first time in her life told strangers about a chronic medical condition that could ruin her financially should ACA be repealed . The speech , she says , was well-received by both the crowd and the aides to Georgia 's two US senators and the area 's US representative – all Republicans .
“ I felt deeply thrown off balance , because this wasn ’ t just sort of a political issue that I was concerned about , this was a feeling of intense vulnerability and fear for my own body , and it really surprised me , ” says Keegan .
So when a spokesperson for Sen. David Perdue – one of the legislators holding the event – called it a “ manufactured protest , ” Keegan felt like she had been slapped in the face .
To be sure , some crowds have been unruly and disruptive . And attendees say there have been partisan anti-Trump elements . The constituent day in Georgia was not even a town hall but a routine meeting to help elderly citizens navigate Social Security and Veterans Administration benefits .
“ Initially , there was some concern amongst the sheriffs that there was going to be civil disobedience and some rowdy protesting , ” Keegan says . “ At the same time , the sheriff was very hospitable and welcoming , and the mood was really energetic . It was amazing . ”
While Republicans have cited personal safety as a reason to cancel such gatherings , crowds so far have applauded , cheered , even defended police officers .
Representative Chaffetz pointed to an incident where two men wearing bandannas and handguns ( which are legal to carry in Utah ) urged the crowd to “ rush the police. ” But local police said the crowd instead stepped in to defend the police by forming a barrier .
“ The crowd was great with us , ” police Lt. Dan Bartlett told CNN .
Republicans ’ conundrum is how to play for time , says Sarah Binder , a political scientist at George Washington University .
“ My guess is accusing the protesters of being paid rabble-rousers helps these lawmakers justify fewer or no town halls and buys them time to figure out what to do , ” she says .
For all the their power in holding the White House and both houses of Congress , Republicans are in a sensitive situation . The same was true of the Democrats in 2009 , after all . On average , 37 seats shift when there ’ s a president with less than 50 percent approval rating , according to Professor Abramowitz . So far , Trump is hovering around 40 percent .
“ I don ’ t know if the Republicans realize how vulnerable they really are , ” Abramowitz says .
For his part , Denham says his concerns are hardly partisan , but really just “ kitchen table issues. ” He wants to know what ’ s going to happen with Obamacare . And he ’ s worried that the tone in Washington is hurting women . One of his daughters recently said , “ I can ’ t be an astronaut because I ’ m a girl . ”
So far , the technology worker from suburban Peachtree Corners says the response from elected representatives to his questions “ has been all adversarial . ”
But Americans are demanding more . They “ are getting off their couches and coming out , ” says Denham .
And for lawmakers concerned about their safety , he offers a solution .
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Staff writer Francine Kiefer contributed to this report from Washington . | 9ghA8M2xk8EIwird | 1 | Politics | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
economy_and_jobs | New York Times - News | http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/04/magazine/inequality-has-been-going-on-forever-but-that-doesnt-mean-its-inevitable.html?ref=politics | Inequality Has Been Going On Forever ... but That Doesn’t Mean It’s Inevitable | 2014-05-04 | economy_and_jobs | I have come to think of this idea as Piketty ’ s First Law of Inequality . The fact that the rich earn enough money to save money allows them to make investments that other people simply can not afford . And investments — whether stones , land , corporate stock or education — tend to bring a positive return . Piketty describes the relationship formally as r > g : the rate of return on capital usually exceeds economic growth .
Piketty , however , notes that certain things can disrupt this relationship . When a war destroys farms , the big farmers are no longer much richer than anyone else . A depression can play the same role . When income or wealth is taxed at high rates , the rich are not able to save and accumulate as much . It ’ s no accident that in the decades after World War II , when middle-class incomes were rising even more rapidly than the incomes of the rich , the top marginal income-tax rates were exceptionally high . In the 1950s , the top rate exceeded 90 percent . Today , it is 39.6 percent , and only because President Obama finally won a yearslong battle with Republicans in early 2013 to increase it from 35 percent .
Piketty advocates a global wealth tax aimed more directly at capital inequality than income taxes currently are . It would apply to anyone with more than about $ 1.4 million in net worth and become steeper on higher fortunes than moderate ones . It ’ s an interesting idea , but it has little , if any , chance of passing the current legislative environment . Yet Piketty mentions another , more politically plausible force that can disrupt his first law of inequality : education . When a society becomes more educated , many of its less-wealthy citizens quickly acquire an ephemeral but nonetheless crucial form of capital — knowledge — that can bring enormous returns . They learn to make objects and accomplish tasks more efficiently , and they sometimes create entirely new objects ( or services ) . They become those children in the small village who attended school , went off to work in a factory , became managers and made bigger economic leaps above their parents than those of the large farmer did .
The great income gains for the American middle class and poor in the mid-to-late 20th century came after this country made high school universal and turned itself into the most educated nation in the world . As the economists Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz have written , “ The 20th century was the American century because it was the human-capital century. ” Education continues to pay today , despite the scare stories to the contrary . The pay gap between college graduates and everyone else in this country is near its all-time high . The countries that have done a better job increasing their educational attainment , like Canada and Sweden , have also seen bigger broad-based income gains than the United States .
Yet the debate over our schools and colleges tends to exist in a separate political universe from our debate over inequality . Liberals often shy away from making the connection because they worry it holds the struggling middle class and poor responsible for their plight and distracts from income redistribution . Many conservatives fear the implicit government spending involved . And so , our once-large international lead in educational attainment has vanished , and our lead in inequality has grown .
There are some reasons for optimism in education . Charter schools and school systems that have tried to introduce more accountability offer some lessons about what works and doesn ’ t in K-12 . The total number of college graduates has begun rising again . That said , the changes in education — not to mention the tax code — are not nearly large enough to counteract the forces pushing in the other direction . A true attack on inequality would require that the country move the issue to the center of every political debate : how we tax wealth , how we tax the income of the middle class and poor ( often stealthily through the payroll tax ) , how we finance schools and measure their results , how we tolerate income-sapping waste in health care , how we build roads , transit systems and broadband networks . These are precisely the sort of policies pursued by countries with better recent middle-class income growth than the United States .
The closest thing to an antihero in Piketty ’ s book is an economist named Simon Kuznets , who argued in the decades after World War II that inequality was destined to decline . His soothing prediction grew out the experience of the previous few decades , but he and many others confused a trend with destiny . We are now making that same mistake in the opposite direction . Rising inequality is a trend , but it is one we have helped create and one we can still change . | wV0KMb3zLzgsGctb | 0 | Income Inequality | 0.9 | Economy And Jobs | 0.5 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Christian Science Monitor | http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/0803/In-tit-for-tat-Trump-withholds-endorsement-of-Ryan-in-reelection-bid | In tit-for-tat, Trump withholds endorsement of Ryan in reelection bid | 2016-08-03 | elections | As Republican loyalists continue to flee , Donald Trump ignited new party tensions Tuesday by refusing to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan or Arizona Sen. John McCain , a remarkable display of party division just three months before Election Day .
The Republican presidential nominee told The Washington Post he 's `` just not quite there yet , '' when asked about an endorsement of Ryan , who faces a primary election next week . In doing so , he echoed the House speaker 's comments of almost three months earlier , when the Wisconsin congressman was initially reluctant to embrace Trump as his party 's standard bearer .
Trump 's statement comes amid intense fallout over his criticism of the family of the late Capt . Humayun Khan , a U.S. Army soldier who died in Iraq in 2004 . Indeed , just two weeks after a Republican National Convention that tried to focus on party unity , the Trump-driven rifts inside the GOP appear to be intensifying .
On Tuesday , retiring New York Rep. Richard Hanna became the first Republican member of Congress to say he will vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton in November instead of Trump .
`` He is unfit to serve our party and can not lead this country , '' Hanna wrote in a column published in The Post-Standard newspaper of Syracuse , New York . `` He is unrepentant in all things . ''
Later Tuesday , Hewlett-Packard executive Meg Whitman — a prominent Republican fundraiser — threw her support behind Clinton , saying , `` Donald Trump 's demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character . ''
Also Tuesday , the woman who helped shape New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie 's national image declared that she 's voting for Clinton .
`` As someone who has worked to further the Republican Party 's principles for the last 15 years , I believe that we are at a moment where silence is n't an option , '' former Christie senior aide Maria Comella told CNN .
They join dozens of high-profile GOP leaders who have previously said they would not vote for Trump , including the party 's 2012 nominee , Mitt Romney , and former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush .
A day earlier , Sally Bradshaw , an architect of the Republican National Committee 's 2013 `` Growth and Opportunity '' report , said she 's leaving the GOP . While not a household name , her decision to leave the party rocked those who make politics their profession .
Bradshaw was one of the five senior Republican strategists tasked with identifying the party 's shortcomings and recommending ways it could win the White House after its losing 2012 presidential campaign . She said she will vote for the Democratic nominee if the race in her home state of Florida appears close come Election Day .
`` Trump has moved in exactly the opposite direction from our recommendations on how to make the party more inclusive , '' said Ari Fleischer , who worked with Bradshaw on the GOP 's so-called post-election autopsy and was a senior adviser to President George W. Bush .
Fleischer still supports Trump over Clinton . But Bradshaw and Comella are among a group of top Republican operatives , messengers , national committee members and donors who continue to decry Trump 's tactics , highlighting almost daily — with fewer than 100 days before the election — the fissures created by the billionaire and his takeover of the party .
Veterans and families of fallen soldiers continue to call on Trump to apologize for his treatment of the Khan family , who spoke out against Trump at last week 's Democratic National Convention . Trump said the grieving father had `` no right '' to criticize him , only later acknowledging their son is a hero .
`` If @ realDonaldTrump wants to be the Commander in Chief , he needs to act like one . And that ca n't start until he apologizes to the Khans , '' Dakota Meyer , one of a handful of living Medal of Honor recipients and former Alaska Gov . Sarah Palin 's son-in-law , wrote Tuesday on Twitter .
Trump invited more tension Tuesday when he told The Washington Post he 's not ready to endorse Ryan in next week 's Republican primary contest against Paul Nehlen , praising the underdog for running `` a very good campaign . ''
Tensions were already running high between the two high-profile Republicans , who will have to work together closely should Trump win the presidency . Said Ryan 's campaign spokesman Zack Roday , `` Neither Speaker Ryan nor anyone on his team has ever asked for Donald Trump 's endorsement . And we are confident in a victory next week regardless . ''
In the Post interview , Trump also declined to support McCain 's re-election and dismissed New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte as weak . Both had been among Trump 's harshest critics in the wake of his comments about the Khan family , particular McCain , a former prisoner of war who said Trump did not have `` unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us . ''
Christie , the New Jersey governor , continues to be one of Trump 's biggest supporters . But Comella , his former aide , said the very survival of the party depends on stopping the celebrity businessman .
`` Instead of speaking out against instances of bigotry , racism and inflammatory rhetoric , whether it 's been against women , immigrants or Muslims , we made a calculus that it was better to say nothing at all in the interest of politics and winning elections , '' she told CNN . `` For me , if our party has a future , we have to change that trajectory and lead by example . ''
Beaumont reported from Des Moines , Iowa . Associated Press writer Julie Bykowicz contributed to this report from Washington .
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Follow Thomas Beaumont and Steve Peoples on Twitter at : http : //twitter.com/tombeaumont and http : //twitter.com/sppeoples | sPXMkIl1IKytt2oS | 1 | Paul Ryan | -0.1 | Donald Trump | 0 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null |
politics | CBN | http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/2017/july/senator-john-mccain-diagnosed-with-brain-tumor | Senator John McCain Diagnosed With Aggressive Brain Tumor | 2017-07-20 | US Senate, Politics | Republicans and Democrats in Washington, along with people across the country, are offering their support for Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.The 80-year-old McCain has been diagnosed with one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer, the same kind that killed Sen. Ted Kennedy and Beau Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden."On Friday, July 14, Sen. John McCain underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix. Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot," his office said in a statement.President Donald Trump tweeted his support: "Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon."Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. pic.twitter.com/SO4XYgnyug — President Trump (@POTUS) July 20, 2017And former President Barack Obama, who defeated McCain in the 2008 presidential election, tweeted:"John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it h***, John."CBN's David Brody interviewed Sen. John McCain when he was running for president in 2008. Click here to see it.Brody sat down with him again in 2015 to discuss the GOP and President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. Click here to see it.McCain's family and doctors are deliberating their next treatment options, which will likely include radiation and chemotherapy.About 20,000 people in the U.S. each year are diagnosed with a glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive type of brain tumor.McCain is the chairman of the Senate's Armed Services Committee. His absence from the Senate had forced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to delay action on health care legislation.In a statement, McConnell said: "John McCain is a hero to our Conference and a hero to our country. He has never shied from a fight and I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life. The entire Senate family's prayers are with John, Cindy and his family, his staff, and the people of Arizona he represents so well." | a9f5af3c0eb5bc0d | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
middle_east | New York Times (News) | http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/world/middleeast/syria.html?hp&_r=0 | Syrian Rebels Accuse Government of Chemical Attack | 2013-08-21 | Middle East | Syria’s Civil War Advertisement Supported by By Ben Hubbard and Hwaida Saad BEIRUT, Lebanon — Scores of men, women and children were killed outside Damascus on Wednesday in an attack marked by the telltale signs of chemical weapons: row after row of corpses without visible injury; hospitals flooded with victims, gasping for breath, trembling and staring ahead languidly; images of a gray cloud bursting over a neighborhood. But even with videos, witness accounts and testimonies by emergency medics, it was impossible to say for certain how many people had been killed and what exactly had killed them. The rebels blamed the government, the government denied involvement and Russia accused the rebels of staging the attack to implicate President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Images of death and chaos poured out of Syria after what may be the single deadliest attack in more than two years of civil war. Videos posted online showed dozens of lifeless bodies, men wrapped in burial shrouds and children, some still in diapers. There were hospital scenes of corpses and the stricken sprawled on gurneys and tile floors as medics struggled to resuscitate them. Getting to the bottom of the assault could well alter the course of the conflict and affect the level of the West’s involvement. Advertisement President Obama said almost exactly a year ago that the use of chemical weapons was a red line. But the subsequent conclusion by the White House that the Syrian Army had used chemical weapons did not bring about a marked shift in American engagement. This latest attack, by far the largest chemical strike yet alleged, could tip that balance — as many foes of Mr. Assad hope it will. Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like. Reporting was contributed by David M. Herszenhorn from Moscow; C.J. Chivers from the United States; Peter Baker and Thom Shanker from Washington; Alan Cowell from London; Alissa J. Rubin from Paris; Mac Bishop from New York; and Karam Shoumali from Antakya, Turkey. Advertisement Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Times. See subscription options | 2ac4d135979983d4 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Media Matters | http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/10/27/lets-hope-cnbc-debate-moderators-hold-gop-candi/206453 | Let's Hope CNBC Debate Moderators Hold GOP Candidates Accountable For Their Fantasy Tax Plans | 2015-10-27 | elections | 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 “ job growth , taxes , technology , retirement and the health of our national economy ” 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 “ Populist Talk ” On Tax Reform In NYT Article
Harwood Criticized GOP Candidates Who Have “ Shied Away From Economic Populism. ” In an October 14 article for The New York Times , CNBC 's Harwood wrote that although GOP candidates have offered “ populist talk ” 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 “ some Wall Street executives had gone to jail ” after the 2008 financial crisis , Harwood explained that “ Republican candidates have shied away from ” that kind of “ economic populism ” in the 2016 campaign , despite their campaign trail rhetoric , and instead offered tax reform proposals that “ deliver disproportionate gains to the most affluent ” and “ reflect [ ] a party still wedded to the theories of supply-side economics. ” [ The New York Times , 10/14/15 ]
Media Have Fallen For Candidates ' Faux Populism In The Past
Outlets Praised Trump 's “ Populist ” 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 “ populist ” proposal , despite all evidence to the contrary . Politico even ran a headline that said Trump planned to “ hike taxes on the wealthy , ” when in fact his plan promised to do the opposite . [ ███ , 9/28/15 ; 9/28/15 ]
Media Claimed Bush 's Traditional Republican Tax Proposal Was “ Populist ” 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 “ anemic economy. ” 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 “ populist ” reform that “ hits Wall Street , ” despite widespread criticism that it amounted to a “ budget-wrecking gift to the wealthy. ” 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 . [ ███ , 6/17/15 ; 9/10/15 ; 9/14/15 ] | HX9wUGgbVz83UaJl | 0 | Debates | 0.3 | Media Bias | 0 | Presidential Elections | 0 | Elections | 0 | null | null |
white_house | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/17/politics/kerry-ebola-remarks-call-to-arms/index.html?hpt=po_c2 | Kerry sends out call to arms on the Ebola crisis | 2014-10-17 | white_house | Story highlights Kerry spoke at the State Department on Friday to a group of foreign ambassadors .
Kerry praised a handful of countries for their contributions to the effort , including Cuba .
Kerry said `` Ebola has the potential to become a scourge like HIV or polio '' .
Using some of the most dramatic language yet by a U.S. official , Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday called on world leaders to contribute far more to the international Ebola response .
Kerry warned that , absent a concerted effort by the international community , `` Ebola has the potential to become a scourge like HIV or polio that we will end up fighting -- all of us -- for decades . ''
The secretary made these remarks to a room of foreign ambassadors at the State Department in Washington . He called on them to use their influence to bring stronger commitments to the Ebola fight , which has plagued Sierra Leone , Guinea and Liberia for weeks , and has spread as far as the United States and Europe .
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`` There is no country that is exempt from being able to do something to be able to contribute to this effort and help make a difference , '' Kerry said . `` And everything we do depends on how we coordinate our efforts as partners in how we contribute together . ''
Kerry praised a handful of countries for their contributions to the effort , including Cuba -- a historical foe of the U.S , that more often finds itself under criticism by the State Department .
`` Cuba , a country of just 11 million people , has sent 165 health professionals , '' Kerry noted in his remarks , `` and it plans to send nearly 300 more . ''
The United Nations has called on the international community to give $ 1 billion to the Ebola response effort over the next six months . So far , Kerry noted , only about a third of that need has been met .
`` We live in a world of a lot of close calls , tough decisions on a daily basis -- difficult and contentious issues where you can have an honest disagreement about what the best course of action is , or about what the facts are , or the results of your decision may be , '' Kerry conceded , adding , `` Ebola is not one of them . ''
So far , more than 4,000 people have died from the epidemic in West Africa . The World Health Organization estimates that there will be between 5,000 and 10,000 new Ebola cases per week there by the first week of December . | 7duz5aWW72uNDhpU | 0 | Ebola | -0.2 | White House | 0 | John Kerry | 0 | Politics | 0 | null | null |
national_defense | Politico | https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/24/troops-brain-injuries-iran-trump-103625 | 34 troops diagnosed with brain injuries days after Trump dismissed them as 'headaches' | 2020-01-24 | national_defense | The military last week said it had conducted follow-on screenings and that the number of troops who were pulled out of Iraq for brain injury treatment was 11 . On Friday , Hoffman told reporters that , of the 34 troops diagnosed with brain injuries , 17 have returned to duty , including one service member who was transferred to Kuwait for treatment .
Eight service members have been transferred to the U.S. for treatment after initially being sent to Germany . Nine are still undergoing treatment and evaluation in Germany .
Hoffman attributed a change in numbers to symptoms that “ are late-developing ” and “ manifest over a period of time . ”
“ What we saw was a number of people who were initially screened for concussion-like symptoms … saw their conditions improve rapidly , and then others , we saw their conditions didn ’ t improve , ” Hoffman said . “ Some got worse and some had severe enough symptoms that they were transported on for further treatment . ”
Trump on Wednesday played down the initial reports of injuries .
“ I heard that they had headaches , and a couple of other things , ” Trump told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos , Switzerland . “ But I would say , and I can report , it is not very serious . Not very serious . ”
Esper on Wednesday told reporters that the Pentagon does n't normally report such injuries . `` This is mostly outpatient stuff . So we can track that if — if you 're really interested in it . ''
He also said at the time he did n't know how many were injured . `` I 'm not a doctor and I 'm not the ones evaluating them , '' he said .
Speaking Friday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies , Esper defended the Pentagon ’ s reporting of injuries around the globe .
“ We ’ re fully committed to being transparent about what happens , but we need to make sure we ’ re accurate and that we categorize things properly , and that ’ s our commitment , ” Esper said . “ And it ’ s not just Iraq . It ’ s wherever troops are engaged . ” | rVqww2LWs1cDvzkJ | 0 | US Military | 0.1 | Pentagon | 0.1 | National Defense | 0.1 | Defense And Security | 0.1 | Middle East | 0 |
lgbtq_issues | Breitbart News | https://breitbart.com/politics/2020/02/09/fact-check-washington-post-reports-transgender-puberty-blockers-are-reversible | Fact Check: Washington Post Reports Transgender Puberty Blockers Are ‘Reversible’ | 2020-02-09 | Healthcare, South Dakota, Psychology, Mental Health, Transgender Rights, LGBTQ Issues | CLAIM: The Washington Post reported youth puberty blockers are “reversible” in an article critical of a South Dakota proposed law that would criminalize treating transgender young people with medical treatments or surgery.VERDICT: FALSE.South Dakota could become the first state in the nation to criminalize treating transgender youths under 16 years old with medical treatment or surgery.A WaPo piece published on January 28 stated:Hormone treatment, which can be used to delay puberty, is reversible and medical evidence suggests allowing transgender children to delay puberty until they are 16 can lower their risk for developing mental health conditions, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Children under 18 very rarely undergo sex-reassignment surgery.The Pediatric Endocrine Society also touts that “the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the largest academic organization of pediatricians in the US, has released a Policy Statement supporting the approach to gender-affirming care” that is consistent with that of the Society.“Gender identity can be different from the gender that is presumed based on the sex assigned at birth and interventions intended to change one’s gender identity are not only ineffective, but harmful,” the Society states.The group adds that “gender-affirming care” includes allowing a child or adolescent “to explore their gender identity freely, and in some circumstances allow for a social transition (change of name, pronouns, attire).”The Society clearly states “gender-affirming care” may include:Puberty suppression once puberty has started. This is a reversible treatment that decreases the distress of having the “wrong” puberty. This treatment alone does not cause infertility.More physicians and analysts of the transgender movement, however, are publicly asserting the claim that drug treatments such as puberty blockers or suppressors are a “reversible treatment” is blatantly false. One of the primary reasons all agree the claim is false is that no long-term studies have been conducted on children who have had their normal puberty suppressed with drugs.Idaho-based endocrinologist Dr. William Malone told Breitbart News in November puberty suppression is “frequently called reversible, but it’s not.”Malone explained:Normal bone density development is interfered with and probably brain development too. Almost all children placed on puberty blockers go on to cross-sex hormones—meaning puberty blockers solidify and sometimes intensify dysphoria. It’s hard to call these impacts reversible. There have been no long-term studies done on children who have had normal puberty blocked. In no other area of medicine would a medical society be so cavalier about treatments with unknown consequences. Caution is the rule in such situations, and always has been. This departure from the typical standard of care deserves more scrutiny.“It is also not clear why the Pediatric Endocrine Society has abandoned the previous standard of care for gender dysphoria – which was supportive, exploratory counseling,” Malone added:There are approximately ten studies in the literature showing that, on average, 85% of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria have resolution or significant lessening of their dysphoria by early adulthood, without hormonal or surgical interventions. There is no scientific justification for departing from that established standard to the current affirmation-based approach.Dr. Michelle Cretella, executive director of the American College of Pediatricians, said emphatically the Pediatric Endocrine Society’s claim that puberty suppressors are a “reversible treatment” is “a bald-faced lie.”“There are no long-term studies of puberty blocker use for gender incongruence in children,” Cretella explained to Breitbart News. “Ergo, no one can say blockers are completely reversible and without harm.”Cretella pointed to documentation, however, by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that links “harm,” i.e., thousands of deaths, to Lupron, a drug prescribed with FDA approval for several conditions, including prostate cancer and endometriosis.Nevertheless, Lupron is also being used, without FDA approval, as a puberty blocker on children and adolescents with gender dysphoria.She explained:Puberty blockers, like Lupron, effectively “castrate” children of both sexes at the level of the pituitary gland in the brain, chemically turning boys into eunuchs and sending girls into a pre-teen menopause. This is why many girls treated for FDA-approved conditions with Lupron have developed osteoporosis in their twenties. Puberty blocking prevents the normal maturation of all organs – including the brain – that depend upon the child’s natural sex hormones to develop. Adults treated with Lupron for FDA-approved conditions experience memory deficits. What are we doing to the brains of gender incongruent but physically healthy children?The pediatrician emphasized the “harm” caused by professionals urging transition affirmation.“They are absolutely harming kids with blockers because they rob them of the very developmental period during which the vast majority come to embrace their biologic sex,” Cretella stressed. “Even if a child comes off blockers, we can never give back the period of normal physical/psychosocial development that was stolen from them.”California-based endocrinologist Dr. Michael Laidlaw testified in support of the South Dakota bill, HB1057, a measure that is seeking to protect children who are confused about their identity from harmful drugs, such as puberty blockers, surgeries and treatments.Instead of affirming the premise, as WaPo appeared to do, that gender confused children need puberty blockers to “lower their risk for developing mental health conditions,” Laidlaw asserted a high proportion of adolescents with gender confusion already had other psychological problems prior to the appearance of gender issues.A study from Finland, he noted, showed 75 percent of gender confused children “had been or were currently undergoing psychiatric treatment for reasons other than gender confusion.”Laidlaw observed another study that found “26 percent had autistic spectrum disorder” and 68 percent had an initial contact with mental health services because of reasons other than gender confusion.In 2018, Dr. Lisa Littman set out to understand why the number of young girls identifying as transgender at Britain’s Gender Identity Development Service had increased from 41 percent in 2009 to 69 percent in 2017.Littman found 62.5 percent of the girls whose parents participated in the study had been diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder prior to the onset of their gender confusion. For example, nearly half of the children had already attempted to harm themselves or had experienced a trauma.Parental responses showed 87 percent of the teens announced they were transgender after increased time on social media and/or after “cluster outbreaks” of gender dysphoria in their groups of friends. Responses indicated most children who “came out” as transgender became increasingly popular as a result of their announcement.“Peer contagion has been associated with depressive symptoms, disordered eating, aggression, bullying, and drug use,” Littman observed.Attorney and researcher Jane Robbins recently examined at Townhall the relationship between the transgender industry and medical associations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Endocrine Society.Robbins noted AAP has partnered with the radical Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — known for its bullying and coercive attacks in order to force acceptance of the LGBTQ lifestyle in public places, including schools.“But do the views of HRC and AAP leadership align with those of AAP’s over 65,000 physician members?” Robbins asked. “We don’t know, because the pro-experimentation policies were passed without input from those members.”She explained that AAP’s positions statements are drafted by a small committee and then voted on by a board of directors consisting of about a dozen members.“The broader membership has no direct input into the statement and would generally learn of it only after it’s issued,” Robbins said. “So, the only thing the AAP policy tells us is that less than 0.05 percent of the pediatricians who are still members of AAP believe in experimenting medically on gender-confused children.”In September 2018, Dr. Susan Bradley, a child psychiatrist who founded the Toronto Gender Identity Clinic, told National Review she is “deeply concerned that AAP’s guidance has gotten so far ahead of the current knowledge base about gender dysphoric children.”Bradley stated:We know from multiple studies that around 80 percent of gender dysphoric children will desist from their cross-sex identification in childhood to identify with their natal sex. Most of these will grow up to be gay or lesbian; a substantial minority have also been diagnosed with autism. Yet the AAP guidance incorrectly dismisses these studies as flawed and outdated. There is no professional consensus on medical treatment of gender-dysphoric children and young adolescents.Similarly, Robbins noted the Endocrine Society, which approves of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for gender-confused children, admits that 68 percent of its transgender guidelines are of “very low” or “low” quality.“In fact, none are supported by high-quality evidence,” she observed. “The Society thus admits the scientific evidence for its recommendations is weak at best. Yet physicians across the country are using these guidelines to justify horrendous interventions that cannot be undone.”In November, Laidlaw told Breitbart News organizations such as the Pediatric Endocrine Society “have created an institutionalized childhood pathway towards sterility.”“Why would organizations, that are ostensibly out to help children, actually harm them in a most profound way?” he asked, and then explained that medical societies have been infiltrated by radical transgender activists with “one of the most insidious child sterilization programs ever devised”:It’s really critical to understand that our medical organizations beginning with the Endocrine Society and moving on to the Pediatric Endocrine Society and American Academy of Pediatricians, that with respect to this topic they have been taken over by the most radical elements. These radical trans activists were involved in writing the Endocrine Society guidelines in 2009 and 2017. These are low to no quality evidence guidelines, and anyone can read for themselves the poor evidence they have for these treatments for children and adolescents.Laidlaw cited a study in which the majority of children prescribed puberty blockers went on to cross- or wrong-sex hormones, and the majority of these went on to sex reassignment surgery.“All of those who started on puberty blockers and went to cross-sex hormones are infertile,” he said. “Those who had gonads removed are sterilized.”He said this path begins at the earliest phase of social transition, when the child is “affirmed” in dressing as the opposite sex and changing his or her name.“Social transition has the psychological effect of convincing the child that they are in the wrong body,” he explained. “The puberty blockers are a drug-induced model of not only blocking essential aspects of development, but also solidifying the belief that they must take wrong-sex hormones to escape from their situation.”More young adults in psychological distress who ultimately identified as transgender and then “detransitioned” are speaking out about the harms that came to them through experimentation with the trans lifestyle.Chiara Canaan, 22, a founder of the Pique Resilience Project with three other young women who experienced Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD), identified as a “trans man” when she was 16, but then “detransitioned” at 19.Writing at the Velvet Chronicle in March 2019, Canaan said she latched onto the trans community on social media in high school after ending a lesbian relationship:My immersion into this online space kicked off a period in which I very quickly developed intense social and body dysphoria. I became convinced that I was a boy trapped in the body of a girl, and that the only way forward was for me to begin a medical transition. I began to envision myself as a straight guy (rather than a gay girl), which alleviated a large amount of the discomfort I felt with my sexuality. I begged my mother to let me take testosterone and wanted to schedule “top surgery” (a double mastectomy) right away. My mother wouldn’t allow it, but she voiced support for me to be as “gender-non-conforming” as I pleased. Our relationship remained rocky until I graduated high school at seventeen and traveled to another state for a nine-month internship on a horse farm. While working there, I had limited internet access, which shifted my focus; I started paying attention to other things going on in my life. This shift, coupled with the emotional maturity I gained during that time, allowed me to return home and take a step back—to question the narratives I’d been exposed to online.Canaan wrote she would have “greatly regretted medical transition” and is now “immensely grateful my mother knew better.”Canaan has exited her trans experience with greater psychological insight because of her time away and her introspection. She also warns that detransitioners have been “silenced” by the media.“Identifying as a ‘trans man’ set me back years in accepting my own sexuality,” she explained. “In the interest of young people’s ongoing health and self-image, we need to acknowledge that there is an epidemic affecting kids at an alarming rate. Medical transition isn’t a frivolous, easily-reversed experiment; it is a significant undertaking.” | 12340aef1c147702 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/after-comeys-ouster-democrats-press-for-independent-probe-of-russias-meddling-in-election/2017/05/10/88c45624-3529-11e7-b373-418f6849a004_story.html?utm_term=.8d7d2e286e5b | Furor over Comey firing grows with news that he sought resources for Russia investigation before his dismissal | 2017-05-11 | White House, Politics | clockThis article was published more than 7 years ago The furor over President Trump’s abrupt firing of FBI Director James B. Comey grew Wednesday with the revelation that Comey had sought more resources for an investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian government shortly before he was dismissed. Republicans and Democrats alike expressed dismay Wednesday over Comey’s firing the day before, which several said will frustrate bipartisan efforts to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election and any possible ties between the Kremlin and Trump associates. Many Democrats called for a special prosecutor to take on the investigation, and a handful of Republicans said they were open to the idea. For some, the news of the request provided further evidence that Trump’s stated reason for firing Comey — that the director had botched the bureau’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server — was untrue. The likelier and more troubling reason, critics said, was to quash the Russia investigation and the threat it poses to the Trump White House. “This really smacks of impropriety,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who said he believes the president is “using Hillary and the server as an excuse to say, ‘We’re getting rid of this guy because he’s getting too close to us.’ ” Although several Democrats confirmed that Comey had informed lawmakers of the request he made last week in a meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, the Justice Department denied those reports. Where GOP senators stand on a special prosecutor Several influential Republicans, including Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.), declined to say whether they accepted the reasons given for Comey’s firing, which were laid out in a memo written by Rosenstein. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) dismissed concerns and rapped Democrats for complaining about the ouster of an FBI director they had “repeatedly and sharply criticized.” McConnell also made clear his plans for the coming days: to keep the chamber’s focus on the GOP’s policy agenda, including passage of a health-care overhaul and tax reform. Others were more pessimistic that the emergence of yet another Trump-related controversy would slow the Senate’s work. Comey’s firing is expected to consume Capitol Hill’s attention until the weekend and potentially through Tuesday, when the former FBI director has been invited to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Follow Politics The panel’s chairman, who met with Comey on Monday, said the director’s dismissal makes the committee’s work harder. President Trump fires FBI Director Comey “It creates challenges for the committee,” Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) told reporters. “An interruption in any of the access we have to the documents or the personnel would be harmful to our investigation.” The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), sent a letter Wednesday to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz asking him to look into the Comey firing. Also Wednesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena for documents related to former national security adviser Michael Flynn and his ties to Russia. In an announcement, Burr and the ranking Democratic member, Sen. Mark R. Warner (Va.), said Flynn had declined to cooperate with their first request. Burr and Warner met Monday with Comey, according to several individuals familiar with the meeting. Later, at a regular meeting of Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Warner informed them that Comey had briefed the two committee chiefs about his request for more resources, according to two officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. Adding to the drama Wednesday was Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Washington — including a closed event at the White House that U.S. news organizations were barred from witnessing even though a photographer from the state-run Russian news service Tass was permitted. Lavrov fended off questions about Russian interference in the presidential election. And during a visit with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Lavrov professed mock surprise when asked whether Comey’s firing had cast a shadow over his visit. “Was he fired?” Lavrov said, arching his eyebrows. “You’re kidding! You’re kidding!” Capitol Hill Democrats and a few Republicans, meanwhile, demanded the launch of an independent investigation into Russia’s interference in the election. To increase pressure, Senate Democrats invoked an obscure rule that prevented committee hearings from continuing past midday. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the Justice Department’s highest-ranking career civil servant, rather than Rosenstein, should appoint a special prosecutor to lead the Russia investigation. A Trump appointee who assumed office just 10 days ago, Rosenstein wrote the memo that was used to justify Comey’s firing. The document, issued Tuesday, laid out the director’s missteps in handling the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Schumer also called for both Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to brief the entire Senate on the events that led to Comey’s firing — and he urged Comey to accept the invitation to testify next week. Comey was scheduled to testify Thursday before the Intelligence Committee about national security threats to the United States. Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe is set to appear in his place, along with a slew of other security and intelligence officials. Comey’s removal sparks fears about future of Russia probe “There are so many unanswered questions that only Mr. Comey can answer. We Democrats hope and expect that he will still come before the Senate in some capacity,” Schumer said. To press for the special prosecutor, Senate Democrats may also try to slow down the process of confirming lower-level nominees. Such a move would probably hamper executive-branch agencies that now lack political leadership, including dozens already in the confirmation pipeline. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) took a step down that path Wednesday, when he said he was putting a hold on Sigal Mandelker, Trump’s nominee to a key Treasury Department post. Wyden said he would maintain the hold until the agency provides lawmakers with more documents related to Russia and its dealings with Trump and his associates. However, the procedural tactic can be easily overridden. Some Democrats said they wanted to give Republicans time to form their own response before deciding on the next steps. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) recommended that Democrats reach out to Republicans, noting that a small but powerful bloc of GOP senators has voiced concerns about the Comey firing. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) agreed: “This is 12 hours old. I think we have to give a little time for Republicans to have a conversation and perhaps rise to the occasion.” Among Senate Republicans, only McCain, a longtime Trump foil, has called for an independent investigation separate from ongoing probes by the House and Senate intelligence panels. Other members of the GOP cast doubt on the decision to fire Comey but remained circumspect about the idea of a special prosecutor. “Let us finish our work,” Burr said. “It’s moving forward. We’re finally making some significant progress. Let us issue a report.” “I do have questions about why he was dismissed at this time,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a member of the Intelligence Committee. “[But] if you were to appoint a special prosecutor today on that or any issue,” he added, “it would probably shut down our ability to do our work, because a significant amount of information would now be denied.” Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on Trump to appoint an FBI director who is “beyond reproach.” “I think the White House, after multiple conversations with many people over the last 12 to 14 hours, understand that they created a really difficult situation for themselves,” he said. “To move beyond this in a way that gives the American people faith and Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate faith in future efforts is going to be a really tough and narrow path for them to follow.” House lawmakers, away on a week-long recess, were not in Washington on Wednesday. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) shot down the idea of a special prosecutor during an evening interview with Fox News. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said. “The intelligence committees are the ones that should do this. . . . Let’s see them through. Let’s see where the facts may lead.” Ryan did not express a personal view of Comey’s firing. “He had basically lost the confidence of a lot of Republicans and a lot of Democrats,” Ryan said. “It is entirely within the president’s role and authority to relieve him and that’s what he did.” Some Republicans tried to steer the conversation away from the topic of Russia throughout the day. During a visit to Capitol Hill, Vice President Pence repeated Trump’s claim that Comey informed him several times that he was “not under investigation.” The White House has not substantiated that claim. “The simple fact is, Director Comey had lost the confidence of the American people,” Pence said, defending Trump’s decision. Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn (Tex.) dismissed the notion that Trump fired Comey to impede the FBI’s Russia probe, calling it a “phony narrative.” “If you assume that, this strikes me as a lousy way to do it,” he told reporters. “All it does is heighten the attention given to the issue.” The shocking firing of James B. Comey puts new pressure on Trump and his team While Democrats discussed strategy, Republicans were trying to move on — a sign of how unwelcome these developments are for their agenda. At a Wednesday lunch attended by Senate Republicans, Comey barely came up in the group discussion, according to attendees. “We were focused on health care and there might have been 120 seconds devoted to it,” Corker said. “No talk when I was there,” Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said. Karoun Demirjian, Kelsey Snell, Tom Hamburger, James Hohmann and Ashley Parker contributed to this report. | 91e7c11ee495682b | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
white_house | American Spectator | https://spectator.org/the-audacity-of-denial/ | The Audacity of Denial | 2016-12-28 | White House, Barack Obama, Politics | “ Victory has a thousand fathers , but defeat is an orphan , ” said John F. Kennedy . The self-serving behavior of Democratic pols since Hillary ’ s loss adds credence to that observation . Look at how they eagerly explain the defeat away as a failure peculiar to Hillary . She “ didn ’ t know why ” she was running , says Joe Biden . They console themselves with the spin that defects in Hillary ’ s personality , not in their policies , account for the loss .
Still wrapped up in his self-image of wonderfulness , Obama says that he would have won the election . Even though he had campaigned for Hillary on the pitch that she would continue his glorious policies , he refuses to see her defeat as a repudiation of his “ vision ” and remains “ confident that , if I had run again and articulated it , I think I could ’ ve mobilized a majority of the American people to rally behind it . ”
Never mind that his coattails disintegrated whenever Democrats grabbed at them . They have suffered sweeping defeats at every level of government during his presidency .
Obama was useless to Hillary in any of the states that she needed to win . If anything , Hillary ’ s defeat makes Obama ’ s victories in 2008 and 2012 look almost like flukes — a function not of the strength of his “ vision ” but of the weakness of his Republican opponents .
Hillary would have done better , if she had repudiated his presidency and promised a dramatic change . Instead , she ran on a feeble platform of continuity , which opened her up to repeated broadsides from Trump as a proxy for “ Obama ’ s third term . ”
Just as the malaise of the Carter years made Reagan ’ s campaign of nationalistic revival possible , so the failures of Obama gave potency to Trump ’ s “ Make America Great Again ” slogan . From the shambles of Obama ’ s “ fundamentally transformed ” America came all of Trump ’ s signature issues . He spent as much time on the campaign trail talking about Obama as Hillary .
The most popular chants at the Trump rallies — from “ build the wall ” to “ repeal and replace ” — derived from the failures of Obama ’ s policies . Indeed , it is hard to think of any defining issues in the campaign that didn ’ t result from Obama ’ s “ vision . ”
The racial division Obama stoked through his support for the politics of Al Sharpton made it possible for Trump to campaign on promises of restoring respect to “ law enforcement ” and restoring “ law and order. ” The insecurity Obama created through his weak response to Islamic terrorism made it possible for Trump to campaign on “ knocking the hell out of ISIS ” and “ extreme vetting ” of immigrants from radical Islamic countries . The climate-change activism of Obama made it possible for Trump to campaign on saving the jobs of coal miners and expanding the energy sector .
The spike in healthcare premiums during the waning days of the campaign , thanks to Obamacare , made it easy for Trump to rail against it . When Bill Clinton criticized Obamacare on the campaign trail , he was told to knock it off . But if Hillary had followed her husband ’ s lead rather than Obama ’ s , she might have done better . She lost not because she deviated from Obama ’ s vision but because she slavishly conformed to it .
Biden and Obama imply that Hillary lost touch with the white working class . But when did they ever have a direct line to it ? They , too , had contempt for the “ basket of deplorables. ” Recall Obama promising to bankrupt coal companies , straighten out all those people clinging bitterly to their “ God and guns , ” and his lecturing of Joe the Plumber on the virtues of redistributionism . Obama and Biden lucked out in that they ran against a weak opponent who was too politically correct to expose their elitism and condescension .
The same Joe Biden who campaigned with Sandra Fluke , who officiates at gay weddings , who said the Republicans would put blacks “ back in chains ” is suddenly an expert again on reaching out to working-class folk . They are not “ sexist ” or “ racist , ” he now says , after eight years of promoting Obama ’ s politics of division and demagoguery .
Meanwhile , Obama implies that the working class didn ’ t reject his message but its messenger . It must rankle Hillary that Obama is saying that she didn ’ t try hard enough ( “ If you think you ’ re winning , then you have a tendency , just like in sports , maybe to play it safer , ” he said ) , and she must detect in his patronizing post-mortem the same mocking notes from his primary campaign against her in 2008 ( “ You ’ re likable enough , ” he said in one debate ) .
Obama claims that he wants Democrats to do a better job of “ bleeding ” alongside of the working class and assuring them that “ we understand why they ’ re frustrated. ” But what is the ultimate source of the frustration ? It is his insulting ideology . His “ legacy was on the ballot , ” a phrase he used during the campaign and now no doubt regrets , and the people rejected it . | 6427dd868ebcf32b | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
world | BBC News | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49423968 | Denmark defiant on Greenland after Trump cancels state visit | 2019-08-21 | Denmark, Greenland, Donald Trump, World | US President Donald Trump has called the Danish leader `` nasty '' after she rebuffed his idea of buying Greenland .
He lashed out hours after Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she was `` sorry '' that Mr Trump had abruptly called off a state visit to Denmark .
She has dismissed the suggestion of such a land deal as `` absurd '' .
Queen Margrethe II invited Mr Trump to visit Denmark on 2 September , and the manner of his cancellation has stunned the Scandinavian nation .
Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn on Wednesday afternoon , Mr Trump took umbrage at Ms Frederiksen 's remarks .
`` I thought that the prime minister 's statement that it was absurd , that it was an absurd idea was nasty , '' he said .
`` I thought it was an inappropriate statement . All she had to do is say no , we would n't be interested . ''
He added : `` She 's not talking to me . She 's talking to the United States of America . You do n't talk to the United States that way , at least under me . ''
Mr Trump pointed out that US President Harry Truman once considered making an offer for Greenland , which is an autonomous Danish territory .
Earlier on Wednesday , Ms Frederiksen reiterated that Greenland could not be bought .
She told reporters the idea of selling the resource-rich Arctic island had `` clearly been rejected '' by its leader , Kim Kielsen , `` a position I share of course '' .
Ms Frederiksen also said the American president 's visit would have been an `` opportunity to celebrate Denmark 's close relationship to the US '' .
`` This does not change the character of our good relations and we will continue our dialogue on how we can deal with challenges we are facing , '' she said , adding that the invitation to Mr Trump `` remains open '' .
She has said Mr Trump 's no-show was a matter of regret because `` our preparations were well under way '' .
While praising Denmark as a `` very special country '' , Mr Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday that his planned visit would no longer go ahead because Ms Frederiksen had `` no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland '' .
Mr Trump had earlier confirmed reports that he was interested in buying Greenland . When asked on Sunday if he would consider trading a US territory for the island , he replied : `` Well , a lot of things could be done . ''
On Monday , the US president tweeted a jokey image showing a tall golden skyscraper among the homes of a small village on the island .
The cancellation was described as a `` farce '' by the leader of the populist Danish People 's Party , Kristian Thulesen Dahl .
`` What is this man thinking of though ? And with grounds that are worthy of an April Fools ' joke , '' he tweeted .
Danish Conservative MP Rasmus Jarlov accused Mr Trump of lacking respect for his country .
Former foreign minister Kristian Jensen said Mr Trump 's move had resulted in `` total chaos '' .
A spokeswoman for the leftist Red-Green Alliance , Pernille Skipper , said : `` Trump lives on another planet . ''
Pia Kjaersgaard , the populist former speaker of the Danish parliament , said it showed `` rude behaviour to the Danish people and the Queen , who invited him . ''
Mr Trump has reportedly taken an interest in Greenland , in part , because of its resources , such as coal , zinc , copper and iron ore .
But while Greenland may be rich in minerals , it relies on Denmark for two-thirds of its budget revenue . It has high rates of suicide , alcoholism and unemployment .
The US has long seen the island , which sits along a direct route from Europe to North America , as being strategically important . It established the Thule air force and radar base there at the start of the Cold War , which now covers space surveillance and forms the northernmost part of the US ballistic missile early warning system .
Meanwhile , new Arctic sea routes are opening up as climate change is blamed for the accelerating thaw of ice in the region .
China has recently been taking an interest in the area , too . | 038d25fefa6a4038 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
energy | Politico | http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/beyond-senate-defeat-ill-omens-for-keystone-113015.html?hp=r1_4 | Beyond Senate defeat, ill omens for Keystone | 2014-11-18 | energy | John Shinkle/███ ███ Pro Beyond Senate defeat , ill omens for Keystone
Never mind the cliffhanger defeat for the Keystone XL oil pipeline . Even if the Senate had passed the bill Tuesday , hints are mounting that President Barack Obama has hardened his stance against the $ 8 billion project and would veto any legislation greenlighting it , whether it comes from the current Democratic Senate or next year ’ s Republican Senate .
The past two weeks offer the strongest evidence to date that Obama may reject the Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline : He made a groundbreaking global warming deal with China — the latest sign that he is building a serious climate change legacy . He has been more dismissive than ever of GOP arguments that Keystone would be a major job creator . And he has lost much of the political urgency for considering the pipeline — the most vulnerable red-state Democrats lost on Election Day , so there ’ s less reason to cater to endangered centrists begging for a “ yes ” vote on Keystone .
Obama ’ s former aides , and others closely following the six-years-and-running Keystone drama , insist he still has plenty of wiggle room to rule either way when he finally renders a verdict , which could come in early 2015 . The administration ’ s official stance is that it ’ s still awaiting the outcome of the State Department ’ s review of the project ’ s merits .
But the latest remarks from the White House , and the president himself , have been increasingly bullish against the pipeline — and especially against attempts by Congress to force his hand . Some of his recent comments also mirror the arguments of green activists who allege that the pipeline would mainly be a boon for Canada ’ s oil export market .
“ I have to constantly push back against this idea that somehow the Keystone pipeline is either this massive jobs bill for the United States or is somehow lowering gas prices , ” Obama said during a news conference last week in Myanmar . “ Understand what the project is : It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil , send it through our land down to the Gulf , where it will be sold everywhere else . ”
Republicans made clear Tuesday that they ’ ll try again when they take over the Senate in January , with a pro-Keystone majority large enough to overcome any filibuster . They and the pipeline ’ s Democratic supporters say they ’ re increasingly confident they can force the president ’ s hand by attaching a pro-pipeline measure to must-pass legislation or , less likely , by securing the 67 Senate votes needed to override a veto .
“ There ’ s always room for a deal , ” said Sen. Joe Manchin ( D-W.Va. ) , a vocal Keystone supporter .
But giving in on the pipeline would contradict Obama ’ s message on climate change , environmental groups and the president ’ s climate allies on the Hill say , especially given his devotion to reaching an international deal in Paris at the end of 2015 . Despite the State Department ’ s repeated conclusions that the project would pose little risk of environmental damage , the pipeline has drawn greens ’ ire because of the large amounts of greenhouse gases produced by western Canada ’ s oil sands region .
“ Given all the major strides the president has taken to cut carbon pollution , we are more confident than ever that he will reject this dirty and dangerous pipeline , ” League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski said .
Approving Keystone would be “ out of step with saving the planet from devastating climate change … just as we ’ re starting to make progress , ” said Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer ( D-Calif. ) , who led the debate against the Keystone bill .
Another Senate climate hawk , Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse , was more cautious about reading too much into the Beijing deal as a crystal ball on Keystone . “ The problem with these conversations is that we often presume they are logical … when we have a big and powerful industry that ’ s trying to have its way , ” he said .
The European Union ’ s top climate change official , Connie Hedegaard , has called on Obama to reject Keystone , saying it would send a “ strong signal ” about his seriousness on global warming .
Green activists this week offered a preview of what they have in store for Obama if he approves the project and , in their view , tarnishes his environmental legacy . They staged sit-ins at the Senate offices of Democrats who supported the pipeline bill and flooded fence-straddling senators ’ offices with phone calls , even accusing one blue-state senator — Cory Booker ( D-N.J. ) — of “ throwing our families in the Heartland under the bus ” if he were to vote yes . ( Booker voted no on the bill . )
While Sen. Mary Landrieu ( D-La . ) desperately tried to whip votes for the Keystone bill , greens worked the phones to shore up opposition from liberal Senate Democrats . Top officials at the League of Conservation Voters , the Sierra Club and 350.org all waited outside the Senate chamber as Tuesday ’ s drama played out , and people from the groups were seen congratulating several senators when the bill failed .
The White House had stopped short of threatening to veto the bill , although press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday that Obama “ doesn ’ t support ” the legislation and opposes efforts to circumvent the State Department process .
Even if Congress never passes another Keystone bill , the completion of the State Department ’ s analysis would eventually bring the saga to a close . But when that happens is anybody ’ s guess .
The department halted its review last spring to await the outcome of a Nebraska Supreme Court case involving a challenge to the pipeline ’ s route inside the state . The court could rule any day now , after which it could take weeks or months for the State Department to wrap up its analysis .
The final outcome will pose political difficulties no matter how Obama rules , displeasing either his green base or pro-oil Democrats and jobs-eager labor unions . Opinion polls consistently find the project popular with large majorities of Americans . In addition , Democrats would gain some political advantage from Obama settling the issue sooner rather than later , if only to keep it from burdening a 2016 White House run by Hillary Clinton .
Obama has never said where he stands on the pipeline ’ s merits , and his words and actions have been mixed — though increasingly critical .
“ The administration is looking to keep its options open here , ” one former administration official who has been close to the issue told ███ earlier this year , following the release of the latest State Department environmental study .
Obama rejected Keystone developer TransCanada ’ s initial permit application in early 2012 , after Republicans pushed through a bill giving him just 60 days to decide . But after the company reapplied , he told the Army Corps of Engineers to speed up its review of Keystone ’ s southern half , which runs from Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast . ( That portion is now operating . ) He even went to a TransCanada pipe storage yard in Oklahoma and boasted that his administration “ has approved dozens of new oil and gas pipelines over the last three years — including one from Canada . ”
But in his second term , with climate change becoming a growing priority , his tone has turned increasingly negative .
He told Republican senators early last year that the administration is not “ ideologically averse ” to the pipeline , and that “ some of the environmental concerns have been over-exaggerated , ” Sen. John Barrasso ( R-Wyo . ) said afterward . But he has also accused Keystone supporters of overstating its job-creation potential , while telling The New York Times that Canada “ could potentially be doing more ” to counteract the greenhouse gas emissions being unleashed from its oil fields .
Obama ’ s most noteworthy public statement on the pipeline was his June 2013 declaration that “ our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution , ” but Keystone supporters and opponents differed dramatically on what they thought he meant . Greens argued that the pipeline couldn ’ t possibly clear that bar , while supporters of the project pointed to the past State Department studies as evidence that it already has .
Sen. Angus King ( I-Maine ) , who voted against the Senate bill Tuesday , said Obama needs to end the suspense .
“ Well , I do think the president ought to move ahead and make a decision , ” King said . “ The power to make that decision was entrusted to him , and I think he should exercise it . ” | p40pAnnOOHjmiMXP | 0 | Energy | -0.2 | Keystone Pipeline | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
middle_east | Fox News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/04/syria-military-strike-faces-first-test-vote/ | Syria military strike faces first test vote in Congress | 2013-09-04 | middle_east | President Obama 's call for a military strike in Syria will face its first formal test as early as Wednesday , as the Senate committee that heard impassioned testimony from Secretary of State John Kerry a day earlier takes up the resolution authorizing the use of force .
Ahead of a possible committee vote , as well as another hearing on the House side , Obama said during a visit to Sweden that he 's confident `` Congress will approve '' the strike in the end . The president said the use of chemical weapons in Syria needs `` to be answered for . ''
`` The international community 's credibility is on the line , '' he said .
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is preparing to vote soon on the draft resolution , which authorizes Obama to use military force in a `` limited and tailored manner '' against military targets in Syria and sets a deadline for any action in response to the chemical weapons attack on Aug. 21 .
The measure , which was made public Tuesday night , would set a time limit of 60 days and says the president could extend that for 30 days more unless Congress has a vote of disapproval . The document also bars American ground troops from combat operations .
The resolution was drafted by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez , D-N.J. , and Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee , the committee 's top Republican .
While the panel takes up the measure , the House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing of its own on Wednesday . The hearing could prove more rancorous than Tuesday 's , where Kerry was addressing members of the panel he used to lead as a member of the Senate .
Menendez , as well as Kerry , said Tuesday that failing to do so would embolden America 's enemies . Menendez said failing to act would send Iran and others the message that the U.S. is `` not serious '' about its own goals of stopping the proliferation of chemical weapons .
`` At the end of the day , our national security is at stake , '' Menendez said .
Kerry 's congressional testimony , along with that of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey , came as the administration earned high-level backing on Capitol Hill for its call to use military force . House Speaker John Boehner and other congressional leaders endorsed a military strike to punish the Assad regime for a the chemical weapons attack .
But despite the apparent momentum , Kerry and the rest of the panel continued to face skeptical lawmakers who worried whether a `` limited '' strike would have limited impact , and whether it could nevertheless draw the U.S. deeper into the conflict .
`` There are troubling questions that need to be answered , '' Sen. Tom Udall , D-N.M. , said .
Kerry spent much of the hearing walking back a remark that seemed to leave the door open to American ground troops going into Syria .
Kerry initially stirred confusion by saying he 'd prefer not to include a prohibition on American troops going into Syria . He said that `` in the event Syria imploded '' or there was a threat of chemical weapons falling into the wrong hands , the U.S. and its allies would want to prevent that . `` I do n't want to take off the table an option that might or might not be available to the president of the United States to secure our country , '' he said .
Kerry later clarified that there `` will not be American boots on the ground with respect to the civil war . ''
He again clarified , toward the end of the hearing , that he does n't want anyone to `` misinterpret '' his remarks , and that the resolution considered by Congress `` should not have any allowance for any troops on the ground . ''
Kerry got into a heated exchange with Sen. Rand Paul , R-Ky. , who told Kerry that he has n't talked to anybody who supports the call for military action . `` Nobody 's calling [ my office ] in favor of this war , '' he said .
`` We do n't believe we are going to war in the classic sense , '' Kerry said . `` The president is not asking you to go to war . ''
Kerry argued that inaction in this case , though , would open a `` Pandora 's box '' and leave U.S. allies questioning the worth of America 's word and U.S. enemies itching to test America 's resolve . Kerry claimed the evidence is clear the Assad regime used chemical weapons and said America can not `` be spectators to slaughter . ''
`` This is not the time for armchair isolationism , '' Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee .
Though tens of thousands have been killed in the course of the Syrian civil war , Obama administration officials and top-ranking lawmakers are arguing that it is now in the `` national security interest '' for the U.S. to get more involved , and punish the Assad regime for using chemical weapons .
Kerry said the evidence shows `` beyond a reasonable doubt '' that the Assad regime used chemical weapons . He said failing to act would increase the risk that other regimes will do the same .
`` Iran is hoping you 'll look the other way , '' he said .
Both Kerry and Hagel tried to assure lawmakers that any military strike would be `` limited '' and not involve boots on the ground .
The hearing comes after the Obama administration won support for a strike on Syria from top congressional leaders . Boehner , emerging from a White House meeting , said the chemical weapons attack last month `` has to be responded to . ''
`` The use of chemical weapons is a barbarous act . It 's pretty clear to me that the United Nations is unable to take action , NATO not likely to take action . The United States for our entire history has stood up for democracy and freedom for people around the world , '' Boehner said . `` I 'm going to support the president 's call for action . ''
Minutes later , House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters that she , too , feels Syrian President Bashar Assad has `` crossed a line . ''
House Republican Leader Eric Cantor said definitively that he plans to vote in favor of giving Obama authorization to use military force .
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid has also indicated his support .
The only hold-out appears to be Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell .
He said in a written statement that `` while we are learning more about his plans , Congress and our constituents would all benefit from knowing more about what it is he thinks needs to be done-and can be accomplished-in Syria and the region . ''
The statements backed Obama 's argument that a limited missile strike on the Assad regime would be in the U.S. national security interest , by deterring the use of chemical weapons . Obama , as the White House meeting began , said he was confident he would win congressional support .
Others , though , have cast the president 's decision to seek congressional backing as a big risk . Some have described his chances of winning approval as `` 50-50 . '' While congressional leaders and senior members of key committees are getting onboard , the president faces skepticism from both liberal Democrats and some Tea Party-aligned Republicans . Others worry the administration is not going far enough with a limited strike that the administration admits is not aimed at regime change .
Sen. John Cornyn , R-Texas , on Tuesday urged Obama to deliver a national address explaining to the American people why the U.S. should launch an attack .
`` The president needs to explain in detail what vital national interests are at stake , his plan for securing these interests and a clear definition of what success looks like in Syria , '' he said in a written statement . | ab46jFewZUYnq0fj | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
fbi | Washington Times | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/mar/14/peter-strzok-hillary-clinton-was-not-considered-ta/ | Strzok: Clinton was 'not considered a target' in email investigation | 2019-03-14 | fbi | Hillary Clinton was not a target , witness , subject or suspect during the investigation into her storage and sending of classified emails on her home server , fired FBI Agent Peter Strzok told Congress last year , according to transcripts released Thursday .
“ She was not considered a target by the Justice Department , ” Mr. Strzok told the House Judiciary Committee , saying that while investigators saw her as a “ critical player , ” she was “ not by any means the only person that we had an investigative interest in . ”
Rep. Doug Collins , Georgia Republican , inserted the transcripts into the Congressional Record during a floor speech , defying a Justice Department that he felt was moving too slowly to clear the information for public consumption .
Mr. Strzok was for a time the lead agent in an investigation into President Trump in the early stages during the 2016 campaign , and would go on to work for special counsel Robert Mueller before being ousted from that team after anti-Trump text screeds to affair partner Lisa Page were uncovered . He was later fired from the FBI itself .
In his Interview with the House Judiciary Committee last year Mr. Strzok admitted he had his affair with Ms . Page , an FBI lawyer , even though he knew , as a top counterintelligence officer it made him vulnerable to being blackmailed by America ’ s enemies — and even knew of one instance where someone was recruited through that exact means .
The Strzok transcript is the third set Mr. Collins has released , following ones from Justice Department official Bruce Ohr and Ms . Page herself .
The Strzok transcript shows some surprising disconnects between the two lovers .
In describing one text she sent to Mr. Strzok in which she told him he was fated to be investigating Mr. Trump to save the country from a “ menace , ” she told the Judiciary Committee the menace was Mr. Trump himself .
Mr. Strzok , though , says he thought the menace she referred to was Russia .
Mr. Strzok also disputed the meaning of the now-infamous text exchange where Ms . Page worried Mr. Trump would become president and he replied “ No . No he won ’ t . We ’ ll stop it . ”
In the June 27 , 2018 , closed-door appearance with the Judiciary Committee he said he didn ’ t mean that he would stop Mr. Trump .
He said he didn ’ t recall specifically writing it , but says he now thinks the “ we ” he was talking about was the country at large .
“ My answer ‘ No ’ was my personal belief that I did not think he would be , ” the fired agent said , adding later , “ My best sense looking at this text that I didn ’ t recall until I read it very recently , was that ‘ we ’ is my belief that the American people , there is no way that they ’ re going to elect him .
“ What it is not is any statement that I would ever consider , let alone take any official action , to impact the presidency of the United States , ” he said .
Mr. Strzok also defended his texts in March 2016 , before Mrs. Clinton had defeated Sen. Bernard Sanders to win the Democratic nomination and before Mr. Trump had the GOP nomination , where he said she “ should ” win the White House 100 million to zero .
The former agent said that confidence in her did not color his investigative efforts . | e5dj06TuH3VSLKNR | 2 | Hillary Clinton | -0.1 | FBI | -0.1 | Clinton Emails | 0 | Defense And Security | 0 | null | null |
middle_east | Fox News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/25/obama-adviser-susan-rice-in-afghanistan/?intcmp=latestnews | US-Afghan security pact in jeopardy as Karzai makes new demands | 2013-11-25 | middle_east | A long-term Afghanistan security pact was in jeopardy Tuesday after Afghan President Hamid Karzai made new demands , prompting the United States to threaten to withdraw all forces after 2014 .
The Afghan president signaled he was not prepared to sign the agreement during a meeting with U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice . According to the White House , he outlined `` new conditions '' for signing it , just days after a tentative deal had been reached .
The White House said Monday that Rice responded by saying this would mean the U.S. would then start planning to pull out all its forces after 2014 , adding that a signed agreement is necessary to plan for thousands of troops to stay in the country to train and mentor Afghan security forces to face the Taliban .
`` Without a prompt signature , the U.S. would have no choice but to initiate planning for a post-2014 future in which there would be no U.S. or NATO troop presence in Afghanistan , '' she told the Afghan president .
Their meeting in Kabul came the day after Karzai 's surprise decision to ignore Sunday 's recommendation by an Afghan assembly of dignitaries to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement , a refusal that cast doubt on whether American and allied troops would remain in Afghanistan to train Afghan forces after most foreign troops withdraw next year .
According to Karzai 's office , he told Rice during Monday 's meeting that he would n't back down from that decision , deferring it to whoever succeeds him as president in April elections .
Karzai announced his decision at a gathering of 2,500 tribal elders and regional leaders known as a Loya Jirga , even though the council not only overwhelmingly approved the deal after a four-day meeting but urged him to sign it by Dec. 31 .
Washington has asked him to change his mind . But the mercurial Karzai , in the meeting with Rice , says he laid out a series of new demands -- albeit ones mostly involving steps the U.S. has already said it would take .
One new demand was that the United States should address a suggestion by the Loya Jirga that all Afghan prisoners be released from Guantanamo Bay , Cuba .
According to the statement , Karzai `` said the United States of America should respond to the suggestion mentioned in the resolution of the Loya Jirga to free all the Afghan prisoners in Guantanamo . ''
There are nearly 20 Afghans currently being held at the American facility in Cuba .
Karzai 's office said that in the meeting with Rice , he also asked for further assurances from the United States that its forces will not raid Afghan homes and that America express a sincere commitment to help start stalled peace talks with the Taliban . He also reiterated his demand that the United States commit to holding free and transparent elections on April 5 .
The statement further added that Karzai asked Rice to convey his concerns about the raids and peace talks to President Barack Obama so that he can `` give assurances regarding the issues to the Afghan people . ''
Obama has already addressed the issue of raids in a letter to Karzai last week that was read to the assembly .
In it , Obama assured Karzai that under the agreement , the U.S. will continue to respect `` Afghan sovereignty . '' He also said the U.S. military will not conduct raids on homes except under `` extraordinary circumstances '' involving urgent risks to U.S. nationals .
The US has repeatedly urged Karzai to sign a deal that would allow about 8,000 American troops to stay in the country beyond a 2014 withdrawal deadline .
The two-term Afghan leader has insisted that the winner of an April 5 election to succeed him should be the one to sign the deal . More than $ 8 billion in annual funds for Afghanistan 's fledgling security forces and development assistance also are at stake .
Karzai may be concerned about his legacy , worried he might be seen as responsible for an agreement that some Afghans will likely see as selling out to foreign interests .
Karzai 's statement said that Rice told the Afghan president that the U.S. was committed to transparent elections that will be held on time and without interference as prescribed by Afghan law .
It added that Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford , the top U.S. and coalition commander , told Karzai he had ordered his troops `` to act according to the security agreement and suggestions of the consultative Loya Jirga . ''
But is also said Rice did not provide a commitment on the peace talks .
Karzai has blamed the United States for the collapse of talks that were to be held at a Taliban office in the Gulf State of Qatar .
The Taliban office , which opened in Doha last June after talks between the United States and Qatar , closed after Karzai accused the religious movement of trying to set up a government-in-exile by identifying its office as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan .
A furious Karzai told the Loya Jirga delegates on Sunday that Obama had promised him the Taliban would not open an embassy .
Rice met with Karzai at the end of a previously unannounced three-day trip to Afghanistan to visit U.S. troops and civilians for the Thanksgiving holidays , the White House said , adding that the meeting was at Karzai 's request . Her spokesman , Patrick Ventrell , said the meeting was the last stop on her trip .
Karzai , who had convened the Loya Jirga , complicated the debate by announcing on the opening day that he wanted delegates to endorse the deal but he would not sign it .
He repeated that stance Sunday laying down a series of ill-defined conditions and promising to continue negotiations with the United States . They included demands that America ensure peace in a country that has been at war for more than 12 years and guarantee transparent elections .
Karzai , who is constitutionally barred from running in the upcoming presidential vote , also accused the United States of meddling in the 2009 elections , which were marred by fraud , and said he wanted to keep that from happening again .
Even if the president changes his mind and signs the document , it still must be approved by the Afghan parliament , then finally signed into law by Karzai . | LeCcs1Wy3wNrG6ch | 2 | Afghanistan | -0.5 | Middle East | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
defense | Christian Science Monitor | http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2013/0517/Drones-are-cheaper-and-more-powerful.-In-US-that-s-a-problem-lawmakers-told | Drones are cheaper and more powerful. In US, that's a problem, lawmakers told | 2013-05-17 | defense | With much of Capitol Hill riveted by IRS audits , AP phone records , and Benghazi e-mails , top US scholars gathered to testify in a little-watched congressional hearing Friday about the growing threat the use of drones in US airspace may pose to civil liberties .
They warned that unmanned aircraft carrying cameras raise the specter of a “ significant new avenue for surveillance of American life , ” as Christopher Calabrese , legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union , characterized it for lawmakers Friday .
“ Many Americans are familiar with these aircraft – commonly called drones – because of their use overseas in places like Afghanistan and Yemen . But drones are coming to America , ” he said .
Recent legislation requires the Federal Aviation Administration to “ develop a comprehensive plan to safely accelerate the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system . ”
At the same time , the technology “ is quickly becoming cheaper and more powerful , ” which has accelerated interest in deploying drones among police departments , Mr. Calabrese pointed out in testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime , Terrorism , Homeland Security , and Investigations .
The problem , he warned , is that “ our privacy laws are not strong enough to ensure that the new technology will be used responsibly and consistently with constitutional values . ”
So as drones proliferate , so too does the “ specter of routine aerial surveillance in American life , ” he argued , “ a development that would profoundly change the character of public life in the United States . ”
Is it really that dire , though , lawmakers wondered ? After all , police departments in major metropolitan areas routinely use manned helicopters to search for criminals on the run , launch rescue operations , and fight wildfires .
What ’ s more , these manned aircraft are routinely equipped with far more powerful cameras than domestically-used drones .
“ Drones can be employed in an endless variety of civilian applications , the overwhelming majority of them beneficial , ” noted John Villasenor , a fellow in government studies at the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution , in testimony before the committee .
Plus , in a time of fiscal constraint , drones are cheaper . For instance , after trying for months to cobble together enough money to buy a $ 25 million turbine engine helicopter , the Grand Forks , N.D. , police department ultimately turned to drones as a lower-cost alternative .
But the low-cost of drones may also be part of the problem , Calabrese argued . In the past , because manned aircraft are costly to buy , operate , and maintain , “ this expense has always imposed a natural limit on the government ’ s aerial surveillance capability , ” he said .
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Now , the prospect of cheap , small drones equipped with video surveillance “ threatens to eradicate existing practical limits on aerial monitoring and allow for pervasive surveillance , police fishing expeditions , and abusive use of these tools in a way that could eventually eliminate the privacy Americans have traditionally enjoyed in their movements and activities , ” he warned .
“ Now that surveillance can be carried out by unmanned aircraft , this natural limit is eroding . ” | okfsIKTR7xBOMSI8 | 1 | Drones | 0.5 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Townhall | http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2014/12/02/rand-pauls-2016-decision-could-be-a-messy-onelegally-n1926293 | Rand Paul's 2016 Decision Could Be A Messy One...Legally | 2014-12-02 | elections | It ’ s official ; Sen. Rand Paul will run for a second term in the U.S. Senate . The Lexington-Herald Leader reported that the freshman Kentucky Senator cites “ unfinished business ” as his reason to seek a second term .
`` I think that there 's unfinished business in the sense that I ran for office because I was frustrated that the country was accumulating so much debt and that I was worried that it was not only a drag on the economy but ultimately I think a threat to the country , '' Paul said . `` I 've been here for four years in the minority party , and I think the Democrats have continued to make it worse . We still borrow a million dollars a minute . ''
So far , no Democrat has come forward to say they will challenge Paul in 2016 .
As to whether Sen. Paul will launch a 2016 bid for the White House , we will have to wait on the decision for another four to five months . Yet , you have to wonder what the game plan is on this front ; you can ’ t run for two federal offices at the same time according to Kentucky law–and Republicans failed to win a majority in the state legislature to facilitate a change in the law .
Regardless , Paul ’ s team has worked a legal framework so he could run for both offices . At the same time , they don ’ t want to drag this case into the judicial system ( via National Journal ) :
Rand Paul 's brain trust has spent months developing an exhaustive political and legal battle plan to ensure he can run for both Senate reelection and the White House in 2016—despite a Kentucky law that suggests otherwise . They have developed backup plans for their backup plans in an all-out effort to safeguard Paul 's Senate seat should he falter in the presidential sweepstakes . The contingencies range from changing Kentucky into a presidential caucus state to filing a lawsuit challenging the law , from daring Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes to keep him off the ballot to taking her out next November if she does . … They argue the Kentucky statute is unconstitutional when applied to federal races , citing the U.S. Supreme Court tossing out state-imposed federal term limits . Other national candidates , including Paul Ryan in 2012 and Joe Biden in 2008 , have successfully sought lower federal offices simultaneously . But Paul 's team wants to avoid fighting a court battle , if possible . Currently , the top option Team Rand sees is to shift Kentucky 's May 2016 presidential primary to a caucus in March , which would technically mean Paul is n't on the same ballot and thus could circumvent the restriction . The shift would have another advantage for Paul : moving up his home state in the nominating calendar . His team is eyeing March 16—the earliest date a winner-take-all caucus could be held without penalty , per Republican National Committee rules . But any change would have to be approved by the sprawling 300-member board of the Republican Party of Kentucky , filled with local party officials . No plan has been formally presented yet . … Two dates circled on the calendars of Paul 's political advisers make beating Grimes an alluring option : Jan. 4 , 2016 ( the day Grimes 's term ends ) and Jan. 26 , 2016 ( the Kentucky deadline to file for the presidential primary ) . That three-week gap means that if Grimes were to be defeated , her Republican successor would be sworn in in time to certify Paul for the presidential ballot .
While the libertarian wing of the Republican Party might be eager to see Rand Paul run in 2016 , the path looks like a tortuous one . He could run in 2016 , lose his Senate seat , and fail to clinch the Republican nomination , or he could easily coast to re-election in 2016 , stay in government to settle “ unfinished business , ” and run again sometime in the future . He ’ s only 51 , which makes him quite youthful given that Hillary , who the Democrats are eager to see run in 2016 , will be close to 70 . | u5cFyL6JuS9yfaJu | 2 | Rand Paul | 0.3 | Election2016 | 0 | US Senate | 0 | Elections | 0 | null | null |
healthcare | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/3/half-obamacare-users-wouldnt-return-exchanges-year/ | Half of Obamacare users wouldn’t return to the exchanges this year: survey | 2014-11-03 | healthcare | Disenchanted by high prices and technology woes , more than half of the households that used an Obamacare exchange last year said they would not use the portal again in the upcoming sign-up period , according to a survey released Monday .
Bankrate.com , which sponsored the survey , said 51 percent don ’ t want to use HealthCare.gov or their state-run insurance marketplaces again — a less-than-ecstatic review for the overhaul , which finds itself steeped in another high-profile legal battle less than two weeks before open enrollment starts again .
About two in five people cited “ much higher prices for health plans ” on the exchanges this year , making it the No . 1 concern along those surveyed .
About a quarter said too many people remained uninsured after the health care law went into effect , and 21 percent cited technological problems that hamstrung the federal Obamacare website and some state-run exchanges in the first go-around .
Despite that dour assessment , more than half said they personally had a positive experience during the previous enrollment , while 43 percent said they had a bad experience .
The Obama administration is hoping that the second round of enrollment from Nov. 15 to Feb. 15 will continue to chip away at the nation ’ s uninsured rate . To meet congressional scorekeepers ’ target of 13 million enrollees in 2015 , they will need roughly 7 million existing enrollees to re-up in their plans and nearly 6 million more first-time enrollees .
Americans who can afford coverage but fail to get it are subject to a tax penalty unless they qualify for an exemption . If these people avoid the exchanges , it may be because they do not qualify for income-based subsidies and will shop in the off-exchange market .
“ That ’ s a reasonable alternative because the law regulates those so-called ‘ mirror ’ policies to where there aren ’ t significant differences . But I don ’ t think there are any huge bargains there , ” Gerald Kominski , director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research , told Bankrate.com .
Eighteen states on Monday sought to protect Obamacare subsidies for those who do qualify , filing a legal brief to oppose high-profile lawsuits that claim the subsidies should only flow to states that set up their own exchanges .
“ There is no plausible reason to believe that Congress intended such a draconian result , ” they wrote in a brief to the U.S . Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia , which will hold oral arguments on the case in December .
Opponents of the Affordable Care Act say the law reserved income-based credits for customers who use an exchange “ established by the state . ”
They took that to mean the 16 exchanges set up by the states , and them alone . But the Obama administration says the law ’ s framers intended the federal government to stand in the shoes of the states that did not want to run their own insurance portals .
The full D.C . Circuit is considering the case after a three-judge panel ruled against the administration earlier this year . On the same day , the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of the administration , producing a split in the federal appeals courts .
The Supreme Court is expected to decide in the coming days whether it will take up the Fourth Circuit case or if it will wait to see if the D.C . Circuit sides with the administration , eliminating the circuit split and tempering the need for high-court review . | 3RZHwJyYxUjtqL8G | 2 | Healthcare | -0.5 | Obamacare | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
coronavirus | National Review | https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/04/coronavirus-crisis-bill-de-blasio-new-york-city-mayor/ | De Blasio the Denier | 2020-04-29 | coronavirus | New York Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks after the USNS Comfort pulled into a berth in Manhattan during the coronavirus outbreak in New York City , March 30 , 2020 . ( Carlo Allegri/Reuters )
In the middle of March , New York City mayor Bill de Blasio was among those not entirely sold on social distancing as a prophylactic measure against the coronavirus epidemic . “ If you love your neighborhood bar , go there now , ” he famously said . A few days later , he was threatening to padlock the city ’ s synagogues — permanently — if social-distancing protocols went unheeded .
We sympathize with those New Yorkers driven to drink or inspired to prayer by Mayor de Blasio ’ s incompetence , vanity , and stupidity , which have been highlighted by but are by no means limited to his response to COVID-19 . For the time being , they must suffer in their households rather than in congregation .
In all likelihood , the coronavirus has been spreading in New York since February . The city ’ s jam-packed subway system , carrying five million riders a day , should have counseled particular vigilance . But even with the examples of California ’ s and Washington ’ s cities before him , the mayor was slow to move . He dragged his staff along to a crowded YMCA for a workout even as he was ordering gyms closed around the city . The city schools remained open until March 15 , and it was left to New York governor Andrew Cuomo to negotiate their closure while teachers were threatening a wildcat strike . De Blasio delayed against the advice of his own aides and health experts . A 36-year-old principal subsequently died of COVID-19 . The city ’ s refusal to disclose infections in the schools “ kept families in the dark and left more lives at risk , ” as one city councilman put it .
De Blasio was warned in early March that the city needed to take more aggressive action against the epidemic , but he wrote off advice from health commissioner Oxiris Barbot and others , worried that a lockdown would hurt the city ’ s economy . Extended deliberations controlled by political concerns rather than medical ones wasted precious time . “ He has long distrusted the top brass of the health department , ” Politico reports , “ feeling they do not understand politics and public relations. ” That may be the case , but their job is not public relations — it is public health .
Ignoring the advice and recommendations of the relevant experts in order to tend to his political concerns , Mayor de Blasio effectively became a member of that class of villain most hated by his progressive allies : a denier . His refusal to concede the facts and his desire to subordinate good policy to political expediency were compounded by his general executive incompetence , for instance in leaving city agencies without necessary guidance for implementing work-from-home policies . He insisted that the city ’ s hospitals were well prepared for the crisis ; the actual situation in the city ’ s public hospitals was shortly thereafter described as “ apocalyptic ” by one physician .
De Blasio did manage to name his wife as head of a coronavirus-recovery panel . He always has time for that sort of thing . Mrs. de Blasio is fresh off of watching $ 1 billion walk out the door while overseeing a fruitless mental-health initiative . She has time on her hands and is rumored to be considering a run for elected office herself .
De Blasio moved with much less dispatch than did colleagues in California and Ohio , among other places . And then , after dawdling for so long , de Blasio flipped . We always are happy to see a politician amend his views to accommodate new facts , but Slowpoke de Blasio ’ s subsequent overcompensation , and the sanctimony and viciousness he brings to the effort , is something else .
De Blasio launched a broadside against “ the Jewish community ” after a large crowd turned out for a rabbi ’ s funeral in Williamsburg as though the event corporately implicated the more than 1 million Jews living in New York City , drawing criticism from the city ’ s ADL and other local Jewish leaders .
De Blasio has instructed police to follow a “ zero tolerance ” rule on gatherings and has threatened to enforce his policy with arrests . Perhaps he has not entirely thought through the social-distancing implications of mass arrests .
The coronavirus epidemic was a test for Mayor de Blasio , and he has been found wanting — which should be no surprise to anybody who has witnessed the dramatic decline in the quality of city life under his watch . The tricky question of balancing the consequences of an enforced economic stoppage against the risks of an unknown and poorly understood viral epidemic in a free society with democratic norms has gotten the better of better men and better mayors than Bill de Blasio .
His incompetence has endangered the lives of his constituents and made the coronavirus situation worse than it had to be . But it is his tinpot-tyrant posturing and his ridiculous preening that really set him apart from your run-of-the-mill municipal bungler .
Unhappily , there is no treatment for what ails Bill de Blasio , and no cure in sight for New York . | Jk7VoLxnieTahuDP | 2 | Coronavirus | -0.6 | Bill De Blasio | 0.4 | New York City | -0.2 | null | null | null | null |
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