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free_speech | Guest Writer - Right | https://townhall.com/columnists/johnandandyschlafly/2019/01/30/liberals-censor-free-speech-about-diversity-n2540484 | OPINION: Liberals Censor Free Speech About Diversity | 2019-01-30 | free_speech | The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com .
Another day , another innocent person is destroyed by the social media mob for an innocuous expression of free speech . The apostles of diversity police our speech and aggressively enforce a speech code according to β politically correct β liberal dogmas .
First it was Congressman Steve King ( R-IA ) , who was wrongly ostracized by his colleagues for wondering when the term Western Civilization became offensive . A week later it was 15-year-old Nick Sandmann , a junior at Covington Catholic High School , who was confronted at the March for Life by a β tribal elder β banging a drum .
Next in the hot seat was the president of the University of Notre Dame , Father John I. Jenkins . He kowtowed to the Native American Student Association by agreeing to cover up 12 large murals that depict Christopher Columbus β s arrival in the New World .
The latest victim of self-appointed guardians of diversity was the 78-year-old liberal journalist Tom Brokaw , the longtime NBC anchor . Brokaw , an icon of television news , is also known for chronicling the β greatest generation β of Americans who won World War II and came home to build the greatest country in the world .
In a rare appearance Sunday on Meet the Press , Brokaw commented that β Hispanics should work harder at assimilation . They ought not to be just codified in their communities , but make sure that all their kids are learning to speak English . β
The response to Brokaw β s good advice was fast and furious , to borrow a phrase from the Mexican gun-running operation approved by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder . That improper operation , which was politically motivated to justify gun control , instead resulted in the 2010 murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry .
Aura Bogado , who is described as an investigative immigration reporter at Reveal , said Brokaw was β arguing classic white supremacist talking points in a deeply racist rant on national television. β Julio Ricardo Varela , the founder of LatinoRebels.com , said β It really was a punch in the gut to a lot of people . β
β It was not only factually incorrect , it was also xenophobia in action , β Varela added in his criticism of Brokaw . Liberal commentator Maria Cardona called Brokaw β a little out of touch . β
Cardona also insisted , unpersuasively , that β Latinos absolutely assimilate. β If that were really true , Latinos would be speaking English , but many of them aren β t .
Brokaw β s fellow commentator on Meet the Press , PBS NewsHour β s Yamiche Alcindor , said : β We need to adjust what we think of as America . The idea that Americans can only speak English , as if Spanish and other languages wasn β t always part of America , is in some ways troubling . β
People who can not speak , understand , read and write English will never be able to advance socially , economically or politically in our country . It β s not true that β Spanish and other languages β were β always part of America , β given that none of the Founding Fathers spoke or wrote in Spanish .
Within a few hours the liberal Brokaw went on an apology tour on Twitter , tweeting that he is β truly sorry β for his remarks , which he said were β offensive to many. β β I never intended to disparage any segment of our rich , diverse society which defines who we are , β Brokaw continued .
Brokaw even apologized to fellow panelist Yamiche Alcindor , saying she β s a β wonderful colleague and an important voice , β despite the fact that Alcindor β s views were directly contradictory to Brokaw β s . Like many Hispanic activists and lobbyists , Alcindor rejected the whole idea of assimilation .
On Fox News , Geraldo Rivera took a different tack , claiming that Hispanics are actually β assimilating at a rate that β s faster than any other ethnic group in our history. β But the official numbers from the Census Bureau show otherwise .
The American Community Survey enables the Census Bureau to track the number of households who self-report that they speak a language other than English at home . The fraction of U.S. households answering yes to that question has risen steadily over the last three decades , reaching 22 percent in 2017 ( the last year numbers are available ) , which is double the 11 percent in 1980 .
Most of the non-English speaking households are concentrated in a few areas close to our southern border , plus a few of our largest northern cities . In 39 U.S. counties , a majority of residents report that they speak a language other than English at home .
Many of those who speak another language at home claim they also speak English well or very well , but further studies have shown that is not the case . Nearly half were found to speak English at a level below basic , also known as functional illiteracy .
Spanish is presumed to be the common language south of the border , but among the people who arrived most recently , many did not speak or understand Spanish . They spoke only indigenous languages such as Q β eqchi β , which meant that U.S. officials were required to find translators to provide medical care .
John and Andy Schlafly are sons of Phyllis Schlafly ( 1924-2016 ) and lead the continuing Phyllis Schlafly Eagles organizations with writing and policy work . | zMBmRz8C0KNBXmrC | 2 | Diversity | -0.6 | Liberals | -0.4 | Free Speech | 0 | null | null | null | null |
bridging_divides | Mitch McConnell | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/28/bringing-american-politics-back-from-the-brink/ | OPINION: Bringing American politics back from the brink | 10/28/18 | bridging_divides | My Democratic colleagues have grown desperate . In the two years their party has sat on the sidelines , our nation has thrived under Republican leadership . That must be why , month after month , on issue after issue , Democrats and their far-left allies have tried to replace inconvenient facts with pure partisan scare tactics .
The latest installment landed earlier this week . The Senate β s Democratic Leader , Chuck Schumer , published an op-ed that twisted some uncontroversial comments I made about our nation β s long-term need for bipartisan spending reform . Sen. Schumer laid out quite the fiery indictment β of comments I never made and views I don β t hold .
The Washington Post β s fact-checker saw right through this Democratic distortion . When another member of Leader Schumer β s conference recently tried a similar line of attack , The Post promptly awarded it β four Pinocchios. β They researched Democrats β claim that Republicans are gunning to unilaterally snatch away decades-old programs like Social Security and Medicare and called it what it is β β a whopper. β And they noted what I β ve consistently said for months on this subject : β McConnell says there needs to be a bipartisan solution . β
In a normal year , such a dishonest line of attack might rank among the more embarrassing episodes . Unfortunately , in 2018 , it is simply par for the course . The pattern has proven consistent . When facts fail the far left , they ratchet up the fear instead .
Exhibit A was the recent Supreme Court showdown . Democrats were intent on sabotaging Justice Kavanaugh β s confirmation for partisan reasons , but they lacked any factual basis for doing so . We all know what came next : A shameful spectacle of character assassination , fueled by uncorroborated allegations and outlandish smears .
Fortunately , senators saw through to the facts . But the far left was just getting started . Drawing on explicit encouragement from leading Democrats , angry protesters tried to make elected officials personally afraid . Over the past days and weeks , United States Senators and their families have been subjected to death threats , driven from restaurants , harassed at their homes , followed through airports , and chased through the halls of the Senate . Screaming activists have stormed up the steps of both the Capitol and the Supreme Court .
Or think back to last December , when β the resistance β demanded that Democrats try to sink the historic tax cuts and tax reform that Republicans were delivering to American families . Out came the scare tactics , right on cue . House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi proclaimed that our bill would bring about β Armageddon β and laughably declared it β the worst bill in the history of the United States Congress . β
Here in the real world , the facts are quite different . Republican tax reform and regulatory reform have helped grow our nation β s incredible economic momentum , to the great benefit of American workers , small business owners , and middle-class families .
Consumer confidence stands at an 18-year high . We β ve clocked the fastest year-on-year wage growth since 2009 and the lowest unemployment rate since 1969 . Our nation currently boasts more than seven million open jobs β more than the entire population of the state of Massachusetts . For the first time in our nation β s history , there is more than one job opening for every American who β s looking for work .
These are the facts . While my Democratic colleagues have urged on angry mobs , this unified Republican government has been helping to deliver one victory after another for American workers and families .
We β ve taken major bites out of Obamacare and Dodd-Frank , providing relief for families and small businesses . We have passed landmark legislation to confront the opioid epidemic head-on and rebuild American infrastructure . And we have ended the Obama-era atrophy of our national defense and made the kind of investment in our all-volunteer armed forces that our servicemembers deserve .
The contrast could not be clearer . Democrats are grasping for unhinged attacks . Republicans are continuing to take care of the people β s business , checking off one accomplishment after another .
Let β s debate the American people β s business β and the accomplishments of this Congress β with the honesty , civility , and seriousness that they deserve . Let β s put facts ahead of fear . | oVoJ7bQenXqeEfyR | 2 | Mitch McConnell | 0 | Political Polarization | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
race_and_racism | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/07/politics/obama-race-legacy/index.html | Obama's candid reflections on race | 2016-12-07 | race_and_racism | ( CNN ) President Barack Obama 's election in 2008 broke a racial barrier that set soaring expectations for an era of improved race relations .
Now , as he departs office , those hopes have largely evaporated . Tensions between African-American communities and police departments have deteriorated following a slate of high-profile shootings of unarmed black men . The man who will replace Obama in January was a leading peddler of the racially-tinged `` birther '' myth . A majority of Americans now say relations between blacks and whites have worsened since Obama took office .
Obama has said he never believed his election could completely erase centuries of racial conflict in America . But the decline in racial ties is nonetheless an ironic legacy for the first African-American president , one Fareed Zakaria explores in the CNN Special Report `` The Legacy of Barack Obama '' airing Wednesday at 9 p.m . ET .
In interviews , Obama and those who worked closely with him identify a strain of racial bias that hardened against the President , even as his election crumbled a historic racial wall .
`` I think there 's a reason why attitudes about my presidency among whites in Northern states are very different from whites in Southern states , '' Obama told Zakaria . `` Are there folks whose primary concern about me has been that I seem foreign , the other ? Are those who champion the 'birther ' movement feeding off of bias ? Absolutely . ''
Obama said he did n't view racism as a major component of mainstream Republican opposition to his policies . Instead , he said it exists on the political fringe . Those who have worked for him , however , do identify race as a factor in consistent Republican efforts to stymie Obama 's agenda in Washington .
JUST WATCHED Years of President Obama defending Obamacare Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Years of President Obama defending Obamacare 02:00
`` It 's indisputable that there was a ferocity to the opposition and a lack of respect to him that was a function of race , '' said David Axelrod , Obama 's former senior adviser and now a CNN senior political commentator .
He recalled a moment when a powerful Republican said to him , `` you know , we do n't really think you should be here , but the American people thought otherwise so we 're going to have to work with you . ''
Republicans fiercely reject the charge that race played a role in their opposition to Obama 's agenda , insisting their differences are ideological . But a racial undercurrent has charged anti-Obama sentiments , even in debates over policy , from the beginning of his first term .
In a confluence of events , the first racial controversy of his presidency -- a dust-up involving the arrest of a black Harvard professor on his own porch -- coincided with the angry backlash to Obama 's proposed reforms to health care , a debate that took on racist undertones during public protests .
The episode involving Henry Louis Gates in Cambridge , Massachusetts , came in July 2009 , seven months into Obama 's presidency . After Gates was arrested by a white police officer who accused him of disorderly conduct , Obama alleged during a press conference the police acted `` stupidly '' -- an assessment that drew anger from the right .
Glenn Beck , the conservative commentator , accused Obama of hating white people , and called the President a racist . A GOP congressman introduced a resolution calling on Obama to apologize .
The President did emerge two days later to concede he `` could have calibrated those words differently . '' He invited Gates and the police officer for beers on the White House South Lawn to smooth things over .
Police Sergeant James Crowley , second right , of Cambridge , Massachusetts , speaks with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. , second left , alongside Obama and Biden as they share beers on the South Lawn of the White House in July 2009 .
But the incident instilled in Obama a cautionary approach toward race in the ensuing years of his presidency -- disheartening some of his supporters .
`` Black moral witness falls silent because if the President ca n't talk about this without being sent to the woodshed , to be on an equal basis with some random cop , it 's over , '' said Van Jones , who worked in the Obama White House during the Gates incident and is now a CNN political commentator .
Obama largely avoided discussing race for the next three years . But the topic was unavoidable in 2012 when the killing of unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin spurred new discord between police departments and African-American communities .
JUST WATCHED Obama : Trayvon Martin could have been me Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Obama : Trayvon Martin could have been me 03:29
Obama emerged to say if he had a son , `` he would look like Trayvon , '' a deeply personal sentiment that thrust him into the center of a fresh debate over race in America .
The ensuing years only saw the tensions deepen as repeated violent incidents drew scrutiny across the country . In places like Ferguson , Missouri , and Baltimore , protests erupted over the police treatment of black men .
Some wanted Obama to say more in support of the emerging Black Lives Matter movement . Others accused him of siding with protesters at the expense of law enforcement . It was a balancing act that became a near-constant presence during his second term in office .
An inflection point came in June 2015 , when Obama traveled to Charleston , South Carolina , to mourn the nine victims gunned down during Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church . The crime was explicitly racist in nature -- the shooter declared he was there to `` kill black people '' -- and the President 's eulogy evolved into a meditation on race at a moment of national introspection .
JUST WATCHED Obama sings 'Amazing Grace ' during eulogy for pastor Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Obama sings 'Amazing Grace ' during eulogy for pastor 01:44
Obama 's speech moved beyond just grief for the victims -- the President stepped directly into a national conversation about race in which he plays a central role . He declared the Confederate flag a symbol of racial oppression , and praised the renewed urgency in removing it from the South Carolina State Capitol .
At the end of his remarks , the President paused in the silent arena hall before singing the opening strains of `` Amazing Grace . '' It was a moment that resonated deeply as the country came to terms with a shocking crime .
It was also a continuation of Obama 's long public reckoning with race in America , which began well before he entered office . He detailed his upbringing in his first book , `` Dreams from my Father , '' writing about searching for an identity as the son of a black Kenyan father and a white American mother , raised in Hawaii and Indonesia .
Those identity questions have followed him to the White House , where his status as the first American-American president has brought with it oversized expectations for his ability to cure the nation 's racial divides .
`` He never ran to be the first black president . He ran to be the president of the United States and he happens to be black , '' said Axelrod . `` He needed to become a force for healing , and finding the right way to do that was something that he wrestled with . ''
That explanation has n't always sat well with some prominent black leaders , who say Obama should have spoken more forcefully about the plight of black Americans .
Obama responded by delving into law enforcement practices , creating commissions and issuing recommendations to police departments for how to treat suspects and handle volatile situations . He took steps to reverse the high rates of incarceration among African-American men , including granting clemency to hundreds of people convicted of non-violent drug crimes . And he instituted the My Brother 's Keeper mentorship program for young black men , a mission he says he 'll continue when he leaves office .
But those efforts have n't improved Americans ' view of race relations in the final days of Obama 's presidency . A CNN/ORC survey in October showed 54 % of Americans believe relations between blacks and whites have gotten worse since Obama became president . Fifty-seven percent of whites , and 40 % of blacks , held that view .
JUST WATCHED 11 years of President Obama discussing race Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH 11 years of President Obama discussing race 03:10
Trump 's election is n't likely to improve matters . A Pew Research Center survey taken after November 's election found nearly half of US voters believe race relations will worsen under Trump . Only 25 % said they would improve .
That 's hardly surprising given the racially charged presidential election that Trump won . His opponents accused him of stoking racist fears during his `` birther '' phase , which he falsely claimed had originated with Hillary Clinton .
Speaking in July -- as the campaign was entering a bitter stretch that included accusations of racist language -- Obama described his own views of his racial legacy .
`` More than anything , what I hope is that my voice has tried to get all of us as Americans to understand the difficult legacy of race ; to encourage people to listen to each other , '' he said during a news conference in Poland .
`` The legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and discrimination did n't suddenly vanish with the passage of the Civil Rights Act or the Voting Rights Act , or the election of Barack Obama , '' he said . `` Things have gotten better -- substantially better -- but we 've still got a lot more work to do . ''
`` If my voice has been true and positive , then my hope would be that it may not fix everything right away , '' he continued . `` That 's OK. We plant seeds , and somebody else maybe sits under the shade of the tree that we planted . And I 'd like to think that , as best as I could , I have been true in speaking about these issues . ''
CORRECTION : This story has been updated to accurately reflect the year in which Trayvon Martin was killed . | IBSeuSyBl5fVmxSC | 0 | Race And Racism | -0.8 | Barack Obama | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Fox News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/15/obama-team-vows-president-will-have-aggressive-debate-puts-bain-on-table/ | Obama team vows president will have aggressive debate, puts Bain on the table | 2012-10-15 | elections | The Obama campaign made clear this weekend that President Obama will be more aggressive in his second debate with Mitt Romney , hinting that he will go after the Republican presidential nominee at several angles -- from women β s issues to Romney β s tax plan and his tenure at Bain Capital .
β I think he 's going to be aggressive in making the case for his view of where we should go as a country , β senior Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod said on β βββ Sunday . β
Axelrod argued that Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan failed during a Sept. 30 appearance on Fox , then during his debate last week to detail how Romney would pay for his $ 5 trillion tax plan .
β So , we 're going to give Gov . Romney another chance on Tuesday to try and square this impossible circle , β Axelrod said .
He also said Obama plans to be more aggressive and is making β adjustments β before the debate , then seemed to refer to Romney 's investment capital career before entering politics .
`` He is a great salesman , β Axelrod said . β That is what he did as a professional , he is very good at it . β
Romney campaign adviser Ed Gillespie said Romney will handle the expected attack by doing what he did in the first debate β
`` He 's going to talk about his agenda , β Gillespie said on Fox . β He 's going to talk about his policies . β¦ Whatever political tactic the president settles on as being in his best interest for the debate , he ca n't change his record and ca n't change his policies . β
Republican Sen . Rob Portman , who has played Obama during Romney β s debate rehearsals , said Sunday he also expects the president to β come out swinging . β
The Ohio senator told ABC β s β This Week β such a tactic will be consistent with what the Obama campaign has been doing the entire election cycle , running a β highly negative β ad campaign .
β They 've spent hundreds of millions of dollars around the country , including a lot in Ohio , mischaracterizing Gov . Romney 's positions and misrepresenting him , β he said . β And I think you 'll see that again at the debate on Tuesday night . β
The debate will be held at Hofstra University , in Long Island , N.Y .
The president has acknowledged giving a lackluster performance during the first debate , Oct. 3 , in Denver , and appears eager to even the score and erase the bounce in polls Romney got after his well-received effort .
The final debate is Oct. 22 in Florida , just two weeks before Election Day in a tight race that likely will be decided by who wins in several battleground states including Ohio , Nevada , Florida and Virginia .
Campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki this weekend appeared even more clear about where Obama would attack .
`` Gov . Romney has been making pitches all of his life and he knows how to say what people want to hear whether that was during his time at Bain or during the dozens of town halls he did during the primary , '' she said Saturday .
Psaki argued Ryan left Romney vulnerable on the issue of women β s health care by failing to explain the tax cut , which she said has left female voters β worried about their ability to make choices about their own health care . β
On Sunday , Psaki pointed out women 's health care issues were left out of the first debate , which again appeared to suggest Obama would raise the topic this time .
`` The American people should expect to see a much more energized President Obama making a passionate case for why he is a better choice for the middle class , '' she told βββ . `` He will continue to hold Mitt Romney 's feet to the fire on the facts about his policies , whether that is his $ 5 trillion tax cut plan that will leave the burden on the middle class , his plans to voucherize Medicare or his belief that women should not be able to make choices about their own health care . ''
Obama critics have said that Biden 's aggressive performance against Ryan is exactly what the campaign needed .
However , top Democrats say the Obama campaign realizes that in Tuesday 's debate , which will feature actual voters in a town hall format , the president has to be careful not to mimic Biden too closely or he risks coming across as too negative .
Obama has been hunkering down for three full days of debate prep at a resort in Williamsburg , Va. Romney practiced for several hours Saturday in Ohio with Portman before making two campaign stops then returning to Massachusetts for more practice .
It 's no accident that Obama chose this battleground of Virginia for debate preparations again . In the run-up to the first debate , Obama did his prep sessions in Nevada , which enabled him to visit a campaign office there to thank his volunteers and fire up his base at a large rally in Las Vegas .
This time he spent his time holed up at the popular Kingsmill Resort along the James River , which aides say he values for its ability to provide some quiet time . His prep sessions took place in the main building of the resort , while the president is staying in a house on the campus .
The sessions consisted of a combination of studying up on what Romney and Ryan have said in the debates so far and on the campaign trail , in addition to actual practice .
Despite the weak performance in Denver , campaign officials have suggested there has been no major shakeup to the sessions .
Sen. John Kerry , D-Mass. , once again playing Romney in the mock sessions , though there has been at least one minor change .
Ben Rhodes , a national security aide at the White House , has been added to these sessions because the second debate will feature both foreign and domestic policy . | 1nSlB7BaJqVyJuLg | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
science | CBS News | http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mountains-on-pluto-chasms-on-charon-thrill-scientists/ | Mountains on Pluto, chasms on Charon thrill scientists | science | Post-flyby images from NASA 's New Horizons probe show Pluto is a surprisingly active world in the deep freeze of the outer solar system , with jagged 11,000-foot-high mountains of frozen water dusted with a veneer of nitrogen , methane and carbon monoxide ice amid smooth plains and jumbled terrain that defies easy explanation , scientists reported Wednesday .
A distinct paucity of impact craters implies processes at work now or in the geologically recent past that have resurfaced large areas of Pluto , smoothing out the pockmarks so familiar on other small bodies . What powers that resurfacing is not yet known , but scientists are hopeful New Horizons eventually will provide the answer .
And what of Pluto 's large , Texas-size moon Charon ? A higher-resolution close-up photo unveiled Wednesday shows huge cliffs and troughs stretching hundreds of miles , deep chasms in the frozen crust and intriguing hints of structure in the moon 's dark polar cap . Like on Pluto , craters are relatively few and far between .
A closeup view of Pluto 's surface , showing 11,000-foot-high mountains of water ice , smooth plains and jumbled terrain that defies easy explanation . Scientists say the terrain shows Pluto has been geologically active in the recent past . NASA
NASA also showed the first photo of one of Pluto 's four smaller satellites , Hydra , a pixelated image with a brightness corresponding to the presence of more water ice covering an irregular banana-shaped body .
New Horizons carried out its historic flyby Tuesday in radio silence , aiming its instruments at Pluto , Charon and the dwarf planet 's other four satellites and storing the data on board until there was time to turn back toward Earth to transmit high-priority first-look data .
Alan Stern , the $ 720 million mission 's principal investigator , said he was thrilled with the initial results .
`` I had a pretty good day yesterday , how about you ? '' he joked before a cheering crowd of supporters on hand for the first post-flyby news conference . `` We have big news , '' he continued . `` From the first resolved image of Hydra , Pluto 's outermost moon , to the discovery that Charon has been active . And there are mountains in the Kuiper Belt . ''
A wide-angle shot of Pluto , released before New Horizons ' flyby , shows the location of a post flyby closeup that reveals mountains , plains and other unusual terrains that indicated a recently active geology . NASA
He was referring to the vast realm beyond Neptune where countless small bodies and larger worlds orbit , remnants of the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago . Pluto , famously demoted from planethood shortly after New Horizons was launched in 2006 , is the most famous member of the Kuiper Belt and the first such body to be visited by a spacecraft .
Charon is half the size of Pluto and the two make up what scientists call a binary planet . The two orbit a common center of mass well above Pluto 's surface , circling each other in gravitational lockstep every 6.4 days .
Charon 's first closeup from New Horizons revealed a baffling landscape with a surprising lack of impact craters .
`` Originally , I thought Charon might be an ancient terrain covered in craters , '' said Cathy Olkin , New Horizons deputy project scientist . `` And so , Charon just blew our socks off when we had the new image today . We 've just been thrilled . All morning , the team has just been abuzz , 'look at this , look at that , oh my God that 's amazing ! ' ''
The dark reddish polar region , seen in earlier photographs taken farther out , shows more detail in the closeup view , with distinct regions that feature different shades . Olkin said the science team had nicknamed the area Mordor , the realm of the evil sorcerer Sauron in the `` Lord of the Rings '' trilogy .
Olkin pointed out a series of troughs and cliffs extending about 600 miles across the moon 's surface and a huge chasm that cuts deep into the crust .
`` That canyon is really quite deep , it 's about four to six miles deep , '' Olkin said . `` I find that fascinating . It 's a small world , with deep canyons , troughs , cliffs , dark regions that are still slightly mysterious to us . There 's another canyon ... and that one is about three miles deep . There is so much interesting science in this one image alone ! ''
Pluto 's large moon Charon features deep chasms plunging up to six miles into the crust , along with cliffs and troughs stretching hundreds of miles and a dark polar region that may be dusted by material lost from Pluto 's atmosphere . NASA
But the star of the show was the first close-up look at Pluto 's surprisingly tortured surface , the first frame of what eventually will be a mosaic covering most of the dwarf-planet 's day side . The area is near the bottom of a heart-shape region seen in earlier photographs .
`` The most stunning thing about this image , the most striking geologically , is we have not yet found a single impact crater in this image , '' said co-investigator John Spencer . `` This means this is a very young surface , because Pluto has been bombarded by other objects in the Kuiper Belt and craters happen .
`` So , just eyeballing it , we think it has to be probably less than a hundred million years old , which is a small fraction of the four-and-a-half-billion year age of the solar system . It might be active right now . With no craters , you just ca n't put a lower limit on how active it might be . ''
Towering mountains can be seen , along with smooth plain-like areas and jumbled terrain Spencer could not immediately explain .
He described the mountains as `` quite spectacular , these are up to 11,000 feet high , there may be higher ones elsewhere . ''
`` Now we know the surface of Pluto is covered in a lot of nitrogen ice , methane ice , carbon monoxide ice , '' he said . `` You ca n't make mountains out of that stuff . It 's just too soft , it does n't have the strength to make mountains . So we are seeing here the bedrock , or the bed-ice , of Pluto . ''
With a surface temperature of nearly 400 degrees below zero Fahrenheit , `` water ice is strong enough ... to hold up big mountains , and that 's what we think we are seeing here , '' Spencer said . `` So the nitrogen and the methane are just a coating on top of this icy bedrock and we 're seeing that here . ''
Pluto is the first ice dwarf ever studied that does not orbit a gas giant like Jupiter , Saturn , Uranus or Neptune . Bodies orbiting the gas giants experience gravity-driven tidal stresses , generating internal heat that can , in turn , drive geological activity .
Case in point : Neptune 's moon Triton , believed to be a captured Kuiper Belt body , which feartures geyser-like plumes spotted by NASA 's Voyager 2 probe during a 1989 flyby .
Charon is not nearly massive enough to generate tidal heating .
`` That ca n't happen at Pluto , there 's no giant body that can be deforming Pluto on an ongoing , regular basis to heat the interior , '' Spencer said . `` So this is telling us you do not need tidal heating to power ongoing recent geological activity on icy worlds . That 's a really important discovery that we made just this morning . ''
Said Stern : `` We 've settled the fact that these very small planets can be very active after a long time , and I think it 's going to send a lot of geophysicists back to the drawing board to try to understand how exactly you do that . ''
He said cryo-volcanism or geysers like those seen on Triton may be pulling volatiles like nitrogen , methane and carbon monoxide up from below the surface . While no signs of any such activity has been spotted in the quick-look data , `` this is very strong evidence that 'll send us looking ... for evidence of exactly these phenomenon . ''
In the meantime , the science team has its hands full trying to understand what 's going on in the initial photos of Pluto 's surface .
`` There 's been erosion , there 's been mountain building , there 's been whatever produces lumpy terrain with grooves on it , '' Spencer marveled . `` And it 's baffling . It 's baffling in a very interesting and wonderful way . '' | ZDTsx3MXJasq9fAY | 0 | Science | 2.6 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | |
coronavirus | Washington Times | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/31/lindsey-graham-calls-china-shut-down-absolutely-di/ | Lindsey Graham calls on China to shut down 'absolutely disgusting' wet markets | 2020-03-31 | coronavirus | Sen. Lindsey Graham , South Carolina Republican , on Tuesday called for China to shutter its β gross β wet markets , threatening to leverage U.S. trade unless the communist government moves to prevent the spread of deadly viruses originating in such venues .
β What can China do to help the world ? Shut those markets down , β Mr. Graham said on β Fox & Friends . β
Mr. Graham said he planned to write letters to the World Health Organization and the Chinese ambassador demanding action after the [ U.K. ] Daily Mail reported Saturday that the markets were β still selling bats and slaughtering rabbits on blood-soaked floors as Beijing celebrates its β victory β over coronavirus . β
β I β m going to write a letter to the World Health Organization and to the Chinese ambassador asking them to close the Chinese wet markets , β Mr. Graham . β These are open-air markets where they sell monkey , they sell bat . We think this whole thing started from the transmission from a bat to a human . β
Mr. Graham referred to the novel coronavirus , which is believed to have originated at a wildlife market in Wuhan , China .
Wuhan β s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market located near the Wuhan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , β the national center for China β s bat-virus research , β as reported Monday by Bill Gertz of the βββ .
Exclusive : China β s government found 2,000 new animal viruses including deadly bat viruses and studied them at unsecured lab 3 miles from Wuhan wild animal market . Did the deadly coronavirus escape from the lab ? https : //t.co/p63notWIox β Bill Gertz ( @ BillGertz ) March 30 , 2020
On-scene British reporters say Chinese markets again selling bats , likely source of deadly pandemic @ washtimes https : //t.co/YVYZbFioCY β Jessica Chasmar ( @ JessicaChasmar ) March 30 , 2020
β I don β t think this came from a Chinese military lab , but these wet markets are gross , they β re just absolutely disgusting , selling exotic animals that transmit viruses from animals to human beings , β Mr. Graham said . β Those things need to shut down . β
β I β m going to write a letter to the Chinese ambassador saying if you don β t shut those wet markets down , our trading relationship is going to change , β said Mr. Graham , who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee .
He said that previous viruses have also originated in China through the wet markets , β where you intermingle all kinds of exotic animals β it β s just really a gross display of how you prepare food . β
China closed the Wuhan market in January and banned the buying , selling and transportation of wild animals last month in response to COVID-19 , which has so far sickened more than 800,000 people and resulted in 39,000 deaths worldwide . | me4Sakg0GR55uleQ | 2 | China | -1.3 | US Senate | 0.3 | Coronavirus | 0.1 | Lindsey Graham | 0 | null | null |
middle_east | Newsmax (News) | http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/John-Kerry-Syrian-refugees/2015/09/20/id/692440/ | Kerry: US to Increase Refugee Influx to 100,000 in 2017 | 2015-09-21 | Middle East | The Obama administration will increase the number of refugees allowed into the United States annually to 100,000 in 2017, The New York Times reports. The current limit is 70,000, and that would go up to 85,000 in fiscal 2016, then to 100,000 annually in 2017, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday during meetings in Berlin.Kerry also said he would be looking into ways to expand the number beyond 100,000 in later years while still maintaining the background check process."This step is in keeping with Americaβs best tradition as a land of second chances and a beacon of hope," Kerry said. "And it will be accompanied by continued financial contributions to the humanitarian effort β not only from the U.S. government, but from the American people. The need is enormous, but we are determined to answer the call."Syrians fleeing their war-torn country would benefit from the move, the Times noted, though a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week showed that most Americans don't want to take in more Syrian refugees, though they do want to do more to help them.One of the fears is that terrorists from the Islamic State (ISIS) or other groups could infiltrate legitimate refugees and attack the country in the homeland. Kerry insisted the review process will be streamlined to avoid that.Critics also complain that the refugees are fleeing to European nations and the United States, but are not being taken in in large numbers by neighboring Muslim countries. Saudia Arabia has offered to build mosques in Germany for the refugees.The United States has received about 1,500 Syrians since the three-way conflict began there in 2011 between ISIS, the government of President Bashar Assad and the Free Syrian Army. European nations have taken in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, and numbers recently have been growing.Germany is expecting 1 million immigrants this year.Kerry's announcement comes a day after Anne Richard , assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, told National Public Radio that the move would be coming."I think that the most senior leadership at the State Department, the National Security Council and the White House want to bring more refugees and so that's something that we're very focused on right now," Richard said.Pope Francis also has urged people to take families into their homes in Europe. | 1fd7a7e1a261087b | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Politico | https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/20/obama-torches-trump-like-american-democracy-depends-on-it-399108 | Obama torches Trump like American democracy depends on it | 2020-08-20 | Presidential Elections, 2020 Election, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Democracy, Elections | 2020 Conventions The former president went further than ever before in taking on his successor. Former President Barack Obama addresses the virtual DNC convention. | DNCC via Getty Images By Ryan Lizza 08/20/2020 02:31 AM EDT Link Copied Barack Obama went high. On the third night of the Democratic convention β a word that seems increasingly absurd to describe what is really just two hours of nightly programming from the DNC β the former president delivered a memorable speech that balanced torching the sitting president with assuring voters of the possibility of something better. All the while, he pulled back the historical view to 30,000 feet where it was possible to show voters the sweep of American history and remind them that the country, despite what he called βthese dark times,β has faced bigger challenges than Donald Trump. But despite the optimistic strands, Obama did not minimize the threat he believes the country faces under President Trump. βIt is not a normal time,β he said at the top. βSo tonight I want to talk as plainly as I can about the stakes in this election. Because what we do these next 76 days will echo through generations to come.β As Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and John Kasich β three people with major ideological and personal differences between them β all made clear in their earlier speeches, the case against Trump is not about policy. The urgency that has united socialists, liberals, and conservatives featured this week is about something much more fundamental, something that is frankly difficult for political reporters who are used to litigating policy and political disputes between the two parties to convey in a way that seems unbiased. This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. This is a modal window. Obama accused Trump of failing to βdiscover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care.β He essentially accused him of corruption and abuse of power, saying Trump had βno interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends.β And he accused his successor of a dangerous form of narcissism when he said Trump had βno interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.β Obama then detoured to a positive case for Joe Biden. But after some personal reflections on his capacity for empathy and how Biden made him a better president, Obamaβs case for Biden (and Kamala Harris) became a case against Trump. Biden and Harris βactually care about every Americanβ and they βcare deeply about this democracy,β and that βthe right to vote is sacred,β and βthat no one including the president is above the law and that no public official, including the president, should use their office to enrich themselves or their supporters.β There was more. Biden would never βuse the men and women of our military who are willing to risk everything to protect our nation as political props to deploy against peaceful protesters on our own soil.β He and Harris believe βpolitical opponents arenβt un-American just because they disagree with youβ and that βa free press isnβt the enemy.β They wouldnβt attack the pandemic by βjust making stuff up.β But, again, the main point β the reason that a former president who wanted to enjoy a cushier post-presidency of intellectual pursuits (starting with his memoir), international do-goodism, and hobnobbing on yachts with the likes of David Geffen broke the tradition of not pillorying his successor β is the certainty that Trump is doing nothing less than undermining the American system. βThatβs whatβs at stake right now,β he said. βOur democracy.β If the point wasnβt clear, Obama gave his speech in Philadelphia before a blown-up picture of the Constitution. POLITICOβs Lara Seligman and Dan Diamond discuss how they broke the story on the Pentagonβs $2.2 billion health care controversy β and what itβs like to have the president confirm your reporting. βNone of this should be controversial,β Obama said, with the characteristic exasperation he exhibits when he canβt believe that others donβt see something that is so blindingly obvious to him. βThese shouldnβt be Republican principles or Democratic principles. They are American principles. But at this moment, this president and those who enable him have shown they donβt believe in these things.β Of course, thatβs the big obstacle the Biden convention faces this week: the blinding obviousness of the Trump threat as Democrats see it is not shared by roughly half the country and 90 percent of Republican officeholders. Not only is it not shared by them, but it is passionately denied. The president himself has invented an entire counternarrative that Obama is a criminal β guilty of βtreasonβ β who masterminded a fraudulent Russia investigation to kneecap his administration from its earliest days. In a previous era, Obama would have spent some time trying to talk to those on the other side who believed such things. But itβs no longer 2004, when Obama became famous for arguing that the blue/red divide was a fiction invented by pundits. βI know that in times as polarized as these, most of you have already made up your mind,β he conceded. His pitch was to those on the fence, Americans βstill not sure which candidate you will vote for or whether you will vote at all.β He tried to empathize with these Americans and cast them as essentially people who have given up on democracy: a white factory worker with stagnant wages, a Black mom who believes the government βnever looked out for her at all,β a new immigrant who wonders βwhether there is still a place for him here,β and a cynical young person turned off from politics because of βthe circus of it all, the meanness and the lies and conspiracy theories.β His point was that democracy canβt be taken away, but it can be given away when enough voters are encouraged to opt out of the system. Before he was a U.S. senator from Illinois, Obama was a lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago. His view of American history is that the Constitution was an imperfect document that excluded most Americans from citizenship and yet still gave future generations the best system to fix the original documentβs deficiencies, and that progress is the story of our country. He closed by retelling that history β the fights for abolition, and labor rights, and religious equality β and reminding voters that however bad things seem now, there is always the chance for renewal. βIf anyone had a right to believe that this democracy did not work and could not work, it was those Americans, our ancestors,β Obama said. βThey were on the receiving end of a democracy that had fallen short all their lives. They knew how far the daily reality of America strayed from them then. And, yet, instead of giving up, they joined together and they said somehow, some way we are going to make this work. We are going to bring those words in our founding documents to life.β In most Obama speeches that tell the story of American progress and how we have always worked to live up to the promise of our founding documents, he seems optimistic and confident that that history will continue. In Wednesdayβs speech, the question of whether America will get this right this time β at least in his view β seemed uncertain. This is the same uncertainty Obama has been wrestling with since Trump was elected. According to one of his adviserβs memoirs, in late 2016 Obamaβs confidence in his understanding of the American mood was shaken by Trumpβs victory. Since then, Democrats have regained a lot of political turf, mostly in 2018. But after Trumpβs victory, Obama turned to his aides and asked a question that still hangs over the 2020 campaign. βWhat,β he wondered, βif we were wrong?β The unofficial guide to official Washington, every morning and weekday afternoons. The unofficial guide to official Washington, every morning and weekday afternoons. Loading You will now start receiving email updates You are already subscribed Something went wrong Β© 2025 POLITICO LLC | 99c2cc98a3f84dae | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Fox Online News | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-turn-tables-in-russia-probe | Trump World ramps up campaign to turn tables in Russia case, target Dems who 'colluded' | politics | As Democratic leaders tentatively took impeachment proceedings off the docket this week , the White House put payback on the front burner -- calling for closer looks into everyone from the FBI officials who investigated the Russia case to allies of Hillary Clinton 's campaign who solicited foreign help during the 2016 presidential campaign .
β All those things have to be explored and more , β Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told `` Fox & Friends '' on Wednesday .
On social media and in televised interviews , President Trump , his attorneys , his campaign and senior members of his administration have in the wake of the Robert Mueller report seemingly adopted a strategy of highlighting lesser-known episodes of alleged misconduct by Democrats and investigators , as Democrats pursue obstruction of justice inquiries .
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway led the charge on Monday , openly wondering on Twitter why former FBI Director James Comey focused so heavily on the lurid and salacious claims in a largely discredited anti-Trump dossier .
`` Comey , then-FBI Director , waited 2 months after @ realDonaldTrump was elected to pay a visit & brief the President-elect , '' Conway wrote . `` While there , he wasted his time on this golden-shower-nonsense-concocted-dossier . Could have been honest about Obama ignoring Russian interference instead . ''
COMEY 'S PAPER TRAIL : WHY DID FBI DIRECTOR KEEP HIGHLY CLASSIFIED INFORMATION IN HIS PERSONAL MEMOS ?
`` Tables are finally turning on the Witch Hunt ! '' Trump also tweeted .
The FBI is currently being sued by conservative group Judicial Watch , after the bureau failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act ( FOIA ) request concerning contacts in late 2016 between the then-FBI general counsel and a top Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer , as well as contacts between the FBI and the author of the dossier .
Comey briefed Trump on the salacious contents of the dossier in January 2017 , ostensibly to make him aware of potential blackmail threats , Comey later testified . That confidential meeting later leaked , and CNN cited the fact that intelligence officials had briefed Trump on the dossier as a justification for airing the story , even though the dossier 's claims were unverified .
Comey told lawmakers that then-National Intelligence Director James Clapper , an Obama appointee , came up with the idea to brief Trump on the dossier 's contents .
Separately this week , Giuliani revived Republican-led calls to look into whether , and to what extent , a Democratic Party consultant worked with Ukrainian officials to dig up dirt on the Trump campaign .
A 2017 investigation by Politico found that Ukrainian officials not only publicly sought to undermine Trump by questioning his fitness for office , but also worked behind the scenes to secure a Clinton victory .
ANTI-TRUMP AGENT STRZOK 'S PHONE FROM DAYS ON MUELLER TEAM TOTALLY WIPED ; FBI BLAMES SOFTWARE GLITCH FOR OTHER MISSING TEXTS
Among other initiatives , Politico found , the Ukrainian government worked with a DNC consultant to conduct opposition research against Trump , including going after former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for Russian ties , helping lead to his resignation .
Last month , Ukraine Prosecutor General Yurii Lutsenko opened a probe into the so-called black ledger files that led to Manafort 's departure , after a leaked tape recording apparently showed a senior Ukrainian anticorruption official admitting to disclosing Manafort 's information to help the Clinton campaign . A Ukrainian court later ruled that the move amounted to illegal interference in the U.S. election .
`` Now Ukraine is investigating Hillary campaign and DNC conspiracy with foreign operatives including Ukrainian and others to affect 2016 election , '' Giuliani tweeted Tuesday . `` And there β s no Comey to fix the result . ''
On Sunday , Giuliani hammered the same theme . `` Is it a crime for an American campaign to consider information from a foreign source or to obtain it ? '' he asked , responding to claims that the Trump team acted improperly by meeting with Russian-affiliated individuals who promised damaging information on Clinton .
`` If so the allegation that the DNC [ Democratic National Committee ] colluded with Ukrainian officials to generate information to hurt the Trump campaign and help the Clinton campaign must be investigated , '' Giuliani added .
Buoyed by Special Counsel Mueller 's findings that no member of the Trump team illegally conspired with Russia , Republicans have additionally turned to a separate known episode of apparent collaboration between a 2016 presidential campaign and a foreign national -- specifically , the decision by Hillary Clinton 's campaign and the DNC to hire Fusion GPS . The firm , in turn , funded the infamous dossier , drafted by British ex-spy Christopher Steele , which contained numerous assertions that fueled an anti-Trump media frenzy -- but that Mueller 's investigators were unable to substantiate .
Nonetheless , the FBI relied heavily on the dossier to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ( FISA ) warrant to monitor former Trump aide Carter Page , and the bureau did not clearly disclose to the FISA court that Steele was working for a firm funded by Clinton and the DNC . Rather , the FBI told the court the materials were prepared in connection with a campaign for president . ( Only partial versions of the FBI 's FISA application has been released ; Trump has told Fox News he will eventually declassify and release all relevant information from the FISA application . )
Democrats , too , heavily pushed the Steele dossier . At a 2017 hearing , now-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff , D-Calif. , confidently described Steele as `` a former British intelligence officer who is reportedly held in high regard by U.S. intelligence '' and repeatedly cited `` Steele 's Russian sources '' as he described a purported Trump-Russia conspiracy .
But in an article last week , The New York Times joined a chorus of publications that have long cast doubt on the dossier 's veracity , writing that the document `` financed by Hillary Clinton β s campaign and the Democratic National Committee '' was `` likely to face new , possibly harsh scrutiny from multiple inquiries . ''
The article noted that Steele relied in part on Russian sources and that , ironically , the document could have been part of a `` Russian disinformation '' effort to smear Trump even as Moscow was going after Clinton .
The article suggested that dossier skepticism , once panned as denialism , has entered the mainstream , as Mueller 's report found `` some of the most sensational claims in the dossier appeared to be false , and others were impossible to prove . ''
Internal FBI text messages obtained by Fox News last month showed that a senior Justice Department official warned of `` bias '' in a source key to a FISA application . The DOJ Inspector General is investigating whether the FBI violated its procedures or Page 's constitutional rights by withholding exculpatory information from the FISA court .
`` The Office of the Inspector General has a pending investigation of the FISA process in the Russian investigation , and I expect that that will be complete probably in May or June , I am told , '' Attorney General William Barr testified earlier this month .
House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes , R-Calif. , has already sent several criminal referrals to the Justice Department related to alleged crimes committed during the Russia probe , and Fox News is told as many as `` two dozen '' individuals could be implicated . It was unclear exactly whom had been referred .
`` The American people have only seen the pieces that have been declassified so far , '' Nunes told Fox News earlier this month . `` There 's still more information . ''
The Trump team 's pushback comes as top Democrats , including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , have clamped down on calls to impeach the president . In a private Democratic conference call on Monday , two sources told Fox News , Pelosi said impeachment would be premature , and even anti-Trump firebrand Maxine Waters declined to call on her colleagues to begin impeachment proceedings .
FOX NEWS EXCLUSIVE : INSIDE MONDAY 'S DEM CONFERENCE CALL ON IMPEACHMENT PLANS
However , Fox News is told Democrats emphasized on the conference call that more investigations and fact-finding are necessary before any final decision can be made .
Schiff , for his part , has already referred to a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting as `` direct evidence '' of collusion in plain sight . Schiff has only doubled down since Mueller 's report was published , calling for closer looks into Trump 's finances and contacts with Russians .
Donald Trump Jr. , his brother-in-law Jared Kushner , and Manafort were known to have attended the meeting with Kremlin-linked attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya , and the Trump team gave shifting explanations for the role of the president in drafting media responses to inquiries about the episode .
But Mueller found that the meeting was not a criminal campaign finance violation , in part because there was insufficient evidence that the involved parties knew they were breaking the law -- a high standard that applies only to certain crimes . Additionally , prosecutors said , it was unclear whether an exchange of information not available on the public marketplace could constitute a `` campaign contribution '' by a foreign national in the first place .
Still , Schiff told Fox News that episodes like that meeting raised grave concerns , and indicated impeachment would be a `` difficult '' issue that would be addressed in a matter of weeks .
In the dueling messaging wars , though , the Trump team has been nothing if not confident in recent days .
Giuliani told `` Fox News Sunday , '' for example , that `` so far we don β t think we need to '' release a planned counter-report to Mueller 's findings , because `` we think the public debate is playing out about as well as it can -- why confuse it ? '' | iyJX5VsNvZVS17kL | 2 | Donald Trump | 0.1 | Democratic Party | 0 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null | |
immigration | Politico | http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/immigration-reform-faces-security-snag-92125.html?hp=t3_3 | Immigration reform deal hangs on border security | 2013-06-03 | immigration | Marco Rubio has often gotten his way in the Gang of Eight deliberations . Immigration hangs on border security
The Gang of Eight β s hopes for a Senate supermajority is running into the GOP β s push for a dramatic crackdown on border security β testing the limits of the bipartisan coalition that β s propelling the bill through Congress .
With Congress back this week to work on the measure , Senate negotiators want to pick up as many as two dozen Republican votes in a show of force that compels the House to act . But the result has to be much stricter than the current version of the bill to give it any hope of passing there either . They β ve got to do it without alienating the vast majority of Senate Democrats who like the bill as it is .
And whatever happens , it has to keep Sen. Marco Rubio ( R-Fla. ) satisfied .
Rubio , a key member of the Gang of Eight , is shopping around a proposal to have Congress β not the Department of Homeland Security β write the border control strategy that would be a prerequisite for most of the other elements of reform . Rubio hasn β t yet landed on specific parameters , but , arguing that Americans don β t trust their government to get it right , Rubio wants lawmakers to craft the plan at the outset , rather than leave the details up to the Obama administration .
But already , reform proponents worry that the Senate supermajority is an elusive goal that could undermine the bill , particularly on border security .
β We are advocating for a strong and tight and effective a bill as possible . If that means we are targeting 62 votes , then 62 on a strong bill is better than 75 on a weak bill that looks like a special interest bonanza , β said Marshall Fitz , a veteran of the 2006 and 2007 reform fights who now directs immigration policy at the liberal Center for American Progress .
Rubio doesn β t see how the current version of the legislation gets enough votes to break a filibuster , let alone the 70-plus votes that Gang of Eight leaders want . Republicans view border security as a threshold issue , and many have told him that the requirements must be tightened before they can even consider backing the bill , Rubio has said .
β It β s very simple . If we can come up with a plan that people have confidence in for the border , I believe we β ll have immigration reform , β Rubio said recently on β Hannity β on Fox News . β If we can not , we will not , and we should not . I don β t think it will pass without those measures in there . I just don β t . β
Rubio has often gotten his way in the Gang of Eight deliberations . Well aware that his continued involvement is critical to the cause of bipartisan immigration reform , the group has made a series of concessions that give him rhetorical , if not substantive wins .
He wanted a cut-off date that prevented recent undocumented immigrants from legalizing , and got it . He wanted to sell the Gang of Eight bill to conservative media before the official release , and did it despite the group β s oath of secrecy . He wanted an extended debate in the Judiciary Committee , and secured one . He was β disappointed β when the committee rejected a stronger system for tracking visa holders , and the panel returned several days later to pass a fix that satisfied him .
He β s reached out to top Republican targets such as Sens . Dean Heller of Nevada and Rob Portman of Ohio , as well as border state senators and undecided Democrats to gauge their demands for the bill . He β s also consulted with border security officials outside the administration and House members focused on border issues , according to Rubio β s office .
And he β s invoking the IRS scandal to sell his proposal . | RPavTsCWyR0Bo8l2 | 0 | Immigration | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
abortion | The Hill | http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/314085-planned-parenthood-seeks-survival-in-trump-era | Planned Parenthood seeks survival in Trump era | 2017-01-13 | abortion | Planned Parenthood is grappling with how to survive in the era of Donald Trump Donald John TrumpTrump faces high stakes in meeting with ErdoΔan amid impeachment drama Democrats worry they do n't have right candidate to beat Trump Trump threatening to fire Mulvaney : report MORE .
Republicans have long targeted the healthcare group for providing abortions , threatening to shut down the government if federal funding wasn β t pulled from the organization .
Now that the GOP has majorities in the House and Senate and controls the White House , it has its best chance in years to win a defunding battle .
Planned Parenthood officials recognize the serious threat but say they are eager for the fight .
β We β re in the middle of a moment that is calling for us to take action in a way we have never taken action before , and we β re ready , β Kelly Robinson , Planned Parenthood β s deputy national organization director , said to supporters last week on Facebook Live .
β We won β t back down , we won β t be silenced , and we will not let these politicians attack our health and rights without a fight . β
The fight is expected to stretch out over the next few years and to play a role in the 2018 midterm elections β when Democrats and Republicans alike could use votes for Planned Parenthood as a campaign weapon .
While Obama vetoed legislation defunding Planned Parenthood a year ago , if a bill gets to Trump , he is expected to sign it .
Defunding efforts also have the enthusiastic support of Vice President-elect Mike Pence Michael ( Mike ) Richard PenceTrump faces high stakes in meeting with ErdoΔan amid impeachment drama Democrats announce public impeachment hearings with eight witnesses next week Haley seeks to quell talk she could replace Pence MORE .
During his time in Congress , Pence repeatedly introduced legislation that would ban Planned Parenthood , and other abortion-providing entities , from receiving federal funding .
One bill passed the House in 2011 , though it was rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate . The Hyde amendment , a rider first passed in 1976 , prevents certain federal funds such as Medicaid from being used for abortions with a few exceptions .
So Planned Parenthood is trying to stop the bill in the Senate .
β We β ve talked to every member of Congress who we think has an open mind , β said Donna Crane , vice president of policy for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League ( NARAL ) .
She declined to name specific lawmakers the group is targeting , though GOP centrist Sens . Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsGOP senators warn against Trump firing intelligence community official This week : House kicks off public phase of impeachment inquiry Senate panel clears controversial Trump court pick MORE ( Maine ) and Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann MurkowskiGoogle sparks new privacy fears over health care data This week : House kicks off public phase of impeachment inquiry GOP senators plan to tune out impeachment week MORE ( Alaska ) have publicly shown reservations about supporting the measure if it includes the Planned Parenthood provision . Neither have indicated how they will vote .
Crane said she refuses to β accept the premise β that the GOP will succeed in defunding Planned Parenthood .
β We are going to throw everything we have at these attempts , β she said . β I think every member of Congress , ever respectable member of Congress , is thinking hard about how they will vote . β
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. ) said defunding Planned Parenthood would be included in a reconciliation bill repealing ObamaCare , though he hasn β t provided further details .
Senate Republicans could pass the legislation without Democratic support β as long as at least 50 GOP members vote in favor of it . Reconciliation bills can not be filibustered , weakening the Democratic minority .
Democratic lawmakers are heaping pressure on Republicans , arguing that defunding Planned Parenthood could leave millions of low-income women and men without access to services like cancer screenings and STD testing .
β The focus has been on getting Republicans to vote against it and even in the Senate right now , we β re beginning to see a number of Republicans who are against defunding , β said Rep. Jan Schakowsky ( D-Ill. ) , the ranking member on the House 's select panel investigating Planned Parenthood .
While federal funding ca n't be used to pay for abortion , Republicans argue money given to Planned Parenthood essentially subsidizes the procedure .
Ryan hasn β t specified what funding avenues Republicans want to cut off .
Planned Parenthood gets their federal funding from two sources : Medicaid reimbursements and Title X grants , which are awarded to clinics that provide family planning and preventative healthcare resources .
A special investigative panel formed by Republicans recommended in a report last week that Planned Parenthood lose access to both its Medicaid reimbursements and Title X funds .
One bill , proposed by Rep. Diane Black Diane Lynn BlackBottom line Overnight Health Care : Anti-abortion Democrats take heat from party | More states sue Purdue over opioid epidemic | 1 in 4 in poll say high costs led them to skip medical care Lamar Alexander 's exit marks end of an era in evolving Tennessee MORE ( R-Tenn. ) last week , would place a one-year moratorium on all federal funding for Planned Parenthood , its affiliates and associated clinics until the organization certifies that it will not offer abortions or give funding to entities that do . It would also dedicate an additional $ 235 million to community health centers that do n't provide abortions .
It 's not clear if the Planned Parenthood provision in the reconciliation bill will follow the same path , but Black introduced the same bill last year , and it passed the House .
The measure has 127 co-sponsors β all Republicans β including Majority Whip Steve Scalise ( La . ) , Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady Kevin Patrick BradyHow centrist Dems learned to stop worrying and love impeachment On The Money : Senate passes first spending package as shutdown looms | Treasury moves to roll back Obama rules on offshore tax deals | Trade deal talks manage to weather Trump impeachment storm White House talking new tax cuts with GOP MORE ( Texas ) and several members of the Energy and Commerce Committee .
β This is about promoting true women β s healthcare over elective abortion and honoring the conscience rights of American taxpayers who don β t want their tax dollars used to fund a scandal-ridden abortion enterprise , β Black said in a statement .
While Black β s bill specifies that all federal funding would be cut off , previous bills passed by the House , including one passed in 2011 , would have disallowed any abortion providers , including Planned Parenthood , from receiving Title X funds .
Roughly 40 percent , or $ 553 million , of Planned Parenthood 's revenue comes from government health services grants and reimbursements .
Supporters of Planned Parenthood know it is under siege , and the organization has increased its fundraising .
Planned Parenthood reports that donations are up 40-fold since the election , while NARAL says it has seen an β unprecedented significant spike β in donations , though it would not provide specific numbers .
Planned Parenthood has planned nearly 300 events in 47 states that will include rallies , marches , letter-writing campaigns and other activities over the next few months . Its allies are fundraising off attempts by the GOP to defund the organization .
The funds could be used in midterm battles of 2018 β when Democrats will be seeking to make gains in Congress with a Republican in the White House . The party faces a difficult battleground in the Senate , where it is defending 23 seats , many of them in states won by Trump . | vWEYJTdWOsR4GqZA | 1 | Planned Parenthood | 1 | Abortion | 0.4 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
supreme_court | Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-terrifying-and-terrible-prospect-of-justice-kennedy-retiring/2017/06/23/bc73ff9a-5830-11e7-a204-ad706461fa4f_story.html?utm_term=.d7d463da050d | The terrifying and terrible prospect of Justice Kennedy retiring | 2017-06-25 | Supreme Court | clockThis article was published more than 7 years ago The end of the Supreme Court term looms, and with it the prospect β the terrifying prospect β of a retirement. Specifically, the retirement of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who will turn 81 next month and is the longest-serving current justice, named to the high court almost 30 years ago. So if Kennedy is inclined to retire, it is hard to begrudge him that choice. But his departure would be terrible for the court and terrible for the country. It could not come at a worse time. Any court vacancy these days, under a president of either party, triggers a battle between liberal and conservative forces. Kennedy's retirement would unleash nomination Armageddon, given the feral political environment and the pivotal role he plays on the closely divided court. | 4c3db55c15b40e2d | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
foreign_policy | American Spectator | https://spectator.org/russia-then-now-a-tale-of-two-visits-2/ | Russia Then & Now: A Tale of Two Visits | 2025-04-19 | World | In 1985 I spent 13 days in Russia β then officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( U.S.S.R. ) , but which I will call Russia for reader convenience . I traveled with 100 others , under the august auspices of the Smithsonian Institution . After 32 years and countless tectonic intervening events , I recently returned to what β no surprise β is a very different Russia , along with three dozen capitalist comrades , under the equally august auspices of the National Symphony Orchestra . ( Full disclosure : I served on the Board of Directors of the NSO for 22 years and am completing my third year on the Board of Trustees β the directors are mostly local to Washington , D.C. ; the latter mostly from outside D.C. , hence upon relocating from D.C. to Charleston SC I shifted boards . ) This article is the second of two reports about the visits ( here is the link for Part I : 1985 ) .
My 2017 Russia visit , March 24βApril 4 , ironically came sandwiched between horrific terror bookends β the March 22 terror attack in London on Westminster Bridge and the April 3 suicide bombing on a subway train in St. Petersburg . When I landed in London late-morning March 23 I walked to the Sofitel London Heathrow β connected to the all-British Airways Terminal 5 β and spent the afternoon watching the aftermath of the prior day β s carnage . I proceeded the next day on to Moscow . The St. Petersburg blast came but two hours after with my Russian guide and I had ridden the identical route , part of Russia β s newest subway line ( completed in 2014 ) . I had just finished lunch and then walked to my hotel , where the staff told me I should stay inside . I accepted local advice , cancelling my dinner plan to walk to a nearby restaurant . Not literally a true close call , but way closer than I ever wish to be . Once again I found myself staring blankly at the TV , bummed out , but this time interrupted by several calls and emails from concerned friends old and new ( my wonderful guides ) . I arrived on April 5 in the States , and next I knew President Trump launches five dozen cruise missiles to let Syria β s genocidal ruler that WMD attacks are no longer to be tolerated . The emergence of a β new sheriff in town β angered none other than Vladimir Putin ; with the ensuing public chill hovering over American tourism in Russia , at least for the time being . Timing is often everything .
March 24 : Moscow . I arrive mid-afternoon at Domodedovo Airport , one of three Moscow ports of international aerial call . DME , as the airlines know it , is Russia β s largest airport . In 2000 it handled 2.8 million travelers ; in 2015 its volume had jumped to 30 million . Located 42 kilometers ( 26 miles ) south-southeast of Moscow , it is massive , and a stark contrast with far smaller Sheremetyevo Airport , where I departed from Russia in 1985 . The older airport handled few planes in 1985 , and was then , as with Leningrad β s airport , ramshackle and dirty . DME is modern , and if not a model for airport aesthetics , clean and spacious . Passport control takes over an hour , but whereas in 1985 our flight had been the only planeload landing , now there are several , so longer lines are predictable . A look at 2015 β s top 30 busiest airports shows Atlanta β s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport as number one , handling 101 million passengers . George Bush International Airport in Houston was 30th with 42 million visitors , so DME has a way to go to make the list . Moscow is 15th on the list of the world β s most populous urban areas at 16 million , versus Atlanta 75th at 5 million , but nevertheless Moscow β s ascent is impressive . Rush-hour traffic gridlock makes for a 90-minute ride to my hotel , with the last mile taking at least 30 minutes . Some NSO musicians were to fare far worse when they arrived several days later , with one group taking 2-1/2 hours to cover the distance , so I am lucky . My hotel is the sumptuous Four Seasons Moscow , located adjacent to Red Square . One immediate pleasure : there is no dizhurnaya on each floor , with prison matron looks and charm to match , to take my room key each time I depart and return it each time I come back . That evening I dine at the hotel β s flagship restaurant , Quadrum , serving classy Italian international cuisine and with dazzling views of the Kremlin at night . I will eat much better than in 1985 , for sure . I begin with the vodka variant β this is Russia , Amerikanski β of the classic gin Negroni , a cocktail that is traced to Florence in 1919 , when Count Negroni asked the bartender at a restaurant ( two name changes later , still reportedly in business ) to spice up his Americano cocktail by substituting gin for soda water . The barkeep then replaced the original drink β s lemon garnish with orange , to signify a new creation .
March 25 : Moscow . Partly sunny , I ride with my guide out to Klin , 85 km . ( 53 mi . ) outside Moscow , to see the last residence of the great composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky . The ride is on open road , but takes 90 minutes due to the 60 kmh ( 38 mph ) speed limit . But Saturday there is no traffic , as not only is it a weekend , but also locals avoid the new roadway to avoid paying toll . The house is charming , with much of the furniture original . In a separate building there is a concert hall , with more memorabilia . Ironically , as recounted in a new book , Moscow Nights : The Van Cliburn Story β How One Man and His Piano Transformed the Cold War ( 2016 ) , pianist-author Nigel Cliff ( my source of all Cliburniana in this piece ) tells the story of the First Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition , staged in Moscow in 1958 . He notes that the piece that first won Van Cliburn world acclaim was Tchaikovsky β s storied 1st Piano Concerto . His win netted Cliburn a Broadway ticker-tape parade and countless honors . Alas , Cliburn never matched his mega-triumph of 1958 . Yet the author notes an artistic oddity : While PT β s 1st was made for Cliburn β s skills and musical temperament , and was wildly popular from the outset in the States , it was for a long time not very popular in Russia . In an amusing end to my tour , I am taken to a room where there is a CD player , and invited to select a favorite composition of the composer , to listen for ten minutes . I choose the first movement of PT β s 1st , only to be told that the museum does not have a CD of it ! My guide , Marianna , tells me in the car that looking back on her life , its high point was when as a child she was taken by her parents to see Cliburn play in the 1958 Competition . She still has the ticket . Her father having been a scientist and her mother a musician , they were entitled not only to a private apartment , rare in those days , but also free tickets to cultural events , where she was entranced by the great Russian music , dance , and theater classics . Returning to the city there is time for me to visit the Cosmonaut Museum , with its soaring monument in front ; the museum honors major U.S. space achievements as well . That night I dine with friends also in before the Monday start of the tour ; we go to CafΓ© Pushkin and enjoy a phenomenal Russian meal in a gorgeous setting . Because of the placement of street barriers and right turn restrictions , the same trip takes over 20 minutes to the restaurant , but less than ten coming home .
March 26 : Moscow . I try the hotel β s blini . They are feathery light , unlike the ones we usually get in America . Under a deep blue sky my guide takes me to Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius , a medieval monastery 71 km . ( 45 mi . ) away . ( A Lavra is a type of Greek monastery . ) I get photos of rare beauty , showing Orthodox onion domes galore bathed in bright sunlight . Upon my return there is time to visit the Tolstoy House Museum , after a heavy Russian lunch at Saava , in the legendary , renovated Hotel Metropol . I have tea with a guide who had shepherded me in 2013 on a memorable Silk Road rail trip through three of the five β stan β countries . ( The five are collectively called by wags β Jennifer Annistan. β Here is my TAS piece on that trip . ) That evening I dine with Charleston pals who had just arrived .
March 27 : Moscow . My dining partners last night join me for a day of sightseeing , as the weather in Moscow turns colder and gray skies move in , with a shower or two , after the glorious weekend . Moscow weather at this time of year is not that bad ; it was as cold in D.C. the day I left as it is now in Moscow , about minus 5 degrees Celsius ( +23 degrees Fahrenheit ) . We do not complain , as exactly 49 years earlier Van Cliburn spent his first full day in Moscow , getting ready for the competition that would make his name a household word ; days before he arrived the outside temperature had been -23 degrees C0 ( -12 degrees F0 ) , and it was still well below zero C0 ( +32 F0 ) when he landed . We visit Novodeviche Convent and Cemetery ( β New Maiden β ) ; the latter is final resting place for a cavalcade of Russian and Soviet heroes . Originally a fortress dating to 1524 , the site of battles during Tsarist times β it was saved by the nuns from Napoleon β s legions β the convent was turned by the Soviets into a museum , though the Assumption Church was later re-opened . A cemetery built next to it houses mostly Soviet-era notables , though Anton Chekhov is buried there . Its grandees include two heads of state ( Nikita Khrushchev and Boris Yeltsin ) , two famous composers whose artistic work was circumscribed by Stalin ( Serge Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich ) , and NSO alumnus Mstislav Rostropovich , who was allowed to emigrate to join his fellow dissident , Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn , in the mid-1970s . Khrushchev was a major figure to me , having run Soviet Russia from 1957 to 1964 , a period spanning Sputnik , the Cuban Missile Crisis and two visits by NK to the U.S . In 1959 he did not visit Manhattan , where I grew up . His visit included Disneyland and a lunch with Hollywood royalty . He was seated next to Marilyn Monroe while his wife , Nina Khrushcheva , was seated between Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra . Nina charmed her tablemates , but NK did not do so well with Monroe . Did she find NK , hardly a Joe DiMaggio clone , attractive ? Marilyn said certainly not . ( Uh , Marilyn , had you lived in Russia you β d not have had free choice . ) NK visited Manhattan in Sept. 1960 and banged his shoe on the rostrum of the UN General Assembly ( thereby raising the level of debate typical in the GA ) . But NK is best remembered among Boomers for his inclusion in the theme song of a buddy-cop comedy , β Car 54 , Where Are You ? β As for Rostropovich , Slava , as he was known , was conductor of the NSO for 17 seasons ( 1977-1994 ) ; he was a charming man and nonpareil cellist . As NSO music director ( conductor ) he selected half the orchestra β s musicians , thus raising their performance level . We visit some of Moscow β s most celebrated Metro stops including the classic Mayakovsky Station near our hotel ( likely I saw these in 1985 ) . That night we dine with the full NSO friends group ( 35 , mostly trustees ) at Turandot , specializing in Asian cuisine . It is an elegant space , near CafΓ© Pushkin with the same owner : it has a white piano on the ground floor . As we enter , As Time Goes By is playing on the sound system ; I raise a vodka shot-glass in tribute to Rick , Sam , Ilsa , and Casablanca .
March 28 : Moscow . On a morning with the nastiest weather encountered on my trip β raw , rainy , with sharp wind gusts lashing open umbrellas β I have no desire to become the trip β s Marya Poppinski β we traipse around the interior of the Kremlin . The Marquis de Custine wrote Empire of the Czar ( 1839 ) β it has been compared to Alexis de Tocqueville β s Democracy in America ( 1835 ) . Therein he called the Kremlin β a satanic monument β and β a habitation that would suit some of the personages of the Apocalypse β ; Custine added : β Like the bones of certain gigantic animals , the Kremlin proves to us the history of a world of which we might doubt until after seeing the remains. β Our visit , thankfully , is more tranquil . We tour the spectacular Kremlin Armory ; we see the interior of the Cathedral of the Assumption , seat of the Russian Orthodox Church ; at a visit to the State Diamond Fund , we gape at the 190-carat Orlov Diamond given Catherine the Great ( ruled 1762-1796 ) by her most famous paramour , Count Orlov . We walk around Red Square , and then walk over to the modern Bolshoi Restaurant for snazzy Russian fare . After lunch we get a backstage tour of the fabled Bolshoi Theater , watch a ballerina being rehearsed , and tour its exquisite upstairs rooms . I tell our theater guide that in 1914 my Aunt Helene , then 8 , saw legendary prima ballerina assoluta Anna Pavlova perform in NYC . She smiles . We munch on victuals that eve at Spaso House , the opulent residence of the American ambassador , after a lovely duet by NSO musicians ( pianist Lisa Emenheiser & violist Daniel Foster ) . Dan plays the violin part of Rachmaninoff β s beloved Vocalise ( by Slava , 6:52 ) as if he β s played it for years ; in fact he plays it tonight at first sight . I meet Olga Rostropovich , daughter of Slava ; she is , I tell her , as lovely as her late mother , soprano Galina Vishnevskaya β and just as charming as her parents . The NSO is the first American orchestra ever invited to play in the Rostropovich Festival since she started it in 2009 . Enter Van Cliburn yet again : In 1958 he was invited by young superstar cellist Slava to dine with him and his wife Galina ; Van accepted . They talked about opera and piano ( which Slava also played ) . Slava passed along to Van Chopin β s self-revealing aphorism that a piano β is not ten fingers but ten beautiful voices . β
March 29 : Moscow . The morning brings my second visit to the Tretyakov Gallery , 32 years later ; it β s still a treasure . Then a late lunch at Zhivago , flagship restaurant at the nearby renovated and vastly upgraded National Hotel ( I stayed in the old one in 1985 ) yields a superb chicken Kiev . The place sports four supermodel-gorgeous hostesses β in P.C.-free Russia , no hostess looks like a prison guard . But the piΓ¨ce de rΓ©sistance is the evening β s concert . Held at the storied Moscow Conservatory with its pitch-perfect acoustics and resonance , it features NSO cellist Alisa Weilerstein playing Shostakovich β s fiendishly difficult Cello Concerto No . 1 ( 29:29 ) . Alisa , who once played for Slava , offers an encore . The crowd is elated . Russian audiences prefer rhythmic clapping to a cacophony of shouted off-key bravos . An elegant upstairs reception is the evening β s capstone .
March 30 : Moscow/St . Petersburg . We depart for the train station , to board a high-speed Sapsan ( Peregrine Falcon ) train that will cover the 635 kilometers ( 400 miles ) to St. Petersburg in 3-1/2 hours , with but two stops . The train can hit 250 kmh ( 155 mph ) . The ride is smooth , service attentive β its website tells us β service is far removed from any of the Soviet-era gruffness , with attendants providing a modern level of friendliness and courtesy. β ( For Soviet service today one must , I guess , fly the not-so-friendly skies of United . ) I pass the time viewing the snowy countryside . But several thick glass windows on the other side are rife with spider-web cracks , suggesting at one point a kinetic event affecting only that side β not kids tossing rocks . Upon arrival , we ride along much of Nevsky Prospect , now jammed with traffic , vehicular and pedestrian , and sporting fancy shops . Very unusual for St. Pete , we have blue skies , which gives me a chance , after we check in to our Four Seasons St. Petersburg rooms , to go outside and photograph the landmark Admiralty Building that sits at NP β s west end ; I capture the gleam of the bright sunlight on the Admiralty β s soaring spire . We take an after-hours tour of the legendary Hermitage Museum ; what a visual treat to view the HM β s two dozen Rembrandts without a cluster of tourists milling around . We dine at the Marble Palace . I wangle a piano mini-gig , serenading our group as they enter the dining room . I play As Time Goes By , Stardust and the Russian folk classic , Ochi Chyornye ( literally , β black eyes β but commonly translated as β Dark Eyes β ) . A local group treats us to folk music .
March 31 : St. Petersburg/Pushkin . Another bright blue sky β we are on a weather-winning streak . The Catherine Palace , which I first visited in 1985 when it was under extensive renovation , is now mostly completely refurbished . We see the exquisite Amber Room , and are given a tour of an amber restoration workshop . A late lunch at the U.S. Consulate caps the day ; I chat with locals and discuss how much Russia has changed in 32 years . The evening brings us the NSO β s farewell concert , at St. Pete β s all-white Philharmonia Hall , with acoustics to match those of the Moscow Conservatory . The evening features the hour-long Shostakovich Eighth Symphony , after which the NSO offers a final encore , the β Valse Triste β ( 6:22 ) by Finland β s greatest composer , Jan Sibelius ( 1867-1957 ) .
April 1 : St. Petersburg . Our NSO group β s last day together , we begin a partly sunny day by touring the spectacular 18th century Peter and Paul Fortress Cathedral , on an island across the Neva River , where also lies the Peter and Paul Fortress , prison for many prominent dissenters during Tsarist times . We see the grisly-named Church of the Spilt Blood , the site where in 1881 the β Tsar Liberator , β Alexander II ( who freed the serfs ) , was ambushed by anarchists . No good deed goes unpunished . We lunch atop a tower at Mansarda , where we get an April Fools dessert ; our menu reads β Stone and Sand , β but in reality we get of ice cream . After lunch we visit spectacular St. Isaac β s Cathedral . We cap off our six days/seven nights together with a tour and stellar dinner at Yusupov Palace . Named for the prince who led the assassination of the β Mad Monk β Grigori Rasputin . The starets cast a spell over the last Tsarist empress , Alix . She fervently believed only he could cure the hemophilia afflicting the Tsarevich Alexis , sole male heir of the Romanov Dynasty . ( Promiscuous intermarriage exacted a fearful toll on Europe β s royal families . ) We are treated to a small but lovely show : a pianist and two opera singers from St. Pete β s fabled Mariinsky Theater . We dine at the Palace , with a local pianist playing what might be called classical cocktail music β mostly Chopin waltzes that enhance fine dining . At eve β s end I take it upon myself to offer a final piano serenade to my comrades β on a white grand piano named Red Oktober , no less β Debussy β s Clair de Lune .
April 2 : St. Petersburg . Our NSO tour ends . On my own again , I tour museums dedicated to Dostoyevsky , Rimsky-Korsakov , and Pushkin . The guide at the Dostoyevsky Museum tells me that 16-year-old students in Russia read the author β s classic Crime and Punishment . I ask if this is only students at elite schools and am told that it is fare for non-elite schools as well . I am very impressed . I wonder if even elite K-12 students in America β s broken public school system can read it . At the Rimsky-Korsakov site the guide allows me to play a piano the composer once played . I have not studied the composer β s music β lovely though it is β save for a β Song of India β ( 2:30 ) arrangement over 50 years ago , long forgotten . I play instead Rachmaninoff β s C # minor Prelude ( 4:54 ) , to my pleasure well received by the staff β and my final venture into piano diplomacy on the trip . This prelude was the public β s favorite piano solo piece by the composer , nicknamed by critics the β Bells of Moscow β where 1,600 churches then existed ( composers rarely name their creations ) . Its creator grew to hate it , because every audience wanted to hear it . That eve I see the classic late-19th century ballet , β La Bayadere , β at the venerable Mariinsky Theater . It is a visual and musical treat .
April 3 : St. Petersburg . I tour the exquisite FabergΓ© Museum . Carl FabergΓ© made about 50 eggs for the last Romanov Tsar , Nicholas , and his family ; another 11 were made for other customers . Then with my guide , Julia , we go to the St. Petersburg Metro . I take a gander at St. Pete β s oldest subway station , built in 1955 ( Moscow β s first stations opened in 1935 ) . My touring ends with a visit to the Vodka Museum , after which I lunch at the Vodka Restaurant & Bar . The five shots I consumed fortify me for the awful news I received upon my return to the hotel ( see above ) . There is even a Kalashnikov vodka , bottled in glass shaped like the designer β s iconic AK-47 . Not good . The family should stick to making guns . My personal nomination for the best vodka I tasted is Beluga Gold .
April 4 : St. Petersburg/Pavlovsk . Packed and off to an early lunch in Pavlovsk with one fellow member of the NSO tour who also stayed over . Anne and I dine at a rustic cabin restaurant , Podvorye , Vladimir Putin β s favorite eatery . It is a gem of a place ; we enjoy a five-course Russian meal , chef β s selection . It is 30 minutes from stylish , modern Pulkovo Airport . We depart for London . My Russia 2.0 is over .
Russia 2017 : Observations . Accommodations were luxurious ; facilities β most notably , bathrooms β were a vast improvement . People were approachable , smiles all around us , laughter abounded . Yet one reason for this intercultural smile deficit was , our lovely St. Pete guide Ekaterina told us , is language : Russian consonants are mostly spoken through pursed lips ; English consonants are mostly spoken with open lips . Yet Ekaterina smiles more than I do . Then again she is pretty and far more charming . Historic restoration has been lovingly pursued , with myriad upgrades of historic sites . The great classical arts have been zealously preserved . Russian audiences are sophisticated and disciplined . After the big Shostakovich symphony in the final concert , NSO conductor Christoph Eschenbach held his arms aloft for 20 seconds , and then took another ten seconds to lower them , before signaling the audience that the performance had ended . The crowd remained hushed , absorbing the immense mass of sound just presented . I heard not one peep from the audience . Any American audience would be very hard pressed to match this . In all , our geopolitical discord notwithstanding , many Russians are better off than in 1985 . Yes , much of Russia surely has changed less than its two largest cities since 1985 . But the process of fully modernizing a huge country spanning 11 time zones after 75 years of Bolshevik tyranny is a task for generations . The Russians have made an impressive start .
Russia 2017 : NSO β s Cliburn Coda . With 15 of 17 jurors voting for Van on the final ballot β including superstar Russian pianists Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels β victory seemed assured . Except it was known to the jurors that the powers that be expected a Russian to win this new , prestigious competition . So the jury sought a ruling from the Ministry of Culture . Still too hot , the decision was punted to Khrushchev himself . The culture minister told NK that the problem was an American pianist who β plays very well. β NK asked : β What do others say of him ? Is he the best ? β Replied the minister : β He is the best. β NK issued his order : β In that case , give him the first prize. β Van was called back to the concert hall at 11 PM to record before a select audience his two final pieces , his twin showpiece concertos : the Rachmaninoff No . 3 in D Minor and the Tchaikovsky No . 1 in C Major . It took four hours to get the Rach 3 ( 47:07 ) done ; the Tchaikovsky 1 ( 40:34 ) was finished at dawn .
I think it can fairly be said now of the NSO musicians that they feel what Van Cliburn felt in 1958 when he told the Russian public :
I have walked where Tchaikovsky , Rachmaninoff , Scriabin and other great musicians have walked . I am touched by the cordial reception that was given to me . It is a great pleasure to play for the Russians who are such fine lovers of music . The friendliness of the audience inspired me , and one felt as if one was playing better than usual.β¦ I am happy to be in the homeland of wonderful Russian composers for whose work I have great respect .
I think the same can as well be said of the chorus of NSO friends old and new who were lucky enough to accompany the orchestra on its triumphal celebratory tour honoring their fourth musical director . Slava exemplified supreme musicianship coupled with abiding love for family , friends and for humanity . The great music he left us , and the American orchestra he helped transform , carry on the civilized Western classical musical tradition at the highest artistic level . | 863e8cb8cdbfd60d | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
china | Associated Press | https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-china-afghanistan-2079e85db59e3242ce6e869fe0a9d4e3 | China both worries and hopes as US departs Afghanistan | 2021-08-22 | China, Afghanistan, World, Middle East, Taliban | BEIJING (AP) β In the U.S. departure from Afghanistan, China has seen the realization of long-held hopes for a reduction of the influence of a geopolitical rival in what it considers its backyard.Yet, it is also deeply concerned that the very withdrawal could bring risk and instability to that backyard β Central Asia β and possibly even spill over their narrow, remote border into China itself and the heavily Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang.The Talibanβs takeover could certainly present political and economic opportunities for China, including developing Afghanistanβs vast mineral riches, and Beijing has said it is ready to help rebuild the impoverished nation. But stability will be required to reap most of those benefits, and the immediate result of the American withdrawal has been more instability, not less.βI think Beijing will play up the narrative of American fecklessness and decline of Empire, painting this as evidence of why Beijing will be a better steward for the Eurasian heartland,β said Raffaello Pantucci, an expert on the region at the Royal United Services Institute in London. βBut in reality, I am not clear that I see that many huge upsides for Beijing at the moment.βLike many nations, China is concerned about the risk of terrorism from a Taliban-led Afghanistan. Beijing has repeatedly told the Taliban that the country cannot become a breeding ground for militants to launch attacks in Xinjiang, much as Osama bin Laden used it as a base to prepare his 9/11 attacks on the U.S.A more proximate threat may be the spillover of militancy into Pakistan and Central Asia, where China has invested heavily and sought to build alliances.βThe Afghan Taliban have promised that they will break from international terrorist forces, but we still havenβt seen how they will do this because they are not officially in power,β said said Li Wei, an international security expert retired from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.The Taliban could be an incongruent partner for China since their religion-based philosophy is diametrically opposed to Beijingβs vision of atheist rule under the Communist Party that puts social stability and economic development above all. That, however, has not prevented Chinaβs ultimately pragmatic leaders from reaching out to them.Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a delegation led by the Talibanβs political leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, late last month and pressed Chinaβs hopes for stability and an end to violence and terrorist threats.Chinese officials and state media have been critical of what they call Americaβs βhastyβ retreat from Afghanistan. βTalibanβs rapid victory embarrasses U.S., smashes image, arrogance,β read a headline in the state-owned Global Times newspaper.Despite the rhetoric, Wang told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that China was willing to work with the U.S. to promote the βsoft landingβ of the Afghan issue.However, he added that βthe U.S. cannot, on the one hand, deliberately curb and suppress China to damage Chinaβs legitimate rights and interests, and on the other hand, count on China to offer support and coordination.βPresident Joe Biden has said leaving Afghanistan will prepare America to deal with bigger potential threats, including from China.βOur true strategic competitors β China and Russia β would love nothing more than the United States to continue to funnel billions of dollars and resources and attention into stabilizing Afghanistan indefinitely,β he said this week.Yin Gang, a researcher in Middle Eastern Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the two countries share a common interest in a stable Afghanistan.βIf Afghanistan achieves stability, it will make the U.S. look good and China will be invited to participate in reconstruction,β Yin said.China has chased commercial ventures in Afghanistan, but the prospects of such projects reaching fruition appear no closer now than they were over the past 20 years of the U.S. presence.A consortium led by China Metallurgical Group Corp. bid $3 billion to develop what is one of the worldβs largest copper deposits at Mes Aynak, promising also to build a power plant, railway and other infrastructure. Years later, work has yet to start, largely because of insurgent activity in surrounding Logar province.Chinaβs state-owned National Petroleum Corp. suspended oil drilling in the Amu Darya basin because of a delay in the signing of a transit agreement with Uzbekistan to allow crude oil to be trucked to China. The Afghan government later voided the drilling agreement.China has invested heavily in Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan, in hopes of extending its Belt and Road Initiative to broaden Chinaβs overseas reach by improving trade routes, but Afghanistan appears far from ready to serve as a link in that chain.Chinaβs extensive economic interests in Pakistan and Central Asia could clearly be impacted by any terrorist resurgence in Afghanistan, said Henry Storey, a political risk analyst based in Melbourne, Australia,βAt the same time, China is loath to get involved with any boots on the ground presence, as it does not want to repeat the mistakes of the U.S. β or be distracted from more pressing issues like Taiwan,β Storey said, referring to the island China claims as its own and threatens to invade.Chinese scholars echoed the government line that China will not insert itself into Afghanistanβs domestic affairs, regardless of how the situation develops. At a briefing this week, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China would provide assistance to Afghanistan within its means.While βhawkishβ Chinese state media have portrayed events in Afghanistan as a win for Beijing and loss for Washington, that reflects βa false sense of confidence,β said Meia Nouwens, a China expert with the International Institute for Strategic StudiesChina might not be as interested in exploiting the U.S. withdrawal as an opportunity to engage economically with Afghanistan as some have suggested, she said, noting that Beijing has been slowing its foreign infrastructure investment.The question of how to safeguard security of Chinese investment and personnel also looms large.βFor the moment ... Beijing will do the same as most other countries,β she said. βWait and see how things develop in Afghanistan.β___Associated Press writer David Rising contributed to this story from Bangkok. | 6cd7c93ba49ee1cb | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | American Spectator | https://spectator.org/the-madness-of-the-never-trumpers/ | The Madness of the Never-Trumpers | politics | The shield of denial and rejection that has insulated most of the Never-Trump coalition since election day is starting to disintegrate , as its lunacy becomes more apparent . Kathy Griffin is only the most recent example . Not since the last days of Richard Nixon have we seen such a tasteless and vicious abuse of a president as her display of a blood-soaked effigy of Donald Trump . What this showed , which until now had been unclear , is that there is a limit to the depravity of the abuse Never-Trumpers could approvingly inflict on the president .
Ms. Griffin has apologized and her apology should be accepted . There is no reason why she should be banned from her prior engagements . Her lapse of taste was only marginally more outrageous than that of the many other Never-Trumpers in the unremitting political vacuity of the American entertainment industry .
The most interesting part of this episode is the unscripted performance of Ms. Griffin at her press conference , where she oscillated between profuse apology , belligerent statements that Trump β is picking on the wrong redhead , β complaints that β all my life older white guys had been trying to put me down , β and sobbing that β he ( Trump and his family ) broke me . β
It was easy to forget for a moment that she was shedding tears of pity for herself because Melania Trump had questioned her mental health and the president and his family had stated , with greater moderation than most of the left , that incitements to his assassination and revelry in the thought of the president β s death by decapitation were unacceptable reflections by a normally respectable , if very edgy , comedian .
She tried to float the theory that she was under threat of arrest and prosecution , introducing an element of paranoia into this piercing glimpse of her unstable personality . This was from the Trump-as-Fascist book which is furtively cited by the objective leftist media whenever it is thought to be remotely plausible . Immediately after the firing of James Comey , a few CNN and MSNBC tribunes of verity used the phrase , β they came for Comey this timeβ¦ , β as if the FBI director had been the subject of a totalitarian knock on the door in the dead of night and dragged away for interrogation like Rubashov in Koestler β s Darkness at Noon ; and as if this fascistic process was apt to recur with increasing frequency , at the whim of the president , until he had disposed of all his critics or insubordinates .
Sociologically minded historians of the future will be puzzled by several aspects of the psychological maladjustment of much of the militant opposition to Trump . Of course , the shock or fear of dispossession in the American power structure explains a good part of it , coupled to routine partisanship torqued up by the perceived opportunity to put any defamations , no matter how extreme , across in the national media , almost all of it shivering in the rage and terror of their own political impotence . But it is more than inconvenience , distaste , or even simple defeat that causes Michael Bloomberg to follow his bilious remarks at the Democratic convention with his advocacy of state and municipal adherence to the Paris Accord , a specious form of ecological sanctuary city . This is a leaf from the same book of jurisprudence that has purported to remove immigration from the jurisdiction of the president and reallocate it to district and circuit judges . All of it , including the sanctuary antics of the mayors of New York and Chicago , are more offensive than the doctrines of interposition and nullification that caused President Jackson to threaten to hang the legislators of South Carolina .
From the limousine liberals and demented entertainers to the national media , a madness has descended that shows little sign of lifting . The general avoidance of this malaise by Charles Krauthammer , a frequent but rational Trump critic , is distinguishing . More representative and important than the Griffin incident was the gradually unrolling unconfessional confession by Hillary Clinton of the reasons for her defeat . She β takes responsibility , β apart from the fact that the Democratic Party was insolvent and incompetent , the rabidly pro-Clinton media would not let her get her program out , the Republicans didn β t fight fairly and took advantage of the notorious self-confinement to the highest levels of honest conduct of the Clinton Democrats , the country is fundamentally hostile to the idea of a woman president , and there are too many ignorant reactionaries who vote .
Obviously , Kathy Griffin and Hillary Clinton are unique individuals and not too much can be projected from them onto the Never-Trumpers as a group , but there are common elements of exaggerated horror at the thought and fact of Trump as president , an impulse that practically any act of protest and rejection is permissible , and that the reason for Trump β s success could not have any legitimate element to it . Somebody is responsible for this unspeakable outrage and while the Griffinites muse about ( but assumedly do not directly incite ) assassination , Mrs. Clinton and her followers lament the shortcomings of a population and Democratic Party that would allow the election of this mountebank to occur .
There have been a lot of fatuous comparisons between Donald Trump and Richard Nixon . There is no evidence of a crime in the Trump administration , despite fervent efforts to find one . And Nixon accepted his defeat in 1960 stoically , though he may well have been cheated of election , resisting President Eisenhower β s urging to contest the election . He would not put the country to that , as he would not put it through an impeachment trial , although there was no conclusive evidence against him personally . The Clintons are wired differently , and this is a post-electoral hangover unlike any other in U.S. history . | k3oSRfhoCzEbVArD | 2 | Never Trumpers | -0.7 | Politics | 0.3 | null | null | null | null | null | null | |
justice | Newsweek | https://www.newsweek.com/federal-investigators-hunter-biden-probe-possible-charges-business-tax-gun-1726578 | What Is Hunter Biden Being Investigated For? Details of Federal Probe | 2022-07-22 | Justice, Hunter Biden, Hunter Biden Laptop, Joe Biden, Corruption | Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs and housing. She has covered the ups and downs of the U.S. housing market extensively, as well as given in-depth insights into the unfolding war in Ukraine. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate of Nottingham Trent University. Languages: English, Italian, French. Email: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com. Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Federal investigators looking into Hunter Biden's business activities are reportedly weighing possible charges, as the probe reaches a "critical stage." Unnamed sources mentioned by CNN told the news channel that prosecutors are considering charges in relation to alleged tax violations and a possibly false statement made during the purchase of a firearm. Prosecutors also have to consider Justice Department guidelines around the handling of politically sensitive cases close to an election because the midterms are approaching, according to CNN. An unwritten rule says that such cases shouldn't be brought within 60 days of voting, according to Justice Department officials. No decision on possible charges has been made yet, according to the sources. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The probe against Hunter Biden, run by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware, dates back to 2018 and concerns his financial and business activities in foreign countries at the time when his father Joe Biden was vice president. Federal investigators have been looking at possible money laundering and violations of U.S. tax laws. They have also been examining whether he may have acted as an unregistered foreign lobbying agent while working for foreign interests as a consultant and investor. Hunter Biden has worked for businesses and tycoons in China, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. He sat on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma for five years between 2014 and 2019, receiving a large salary. The company he set up, Rosemont Seneca Bohai LCC was sent $142,000 by a Kazakh oligarch, money which Hunter Biden then reportedly spent on a sports car. According to the Washington Post, between 2017 and 2018 a Chinese energy company sent $4.8 million to entities Hunter and his uncle, James Biden, controlled, for legal and advisory work. An official federal investigation into Hunter Biden's business started in 2018 after a tax inquiry evolved into a bigger probe looking into whether he had not only paid enough taxes on his income, but had maybe violated other federal laws. According to federal law, anyone doing political, public relations or lobbying work for foreign clients must register themselves with the government under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). What's unclear is whether Hunter Biden was doing lobbying work with foreign companies. Another issue investigators are looking into, unrelated to Hunter Biden's business, has to do with firearms regulations. Prosecutors are assessing whether Joe Biden's second son violated federal laws by purchasing a firearm while he was struggling with substance abuse, an issue he has openly talked about. In 2018, a firearm owned by Hunter Biden was tossed by his girlfriend into a dumpster in Wilmington, CNN reported. At that time, according to what Hunter Biden said, he was struggling with drug addiction. Under federal law, anyone who uses or is addicted to illegal drugs is banned from purchasing firearms. Robert Weissman, president of the think tank Public Citizen, told Newsweek in April he didn't anticipate that Hunter Biden would face federal charges over his business arrangements. Being convicted of money laundering in the U.S. can bring a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and fines of $500,000, or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction. The penalty for a "wilful" FARA violation is imprisonment for no longer than five years and a fine of up to $250,000, or both. Violations considered misdemeanors carry a penalty of no longer than six months in prison and a fine of no more than $5,000, or both. While Weissman told Newsweek he believed it's unlikely Hunter Biden will be charged with money laundering and a FARA violation, he said it's possible he could be held personally liable for tax compliance. A sentence for tax evasion could bring a fine of no more than $100,000 or imprisonment for no more than five years. Newsweek has reached out to representatives of Hunter Biden for comment. Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs and housing. She has covered the ups and downs of the U.S. housing market extensively, as well as given in-depth insights into the unfolding war in Ukraine. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate of Nottingham Trent University. Languages: English, Italian, French. Email: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com. Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs and housing. She has covered the ups and downs of the U.S. housing market extensively, as well as given in-depth insights into the unfolding war in Ukraine. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate of Nottingham Trent University. Languages: English, Italian, French. Email: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com. Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more Newsletters in your inbox See all Company Editions: Contact Terms of Use Β© 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC | a921116dc84105d2 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/15/fact-checking-11th-democratic-primary-debate/ | Fact-checking the 11th Democratic primary debate | 2020-03-16 | Coronavirus, Campaign Rhetoric, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, 2020 Election, Elections | clockThis article was published more than 4 years ago The 11th Democratic presidential debate of the 2020 campaign, hosted by CNN and Univision, only had two candidates, lasted two hours β and often devolved into lengthy debates about the voting records of two men who spent decades in Congress. Here are seven claims that caught our attention. Our practice is not to award Pinocchios in debate roundups. | 7dc6cc3a8e94157d | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/nov/2/gop-voters-sour-trumps-tweeting-new-survey/ | GOP voters sour on Trumpβs tweeting in new survey | 2017-11-02 | politics | Nearly half of Republicans and two-thirds of independents now think President Trump should stop using Twitter , according to a new survey that shows about one in four GOP voters believe the president is hurting the Republican agenda .
Forty-nine percent of Republicans say Mr. Trump should quit tweeting , an increase from the 36 percent who thought that way in January in polling by the independent digital marketing firm Fluent .
Among independents , 64 percent think the president should stop tweeting , double the percentage of independents who said so in January . The percentage of Democrats who say Mr. Trump should get off social media has risen over that period from 66 percent to 84 percent .
The president , who often tweets as much as 10 times per day , has said it β s an important way for him to communicate directly with Americans and to bypass the mainstream media .
Criticism of the president β s tweeting , which often calls out Capitol Hill Republicans , isn β t confined to the party β s rank and file .
Sen. John McCain , Arizona Republican , said in an interview that aired Thursday that he β d urge Mr. Trump to stop tweeting and attacking Republicans if he were to talk to the president again .
β We β ve got enough people who attack them , β he told MSNBC , referring to his party .
Mr. McCain also said the role of the press β another frequent target of Mr. Trump β s tweeting β is β more important than ever before . β
β I hate the press , OK , but the fact is without a free press in this country , the pillar of democracy is destroyed , β he said .
But on a wide range of other matters , Mr. Trump received high marks from Republicans in the survey , including the economy ( 75 percent approval ) , immigration ( 67 percent ) , foreign policy/terrorism ( 71 percent ) and religious freedom ( 76 percent ) .
The Fluent survey was conducted online with 1,350 adult respondents on Oct. 16 before this week β s terrorist attack in New York City .
But 22 percent of Republicans said they think Mr. Trump is hurting the GOP agenda , and 31 percent of Republicans say they don β t know whether the president is helping or hurting . Among independents , 35 percent said Mr. Trump is hurting the GOP agenda and 53 percent don β t know .
Forty-seven percent of Republicans said they are likely to vote for Mr. Trump in 2020 , while 24 percent said they are unlikely to vote for him . Forty-one percent of independents said they β re not likely to vote for him for re-election , while 14 percent of independents said they probably would vote for him .
Nine percent of Democrats said they probably would vote for Mr. Trump in 2020 , while 73 percent said they wouldn β t . | MxhfY4mgGIJ0tmJp | 2 | Twitter | -0.5 | Politics | -0.3 | Donald Trump | -0.1 | null | null | null | null |
middle_east | Axios | https://www.axios.com/2024/05/20/icc-netanyahu-arrest-warrant-congress | Johnson threatens ICC sanctions vote over Netanyahu arrest warrant application | 2024-05-20 | Middle East, Israel Hamas Violence, World, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, War Crimes, Joe Biden, Mike Johnson | Search The International Criminal Court building in the Hague, Netherlands, on April 30, 2024. Photo: Selman Aksunger/Anadolu via Getty Images. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Monday that the House may vote on sanctions against the International Criminal Court for seeking an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Why it matters: The vote, which GOP sources told Axios could come as soon as this week, is poised to once again divide House Democrats over Israel. Driving the news: ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced he is seeking arrest warrants against Netanyahu and three Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza, over alleged war crimes, Axios' Barak Ravid reported. What they're saying: "Congress is reviewing all options, including sanctions, to punish the ICC and ensure its leadership faces consequences if they proceed," Johnson said in a statement. Zoom in: It's not just Republican lawmakers hitting back at the ICC. "I completely reject the ICC prosecutor's announcement," Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) told Axios in a statement. Zoom out: Members of Congress have spent the weeks since news of potential warrants for Israel officials broke engaging behind the scenes with the ICC to try to forestall the prosecution. The other side: Some progressive lawmakers are overjoyed about the decision. Axios' Stef Kight and Juliegrace Brufke contributed reporting for this story. Editor's note: The story and headline have been corrected to reflect that the ICC is seeking arrest warrants (not that they have been issued). This story has been updated with additional reporting. Want more stories like this? Sign up for Axios AM Copyright Axios Media, 2024 | 1ac123152ef49e9f | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
foreign_policy | Guest Writer - Right | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/24/dan-coats-war-in-syria-could-be-ended-like-bosnian/ | OPINION: War in Syria could be ended like Bosnian War | 2015-11-24 | foreign_policy | The international community just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Dayton Accords , a landmark peace agreement that brought an end to the Bosnian War and a grave humanitarian crisis in the Balkans .
Today , relative peace still exists in Bosnia-Herzegovina , Serbia and Croatia β and this situation offers valuable lessons that can be applied to one of the biggest humanitarian problems of our time .
The Syrian refugee and migration crisis is overwhelming the mechanisms set up by the international community to deal with such movements . European countries are caught between their instincts to offer safety and help to desperate people , and their inability to meet the needs of an unmanageable flood of migrants .
The migration , with no apparent end in sight , also has brought growing political pressure from disgruntled populations themselves displaced by waves of migrants . This threatens increased radicalism and political instability throughout Europe . And most importantly , we must assume that uncontrolled movement of hundreds of thousands of people from the Middle East will pose a growing security threat as jihadists take advantage of the movement and hide among them .
That is a threat that we Americans also must address .
The only reasonable alternative to dealing with this disaster is to create the conditions in and near Syria that will permit people to remain there , in humane conditions of relative safety near their home country , within their own culture .
Achieving this will require the United States , our allies and other cooperating powers to create areas in and near Syria where Syrians can find safety from attack .
As difficult as this task sounds β and surely it is β it has been done before .
When Yugoslavia collapsed in 1993 , modern , well-equipped armies clashed in open prolonged warfare , involving sieges of towns and cities , generating hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of refugees and displaced persons . In this , as in the current situation in Syria , violence was pervasive and inescapable .
Yet into that horror stepped the international community β s relief organizations , led by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees . That organization , backed by a U.N. mandate and protected first by the U.N. Protection Force and then NATO , created safe areas for refugees and internally displaced persons , and sheltered and fed millions of Bosnians . Despite some tragic failures ( the β safe area β of Srebrenica where thousands of Bosnians were slaughtered as the protectors looked on ) , this massive international effort to address Bosnia β s humanitarian catastrophe was an important contribution to successful efforts to end that war .
The Bosnia precedent included two essential components β the U.N. Security Council and NATO . It is remarkable that in the current crisis neither organization has devoted much attention β or any action β to addressing Syria β s humanitarian needs .
Unfortunately , the Syrian humanitarian tragedy has not generated this sort of attention and action . Jordan , Lebanon and Turkey are already doing their utmost to care for millions of refugees , largely relying on their own resources . Germany and other countries have opened their doors to refugees but the political and economic costs are clearly unsustainable . Clearly , a better alternative needs to be proposed .
To finally address those needs effectively , we need a massive commitment from the world community to set up , fund and manage humane safe areas both within Syria and in neighboring countries .
This will require , first , a mandate from the U.N. Security Council , unleashing the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and other international resources experienced in humanitarian relief . This will also require either a new protection force such as the U.N. Protection Force in the Bosnia precedent , or some other coalition of the willing empowered to protect the people in the safe areas established in Syria itself .
Second , protecting these areas in Syria will require no-fly zones . I have suggested that , with its planning and leadership capabilities and massive resources , NATO should take on that job . NATO did it in Bosnia β why not Syria ? At the same time , NATO must work creatively to bring in the regional powers in a broad coordinated effort under NATO leadership .
Third , the international community must be willing to pay for this important humanitarian effort . We should call for major contributions from the regional states , European countries and other traditional donor countries long committed to humanitarian causes .
Dealing with so many refugees in safe , humane conditions will be expensive , but it can be no more expensive than the costs already being born by those destination countries burdened with uncontrolled migration . Germany estimates that the cost of the refugee crisis this year in Germany alone is 21 billion euros . Italy spent 628 million euros in 2014 and has budgeted 800 million for 2015 . Individual islands in Greece have spent between 1 billion and 1.5 billion euros this year . The EU has allocated 560 million euros for the crisis .
In that context , the billions necessary to enable the U.N. High Commission for Refugees , the International Committee of the Red Cross and others to care for these desperate people humanely , in conditions of safety , in or near their own homeland , are easily justified .
And the extra security gained by such a solution is beyond a price .
β’ Dan Coats is a Republican member of the U.S. Senate from Indiana . | NYDk8otJkJOQeAXb | 2 | Syria | 0 | Foreign Policy | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/07/politics/2016-election-viewers-guide/index.html | 7 things to watch for on election night | 2016-11-07 | elections | Washington ( CNN ) Donald Trump is attempting to crack Hillary Clinton 's blue wall . And Clinton is hoping for a surge in Latino turnout fueled by opposition to Trump .
The two candidates are making a last-minute dash across swing states like Florida , Pennsylvania and North Carolina as the 2016 presidential race enters its final hours . They 've also gone north to Michigan and New Hampshire to states Democrats have won in recent cycles but could flip this year .
Here are the key states and signs to study as the night unfolds :
Most plausible paths to victory for Trump start with holding onto two battlegrounds that Mitt Romney won four years ago -- North Carolina and Arizona -- and flipping three states President Barack Obama carried : Florida , Ohio and Iowa .
A loss in any of the states would severely complicate Trump 's already precarious path to 270 electoral votes . Though if Trump clawed back Pennsylvania or Michigan from the Democrats , who have won both electoral-rich states six times in a row , North Carolina would be more expendable . A win in a state like Pennsylvania or Michigan would allow Trump to offset a loss in North Carolina and still have a shot at reaching 270 .
If that does n't happen , holding North Carolina and Arizona , while reclaiming Florida , Ohio and Iowa from the Democrats -- plus Maine 's 2nd District -- would only get him to 260 .
Trump would need to tack on 10 more electoral votes somehow . New Hampshire 's four and Nevada 's six would get him there . Colorado , with nine electoral votes , Michigan with 15 and Pennsylvania with 20 are also possibilities .
In his last 48 hours before Election Day , Trump has been pretty much everywhere , including Colorado , Michigan -- even Minnesota -- searching for the extra votes he needs .
The key question for Clinton is whether her `` blue wall '' of Democratic-leaning states on the Great Lakes -- Pennsylvania , Michigan and Wisconsin -- will hold .
Trump has targeted all three , but Clinton has consistently led polls in all three states . However , most voters in Michigan and Pennsylvania cast their ballots on Election Day -- which means her campaign has n't built the early voting advantage already in place elsewhere .
If Clinton can do that and pick up just one of North Carolina , Florida or Ohio , she 's all but guaranteed to win .
If she ca n't win one of those three states , she 'll need to hold Virginia , vote-by-mail Colorado , New Hampshire and Nevada -- where Democrats have already built a hefty early voting edge .
If Clinton wins , her coalition will consist of women , college-educated voters and a swell of new Latino voters .
In early voting in states like Nevada , and Florida , there 's already evidence of burgeoning Latino turnout . This is best witnessed by the over 57,000 people who voted in Nevada Friday , with pictures of long lines and extended hours at a Latino grocery store in Clark County .
Many first-time voters , polls show , are turning out to oppose Trump . And Democrats are bullish that Latinos have been under-polled through the entire 2016 election cycle .
For Reince Priebus , the Republican National Committee chairman , this is a ghost of elections past . After the 2012 race , the RNC warned that the party needed to do more to court Latino voters . A nominee who roundly rejected that advice could be the reason the party loses a third consecutive presidential race .
Just as Trump 's attacks on Mexican immigrants have alienated Latino voters , his attacks on women and allegations of sexual assault have helped Clinton to a large lead among female voters . Clinton 's campaign has highlighted Trump 's most derogatory remarks in TV ads aimed at moderate , suburban women -- a constituency that has helped Republican nominees in years past . If she succeeds , it would limit Trump 's strengths to rural areas .
Trump 's biggest strength is his overwhelming support from disaffected white voters -- particularly men , and especially those without college degrees .
His campaign has long argued that those voters -- many of them independent or Democrats who buy into Trump 's protectionist stance on trade -- will carry him on Election Day .
For this to happen , Trump will also need core Democratic voters to stay at home , as well .
Already , Trump appears poised to win Iowa , and has polled ahead of Clinton in Ohio . He 's hoping to win enough blue-collar Democrats in Pennsylvania or Michigan to win at least one of those states .
Michigan , in particular , emerged as a tempting target in the campaign 's closing days -- a state hard-hit by the trade deals Trump bemoans . Clinton 's campaign raced to play defense , dispatching the former secretary of state there , as well as President Barack Obama , for last-minute rallies .
Among Democrats ' biggest concerns has been whether African-American voters -- a reliably left-leaning constituency -- will turn out in numbers anywhere close to their support for Obama in 2008 and 2012 .
If the answer is no , it could hobble Clinton in key states -- particularly Florida and North Carolina .
Obama is helping carry Clinton 's load with black voters . In a call to Tom Joyner 's radio show , he argued that participating in this election is just as much about him as it is about Clinton .
`` And I know that there are a lot of people in barbershops and beauty salons , you know , in the neighborhoods who are saying to themselves 'We love Barack , we love -- we especially love Michelle -- and so , you know , it was exciting and now we 're not excited as much , ' '' he said . `` You know what ? I need everybody to understand that everything we 've done is dependent on me being able to pass the baton to somebody who believes in the same things I believe in . ''
Since Trump clinched the GOP nomination in May , Republican Senate and House candidates have been forced to answer for everything he has said -- from his attacks on a Gold Star family and an Indiana-born judge 's heritage to his rejection of conservative orthodoxy .
As soon as the election ends , Capitol Hill Republicans -- especially if they retain control of both the House and Senate -- will regain power .
The party will have to decide just what to do with Trump 's rejection of free trade , his calls for a decreased US role overseas and his criticism of GOP congressional leaders -- whether he wins or loses .
But adopting some of Trump 's policy planks while rejecting his political style might not help much after an election driven by the candidates ' personalities .
For a nation divided by a long , bitter contest , this could be the most important question of all : Will the loser concede -- and how will he or she do it ?
Trump and Clinton are both historically unpopular presidential nominees . Half the country thinks Clinton is a crook , and the other half thinks Trump is a racist and misogynist .
And Trump , in particular , has cast the election as rigged -- calling into question whether ballots that are mailed in will be counted , playing up inaccurate reports of voter irregularities and claiming that voter fraud is pervasive .
The loser will play a crucial role in legitimizing the victor -- or delegitimizing the winner from the outset . | Ee9rrzMxoaC1femY | 0 | Presidential Elections | -0.6 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Politico | http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/paul-ryan-donald-trump-223025 | Paul Ryan is stuck in a Trump trap | 2016-05-11 | politics | The Wisconsin Republican has spent two decades building a brand as a serious conservative with a friendly demeanor , who totes budget charts to town halls and is more prone to a back slap than a back stab .
But in the last year , Donald Trump has seized control of the Republican Party , throwing verbal daggers in every direction , and offering little in terms of policy specifics as he waltzed through the GOP presidential primary .
They aren β t speaking different languages . They are from different planets . Ryan has never had a job outside of Washington ; Trump hasn β t ever worked in Washington .
But now Ryan is having to contend with a reality : Trump is the party β s nominee , and there is nothing he can do about it .
So here β s the House speaker β s play , according to multiple people in Ryan β s inner circle : he wants Trump to understand where he is coming from . Ryan wants to try to steer the party β s national political dialogue β as embodied by Trump 's barbed rhetoric β in a better direction . He wants an open line of communication between his operation and Trump β s . He isn β t going to try to extract policy concessions from Trump β he understands they are unlikely to ever agree on trade or immigration β but he wants some recognition that Ryan has 247 members of the House that need to be re-elected , and they can β t do so while wincing through the general election in November .
It might work , it might not . Ryan could endorse Trump at some point β but there are no guarantees . His posture : at least I tried to make things work .
One thing is for certain : Ryan is almost certainly not going to endorse Trump after their big meeting on Thursday β he β s likely to say that the 9 a.m. confab at the Republican National Committee β s offices was just the beginning of the conversation . Might he endorse Trump at some point ? Sure , according to sources in his inner circle , but it β s unlikely to ever be a full embrace . They simply disagree on too much with too much at stake . Ryan will focus on keeping his House majority intact , while Trump focuses on defeating Hillary Clinton .
All of these decisions are laced with peril for Ryan . If Ryan does endorse Trump , he could be seen as caving to the New York billionaire after months of deeming his rhetoric problematic and not emblematic of the Republican Party . A Ryan endorsement could disappoint the conservative intelligentsia , which has applauded Ryan 's courage . In short , lining up with Trump is a major risk to Ryan β s brand .
But should he not endorse Trump , Ryan could be seen as a man who worsened a major rift within the Republican Party . He could alienate the grassroots , who helped rocket Trump to the top of the party .
β Paul doesn β t want to be an issue ; we need to beat Hillary Clinton β that β s the issue here , β said South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney , a leader in the House Freedom Caucus . β Any high ranking Republican β whether Paul Ryan , Reince Priebus or Jeb Bush β that says they β re not supporting nominee ? They have some hard questions to answer about why they β re a Republican . β
There are two critical dynamics at play for Ryan in all of these decisions . Should he want another term as speaker of the House , he must keep in mind that he needs the support of 218 Republicans to keep the gavel . Hanging your party β s nominee out to dry is not the best show of unity .
And if he wants to run for president in 2020 β which many Republicans think he does β Ryan has to be careful to keep the base engaged , by not looking like he crosschecked Trump by starving him of an endorsement . If Ryan endorses Trump , he needs to make sure he does it in a way that doesn β t compromise his own political identity .
The difficulty for Ryan is that Trump , by his own admission , is incredibly malleable on policy . So the speaker has to appeal to Trump on a visceral level , and the real estate magnate has used identity politics and unpopular political strategy to fuel his ascent . Banning Muslims from the U.S. and playing footsie with white supremacists need to stop , Ryan has said publicly . But Trump has shown no willingness to temper that talk .
If the two can β t work things out and find a middle ground , Ryan earlier this week opened the door to making a graceful departure from the 2016 presidential convention scene altogether : He said he β d remove himself from chairing this summer 's convention if Trump wants him to step down . Those comment followed a dramatic back and forth in which Ryan said last week he β s just not ready to support Trump β and Trump β s camp called into question whether he should really be speaker of the House .
Speaker Paul Ryan : We need a real 'unification ' of the Republican party Speaker Paul Ryan on Donald Trump 's nomination .
Now , of course , the pressure is building on both sides to put aside their differences and plot a path forward .
β The number of House members endorsing Trump are growing , and while there are those still holding out , I think everyone will come together β and it β s Paul β s responsibility to unify them , β said Rep. Tom Marino ( R-Penn . ) a Trump-backer . He β s holding out for an olive branch of some sort : β They β ll walk out of there β united . β
It β s sure to be an interesting week for Ryan β s House Republican Conference . Only a small slice of them will meet with Trump : Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy ( R-Calif. ) , Whip Steve Scalise ( R-La . ) , Republican Conference Chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers ( R-Wash. ) Chief Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry ( R-N.C. ) will all have an audience with the party β s presumptive nominee . Ryan and McMorris Rodgers so far are the only members of that group who said they β re not ready to support Trump .
New York Rep. Peter King , who once mused he would become a newspaper reporter if Trump was the party β s nominee , said a deal can be struck that would orchestrate a peace between Ryan and Trump . He thinks if Trump can get behind the core principals of Ryan β s GOP agenda , then Ryan can get behind Trump .
β It depends logically on how reasonable Donald Trump wants to be , β King said of the pending kumbaya . β These are all first impressions for all of us . Donald Trump is Donald Trump . And we haven β t had a Speaker who is as philosophical as Paul Ryan . β | q5BIM4E445uGvGCj | 0 | Paul Ryan | 0.4 | Donald Trump | -0.4 | Politics | -0.2 | null | null | null | null |
china | Reuters | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-gas/violence-spills-across-hong-kong-new-territories-on-24th-weekend-of-unrest-idUSKBN1XK04Q | Violence spreads across Hong Kong's New Territories on 24th weekend of unrest | 2019-11-10 | Hong Kong, Protests, Violence, China, World | HONG KONG ( βββ ) - Police fired tear gas and water cannon to break up rallies as activists blocked roads and trashed shopping malls across Hong Kong β s New Territories and Kowloon peninsula on Sunday during the 24th straight weekend of anti-government unrest .
Protesters shouted abuse at β black police β in Cantonese wherever officers appeared , referring to perceived brutality against demonstrations in the Chinese-ruled city that show no sign of let-up after more than five months .
Pro-democracy protesters vandalized a train station in the central new town of Sha Tin and a restaurant seen as being pro-Beijing , overturning banqueting tables and smashing glass panels , two weeks before district council elections .
Violence spilled out onto the streets of Tuen Mun outside the β V city β mall , with running battles between riot police and protesters .
Now TV showed pictures of a circular , red welt and bruise on the upper arm of one of its reporters who said she had been hit by a tear gas canister in Tsuen Wan , to the west of the New Territories , where police fired tear gas late into the evening to clear the streets .
The rail station was closed in Sha Tin , amid scuffles between police and protesters young and old , on a day of planned shopping mall protests throughout the territory . Shopping districts across the harbor on the main island were quiet .
Protesters daubed graffiti and damaged shops at Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong and β stormed β stores in Tsuen Wan , police said .
The violence spread to the Kowloon district of Mong Kok , one of the world β s most densely populated areas . Police used water cannon and volley after volley of tear gas to try to clear the main artery of Nathan Road , which was littered with loose bricks under the bright , neon lights .
Police also fired tear gas late at night in the New Territories district of Tai Po , north of Sha Tin .
Protesters are angry about what they see as police brutality and meddling by Beijing in the former British colony β s freedoms , guaranteed by the β one country , two systems β formula in place since the territory returned to Chinese rule in 1997 .
China denies interfering and has blamed Western countries for stirring up trouble .
Protesters are detained by riot police officers during an anti-government demonstration in Hong Kong , China , November 10 , 2019 . βββ/Tyrone Siu
Thousands of people gathered at a Saturday night vigil for β martyrs β , following the death of a student in hospital this week after falling from a car park during a protest . Many called for revenge .
The student , Chow Tsz-lok , 22 , fell from the first floor building in the bay-side eastern suburb of Tseung Kwan O , where police fired tear gas into the night on Sunday as protesters threw bricks , built street barricades and hurled abuse .
Thousands gathered in Chater Garden , in Central on Hong Kong island , to mourn Chow . Pastor Yuen Tin Yau said Chow β s family had decided to donate his organs .
β Yes , we are hopeless , we are restless . But we won β t give up . Of course , we want to see this moment end in harmony and in justice , β said protester Tanya Yeu , 55 . β Perhaps there is a long way to go , but we will hang in , we will hang in . β
Seven pro-democracy city lawmakers have been detained or face arrest and are due to appear in court on Monday on charges of obstructing a May meeting of the local assembly , according to police and several of the lawmakers .
β We believe that the government together with the police , as well as the pro-establishment camp , they are trying to escalate the anger of Hong Kong people in order to cancel or even to postpone the upcoming district council election , β Tanya Chan , a pro-democracy lawmaker , told reporters on Saturday .
One of the arrested lawmakers , Gary Fan , said the detentions were the result of β political prosecutions and judicial crackdowns β by Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam .
The colony of Hong Kong island and the Kowloon peninsula , acquired after two β opium wars β with China , was expanded to include the much larger , rural New Territories on a 99-year lease in 1898 . Britain returned all the land to China when that lease expired in 1997 .
Protesters have called for a general strike on Monday and urged people to block public transport , although such calls in the past have often come to nothing .
They have also demanded an independent inquiry into police tactics , something Lam has refused .
A five-member international panel said an analysis of the Hong Kong police watchdog , the Independent Police Complaints Council , indicated a shortfall in its β independent investigative capability β to look into policing during the protests . | 6e7be371babe18c3 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
media_bias | National Review | https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/05/emmanuel-macron-european-vision-continental-tribalism/ | How the American Media Misunderstand Macron | 2018-05-01 | media_bias | French President Emmanuel Macron attends an arrival ceremony with President Trump at the White House , April 24 , 2018 . ( Joshua Roberts/Reuters )
His vision is one of tribalism β not national tribalism , but continental tribalism .
Emmanuel Macron is a master seducer . During his recent trip to the U.S. , he pulled off a feat that would be impossible for any American politician β he secured praise from the American media outlets on both the left and the right .
While Trump β s close relationship with Macron generally fascinates the media , conservative commentators have been especially positive , since it seems to show an area of politics where Trump β s personality is an asset . Macron has capitalized on this to reach out to the Right : In an interview with Fox News , he remarked that he and Trump are similar , as they are both political outsiders . Macron even appropriated Trump β s MAGA slogan β he wants to Make France Great Again ! Conservative pundits , rejoicing at Macron β s push for domestic free-market reforms , have claimed him as one of their own . Newt Gingrich wrote that Macron and Trump are both trying to β drain the swamp β in their respective countries . In this analysis , Macron is a friend of conservatism : He is a free-marketeer and has a β Greatness Agenda. β But it fails to take notice of Macron β s speech at the European Parliament on April 17 , when he outlined his agenda to renew β European sovereignty. β As any reader of Hobbes β s Leviathan will know , more β European β sovereignty must mean less French sovereignty . The French people will have less power to elect representatives who can make and change the laws of their own country . Macron is less interested in French greatness , and more interested in European greatness .
Those writing on the left have caught on to the fact that Macron β s β Greatness Agenda β differs from Trump β s . After all , Macron supports the Iran deal and the Paris Agreement , embracing Obama β s legacy . When Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement , Macron β s social-media slogan was β Make Our Planet Great Again. β Addressing Congress , Macron established that he does not β share the fascination for new strong powers , the abandonment of freedom , and the illusion of nationalism , β in a thinly veiled critique of Trump . Macron β s April 17 speech gave further evidence of his anti-Trump credentials , as he claimed that America β is rejecting multilateralism , free trade , and climate change. β For challenging Trump in these terms , the New York Times β Roger Cohen declared that β the world owes one to France , big time . β
But if the Left is looking for a champion of liberal universalism and openness , Macron is an odd choice . The reality is that he is interested in reinvigorating the European project as a distinctly European project , looking not outward but inward .
Journalists raised on post-1989 assumptions about the international order see the European Union as a perpetual force of global openness . For them , the EU is the quintessential agent of ever-expanding liberalism , encouraging its β four freedoms β β freedom of goods , services , persons , and capital β across the European continent and around the world . In the 1990s and early 2000s , it seemed like this was so . Under primarily German leadership , the EU brought the benefits of liberal markets to the former Communist countries of Eastern Europe , followed by the newly independent Baltic states . It expanded into Greece and the former Yugoslavia , planned to extend membership to Turkey and Ukraine , and considered free-trade agreements in North Africa and the Near East . This vision of the EU prioritized the integration of people and markets , and knew no fixed boundary . Any discussion about a natural geographic border to the European project β or even worse , a cultural border β was an embarrassment , and even a moral scandal . Like that awkward first verse of the German national anthem , talk of borders was suppressed . As Angela Merkel thought in 2015 , Europe should have no real frontier .
Post-1989 journalists have been shocked to see that on nearly all these expansionist ambitions , this vision of the EU has run aground . Through stock references to Brexit and Trump , or Poland and Hungary , they blame recent political events for stalling that vision of ever-expanding free trade and for putting the liberal international order into jeopardy .
But in truth that vision of Europe was always in tension with another . This other vision did not judge the success of the EU by its capacity to bestow the blessings of liberal markets on more and more peoples not originally part of the common market . Instead , its success was about how it could deepen integration within the common market . Within that common market , the EU has increasingly understood its success in terms of its ability to extend a deeper , purer practice of liberalism into all the areas of life . To do so requires giving more powers to Brussels and deconstructing the member states . The political agenda is federalization within a fixed border .
Both Macron and Le Pen are protectionists , they just disagree about the level at which protectionist policies should be implemented .
This new vision , popular among the French elite and embodied in Emmanuel Macron , is therefore unabashedly insular . Since EU expansion to places like Turkey now sounds like a bad joke , and since the EU β s institutions have floundered since 2008 , this new vision has the initiative . To promote his project of enhancing European sovereignty , Macron is much more comfortable with boundaries than the liberal universalist is . Macron argues for a vigorous reinforcement of the common European frontier . To strengthen that frontier , Macron β s proposes that more powers be turned over to Brussels : He argues for the creation of a common defense force and for pooling European resources for counter-terrorism efforts . He supports a common European budget and monetary fund and a finance chief to direct how that money be used .
In handling the problems of European economic competitiveness , Macron bears an uncanny resemblance to Marine Le Pen . When , during their presidential debate , Le Pen said she wanted a strong , interventionist French state to stand up to Chinese competition , Macron didn β t reply by defending open markets . Instead , he said that his goal was to strengthen the European Union to resist Chinese competition . Both Macron and Le Pen are protectionists , they just disagree about the level at which protectionist policies should be implemented . This was not mere campaign rhetoric : One of Macron β s priorities is to push for new capital controls in the EU , screening Chinese investment into Europe .
Macron β s vision of the EU is as a common market wary of foreign competitors and focused on internal purification . It must fool the post-1989 media to make it think that it is the same European project they so enthusiastically promoted following the fall of the Berlin wall . It succeeds through ignorance and a sleight of hand . Since few foreign media outlets acknowledge and debate the different visions of the European project that have been proposed since 1989 ( let alone since 1945 ) , many of these cheerleaders for global openness and liberalism have become cheerleaders for continental protectionism .
Media outlets are fond of characterizing contemporary politics as a struggle between the universal β globalists β and the tribal β nationalists. β A more accurate characterization of the struggle is as one between two kinds of tribalism . In defending Macron β s plans to intensify the EU β s federalism , the β globalists β mask their tribalism behind a rhetoric of openness . Rather than nationalist tribalism , they encourage continental tribalism . This does not oppose β America First β with β the Planet First β but with β Europe First. β Macron β s project is ambitious , and he knows how to make it sound attractive to the different camps within the American press . But his goals can not be reconciled with genuine open markets , or with genuine self-government . | LaUQ3hCkZ2tkyhmw | 2 | Emmanuel Macron | 0.1 | Media Watch | 0 | Media Bias | 0 | null | null | null | null |
joe_biden | Time Magazine | https://time.com/7207736/biden-sets-record-commuting-sentences-nonviolent-drug-charges | Biden Sets Record Commuting Sentences During Final Week | 2025-01-17 | Politics, Pardons, Prison, Drugs, Criminal Justice, Joe Biden, Clemency | Looks like we can't find what you're looking for. See if you can find it on the homepage or try searching below! | 4221db9149ad0038 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
healthcare | USA TODAY | http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/05/16/obamacare-challenges/2166189/ | Obamacare: 3 years in, it faces steep challenges | 2013-05-16 | healthcare | Supporters worry about cascading problems as key provisions go into effect .
Uncertainty about the law has risen as time has passed
Four in 10 Americans do n't believe the law is still in place
WASHINGTON -- The Affordable Care Act is sure to survive the latest vote by the House of Representatives Thursday to repeal it β since the Senate does n't plan to take it up and President Obama would veto a repeal bill if it somehow reached his desk β but the administration 's signature legislative achievement still faces serious perils ahead .
Americans have a dimmer view of the health care law now than they did when Obama triumphantly signed it three years ago , according to monthly tracking polls by the Kaiser Family Foundation . The public 's divided view and relentless Republican attacks have made it easier for governors and state legislators to balk at cooperating with the law . It is designed to provide coverage for millions of Americans who have n't qualified for Medicaid in the past and do n't get insurance through their employers .
That could have a cascading effect : Resistance by the states will make it harder for the law to work as promised when Medicaid expands next year and the health-insurance marketplaces where the uninsured can shop for plans open this fall .
That could fortify the arguments of those who warned the law was a mistake from the start and threaten fundamental provisions of it down the road .
`` For most of the Obama administration , the thought was the bill was passed and it 's over , '' says Robert Blendon , a Harvard professor and influential analyst who supports the law . The president understandably turned his attention to the fragile economy , and the most far-reaching expansions of coverage were delayed until 2014 β leaving the door open for opponents to warn of calamity ahead . `` By the time they returned to it , '' Blendon says of White House officials , `` opinions were really embedded . ''
Just over a third of Americans , 35 % , have a favorable opinion of the health law , according to the Kaiser survey taken last month , down from 46 % who had a positive view when it was signed in 2010 . Now 40 % have an unfavorable opinion β precisely the same as three years ago β and nearly one in four , 24 % , say they do n't have an opinion .
The poll of 1,203 adults , taken April 15-20 , has a margin of error of +/β3 percentage points .
Uncertainty about the law has risen as time has passed , and confusion about what it does and how it works is especially high among those it is designed to help . In fact , four in 10 Americans do n't believe the law is still in place , saying inaccurately that it 's been overturned by the Supreme Court or repealed by Congress .
Still the law ? As you know , a health care bill was signed into law in March 2010 . What 's its current status ? Poll taken April 15-20 of 1,203 adults . Margin of error +/- 3 percentage points .
`` People have n't really seen the benefits of it , and it 's had hundreds of millions of dollars in ads attacking it , '' says Neera Tanden , who helped shape the law as Obama adviser and now heads the liberal Center for American Progress . `` One party was definitely consistently criticizing it , and Democrats have not been sufficiently defending it . So it 's been a lopsided argument . ''
The White House is scrambling to bolster support for and knowledge about the law , in part to encourage younger and healthier Americans who lack health insurance to shop for a plan when the exchanges open Oct. 1 . Officials are trying to spotlight popular policies that already have gone into effect , including provisions that provide free preventive care for seniors and allow young adults to stay on their parents ' insurance plans .
They also are trying to reassure skeptical employers about the law and its provisions . In a Gallup Poll last month , owners of small businesses predicted by 5-1 , 48 % -9 % , that the Affordable Care Act was going to be bad rather than good for their businesses . About four in 10 said they had held off plans to hire new workers and pulled back on plans to grow their businesses because of the law and its mandates .
`` The law is here to stay , '' Obama declared at an East Room event last week β not an assertion presidents typically feel compelled to make . He noted that not only did Congress pass the law in 2010 ( albeit without a single Republican vote ) but also the Supreme Court upheld it last year . Then voters `` went to the polls and decided to keep going in this direction '' by re-electing him last November .
`` With something as personal as health care , I realize there are people who are anxious , people who are nervous , making sure that we get this done right , '' the president said . `` I 'm here to tell you , I am 110 % committed to getting it done right . It 's not an easy undertaking , but if it were easy , it would have already been done a long time ago . Undoubtedly , there will be some mistakes and hiccups as the thing get started up , but we 're learning already from them . ''
Among those most anxious and nervous about possible `` mistakes and hiccups '' ahead are Democratic members of Congress who voted for the law .
Opposition to Obamacare fueled the rise of the Tea Party and the Republican takeover of the House in the 2010 congressional elections . `` Those of us who remember 2009 and the town-hall meetings , we want to be fully prepared now , '' says Rep. Jan Schakowsky , D-Ill. , recalling raucous meetings with constituents who saw the health care plan as an expensive and dangerous government overreach . `` People are concerned that we do some better messaging before the August recess . ''
She and other congressional Democrats met last week with Ron Pollack , head of Families USA , a leading backer of the law . `` People are very much wanting to make sure the implementation goes as smoothly as possible , '' Pollack says . `` In 2009 and 2010 , congressional Democrats played rope-a-dope and they got hurt . '' This time , he advised , they should be prepared to detail the law 's benefits and rebut any `` false claims '' about it .
Meanwhile , Republicans relish the idea of brandishing Obamacare as a political weapon in the midterms . House Speaker John Boehner says the House brought up overall repeal of the law for the third time since it was enacted simply to give Republican freshmen a chance to stand against it . `` We 've got 70 new members who have not had an opportunity to vote on the president 's health care law , '' he told reporters beforehand .
Boehner 's office says it is the 37th vote in the House on repealing , curtailing or defunding all or part of the Affordable Care Act .
Republicans have failed to repeal the law in its entirety , but seven bills revising particular provisions have been enacted . The GOP also has denied funding requests by the Department of Health and Human Services to help implement the law , including the campaign to boost participation in the insurance exchanges . That 's particularly important because if only people with chronic conditions and higher medical bills sign up , premiums would soar and the underpinnings of the system would be undercut .
While the law mandates that most of the uninsured get insurance , the annual penalty for failing to do so is low enough ( $ 95 in 2014 , rising to $ 695 in 2016 ) that some people simply will choose to pay it .
News reports that HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has been raising private money for the effort sparked objections and demands for information this week from Republican lawmakers . Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander , the top Republican on the Senate Health committee , says he will formally request an investigation by the congressional General Accounting Office this week , comparing her actions to the Iran-contra scandal in the Reagan administration .
Since March , Sebelius has made fundraising calls on behalf of Enroll America to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and H & R Block , according to her spokesman , Jason Young . Enroll America , a non-profit organization created to encourage the uninsured Americans to sign up for the exchanges , is headed by Anne Filipic , a former aide to Obama and Sebelius who worked in the White House before resigning to lead the group .
Sebelius also made more public appeals to charitable groups , insurers , pharmaceutical companies and others to help the enrollment effort .
Young says Sebelius ' fundraising efforts were permitted under provisions that date to 1976 in the Public Health Service Act , which allows the HHS secretary to encourage support for non-profit groups that promote public health . He said her predecessors made similar appeals when other new federal programs were launched , including the Medicare prescription drug benefit during the Bush administration and the children 's health insurance program during the Clinton years .
Alexander is not persuaded . `` I do n't see how that 's different from what Oliver North did at the end of the Reagan administration to raise money privately and use it to support the contra rebels '' in Nicaragua , he said in an interview . `` A joint select committee of Congress that was bipartisan said the principle problem with Iran-contra is that the Reagan administration was using private funds and private entities to do something that Congress had refused to do . ''
He said that Sebelius may be violating the Constitution and the Anti-deficiency Act , which prohibits federal employees from spending money beyond that authorized by law .
The Affordable Care Act envisioned most states establishing and running their own insurance exchanges . But only 17 states and the District of Columbia are moving ahead with plans to do that ; another seven are setting up `` partnership exchanges '' with the federal government .
But 26 states , including six of the 10 most populous ones , are leaving the job entirely to the federal government . The administration says one-third of the prime target group nationwide β healthy 18- to 34-year-olds who do n't have insurance β live in California , Florida and Texas . Of that trio of states , only California is setting up a state exchange .
The other major part of the Affordable Care Act to cover the uninsured , expanding Medicaid to include more low-income Americans , is opposed by at least 20 governors , according to the Kaiser foundation . The Supreme Court ruling last year upheld the law 's controversial individual mandate but gave states the option of choosing not to participate in the Medicaid expansion . In the states that do n't , the uninsured who are too poor to afford to buy coverage in the exchanges , even with a federal subsidy , are out of luck .
Democratic pollster Mark Mellman says the public still could be won over to embrace the law . `` It 's slightly more unpopular than popular , but it 's not radioactive , '' he says , despite a concerted and well-funded campaign against it .
In the end , views of the law will depend on whether it works as promised , Republican pollster Bill McInturff agrees . `` If in fact this is a good and affordable product that works , it will work , '' he says . `` If what starts to happen is small employers start dumping people into the exchanges and they lose good private coverage ; if healthy people would rather pay the penalty than sign up β then it 's going to immediately turn into a problem with demands to change it . ''
Over the next year , the health care law is likely to succeed in some states and fail in others , analyst Blendon says .
`` Best case : the governor and the legislature support it , they have a state exchange , and what I call the civic leadership is all behind it β the business people , the unions , the religious leaders . Then the problem is just technically , how do we get this set up and how do we get people to understand '' how it works ?
At the other extreme are states that are declining to participate in the Medicaid expansion and to put the force of the state government and local leadership behind the new marketplaces . `` If you do n't offer Medicaid and you do n't have a lot of support for the federally run exchange , it will be incredibly easy for the one-third of people younger and healthier not to enroll , '' he cautions . `` At least in 20 states , it 's set up to fail . '' | 2smoGvt7Z8i20Acw | 1 | Healthcare | -0.1 | Obamacare | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
education | HuffPost | https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democrats-school-funding-teacher-walkouts_us_5b043ff3e4b0740c25e5c2d8 | Democrats Want To Boost School Funding To Address Teacher Walkouts | 2018-05-22 | Education | Labor Reporter, HuffPost As more and more teachers protest their statesβ funding cuts, Democrats in Congress say they have a plan to restore school spending and boost teacher pay. On Capitol Hill on Tuesday, party leaders joined teachersβ union officials to promote a slate of policies aimed at addressing the growing number of teacher walkouts that have shaken up statehouses across the country. The measure would steer $100 billion in federal funds toward schools and ensure that teachers could bargain collectively on salaries, benefits and working conditions. βWeβre here because teachers are marching on state Capitols across the country,β said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). βTeachers of America, the Democrats hear you loud and clear.β Democrats said their plan would pay for those investments by paring back some of the tax cuts for the wealthy in the Republican tax package passed by Congress last year and signed by President Donald Trump. Parts of the plan were introduced last year as the Democratic Partyβs new βBetter Dealβ agenda, which is heavy on antitrust and labor law reform. The leaders didnβt specify which parts of the Republican tax plan they would target for repeal, referring only to tax breaks for the rich and special-interest loopholes. At the heart of the Republican plan was a massive corporate tax cut. Although families in all income brackets are expected to have smaller tax bills next year, independent analysts say most of the benefits from the plan will go to the wealthy. βThe very wealthiest should not have such a large tax cut,β Schumer said. βI think the odds of something like this [education proposal] passing are large in the next several years β¦ Our day is going to come sooner than you think.β The Democratsβ plan isnβt going anywhere for now, as Republicans still hold a majority in both chambers and occupy the White House. But the education plan helps Democrats put down a marker before the midterm elections, just as the teacher walkouts have galvanized grassroots activists and spurred a backlash against Republican austerity. Most states pulled back on education funding when tax revenues fell during the Great Recession. Spending still hasnβt returned to 2008 levels in certain states, several of which went on to implement tax cuts that left even less money for schools and salaries. The teacher strikes have tended to hit states with the deepest cuts. βRepublicans are fighting to slash teacher and school budgets. This is one of the dumbest things Republicans have done,β said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The walkouts began in late February, when West Virginia teachers went on strike to protest low pay, rising health costs and poorly equipped classrooms. The successful work stoppage prompted similar walkouts and school closures in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona and North Carolina, all with Republican-controlled statehouses that have cut taxes in recent years while school funding has dropped, when adjusted for inflation. The next four years will change America forever. But HuffPost won't back down when it comes to providing free and impartial journalism. For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience to qualifying contributors who support our fearless newsroom. We hope you'll join us. You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest β we could use your help again. We won't back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can't do it without you. For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience. to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you'll join us. You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest β we could use your help again. We won't back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can't do it without you. For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience. to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you'll join us. Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages. The images of striking teachers and crumbling textbooks has prompted several states to increase school funding and teacher pay to varying degrees. Congressional Democrats said it still isnβt enough. Their plan would dedicate $50 billion to states to raise teacher pay and another $50 billion to states to spend on school infrastructure and curriculum. Another, less direct way the plan could boost teacher salaries is through more union contracts. The states that have seen teacher strikes and walkouts tend to have weak labor laws, in some cases even outlawing collective bargaining by public-sector workers. In West Virginia, for instance, the unions have no ability to bargain contracts and guaranteed raises with school districts, only to lobby lawmakers for higher salaries. The Democratic plan would change that by enshrining public-sector workersβ ability to bargain as a group, just like workers in the private sector, through a federal law. Such bills have been proposed in the past but never received enough votes. If Democrats succeed in passing it someday, itβs likely that conservative states would challenge it in court. You have the right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences. | 51f8b0622925578c | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
russia | CNN (Web News) | https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/20/politics/donald-trump-mueller-report-anger/index.html | From 'total exoneration' to 'total bullsh**': Trump lingers on damning report | 2019-04-20 | Russia, Mueller Report, Donald Trump | Washington ( CNN ) By the time President Donald Trump had passed through the prime rib buffet at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday to sit for dinner with family and a top aide , the damning picture Robert Mueller 's report painted of his presidency had become clear .
Instead of the `` total exoneration '' Trump had proclaimed earlier , the report portrayed the President as deceitful and paranoid encouraging his aides to withhold the truth and cross ethical lines in an attempt to thwart a probe into Russia 's interference in US elections -- his `` Achilles heel , '' according to one forthcoming adviser .
Perhaps more angering to a leader who detests weakness -- but does n't necessarily mind an amoral reputation -- were the number of underlings shown ignoring his commands , privately scoffing at the `` crazy sh * * '' he was requesting and working around him to avoid self-implication .
Now , those close to him say Trump is newly furious at the people -- most of whom no longer work for him -- whose extensive interviews with the special counsel 's office created the epic depiction of an unscrupulous and chaotic White House . And he 's seeking assurances from those who remain that his orders are being treated like those of a president , and not like suggestions from an intemperate but misguided supervisor .
`` Because I never agreed to testify , it was not necessary for me to respond to statements made in the 'Report ' about me , some of which are total bullshit & only given to make the other person look good ( or me to look bad ) , '' Trump tweeted on Friday morning as he waited out a rainstorm in Florida before proceeding to his golf course for a round with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh .
Some current and former officials who accurately predicted that details in the Mueller report would be embarrassing for the White House are now questioning the legal strategy to fully cooperate with the Mueller investigation .
One official who sat down with the special counsel noted that they did so at the behest of the former White House legal team , John Dowd and Ty Cobb , who provided a wealth of documents and encouraged senior officials to be interviewed . It was because of these interviews with people closest to the President that Mueller and his team were able to get a cinematic look at the deceit and trickery taking place in the West Wing .
While these people are critical , the full cooperation was a strategy to make it hard for Mueller to push for an interview given all the information he was given . It was a strategy that worked , even if there is some political embarrassment .
The President was aware ahead of its public release what was contained in the Mueller report . Attorney General Bill Barr told reporters Thursday that both the White House counsel and Trump 's personal legal team were given an opportunity to read the redacted version in the previous days .
But Trump grew angry as he watched cable news coverage because , sources familiar with the matter said , a theme was emerging that vexed him : a portrait of a dishonest president who is regularly managed , restrained or ignored by his staff .
It was a sharp turn away from his earlier statements , which welcomed the report 's findings on collusion and falsely claimed total exoneration . Hours before his Mar-a-Lago dinner , Trump insisted to a crowd on the tarmac in Florida the dark days of Mueller 's special counsel investigation had ended .
`` Game over , folks , '' he said over the sounds of a busy airport . `` Now , it 's back to work . ''
It 's hard to tell , however , what Trump intends to head back to . Mueller 's probe and Trump 's constant focus on it have been the backdrop for all but a few months of the presidency , often diminishing whatever policy efforts have been orchestrated by officials or Republican lawmakers . The report depicts a President who for two years has been largely consumed by the Russia investigation , intent on short-circuiting it but repeatedly stymied in his efforts by aides .
A senior administration official told CNN 's Jake Tapper that dynamic was `` nothing surprising . ''
`` That the President makes absurd demands of his staff and administration officials -- who are alarmed by them and reluctant to follow them -- is not only unsurprising but has become the norm , '' the official said .
Nevertheless , in the past Trump has resisted the idea that he is being controlled by those around him or that they are responsible for his successes . Sources familiar with how the West Wing operates said attempts to subvert the President 's demands have not ceased now that the Mueller investigation is over . There have been instances in recent weeks where aides have slow walked or ignored Trump 's directives , hoping he will forget he gave them .
What is clear is many of those who avoided carrying out Trump 's demands related to Mueller 's probe -- often , it seemed , in a bid to protect themselves from criminal wrongdoing -- are no longer employed by the White House . Instead , the aides who now surround the President appear less willing to write him off and more likely to encourage him to follow his gut .
Among those who have moved on : the White House counsel who refused Trump 's demand to fire Mueller , the chief of staff and senior adviser who anxiously tried to retrieve a resignation letter from the attorney general , the staff secretary who declined Trump 's order to gauge the loyalty of a Justice Department official , the attorney general who refused to un-recuse himself and the communications chief who seemed most expert in Trump 's whims .
Even Steve Bannon , once viewed as the ultimate advocate for following Trump 's instincts , is depicted in the report as a constraining force . In one instance , when the President tried to claim Mueller had a conflict of interest because of a membership dispute at a Trump golf club , Bannon wrote it off as `` ridiculous and petty . '' Trump and Bannon parted ways in the summer of 2017 and have not reconciled since .
Instead , the most prominent aides who do remain are depicted in the report as the most dishonest . Press secretary Sarah Sanders , who was out the office when the report was released , is shown repeatedly misleading the press , a fact she attempted to downplay in morning television interviews on Friday .
`` ( Trump ) has never asked me to break the law , '' she said on CBS . `` When the President wants to do something and make a decision , he does it . He 's not somebody who sit around and ponders . I think you guys have seen that day in and day out . One minute you 're running stories saying the staff ca n't control him and the next minute everyone 's saying thank God the staff could control him . You do n't get to have it both ways . ''
JUST WATCHED Giuliani snaps at Cuomo : Stop using the word 'lie ' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Giuliani snaps at Cuomo : Stop using the word 'lie ' 02:48
Among those who Trump dined with in Florida on Thursday was Mick Mulvaney , the chief of staff who still fills the role in an acting capacity but who , according to officials , has done less than either of his two predecessors to restrain Trump in his hardline instincts .
Indeed , since Mulvaney 's tenure began at the start of the year , Trump has overseen the longest government shutdown in US history , a dramatic shakeup at the Department of Homeland Security , a sharp turn toward harsher policies on the border , a decision to ask a court to scrap the entire Affordable Care Act and a confusing dictate on North Korea sanctions that still has advisers scratching their heads .
People familiar with Mulvaney 's style say those outcomes are n't necessarily his doing , but rather the result of a President newly empowered to follow his impulses without the restrictions placed on him by previous aides . Sources say the President has also come to rely on his chief of staff less than he did during the reign of Reince Priebus or John Kelly , when he would often call his top aide nearly a dozen times a day . Mulvaney has told colleagues there are days he barely hears from the President .
In his report , Mueller describes both of Mulvaney 's predecessors -- Priebus and Kelly -- as working in at least some capacity to contain the damage of Trump 's behavior . Priebus is shown making an urgent ( and vaguely comic ) effort to recover a resignation letter from then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions that Trump had kept , believing it would amount to a `` shock collar '' on the Justice Department because it was not dated and aides feared Trump could employ it at his leisure .
Kelly told Mueller that when Trump wanted to meet with friends who encouraged his impulses , such as former campaign aide Corey Lewandowski , he tried to push them to the private residence `` to create distance from the West Wing . ''
Trump soured on Priebus and Kelly long before he summarily terminated each of their tenures . So , too , had Trump grown wary of former White House counsel Don McGahn , who sat for more than 30 hours of testimony with Mueller 's team . Trump grew irate again at his former aide late Thursday and into Friday .
In the report , Trump is described as having several tense encounters with McGahn during his White House tenure , including episodes when McGahn was prepared to resign rather than carry out Trump 's demands .
McGahn described Trump asking him to do `` crazy sh * * , '' according to Priebus . Trump , meanwhile , deemed McGahn a `` lying bastard '' whose habit of taking contemporaneous notes raised suspicion . In an anecdote relayed in the report , Trump and McGahn went back-and-forth over the note-taking , which Trump insisted good lawyers -- such as his onetime counsel Roy Cohn -- never did .
Trump had n't backed off that view by Friday morning , when he made clear on Twitter his frustrations at the report .
`` Watch out for people that take so-called 'notes , ' when the notes never existed until needed , '' the President wrote . | cd2c7330494dc827 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
healthcare | Christian Science Monitor | http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/0430/Obamacare-faces-new-legal-challenge-Its-tax-still-violates-the-Constitution?nav=90-csm_category-topStories | Obamacare faces new legal challenge: Its 'tax' still violates the Constitution | 2013-04-30 | healthcare | With tax day and IRS forms fresh in their minds , most Americans might think the US tax system couldn β t get any more daunting .
One of the hotly debated features of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ( or β Obamacare β ) takes effect in 2014 . Under the law β s β individual mandate , β nearly everyone who isn β t covered by an employer will have to buy health insurance or pay a penalty . This penalty was officially labeled a β tax β by the Supreme Court , or at least by five of the justices , in its decision on Obamacare last June .
The Obama administration , however , never argued that the individual mandate is an exercise of Congress β s taxing authority . And as recently as October , in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine , President Obama avoided the β tax β justification , and still insisted that the individual mandate is a regulatory action authorized by the Commerce Clause .
Just what Americans need : more confusion and ambiguity in their tax law .
By calling the mandate to buy insurance a β tax , β the court did more than trigger new debates about semantics . It created a potentially fatal constitutional glitch in the law .
Article I , Section 7 of the Constitution says that tax bills β β all bills for raising revenue β β must β originate in the House of Representatives. β The framers wrote this β Origination Clause β because they recognized the potential danger in the taxing power , and they wanted to keep it as close as possible to voters . So they entrusted it to members of the House , who are elected every two years and have smaller constituencies than senators , who represent whole states and serve staggered six-year terms .
But Obamacare didn β t follow the constitutional script . Instead of originating in the lower chamber , it started in the Senate , when Majority Leader Harry Reid took an old bill the House had passed that would have given veterans tax credits to buy homes , struck out all of that bill β s language , and inserted instead the confusing web of provisions that became the Affordable Care Act .
That question is now in front of US District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington , D.C. , in a challenge to Obamacare filed on behalf of Matt Sissel , an Iowa small business owner who was decorated for service as a medic in the Iraq war .
Obamacare was passed hastily , by lawmakers who admitted they had not read the bill . The legislation was passed during the holiday season , through questionable procedural tricks . It was never popular , and a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that only 36 percent of Americans currently support the law . Even the Supreme Court β s liberal wing agreed that large parts of it were unconstitutional . In part of last June β s decision , Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan joined the conservatives to hold that Congress had illegally tried to force states to expand their Medicaid rolls .
These are all good reasons not to give a reflexive pass to the law β s most controversial aspects β including the way it was enacted .
The Supreme Court has never addressed whether the Senate can evade the Origination Clause by hollowing out a House bill and substituting its own tax . β If any act violates the Origination Clause , it would seem to be the Affordable Care Act , β Randy Barnett , a Georgetown University Law School professor and leading constitutional critic of Obamacare , has written .
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The Constitution β s procedural guidelines might seem like dry formalities . But such procedures were designed to safeguard the rights of the American people . And if last June β s Supreme Court decision is not to become a precedent for Congress to impose any variety of mandates on Americans under the taxing power , courts should take care to enforce democratic controls over that power .
Timothy Sandefur is a principal attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation , a public-interest legal organization that litigates for limited government , individual rights , and free enterprise . He represents small business owner Matt Sissel in challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act β s individual mandate β tax . β | gffjJbuapB1ca45S | 1 | Obamacare | -1 | Healthcare | -0.6 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
china | NPR Online News | https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/12/28/791366722/the-global-stories-of-2019-that-you-probably-missed | The Global Stories Of 2019 That You Probably Missed | 2019-12-28 | china | Sure , everybody thinks it 's great when a story is read by many hundreds of thousands of folks . That 's definitely a success .
But what about stories that do n't get a lot of pageviews ? Maybe the headline just did n't catch a reader 's eye . Or maybe there was so much news that day that the story slipped through the cracks of the internet and tumbled into digital oblivion .
That does n't mean these stories were not a success . Sometimes just one person will send an email about how a story touched them β and that makes a correspondent ( and an editor ) feel really good about their work .
Nonetheless , getting lots of folks to read our stories is one of our goals . So we 'd like to give some of our least-read stories of 2019 another chance to reach our readers .
`` I diagnose them through conversation , '' says Dr. Tina Mustahid ( pictured above ) . She 's part of a pioneering effort to bring medical care to isolated islands in Bangladesh via Skype . The text and photos take readers into the daily lives of people living in these remote places .
Yes , this really happened . The annual `` Run for Children '' in Delhi took place in November , with some 2,000 participants , even though the air quality was so poor that the government was urging people not to go jogging . `` It was silly and criminal to make kids run in this pollution , '' Dr. Anupam Sachdeva , a Delhi-based pediatrician , tells NPR . Social media users agreed .
They 're a natural weapon against climate change . They act as buffers against coastal erosion and flooding , and they store up to four times as much carbon as other forests . So why is India destroying more and more mangroves ?
She 's Helen Clark of New Zealand . We spoke to her about women 's rights ( `` Well , women are n't tired [ of raising the issue ] because we 're not there yet '' ) and her popularity among young people ( she credits , among other things , her embrace of Snapchat ) . And when she delivers a speech , young woman line up to get a selfie with the 69-year-old former prime minister .
It seems an unlikely pairing : a respected aid organization and a social media giant fined $ 5 billion for privacy violations . The connection came as Facebook announced plans to launch a global digital currency with Mercy Corps as a partner . We talked to sources about the pluses β and drawbacks β of this potential relationship .
The # MeToo movement has been slow going in China . In a country where frank talk about sex is rare , pop-up pubs are trying to make a difference : A host fields questions from youth about such topics as turning down unwanted sexual advances .
Living in Belgium , filmmaker Rosine Mbakam of Cameroon says she `` started to just write a portrait of my mother because I was missing her . '' That led to a documentary about Mbakam 's return to her homeland for the first time in seven years β and about the differences between her generation and her mother 's . The Two Faces Of A BamilΓ©kΓ© Woman , released in the U.S. this year , is , she says , a way to say `` thank you '' to her mother and the women of her generation who gave Mbakam the freedom `` to just dream and do what I want to do because of all the sacrifice . '' | JD0fSIsxc4p1DuDe | 1 | China | -0.4 | India | -0.2 | NPR | -0.1 | World | 0 | New Zealand | 0 |
white_house | BBC News | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48665793 | Six gems from Trump's ABC interview | 2019-06-17 | White House, Politics | From expelling an aide for coughing , to insisting he is treated worse than assassinated US Civil War leader Abraham Lincoln , to whether UFOs exist , President Donald Trump dropped a number of notable lines in a television interview .
The president hosted ABC News at the White House , shedding some light on his thinking as he prepares to launch his 2020 re-election campaign in Florida on Tuesday .
When Mick Mulvaney , acting White House chief of staff , coughed in the background of the Oval Office interview , Mr Trump became visibly upset and asked his top aide to leave the room .
`` Let 's do that over , he 's coughing in the middle of my answer , '' Mr Trump said . `` I do n't like that , you know . I do n't like that . ''
`` If you 're going to cough , please leave the room , '' the president added , pointing and shaking his head in disapproval . `` You just ca n't , you just ca n't cough . ''
The exchange happened as Mr Trump defended his decision not to turn over his `` fantastic financial statement '' to the US Senate , adding that he `` might '' reveal it someday .
Anthony 's take : Was Mr Mulvaney signalling to the president to be careful when talking about his tax returns ? Or maybe he was choking on the president 's answer .
Whatever the reason , it 's hard to imagine the previous chief of staff , former Marine General John Kelly , putting up with such a curt dismissal .
The Trump campaign has fired several of its hired pollsters after leaks showed Mr Trump losing to Democrats next year in several key battleground states , according to US media .
But in the interview , Mr Trump denied there were any unflattering popularity figures , maintaining that his team 's internal polls `` show I 'm winning everywhere '' .
He dismissed leaked opinion surveys showing Democratic White House hopeful Joe Biden leading in swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin . Mr Trump stated that `` those polls do n't exist '' .
On Monday , he returned to the theme on Twitter , saying : `` Only Fake Polls show us behind the Motley Crew '' - a reference to the crowded Democratic presidential field .
Anthony 's take : As the old bit of advice goes , do n't kill the bearer of bad news . The president 's `` private '' polling roughly matches up with the public surveys that have been recently released showing that , despite a booming economy , Mr Trump has an uphill fight for re-election .
With voting more than 16 months away , however , the numbers are relatively unimportant . If this is how the president reacts to adversity , however , it 's a bad sign for the stability of his campaign operation .
Mr Trump argued that no president has ever been as mistreated as himself , including Abe Lincoln , who was shot dead .
`` If you can believe it , Abraham Lincoln was treated supposedly very badly , '' he said . `` But nobody 's been treated badly like me . ''
Mr Trump , who calls himself a student of history , has previously drawn comparisons with the 16th president . During a rally last September in Montana , Mr Trump said Lincoln 's legendary Gettysburg Address `` was excoriated by the fake news '' .
And during his first election campaign , Mr Trump claimed : `` With the exception of the late , great Abraham Lincoln , I can be more presidential than any president that 's ever held this office . ''
Anthony 's take : Donald Trump reportedly plans to deliver a Fourth of July address from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial . Perhaps at some point during his speech , he can turn to the statue of Abe and compare presidential notes .
Mr Trump smiled and shrugged when ABC asked about reports of Navy pilots seeing unidentified flying objects .
`` They do say , I mean , I 've seen and I 've read and I 've heard , and I did have one very brief meeting on it , '' said the president . `` But people are saying they 're seeing UFOs .
When ABC asked him if the US president would be made aware if there was evidence of extraterrestrials , Mr Trump did not directly answer the question .
He said : `` Well , I think my great pilots , our great pilots would know . And some of them really see things that are a little bit different than in the past , so we 're going to see , but we 'll watch it . ''
Anthony 's take : Donald Trump may have pushed for the release of more information about the Kennedy assassination , but alien conspiracy theorists will surely be disappointed with his UFO answer .
If the truth is out there , they 'll have to find it without the president 's help .
With election season nearing , the Republican president indicated he would launch a new plan to revamp the nation 's healthcare system .
`` Obamacare has been a disaster , '' Mr Trump told ABC as he was driven in the presidential limousine dubbed The Beast .
He promised that the plan for `` phenomenal healthcare '' will be unveiled `` in about two months , maybe less '' .
Mr Trump last week teased details at an unrelated White House event , saying : `` Nobody knows what it is . It 's going to be a big surprise , but it 's going to be a very pleasant one . ''
Anthony 's take : Cue the hyperventilation of Republican members of Congress once again . Conservative politicians paid a high price in the 2018 mid-term elections for their attempts to repeal Obamacare early in the Trump presidency .
The last thing they want is to have their 2020 electoral hopes tied to a healthcare plan that is sure to be savaged by their opponents as soon as it 's revealed .
Mr Trump , who once promised to completely eliminate the national debt over two terms in office , defended its continued climb under his own watch .
`` They doubled the debt on nonsense , '' he said of the Obama administration .
But when the interviewer noted the debt has not stopped accumulating during Mr Trump 's presidency , he responded : `` Sure . But I have to rebuild the military . ''
He added : `` We have beautiful new F-35s and F-18s and new rifles , new uniforms . ''
Since Mr Trump took office , the US has added over $ 2tn ( Β£1.6tn ) to the federal debt , and it now stands at more than $ 22tn .
Anthony 's take : As the Bush administration pushed for sweeping tax cuts in 2002 , Republican Vice-President Dick Cheney once famously said that budget deficits `` do n't matter '' . During the Obama presidency a few years later , however , Republicans were once again devoted budget hawks .
When it comes to the ballooning national debt , whether through government spending or tax reductions , both sides hate it when the other side is responsible . In this regard , Mr Trump is a very conventional politician . | 9616068fd314bdb4 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
white_house | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/09/11/strzok-page-texts-on-media-leak-strategy-fuel-trump-fury-at-doj-nothing-is-being-done.html | Strzok-Page texts on 'media leak strategy' fuel Trump fury at DOJ: 'NOTHING is being done' | 2018-09-11 | white_house | Newly released text messages showing anti-Trump FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page discussing a β media leak strategy β amid the Russia probe rekindled harsh criticism from President Trump of Justice Department and FBI leadership -- even as Strzok 's attorney claimed the text merely referred to efforts to stop leaks .
β So terrible , and NOTHING is being done at DOJ or FBI - but the world is watching , and they get it completely , β Trump tweeted Tuesday , in reference to a Fox News report about the texts .
In a new letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein , Rep. Mark Meadows , R-N.C. , raised β grave concerns β about an β apparent systemic culture of media leaking β among high-level FBI and Justice Department officials to release information damaging to Trump . He cited two text exchanges in April 2017 between now-fired FBI agent Strzok and former FBI attorney Page , in which the two discuss the bureau 's `` media leak strategy . ''
`` I had literally just gone to find this phone to tell you I want to talk to you about media leak strategy with DOJ before you go , '' Strzok texted Page on April 10 , 2017 , according to Meadows , who cited newly produced documents from the Justice Department .
In response to the latest letter and Trump tweet , though , Strzok lawyer Aitan Goelman said the line in question referred to an effort to stop leaks and accused the president of misleading people .
β The term β media leak strategy β in Mr. Strzok β s text refers to a Department-wide initiative to detect and stop leaks to the media . The President and his enablers are once again peddling unfounded conspiracy theories to mislead the American People , β he said in a statement .
On April 22 , though , Strzok wrote , `` article is out ! Well done , Page , '' and on April 12 he told her that two negative articles about Page 's `` namesake '' would soon come out , according to Meadows . That was an apparent reference to Carter Page , the former Trump adviser whom the FBI surveilled for months after obtaining a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ( FISA ) court . Meadows ' initial letter to Rosenstein stated the `` Well done , Page '' text was sent on April 12 , but in an updated letter Tuesday , he stated that it actually occured later in the month .
On April 11 , 2017 , the Washington Post published a story titled , `` FBI obtained FISA warrant to monitor former Trump adviser Carter Page . The article , citing `` law enforcement and other U.S. officials , '' reported that the DOJ and FBI had convinced a FISA judge there was `` probable cause to believe Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power , in this case Russia . ''
The text message exchanges `` should lead a reasonable person to question whether there was a sincere desire to investigate wrongdoing or to place derogatory information in the media to justify a continued probe , '' Meadows , who serves on the House Oversight Committee , wrote .
Meadows β letter to Rosenstein also requested messages between several FBI and DOJ officials , and figures like Strzok , Page and top Russia probe investigator Andrew Weissmann .
Trump β s latest jab at the DOJ , over these texts , comes as he regularly fumes at Attorney General Jeff Sessions over his decision to recuse himself from the Russia probe β last month , Trump urged the AG to investigate Strzok and Page and others tied to the start of that investigation .
Sessions has held firm , putting out an extraordinary statement last month after Trump called on him to take control of the DOJ saying : β While I am Attorney General , the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations . β
Carter Page has not been charged with any wrongdoing . Heavily redacted documents have since shown that a dossier written by ex-British spy Christopher Steele and funded by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign played a key role in obtaining the FISA warrant to surveil him beginning in October 2016 .
The FBI and DOJ declined to comment on the latest letter .
It comes after Meadows last month touched off a firestorm by claiming on Twitter that his office had information suggesting the FBI leaked information to the press and used the resulting articles to help obtain surveillance warrants .
An FBI official pushed back at the time , but Meadows largely stood by his claims , saying , β We have emails and texts plainly showing the FBI leaks to the media . β
Meanwhile , Carter Page blasted the purported β leak β practice after the release of the latest texts .
`` It 's not about me , '' he told Fox News β Sean Hannity . `` They 're just trying to get to the Trump administration and the Trump campaign . '' | oVwO1DAkyl4ywFFY | 2 | Peter Strzok | -1 | White House | 0.2 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null |
elections | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/27/politics/libertarian-party-convention/index.html | Libertarian Party set to pick nominee at convention | 2016-05-27 | Libertarian, Presidential Elections, Elections | Orlando , Florida ( CNN ) They get the bronze medal every four years in what is really a two-person race .
That 's what it must feel like to be a third-party candidate in a two-party country .
But between Donald Trump 's abrupt takeover of the GOP and Bernie Sanders ' climb from long-shot Democratic candidacy to head of a national progressive movement , 2016 has been a year for party outsiders . And Libertarians hope that could give them an opening .
The likely Democratic and Republican nominees each have historically high unfavorable numbers . Media attention for the party , both the national committee chairman and the party 's political director say , is at unprecedented levels .
So it is with an air of opportunity to break out of obscurity that Libertarians , members of the country 's most prominent third party , have gathered for their national convention in Orlando , Florida , this weekend to officially pick a candidate to pitch to angry voters .
Many expect former New Mexico Gov . Gary Johnson , the Libertarian presidential nominee in 2012 , to leave Orlando Sunday evening once again his party 's standard-bearer .
Since last week , Johnson has made the rounds touting his newly minted alliance with former Massachusetts Gov . Bill Weld , who is seeking the party 's vice presidential nomination . The two former governors , who both also happen to be ex-Republicans , are fielding a ticket of sorts , although the Libertarians elect their nominees separately and no formal ticket will exist at the convention until the party selects its presidential and vice presidential nominees .
But Johnson and Weld first have to navigate an openly hostile convention , characterized by its insular proceedings and unwelcome to moderates .
Weld will have to overcome meaningful differences between his demonstrated policy preferences , particularly past support for gun control measures , and his willingness to support Republican politicians . Just this year , the colorful former governor endorsed Ohio Gov . John Kasich for president .
His supposed transgressions from Libertarian orthodoxy have earned him outright disdain from many of the party 's attendees . He received loud boos at his introduction to the party 's vice presidential debate , where he stuck to reciting his conservative bona fides and applauded his opponents on stage .
`` We are not Republican-light , '' Larry Sharpe , a vice-presidential candidate said in a takedown of the Johnson-Weld ticket mere inches away from the former Massachusetts governor .
Asked after the debate , Weld said he thought such attacks `` were not an issue one way or another . ''
Despite his bruising reception , Johnson said he would strongly prefer not to continue his bid without Weld , arguing they were `` arguably the two most Libertarian governors that ever served . ''
Weld has made headlines since his entry into the race for comparing Trump 's proposal to deport all undocumented immigrants to Kristallnacht , a 1938 pogrom remembered to this day for brutality against the Jewish people in the leadup to WWII . For his part , Johnson has said he `` absolutely '' stands by the bold comparison .
Weld doubled down on this kind of rhetoric at the convention , saying that should Trump win the presidency , `` We will be the rogue nation . We will be the North Korea . ''
JUST WATCHED Fmr . gov . likens Trump 's deportation plan to Holocaust Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Fmr . gov . likens Trump 's deportation plan to Holocaust 01:22
Johnson , meanwhile , has several serious challengers gunning for the top spot on the third-party ticket .
Among them is Austin Petersen , a young , hardcore party advocate with strong backing in Libertarian Internet circles . He recently announced the endorsement of Mary Matalin and Erick Erickson , vocal anti-Trump conservatives .
Petersen rolled through the convention , glad-handing delegates and circling back to his open-door suite , filled with meatballs and alcohol for supporters . He belted out insults for Trump , calling him `` Cheetos-faced '' and `` fascist '' as his supporters , who he called `` freedom ninjas , '' hollered in support .
However , in a party that generally swings liberal on social issues , Petersen is unabashedly anti-abortion . He is also 35 years old .
Also expected to post significant support is notorious entrepreneur John McAfee , a man who has forged an international identity after becoming a pioneer in the field of cybersecurity . Last fall , McAfee launched a presidential bid under the banner of his newly formed political organization , the Cyber Party . As the fall continued , McAfee declared his intention to seek the nomination of the Libertarian Party .
JUST WATCHED McAfee founder : I 'll decrypt terrorists ' iPhone free Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH McAfee founder : I 'll decrypt terrorists ' iPhone free 04:42
Building off of his name , his intense personality and his sweeping command of Libertarian sweet spots , McAfee has made a serious bid for the top of the ticket .
Although McAfee has little history with the party and no experience governing , his controversies -- including going into hiding following the shooting death of a businessman near his island compound in Belize -- and his lack of political experience may actually make up for it . In an election cycle dominated by a brash billionaire and reality TV star , McAfee 's libidinous , shadowy , drug-fueled history and cavalier demeanor occasionally might not hurt much in a party built on opposing government control .
The primary has become somewhat contentious and McAfee has repeatedly said that he will not support Johnson if the former New Mexico becomes the nominee .
Petersen said he would `` pull it for Gary '' if the former New Mexico governor won the nomination . Weld said he was n't sure what he 'd do if Johnson was not the nominee .
The Libertarian nominee will appear in ballots in 50 states , but ...
Of course , securing the nomination is only one step -- and an extremely easy one , relatively speaking -- on the path to a Libertarian presidency .
The eventual nominee , whoever it is , will have to compete in the general election , where the odds of victory for the Libertarian Party stand at roughly zero .
As the Libertarian nominee in 2012 , Johnson netted .99 % of the popular vote , a figure that stands as the party 's second strongest showing ever . He fared worse in the Electoral College , translating his support in the popular vote to a total of zero electoral votes .
If that performance repeats itself in the 2016 general election , it will mark the 12th cycle in a row where no third party has earned a single vote in the Electoral College .
JUST WATCHED Gary Johnson : Trump 's immigration plan 'insanity ' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Gary Johnson : Trump 's immigration plan 'insanity ' 06:50
Compared to other years and other third parties , however , the Libertarians have plenty to feel good about . The Libertarian Party has navigated the multitude of onerous requirements for ballot access in all 50 states , a task unaccomplished by any other third party .
Put more simply , the Libertarian nominee will be the only name outside of the mainstream choices on the presidential ballot in all 50 states on November 8 .
Johnson , echoing many other third-party candidates , regularly stresses the Libertarian Party 's need to join the presidential debates . Inclusion in the presidential debates requires strong poll performance , which , of course , requires inclusion in the polls themselves .
JUST WATCHED Weld has not yet approached Romney about his 2016 V.P . bid Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Weld has not yet approached Romney about his 2016 V.P . bid 00:36
There is some reason to expect the Libertarian Party might outperform expectations should its nominee become a regular point in poll surveys this year . A recent national poll showed Johnson receiving 10 % support among registered voters .
From the `` Never Trump '' crowd to the nascent `` Bernie or bust '' movement , the eventual Libertarian nominee might have room to grow a base and shake up the already volatile presidential race . | a54a4e6264a0ccdf | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_house | TheBlaze.com | https://www.theblaze.com/news/gop-rep-steve-king-may-face-punishment-for-white-supremacist-comment-pelosi-says | GOP Rep. Steve King may face punishment for 'white supremacist' comment, Pelosi says | 2019-01-12 | us_house | House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there is `` interest '' within the House of Representatives in taking punitive action against Rep. Steve King ( R-Iowa ) for his comments about white supremacy and white nationalism , according to The Hill .
King has been criticized for asking : `` White nationalist , white supremacist , Western civilizationβhow did that language become offensive ? ''
`` We 'll see what we do about Steve King , but nonetheless , nothing is shocking anymore , right ? '' Pelosi said Friday . `` The new normal around here is to praise white supremacists and nationalism as something that should n't be shunned .
`` I 'm not prepared to make any announcement about that right now , '' Pelosi also said . `` But needless to say , there 's interest in doing something . ''
Sen. Tim Scott ( R-S.C. ) , the only black Republican senator , said comments like King 's are the cause of the party 's bad reputation with minorities .
`` Some in our party wonder why Republicans are constantly accused of racismβit is because of our silence when things like this are said , '' Scott wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post . `` Immigration is a perfect example , in which somehow our affection for the rule of law has become conflated with a perceived racism against black and brown people . ''
King on Friday blamed the controversy on The New York Times taking his words out of context .
`` I made a freshman mistake when I took a call from a reporter from the New York Times , '' King said . `` One phrase in that long article has created an unnecessary controversy . ''
King said he was n't complaining that he could n't freely use terms like white supremacist , but rather that he was asking how terms like that got into political discussions .
`` I want to make one thing abundantly clear : I reject those labels and the evil ideology that they define , '' King said . `` Further , I condemn anyone who supports this evil and bigoted ideology which saw in its ultimate expression the systematic murder of 6 million innocent Jewish lives . ''
King faced backlash in 2017 for saying `` we ca n't restore our civilization with someone else 's babies '' referencing his opposition to immigration .
In 2016 , King questioned the significance of the contributions of nonwhite people to civilization .
`` I 'd ask you to go back through history and figure out where are these contributions that have been made by these other categories of people that you are talking about ? Where did any other subgroup contribute more to civilization ? '' King asked during a panel discussion . | 5bmn83hhlIuUOK8n | 2 | Steve King | -1.2 | Politics | -1 | US House | 0.2 | Nancy Pelosi | 0.2 | null | null |
abortion | Vox | https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/1/5/21051186/watch-michelle-williams-golden-globes-2020-acceptance-speech-abortion-rights-choice | Michelle Williams used her Golden Globes speech to celebrate a womanβs right to choose | 2020-01-05 | abortion | Michelle Williams just won the second Golden Globe of her career for her role on Fosse/Verdon β and she used her acceptance speech to plug the importance of reproductive freedom .
β When you put this in someone β s hands , you β re acknowledging the choices made by the actor but also the choices they made as a person , β Williams began as she accepted her award at the Golden Globes ceremony in Los Angeles Sunday night . β I β m grateful for the acknowledgment of the choices I β ve made , and I β m also grateful to have lived in a moment in our society where choice exists . β
As Anna North has reported for βββ , it β s likely that the Supreme Court will dismantle Roe v. Wade in 2020 . Already , multiple states have passed laws that amount to a total ban on abortions . And in March , the Court will hear arguments for June Medical Services v. Gee , a case centered on whether or not Louisiana can restrict abortions to treatment centers at which at least one doctor has admitting privileges at an area hospital .
Related 9 winners and one really big loser from the 2020 Golden Globes
Admitting privilege laws are a common tactic used by red states to shut down as many abortion providers as possible . While ostensibly they do so in the name of women β s safety , advocates for abortion rights tend to counter that argument by noting that it β s vanishingly rare for anyone to need to go to the hospital after an abortion . Observers believe that with Brett Kavanaugh on the bench , the Court will uphold Louisiana β s law , essentially making it possible under federal law for states to outlaw abortion and overturn Roe .
Williams , who has been an active participant in Hollywood β s Time β s Up movement , went on to declare that she could not have lived the life she β s had without the guarantee of a women β s right to choose , and of knowing she would be able β to choose when to have my children , and with whom . β
β I know my choices might look different than yours , β Williams said . β But thank god or whomever you pray to that we live in a country founded on the principle that I am free to live by my faith and you are free to live by yours . So , women , 18 to 118 , when it is time to vote , please do so in your own self-interest . It β s what men have been doing for years . β
Behind Williams , Tiffany Haddish , who presented the award , applauded vigorously . β I β m about that women β s right to choose , β Haddish informed the audience . | PpsOtgzVsXF8ACRq | 0 | Pro-Choice | 0.6 | Abortion | 0.1 | Pro-Life | 0 | Women's Issues | 0 | null | null |
elections | The Hill | http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/344393-gop-senate-candidates-race-to-align-with-trump | GOP Senate candidates race to align with Trump | 2017-07-29 | elections | Republican Senate candidates across the country are battling to emerge as the pro-Trump candidate in contested primaries .
President Trump Donald John TrumpSessions says he still supports Trump despite ouster as AG House Republicans voice concerns about White House 's impeachment messaging Giuliani consulted with Manafort on Ukraine info : report MORE β s approval rating might be stagnant nationally , but he still enjoys strong support with many of the GOP primary voters who will decide crucial Senate primaries ahead of the 2018 midterm election .
So Republican candidates in states that Trump carried in November are beginning to hammer their opponents as unfaithful supporters of the president to gain an edge in their primaries .
One clear example of this trend is in Indiana , where fellow Indiana Republican congressmen Luke Messer and Todd Rokita are poised to clash in what β s already become a nasty primary . Messer jumped into the race this week , with Rokita all but assured to follow .
Rex Early and Tony Samuel , who served as the top leadership on Trump β s Indiana campaign operation , penned a letter on Thursday hailing Rokita as a loyal Trump supporter throughout the election . While the men wrote the letter in their personal capacity β the dormant Trump campaign hasn β t weighed in β the letter was clearly meant to give Rokita room to claim the pro-Trump mantle .
β Of the members of Indiana β s congressional delegation , Todd Rokita is the only one that actively and specifically campaigned for candidate Trump β never wavering and never jumping on and off the Trump Train , β they wrote .
Rokita β s campaign manager , Bryan Reed , took the issue further in his own statement that noted βββ β s reporting that in April 2016 , Messer floated the possibility that a white knight candidate could emerge if no candidate won the majority of GOP convention delegates .
β Despite his efforts to fool Hoosier Republicans and cozy up to President Trump now , what is very clear is that Messer was less than enthusiastic , and even openly critical of Donald Trump even as he ran against Crooked Hillary , the media establishment and the beltway elite , β Reed said .
A Rokita ally told βββ that the campaign would β no doubt β bring up the issue in advertisements if he decides to run .
But Messer β s camp swatted aside the characterization . Greg Pence , Messer β s finance director and the brother of Vice President Pence , praised both Early and Samuel as friends but said that there β s been a β misunderstanding . β
β Rex and Tony don β t speak for the Trump campaign ... it β s not a correct statement and it was made by two individuals who , at this point , are no longer affiliated with the Trump campaign , β Greg Pence told βββ .
Pence went on to note that Rokita had first endorsed Rubio and added that many members of Messer β s finance committee are longtime allies of the vice president , who served as governor of Indiana for four years .
β Luke voted for Donald Trump in the primary . From my perspective , he β s been standing by him since then , β Pence added .
Trump is still extremely popular among Indiana Republicans β 83 percent of state Republicans approve of his job performance , according to an internal Messer poll published by Howey Politics earlier this month . That β s far higher than Trump β s job approval rating in the state , which Gallup recently found to be 47 percent .
That β s why one unaffiliated Indiana Republican told βββ that right now , β aligning with Trump is a no-brainer strategy . β
β Who 's to say where the trend lines will be come [ the day of the Indiana Senate primary ] , but right now it 's where the smart money sits , β he said .
But he noted that Rokita β s release tarred John Hammond , Indiana β s Republican national committeeman , and warned that pressing the issue too hard could backfire .
β The question becomes how far will the game of one-upmanship go and to what end ? β
Support for Trump has become the defining issue in Alabama β s upcoming Senate primary , where Sen. Luther Strange ( R-Ala. ) and his allies are pummeling Rep. Mo Brooks Morris ( Mo ) Jackson BrooksGOP lawmaker blasts Omar and Tlaib : Netanyahu right to block 'enemies ' of Israel Conservatives call on Pelosi to cancel August recess Overnight Defense : Woman accusing general of sexual assault willing to testify | Joint Chiefs pick warns against early Afghan withdrawal | Tensions rise after Iran tries to block British tanker MORE ( R-Ala. ) for critical comments he made about Trump during the 2016 primary .
The attacks , levied by Strange β s campaign and allies like the Senate Leadership Fund , which has earmarked up to $ 10 million to support Strange in the bid to permanently fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson ( Jeff ) Beauregard SessionsSessions says he still supports Trump despite ouster as AG DeVos security detail could cost taxpayers over M during Trump 's first term Judge tells DOJ to charge McCabe or drop investigation MORE β s former Senate seat , have so far dominated the race . And this week , Brooks doubled down on his comments to side with Sessions , who has been publicly pilloried by Trump .
In Michigan , former Trump state campaign co-chairwoman Lena Epstein has made her support of Trump a key part of her primary bid . Barring any long-shot bid by musician Kid Rock , Epstein has a clear lane as the pro-Trump candidate in the race thanks to her campaign experience .
She β s campaigned as an unabashed supporter of Trump β she signs emails to her supporters as β 2016 Trump co-chairman , '' called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign because of Trump β s disappointment in him and regularly promises to support Trump β s β America First '' agenda . And she used that experience to needle her opponent as being the choice of the GOP insiders , comparing the dynamic to how the party insiders had wanted Trump to lose , too .
The dynamic could also play out in West Virginia β s Republican primary , where Rep. Evan Jenkins and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey are locked in their own harsh battle for the party β s Senate nomination . Trump sports a 60 percent job approval rating among all adults there , according to a recent Gallup poll . While the polling doesn β t include a partisan breakdown , the result is indicative of overwhelming support among Republicans .
Jenkins endorsed Trump about a week before the state β s GOP primary , which he won handily . But Morrisey remained neutral until around the GOP convention .
A source close to Jenkins said that they too may focus on the issue in the primary .
GOP operatives agree that there β s ample space to win a party primary as the pro-Trump candidate as long as a candidate isn β t all talk .
β One of the things GOP primary voters liked about Trump was his authenticity , to say what he means and not back down , β said Kevin McLaughlin , a former top adviser to the National Republican Senatorial Committee .
β You have to embrace the style , the overarching theme of β We are going to change Washington. β But at the same time , you have to be authentic to your beliefs . β
But with so much time before the 2018 primaries , let alone the general election , bear-hugging Trump could have its downsides . The president β s approval rating is already underwater in states like Indiana and Michigan , so a full embrace could leave a candidate with little room to moderate if needed .
Bernie Porn , a pollster with EPIC-MRA in Michigan , told βββ that his late May polling found that Trump has a 67 percent job approval rating among Republicans in the state .
β They may not be aware that the numbers are not as high as they may expect among Republicans , so that might not be the wisest thing in the world , β Porn said about candidates embracing Trump in a purple state like Michigan .
β If they get the nomination , they have to live with that identification with independents . β
But John Yob , an adviser to Epstein β s campaign in Michigan , said that he β s not worried about that dynamic .
β Lena Epstein was Donald Trump 's Co-Chairman when he won Michigan for Republicans for the first time since 1988 despite public polling to the contrary , β he told βββ by email .
β The path for a Republican US Senate candidate to win Michigan in 2018 is with an America First message that emphasizes rebuilding the middle class . β
-- This article was updated to reflect that Morrisey remained neutral in the primary . | ZYXrdFQWLo6Qp7TM | 1 | Donald Trump | -0.4 | Republican Party | -0.1 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null |
middle_east | Al Jazeera | https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/11/blinken-meets-with-israeli-opposition-leaders-amid-gaza-truce-push | Blinken meets with Israeli opposition leaders amid Gaza truce push | 2024-06-11 | Middle East, Antony Blinken, Israel Hamas Violence, Israel, Egypt, Hamas, Palestine, Gaza, Foreign Aid, Foreign Policy, State Department, World, Yahya Sinwar | US top diplomat pledges additional aid to Palestinians, says Hamas is the hurdle to reaching a ceasefire in Gaza. Save articles to read later and create your own reading list. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with top Israeli opposition leaders as the United States continues to push for a truce deal in Gaza. Blinken held talks with Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid in Israel on Tuesday before travelling to Jordan to attend an international Gaza aid conference. In his meeting with Gantz, Blinken blamed Hamas for failure to reach a truce agreement. βThey discussed the proposal to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal that would secure the release of all hostages and surge humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza,β the State Department said in a statement describing the meeting. Gantz, who resigned from Israelβs war cabinet and joined the opposition on Sunday, is seen as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuβs main domestic rival. It is rare for the top US diplomat to meet opposition figures on foreign trips, although he has met Gantz and Lapid on several previous visits to Israel. Tuesdayβs talks come as the Biden administration voices growing frustration with Netanyahu over his Gaza policies. In March, top US officials β including Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris β had also met Gantz in Washington, DC, in what was seen by some analysts as a message to Netanyahu. US officials have been pressing the Netanyahu government to present a post-conflict plan for Gaza to no avail. After months of opposing a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the US says it is seeking to end the war. US President Joe Biden presented a multiphased American proposal last month, saying that it would bring an βenduringβ end to the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians. While US officials have repeatedly said that Hamas is the βonlyβ obstacle to the deal, Netanyahu has promised to continue the war in Gaza until the Palestinian group is eliminated. Blinken, who met Netanyahu late on Monday in Jerusalem, told reporters on Tuesday that the Israeli prime minister had reaffirmed his support for the US-backed proposal for a ceasefire. Netanyahu has not said publicly that he accepts the truce proposal, while other members of his right-wing cabinet have outright rejected it and threatened to bring down the government if the agreement is adopted. Hamas has said it is dealing βpositively and constructivelyβ with the proposal while demanding explicit commitments from Israel to a lasting ceasefire. The Palestinian group says its non-negotiable position that it will not agree to anything that would not lead to a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and permanently end the offensive on the territory. On Monday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for an βimmediate, full and complete ceasefireβ based on the US plan. The proposal includes three phases, starting with a six-week truce that would see an exchange of some Israeli captives in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. That pause can be renewed to enable negotiations over the next stage. The second phase would include the return of all captives and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The final phase would include the start of efforts to rebuild the territory. Hamas welcomed Mondayβs Security Councilβs ceasefire resolution. βHamas emphasizes its readiness to cooperate with the mediators to engage in indirect negotiations on implementing these principles that are consistent with the demands of our people and resistance,β the group said in a statement. Yet, at the aid conference in Jordan on Tuesday, Blinken once again called on countries in the region to pressure Hamas to accept the plan. The top US diplomat highlighted the carnage and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, announcing $404m in new aid to Palestinians. βMost of Gazaβs sanitation system has been destroyed. Fewer than a dozen of Gazaβs 40 hospitals are open. And, as we know and have heard, more than 270 humanitarian workers have been killed,β Blinken said. Al Jazeera senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said Blinkenβs comments were βsurrealisticβ. βThereβs something surrealistic about listening to an American [secretary of state] recounting the disaster that Gaza has become β the destruction of hospitals and schools, the death of people, entire families β as if they were not killed by American ammunition,β Bishara said, βas if the United States did not block every attempt at an immediate and permanent ceasefire the past eight months.β Follow Al Jazeera English: | 28f1c7e400bac0e2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
violence_in_america | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/oct/1/oregon-shooting-obama-demands-action-guns-blames-w/ | Obama goes after guns, says GOP-controlled Congress responsible for βroutineβ mass shootings | 2015-10-01 | violence_in_america | A visibly shaken and angry President Obama on Thursday attacked the American gun lobby , scolded the media and demanded that Congress take concrete action to stop the rash of recent mass shootings , which he said have β become routine β and are the pure result of inaction by lawmakers in Washington .
Speaking in the briefing room at the White House , the president β who offered his 15th statement in the wake of a mass shooting β said the federal government must explain to grieving families why it has virtually nothing to stop tragedies like the one seen on the campus of Oregon β s Umpqua Community College Thursday .
β This is a political choice we make β to allow this to happen every few months in America . We collectively are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones because of our inaction , β Mr. Obama said .
A 20-year-old gunman killed at least 10 students and wounded 20 others on the Umpqua campus Thursday . His identity and motive have not been revealed .
In addition to blasting Congress , the president directed his anger at the gun lobby and the news media . He said he expects Second Amendment activists to again argue we need fewer gun laws , not more .
β We need more guns , they β ll argue , fewer gun safety laws . Does anybody really believe that ? β he said . β There are scores of responsible gun owners in this country . They know that β s not true . β
SEE ALSO : Gun control debate at standstill despite agreement on restrictions for mentally ill
On media coverage of mass shootings , Mr. Obama said news outlets should highlight that fewer Americans are killed by radical terrorists than by deranged gunmen in America .
β I would ask news organizations β¦ tally up the number of Americans who have been killed through terrorist attacks in the last decade and the number of Americans who have been killed by gun violence and post those side by side , β he said . | gppJWo2YZRH19aEK | 2 | Violence In America | -0.9 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Politico | https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/24/amy-klobuchar-iowa-089646 | 'The surge is real': Klobuchar makes late push in Iowa | 2019-12-24 | elections | β Amy is dynamite , β said former Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal , who has endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden but attended a Klobuchar house party this past weekend in Council Bluffs . β Who knows where it leads , but Iowans have spent the last six months getting to know these candidates , and now they β re in the position where they β re getting to make up their minds . β
Sitting in the kitchen while Klobuchar met with supporters in the living room , Gronstal said of her , β The surge is real . β
If it is , it has yet to fully materialize . Klobuchar is polling at about 6 percent in Iowa and lower nationally . And this is not her first time catching a spark . Klobuchar raised $ 1 million in the day after the October Democratic presidential primary debate , too . β Klomentum β made its appearance in the political lexicon then , before fading .
Snapping her fingers at a winery ( one , for the record , without a cave ) in Ida Grove on Sunday , she said , β Things can change like that . β
In recent weeks , Klobuchar has doubled the size of her operation in Iowa to nearly 80 staffers in the state . She has 18 offices , and after the latest debate , her campaign said she posted record days for caucus commitments and precinct captain recruitments .
Her campaign is running TV ads in every market in the state and said it plans to remain on the air through the caucuses . She is raising money , and she is traveling to far-flung , conservative stretches of Iowa , including 27 counties over a four-day trip that ended Monday .
β Now we can pay for that bus ! β Klobuchar told a small crowd of supporters at a coffee shop in Logan on Sunday when her green campaign bus pulled into view .
Jeff Link , a Democratic strategist in Iowa whose Focus on Rural America poll has had Klobuchar higher than most other surveys has , said , β The big question is whether she can catch one of the four at the top . β
As one of the field β s more centrist Democrats , Klobuchar β s success almost certainly relies on a Biden collapse . But Klobuchar β s advisers believe most Iowa voters are only now beginning to decide on a candidate , and her Midwest sensibilities and decency-based critiques of President Donald Trump wear well here .
Norm Sterzenbach , a former executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party , is advising her , after working for former Texas Rep. Beto O β Rourke β s failed presidential campaign . And the candidate herself playfully encouraged a late-night crowd in Council Bluffs to commit to her in the spirit of the holidays , or inebriation .
β Sign one of those commit-to-caucus [ cards ] , β she said . β It β s the holidays , you know , you never remember what happens the next morning , at a holiday party . Just sign one of those cards . β
Her opponents aren β t sure what to make of her movement following the debate . Crowd sizes β always an imprecise measure of enthusiasm β are even less instructive in the small , rural areas Klobuchar visited over the weekend . Yet about 50 people were waiting for her before dawn in a restaurant in rural Sheldon on Monday .
Strategists working with several rival campaigns said they expected Klobuchar β s debate to result in at least some polling uptick in the state . And by the weekend , they were beginning to recirculate opposition research on Klobuchar β from old accusations of mistreatment by staff to her past support for some of President Donald Trump β s judicial nominees .
Of her post-debate bump , an adviser to one candidate said , β She hasn β t been attacked yet . I don β t think anyone β s going to let this stand . β
A strategist working with another candidate said he does not expect that Klobuchar will β light it up anywhere , β but that β she β ll be viable in most places in the state , which is good for fourth . β
A fourth place finish would exceed expectations and mark a dramatic turn for Klobuchar . In an interview , she said it was difficult for her to gain traction earlier this year because β it was such a crowded field . β
βββ NEWSLETTERS βββ Playbook Sign up today to receive the # 1-rated newsletter in politics . Sign Up Loading By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from βββ . You can unsubscribe at any time . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply .
β There was a lot of national media attention on certain candidates , β she said while traveling on her bus between events . β And no matter how many shows you go on , it was hard to break through when there were so many people . And then , there was a lot of national attention on people who aren β t even in the race anymore , so that took up a lot of space . β
Two candidates who once drew significant attention , O β Rourke and Sen. Kamala Harris , are no longer in the race . Mayor Pete Buttigieg appears vulnerable , and it was Klobuchar β s attack on him last week β primarily over issues of experience β that gave her campaign a new lift .
At the winery , where Klobuchar bought several bottles of wine , 10 of roughly 30 people in the audience signed commitments to caucus for Klobuchar , the campaign said . The winery β s co-owner , Lenee Sinnott , said Klobuchar β shot up on my list β during the debate .
And Thad Cosgrove , chairman of the Ida County Democrats , said that in recent days , β It appears to me that Warren β s going down and Klobuchar β s going up . β
By Monday , Klobuchar was losing her voice . The holidays are looming , a time when people typically pay less attention to politics . And in January , Trump β s pending impeachment trial in the Senate will pull Klobuchar and other senators off the campaign at a critical time .
Klobuchar will send surrogates to the state and find other ways to campaign around the proceedings .
But sitting on her bus , she said , β You kind of wish we could keep doing this . β | nGUGOfvf3r6qKj9j | 0 | Presidential Elections | 0.2 | Election2020 | 0.2 | Democratic Party | 0.2 | null | null | null | null |
lgbt_rights | New York Times - News | http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/us/roes-shadow-as-supreme-court-hears-same-sex-marriage-cases.html | Shadow of Roe v. Wade Looms Over Ruling on Gay Marriage | 2013-03-24 | lgbt_rights | Briefs from opponents of same-sex marriage , including one from 17 states , are studded with references to the aftermath of the abortion decision and to Justice Ginsburg β s critiques of it . They say the lesson from the Roe decision is that states should be allowed to work out delicate matters like abortion and same-sex marriage for themselves .
β They thought they were resolving a contentious issue by taking it out of the political process but ended up perpetuating it , β John C. Eastman , the chairman of the National Organization for Marriage and a law professor at Chapman University , said of the justices who decided the abortion case . β The lesson they should draw is that when you are moving beyond the clear command of the Constitution , you should be very hesitant about shutting down a political debate . β
Justice Ginsburg has suggested that the Supreme Court in 1973 should have struck down only the restrictive Texas abortion law before it and left broader questions for another day . The analogous approach four decades later would be to strike down California β s ban on same-sex marriage but leave in place prohibitions in about 40 other states .
But Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. , a lawyer for the two couples challenging California β s ban , said the Roe ruling was a different case on a different subject and arose in a different political and social context . The decision was β a bolt out of the blue , β he said , and it had not been β subject to exhaustive public discussion , debate and support , including by the president and other high-ranking government officials from both parties . β
β Roe was written in a way that allowed its critics to argue that the court was creating out of whole cloth a brand new constitutional right , β Mr. Boutrous said . β But recognition of the fundamental constitutional right to marry dates back over a century , and the Supreme Court has already paved the way for marriage equality by deciding two landmark decisions protecting gay citizens from discrimination . β | vVo40JAc3KiDzcxW | 0 | Same-Sex Marriage | 0 | LGBTQ Issues | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
middle_east | Townhall | http://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2015/02/16/isis-beheading-of-copts-n1957922 | Revenge: Egypt Launches Airstrikes Against ISIS in Libya After Execution of Christians | 2015-02-16 | middle_east | Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi vowed revenge for the execution of 21 of its Coptic Christian citizens at the hands of ISIS , and it didn β t take long for the military to follow through .
The airstrikes against ISIS β s weapons caches , training grounds , and camps in Libya , meant to β avenge the bloodshed and to seek retribution from the killers , β were announced on state radio Monday .
β Let those far and near know that Egyptians have a shield to protect and safeguard the security of the country and a sword that amputates terrorism and extremism , β the statement continued .
A five-minute propaganda video of the execution of the men was released on Sunday . In it , the Coptic Christians from Egypt are paraded onto a beach , each accompanied by a masked jihadist . They are then forced to kneel as one jihadist addresses the camera in English .
β All crusaders : safety for you will be only wishes , especially if you are fighting us all together . Therefore we will fight you all together , β he says . β The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama bin Laden β s body in , we swear to Allah we will mix it with your blood . β
The Egyptians are then forced to lay face-down in the sand and are simultaneously beheaded , at which point the same jihadist speaker points to the sea and says β We will conquer Rome , by Allah β s permission . β
BREAKING : Screen grabs from the latest # ISIS video where they behead 21 Egyptian Copts - @ zaidbenjamin pic.twitter.com/MQ39XlaS6u β Conflict News ( @ rConflictNews ) February 15 , 2015
# PT Unlike many of # ISIS 's videos , in this one , they actually show the beheading act itself . Very gruesome β Conflict News ( @ rConflictNews ) February 15 , 2015
Executioner : `` The sea you have hidden Osama bin Laden 's body in , we will mix it with your blood '' pic.twitter.com/fi82Pt5xol β Conflict News ( @ rConflictNews ) February 15 , 2015
You can see one of the Christian Copt praying minutes before being beheaded by # ISIS in their new video . Horrifying . pic.twitter.com/eN8QMaXWWA β Conflict News ( @ rConflictNews ) February 15 , 2015
The men were not in Libya to fight the Islamic jihadists . Rather , they were in the country to make a living when they were kidnapped in two separate incidents in December and January from the city of Sirte .
Libya β s air force also carried out its own airstrikes in the eastern city of Darna , which an ISIS affiliate took over last year .
`` There are casualties among individuals , ammunition and the ( Islamic State ) communication centers , '' Libyan air force commander Saqer al-Joroushi told Egyptian state television , reports Reuters . He also said roughly 40 to 50 militants were killed .
`` More air strikes will be carried out today and tomorrow in coordination with Egypt , '' he added .
Update : According to the Associated Press , Egypt has already carried out a second wave of airstrikes in Darna . | Vrq3ND66QYISx3iE | 2 | Egypt | -0.2 | Islamic State | 0 | Christians | 0 | Terrorism | 0 | Middle East | 0 |
culture | Reason | https://reason.com/2020/06/24/the-law-protects-religious-liberty-far-more-than-many-people-think/ | The Law Protects Religious Liberty Far More than Many People Think | 2020-06-24 | Religion And Faith, Religious Freedom, Culture, Polarization | In an excellent recent article , conservative legal commentator and longtime religious liberty litigator David French explains why current law protects religious liberty far more than many peopleβparticularly many conservativesβthink . French makes many good points , and I agree with nearly everything he says . I do have two reservations about his conclusion , however . One relates to the specific field of immigration law , which is a major exception to his thesis . The second is the growing tendency of many on both right and left to vary their approach to religious liberty issues depending on whose ox is being gored . The latter does not in itself change the nature of current legal doctrine . But it could have negative effects down the road .
Here are some of the excellent points French makes . On Title VII and employment discrimination :
I have seen a remarkable amount of commentary in the aftermath of the Supreme Court 's decision in Bostock v. Clayton County arguing that the Supreme Court dealt religious liberty in America a serious , dangerous blow . Bostock , for those who do n't follow SCOTUS case names closely , is the case that interpreted Title VII 's prohibition against discrimination on the basis of `` sex '' to necessarily include sexual orientation and gender identity . As I read piece after piece , I realized that many of the people writing about the impact on religious freedom simply did n't understand the law . A generation of Americans raised on breathless activist warnings about freedom 's demise genuinely believe that religious organizations teeter on a dangerous precipiceβ¦ . Religious employers have a right to impose religious litmus tests on their employees . Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964βthe same statute at issue in Bostockβcontains a provision specifically designed to protect the autonomy of religious organizations . It states , `` This subchapter shall not apply β¦ to the employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with the carrying on by such corporation , association , educational institution , or society of its activities . '' It 's true that this carveout does not allow the religious organization to discriminate on other grounds ( such as race or sex ) , but it does allow them to filter out all applicants who do not share the group 's faith . This has a profound impact on the relevant applicant pool and ( along with the First Amendment ) permits employers to require that applicants agree to the organization 's statement of faith . Religious employers are completely exempt from nondiscrimination statutes when hiring and firing `` ministerial '' employees . The ministerial exception may well be the key firewall protecting church from state . Put simply , and as defined by a unanimous Supreme Court in 2012 , both the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses of the First Amendment work together to remove the stateβincluding all nondiscrimination lawsβfrom the ministerial selection process . On Title IX , which bans sex discrimination in educational institutions : Religious educational institutions enjoy a right to exempt themselves from Title IX . If there 's a single question I 've received more than any other , it 's this : Does Bostock mean that religious schools will now have to alter policies regarding dorm rooms or sexual conduct to comply with federal prohibitions against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination ? The short answer is no . The longer answer is nope , not unless they choose to be subject to Title IXβ¦ To be clear , Bostock is an employment case ( and thus the sections above apply to employment at religious schools ) , but one would expect that the definition of `` sex '' applied in Title VII would also extend to Title IX , thus preventing sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in , for example , codes of conduct , dorm placements , and athletic programs . . But Title IX contains a special carveout : [ T ] his section shall not apply to an educational institution which is controlled by a religious organization if the application of this subsection would not be consistent with the religious tenets of such organization . The exemption is not automatic . Schools have to choose to opt out ( either proactively or in response to a Title IX complaint ) , and a number of religious schools have taken advantage of this provision . Many have not , but it is their choice , and that choice is plainly and clearly embedded in federal law .
French also covers a wide range of other issues , including discrimination against religious groups and organizations in access to public facilities , protections against employment discrimination targeting religious employees , and the extensive protection the Religious Freedom Restoration Act ( RFRA ) gives to religious freedom by mandating religious exceptions to many `` generally applicable '' federal laws . I would that 21 states have enacted state RFRAs , which provide similar religious exemptions from state laws . Anyone interested in this topic should read French 's article in full . In most areas , religious liberty today enjoys broader protection than at any time in American history .
The big exception to French 's relatively optimistic conclusion is immigration law . Thanks to the Supreme Court 's badly flawed ruling in the 2018 travel ban case , the federal government is allowed to engage in religion-based discrimination in immigration law that would be forbidden in virtually any other context . As I explained in this article , evidence of unconstitutional discriminatory motivation in the travel ban case was substantially stronger than that presented in the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision , which the Supreme Court issued just a few weeks earlier . Yet the Court struck down the government action in the latter case , while upholding it in the former , because of the doctrine of special deference to the President and Congress on immigration policy . As a practical matter , this leaves the president and Congress free to engage in blatant religious discrimination against would-be immigrants , so long as there is even a thin veneer of a nondiscriminatory rationalization for their policyβeven a transparently bogus one , as in the travel ban case itself .
This sad state of affairs is part of a more general pattern under which the Court has largely exempted immigration restrictions from many of the constitutional constraints that apply to virtually every other exercise of federal power . People who care about religious freedomβand other constitutional rightsβshould work to change that .
The other reservation I have about the state of religious liberty is the pattern of ideological and partisan double standards that all too often surround the issue . Too many on the right care greatly about religious liberty when theologically conservative Christians are the ones in peril , but turn a blind eye ( or worse ) in the travel ban case , and other situations where the group that is threatened is one they have less sympathy with . On the left , many who were rightly outraged by Trump 's travel ban have no such objections to Blaine Amendments that discriminate against religious schools , or recent state and local government policies that treat religious meetings and demonstrations far more harshly than secular protests that liberals have greater sympathy for . I criticized such double standards in greater detail here .
In the short and even medium term , such inconsistency is unlikely to undermine legal protection for religious liberty too much . But , in the long run , a society where most political activists and elites care about religious freedom only when it affects `` their '' side , is one where religious freedom necessarily rests on weaker foundations than it should .
I do not claim to be a paragon of virtue or consistency when it comes to religious liberty issues . But , for what it is worth , I was one of the relatively few people who argued that religious liberty claims deserved to prevail in both the travel ban case and also in Masterpiece Cakeshop ( which involved a conservative Christian baker who refused to bake cakes for same-sex weddings ) and the 2014 Hobby Lobby case ( which involved a RFRA claim by a theologically conservative business owner who opposed contraception ) .
As an atheist , I do not share the religious beliefs of the Muslim targets of Trump 's travel ban . And I have little sympathy for religious objections to same-sex marriage and contraception , both of which reflect attitudes I decry . But I still think it is essential to protect the liberty of those who hold such views . Just as freedom of speech famously requires freedom for `` the thought that we hate , '' so too religious liberty must apply even to those religious beliefs we have little affinity for or even consider abhorrent . | 34aca71d84e83cd3 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Fox News Digital | https://www.foxnews.com/us/federal-agents-leave-portland-oregon | Federal agents to begin leaving Portlandβs downtown: DHS, Oregon governor | 2020-07-29 | Violence In America, Oregon, DHS, Donald Trump, Portland Protests, Role Of Government, Politics | Over 24 hours of negotiating between Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and Gov. Kate Brown has led to a joint plan that is aimed at ending the violent activity in Portland, Oregon directed at federal properties and law enforcement officers.β The federal agents who have clashed with protesters in Portland will begin a βphased withdrawalβ from the city's downtown area starting Thursday, Oregon's Democratic Gov. Kate Brown announced. Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said in a statement that he and Brown have been in contact over the past 24 hours and reached a joint plan to end "the violent activity in Portland directed at federal properties and law enforcement officers.β βThat plan includes the robust presence of Oregon State Police in downtown Portland,β Wolf said. βState and local law enforcement will begin securing properties and streets, especially those surrounding federal properties, that have been under nightly attack for the past two months. Oregon State Police will coordinate with Federal Protective Service (FPS) officers to ensure all federal facilities remained protected and secure." FIREWORKS, THEN TEAR GAS: NIGHT 62 IN PORTLAND SEES MORE CLASHES; TRUMP IN TALKS TO PULL OUT FEDERAL OFFICERS The Portland Police Bureau was banned from cooperating with federal law enforcement officers last week under new policies unanimously passed by the City Council, The Oregonian reported. In his statement, Wolf said that President Trump and his administration have been consistent in their message that "violent criminal activity" directed at federal properties and law enforcement will not be tolerated and that "state and local leaders must step forward and police their communities." "The Department of Homeland Security will not back down from our legal duty to protect federal law enforcement officers and properties in the face of such criminal behavior," he continued. Federal officers deploy tear gas and crowd control munitions at demonstrators during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse Tuesday, July 28, 2020, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) βPresident Trump has also made it clear that this Administration is ready and willing to partner with state and local law enforcement to protect every American β and you see that commitment in Portland with this plan. The Department and this Administration will also continue to fulfill its solemn obligation to uphold federal law across the country," Wolf said. But Brown accused federal officers of bringing the violence and acting as an occupying force in announcing the joint plan to withdraw federal forces from Portland β before then praising the Black Lives Matter movement. βAfter my discussions with VP Pence and others, the federal government has agreed to withdraw federal officers from Portland. They have acted as an occupying force & brought violence. Starting tomorrow, all Customs and Border Protection & ICE officers will leave downtown Portland,β the governor tweeted. βOur local Oregon State Police officers will be downtown to protect Oregonians' right to free speech and keep the peace. Let's center the Black Lives Matter movement's demands for racial justice and police accountability. It's time for bold action to reform police practices." Tuesday marked the 62nd consecutive night demonstrations continued in downtown Portland in the wake of George Floydβs death in police custody in Minneapolis. Portland police officers clashed with demonstrators before federal agents arrived to protect the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, Multnomah County Justice Center, and other government buildings the July 4 weekend. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Crowds -- ranging from hundreds to thousands of people -- have tried almost every night to tear down a fence erected to protect the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse. Theyβve set fires and hurled fireworks, Molotov cocktails, and bricks, rocks, and bottles at the agents inside. Authorities this week reinforced the fence by putting concrete highway barriers around it. Federal officers often respond by firing tear gas, pepper balls, and impact munitions. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal. Subscribed You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! | f5537e1e61f03e4b | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
middle_east | CNN Digital | https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/02/middleeast/us-saudi-treaty-israel-palestinian-statehood-intl/index.html | βNone go forward without the others.β US mega-deal would tie together the futures of Saudi Arabia, Israel and Gaza | 2024-05-03 | Middle East, Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, Israel Hamas Violence, Antony Blinken, State Department, World, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Hamas, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Defense And Security | Editorβs Note: A version of this story appears in CNNβs Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the regionβs biggest stories. Sign up here.CNN βSaudi Arabia and the United States are finalizing the details of a landmark deal to strengthen bilateral trade and defense β but an agreement will not be reached if the kingdom and Israel do not establish diplomatic relations, US officials said.A defense treaty would solidify the seven-decade security alliance between Saudi Arabia and the US, and tie them ever closer to each other as US adversaries like Iran, Russia and China seek to expand their influence in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long sought relations with Saudi Arabia, home of Islamβs holiest sites, as the move could domino across the wider Muslim world.The US is currently negotiating one mega-deal involving three components, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Thursday.The first component includes a package of agreements between the US and Saudi Arabia, another component has the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and a third component for a pathway to a Palestinian state.βAll of them are linked together. None go forward without the others,β Miller said.For normalization to be realized between Saudi Arabia and Israel, there has to be a pathway for a Palestinian state and βcalm in Gaza,β US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a panel at an economic conference in Riyadh this week.βThe work that Saudi Arabia and the United States have been doing together in terms of our own agreements, I think is potentially very close to completion, but then in order to move forward with normalization two things will be required: calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to a Palestinian state,β he said.On the sidelines of the forum, Blinken met Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS) to discuss the deal, the State Department said. Experts describe the Saudi-US pact as a βcomprehensive set of understandingsβ that would include security, economic and technological guarantees to the kingdom, as well as support for its civilian nuclear program.The normalization deal is expected to be modeled on the Abraham Accords, a set of treaties that saw four Arab states recognize Israel in 2020 that sidestepped the longstanding Arab demand for an independent Palestinian state as a prerequisite to recognition of Israel. MBS had said earlier that a pact with Israel would be βthe biggest historical deal since the Cold War.βIn 2021, Netanyahu described the Accords as enabling Israel to replace βthe old and dangerous doctrine of territories in exchange for peace and brought peace in exchange for peace, without giving up a single inchβ and sought to expand what he called the βcircle of peace.βSince then, the Biden administration has made Israel-Saudi normalization central to its Middle East policy. The US and Saudi Arabia had continued discussions on the pact in 2023, and Blinken was expected to fly to Riyadh on October 10 last year to discuss the details, just three days before Hamas attacked Israel, postponing the effort.The subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza, which has left the enclave in ruins and killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, may have changed the parameters of the deal for Saudi Arabia, analysts say. Now Israelβs acceptance of a component calling for an βirreversibleβ pathway to a Palestinian state would be key to the crucial normalization component of the wider deal.βWe have the broad outlines on what needs to happen on the Palestinian frontβ¦credible, irreversible [pathway to a Palestinian state],β Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a World Economic Forum panel without referencing normalization with Israel.Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the prospect of an independent Palestinian state, arguing that it would hurt Israelβs security, and is adamant on pressing ahead with the Gaza war until Hamas is eliminated.Those obstacles might see the kingdom attempt to close the bilateral deal without the normalization component of the agreement, analysts say. But such an approach would face major hurdles. An agreement establishing a firm US military commitment to Saudi Arabiaβs security, without the normalization component, is unlikely to pass through the US Congress, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said.βIf there is a mutual defense agreement negotiated in the form of a treaty, it needs 67 votes in the Senate to become binding. Without normalizing the Israeli-Saudi relationship and ensuring the security needs of Israel regarding the Palestinian file, there would be very few votes for a mutual defense agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia,β Graham said on X in response to reports of Saudi Arabia opting for a βplan Bβ to the agreement.Experts say that Biden could be able to bypass Congress to reach the agreement by modeling it around another security agreement it signed with Bahrain last year.βThere is another pathway, modeled around the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement the Biden administration signed with Bahrain in September of 2023,β according to Firas Maksad, Senior Fellow and Director for Strategic Outreach at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC. The text of that pact βexplicitly states that other parties may be invited to join,β he said.However, there has been no indication that the Biden administration would opt to bypass Congress for the bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia to pass.A victory for Saudi ArabiaFor Saudi Arabia, a bilateral agreement with the US would be a major victory, marking an end to the era when Biden sought to undermine MBS by pledging to turn his country into a βpariahβ after the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi intelligence officials in Turkey.The deal would also βconsolidate Americaβs dominance in the Middle East for generations and would blunt the growing challenge posed by both China and Russia,β Maksad said.MBS is eager to bolster the kingdomβs defenses and diversify the Saudi economy away from hydrocarbons, as he pursues an ambitious economic policy dubbed Vision 2030. The kingdom has a nascent civilian nuclear program that the Crown Prince is keen to develop with US support.βSaudi Arabia would like to make a deal with the United States and this is probably the best time during the Biden administration to help some of the stickier issues get through Congress,β according to Karen Young, a senior research scholar at Columbia Universityβs Center on Global Energy Policy, referring to enrichment of nuclear materials.Another sticking point in any US support for such a program is American opposition to local enrichment of uranium, a key component for nuclear power that could also be used to develop nuclear weapons. Saudi Arabia is rich in uranium deposits and has insisted on being able to enrich it domestically, which would be a first for an Arab state. Neighboring United Arab Emirates, for example, imports enriched uranium to power its nuclear plants.On Wednesday, Democratic Senator Edward J. Markey, co-chair of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, called on the Biden administration to ensure that Riyadh commits to forego enrichment and reprocessing of nuclear material, citing MBS as saying previously that Saudi Arabia would develop a nuclear weapon if Iran does too.βThe path towards Middle East peace should not include the prospect of a nuclear-armed Saudi Arabia, which would undermine the interests of the US, allies, and partners across the region,β he said in his letter.The Saudi-US pact would make it incumbent on both countries to work together to deter and confront any external aggression, but doesnβt formalize it as a treaty alliance, according to Maksad.βIt is often described as Article 4.5, stopping just short of a treaty alliance that requires Senate approval but providing for a written commitment of mutual defense,β Maksad said, referring to the NATO treatyβs Article 5, which obliges all member states to come to the defense of any state facing attack.βThere will still be room for a multilateral security agreement that eventually includes Israel, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the U.S. and others, when political circumstances allowβ¦the choice will be Israelβs, when itβs ready to put something on the table that moves the ball forward towards a two-state solution with the Palestinians,β Maksad said. | 07fbf7581ae2192c | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
banking_and_finance | MarketWatch | https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-dow-just-tumbled-into-a-bear-market-ending-the-longest-bull-market-run-in-historyheres-how-those-downturns-last-on-average-2020-03-11 | The Dow just tumbled into a bear market β hereβs how long those downturns last on average | 2020-03-11 | banking_and_finance | It β s the end of a bullish era for the stock market and the beginning of a new phase of bearishness , after a sharp plunge for risk assets on Wednesday pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average into bear-market territory for the first time in more than a decade . Equties deepened their slide on Thursday .
U.S. stock indexes have been locked in a powerful downtrend that saw all three major U.S. equity gauges set to close in bear-market territory , commonly defined as a decline of at least 20 % from a recent peak . On Wednesday , the declines deepened after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 , the infectious disease that was first identified in Wuhan , China , in December , a pandemic . An Oval Office address about the pandemic by President Donald Trump late Wednesday failed to alleviate market anxieties going in to trading on Thursday .
See : Goldman says coronavirus will end bull market for stocks , see S & P 500 falling another 15 %
Read : Dow , S & P 500 would enter bear market with a close below these levels
The illness has infected more than 127,000 people and claimed nearly 4,700 lives worldwide , with market experts fearing that pandemic could disrupt global supply chains and drive the global economy into recession .
Against the backdrop , trading in stocks has been mostly lower .
The Dow DJIA , +9.36 % , composed of 30 blue-chip companies has been pulled lower by a powerful decline in shares of component Boeing Co. BA , +9.92 % , which helped drive the price-weighted index into a bear market on Wednesday . The S & P 500 SPX , +9.28 % and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP , +9.34 % narrowly missed ending at those levels a day ago , but look certain to end their at the conclusion of Thursday trade .
Check out : Are stocks headed for a bear market ? Here β s how far they would have to fall as coronavirus-fueled selloff continues
On Wednesday , the Dow plunged 1,464.94 points , or 5.9 % , to settle at 23,553.22 , while the S & P 500 fell 4.9 % , to 2,741.38 , missing a bear-market at or below 2,708.92 , while the Nasdaq tumbled 4.7 % , to end at 7,952.05 , avoiding its bear level at 7,853.74 .
Stocks dropped into correction mode β defined as a pullback of 10 % β late last month as fears over the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak began to rise .
There is some hope , however , that a stint in bear-market territory will be short-lived if the viral outbreak is effectively mitigated by governments and central banks across the globe . Historically , the period in the jaws of a bear can be lengthy .
On average , a bear market for the Dow lasts 206 trading days , while the average bear period for the S & P 500 is about 146 days , according to data from Dow Jones Market Data . The Dow is currently off 29 % from its Feb. 12 record , while the S & P 500 and Nasdaq are 27 % from their Feb. 19 peaks , as of late Thursday .
Here β s how the rest of that data looks like , according to Dow Jones ( see attached table ) :
The move for the Dow also represents the blue-chip index β s fastest move from a record high to a bear market since 1931 β 19 days . In November 1931 , as the Great Depression was enveloping the U.S. , the Dow took a brisk 15 days from a record to a drop of at least 20 % .
Perhaps fittingly , the end of bull-market run for the Dow comes only two days from its 11-year anniversary on Monday , as worries about the economic impact of the spread of COVID-19 have been accelerating by the day . | 0JlwaO7dOvx8HMKM | 2 | Wall Street | -0.2 | Economy And Jobs | -0.1 | Coronavirus | 0 | Public Health | 0 | null | null |
elections | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/16/politics/who-won-republican-debate/index.html | CNN/Facebook Republican debate: Winners and losers | 2015-12-16 | elections | Washington ( CNN ) Republican presidential candidates sought to cement -- or improve -- their standings in a debate Tuesday night that comes less than two months before the first votes of the election season are cast .
The CNN debate in Las Vegas marked the first time the White House hopefuls shared a stage since terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino , California . They flashed their foreign policy credentials and targeted each others ' weaknesses in the debate that lasted more than two hours and focused exclusively on foreign policy and national security .
The result of the showdown : Some winners , and some losers .
The former Florida governor walked onto the CNN debate stage on Tuesday facing a make-or-break moment for his struggling campaign .
Polling at about 3 % nationally , pundits had low expectations for Bush . But he was able to make the most of the moment and his performance will likely reassure skittish donors and supporters who have doubted him .
Appearing confident , Bush repeatedly engaged front-runner Donald Trump and at times flustered the real estate mogul . Unlike previous debates where he has backed off , Bush did n't relent in the face of Trump 's return fire .
JUST WATCHED Gov . Jeb Bush : Trump 's rhetoric is 'dog whistle talk ' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Gov . Jeb Bush : Trump 's rhetoric is 'dog whistle talk ' 02:40
`` If you think this is tough and you 're not being treated fairly , imagine what it 's going to be like dealing with Putin or dealing with President Xi or dealing with the Islamic terrorism that exists , '' Bush said over Trump 's persistent interruptions .
CNN political commentator Michael Smerconish said after the debate that Bush `` turned in a strong performance '' with his ability to repeatedly needle Trump .
The tea party favorite avoided a cage match with front-runner Donald Trump in favor of a sparring match with Rubio .
Cruz and Trump have largely avoided skirmishes on the campaign trail but that ended in recent days as the Texas senator 's standing improves in Iowa .
Former Mitt Romney aide and current CNN political commentator Kevin Madden said Cruz 's strategy of avoiding confrontation on the debate stage was effective .
`` I think the strategy Cruz has is working , bear hugging Donald Trump . I think Donald Trump does not feel antagonized , '' he said .
While Cruz did n't give viewers anything like the fiery and memorable soundbites his supporters savored in the last debate , the Texas senator gave a strong performance sure to please his base . And by taking aim at -- and holding his ground against -- Rubio , Cruz did nothing to stall his burgeoning momentum .
Sen. Marco Rubio delivered a front-runner 's performance , as he parried blows from all sides in the crowded field .
Rubio worked to stay above the fray of candidates , focusing on showing off his in-depth understanding of foreign policy and deflecting the attacks his competitors hurled his way . The Florida senator , though engaged in heated exchanges with Cruz and Rand Paul at times , mostly sought to flex his hawkish national security positions rather than attack his competitors .
JUST WATCHED Marco Rubio attacks Ted Cruz 's voting record Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Marco Rubio attacks Ted Cruz 's voting record 02:38
When prompted to address Trump 's proposal to bar foreign Muslims from entering the U.S. -- which Rubio opposes -- or to address his recent criticism of Cruz , Rubio did n't bite . Instead , the Florida senator used the opportunity to speak at length about foreign policy concerns and his own proposals -- or to attacking President Barack Obama 's administration .
As the real estate mogul has done in recent debates , Donald Trump offered a measured performance stylistically different from the fiery stump speeches he delivers at rallies to supporters . And the typically confrontational businessman largely avoided tangling with his fellow contenders .
It was a safe performance for Trump , but it 's one that certainly wo n't deter his supporters and wo n't do anything to hurt his front-runner status .
JUST WATCHED Donald Trump commits to the Republican Party Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Donald Trump commits to the Republican Party 01:08
CNN political commentator David Axelrod , a former top Obama adviser , said that while Trump did n't meet the bar on facts and `` linear thinking , '' he was `` in character . ''
`` I think he probably did what he needed to do , '' Axelrod said , adding that it did n't hurt that few of the candidates to Trump 's right and left were `` eager to tangle '' with the front-runner .
New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie 's goal on Tuesday was to try and further his recent rise in stock in the early primary state of New Hampshire , where talk of national security has boosted the former federal prosecutor .
Christie managed to poke at the three senators in the race by lamenting the tit-for-tat debates Cruz , Rubio and Paul engaged in . The governor continued to play to his executive experience and his prosecutions of terrorism cases as a U.S. attorney .
In one of his strongest moments , Christie slammed the senators on stage as `` people who 've never had to make a consequential decision in an executive position '' and proclaimed that voters were looking for `` a president who actually knows what they 're doing . ''
CNN political commentator Jeffrey Lord , a Trump supporter , noted that like Trump , Christie `` was delivering a message '' on stage rather than getting too `` in the weeds '' on policy .
Ben Carson said it himself on Tuesday heading into the last debate of the year : He needed to prove his national security credentials to reassure voters fleeing his campaign amid rising concerns over terrorism .
But the retired neurosurgeon faltered on that front -- offering little in the way of assuaging those concerns , which are believed to have contributed to Carson 's fall from his position near the top of the polls in Iowa and nationally .
Instead , Carson offered vague and meandering responses to specific foreign policy questions , complained about the time allotted to him and declined when asked whether he sided with Cruz or Rubio in the debate over National Security Agency data collection .
Carly Fiorina still looked and sounded like a top debater on stage Tuesday night , but a closer look shows that the former Hewlett-Packard CEO is offering little to voters that they have n't already heard .
And several of Fiorina 's attempts to elbow her way into the debate as other candidates were speaking -- a tactic that has worked for her in the past -- did n't help her during this performance .
Her strongest moments , though , came when she touted her experience as a tech executive as a way to highlight the need for the private sector to boost the federal government 's counter-terrorism efforts .
Kasich faced a similar problem as Fiorina -- he did n't offer anything new that would jumpstart his candidacy .
Kasich tried his best once again to play the role of the adult in the room , calling out Trump for unserious proposals and questioning other candidates ' assessment of the situation in Syria , for example .
The libertarian senator from Kentucky showed he was in a fighting mood from the outset : jabbing at Trump and Rubio in his opening statement
JUST WATCHED Rand Paul questions Donald Trump 's candidacy Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Rand Paul questions Donald Trump 's candidacy 01:31
Even Trump -- who rarely resists an opportunity to needle his competitors -- did n't take the bait when Paul hit him at several points in the debate .
`` Marco ca n't have it both ways , '' Paul said , attacking Rubio on immigration . `` He wants to be this I 'm great and strong on national defense , but he 's the weakest of all the candidates on immigration . ''
But Rubio did n't hit back , simply thanking Paul for giving him another 30 seconds of talking time -- afforded to any candidate called out by one of his opponents -- and using it to lay out his position .
While Paul made his case against the neoconservative ideology coursing through the arteries of the Republican Party , he was effectively shut out by the overwhelming opposition to his foreign policy views present on stage . | SVsDrw5ZlhKlnDJp | 0 | Debates | 0.1 | Presidential Elections | 0.1 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null |
national_security | NPR Online News | https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/775109643/administration-insiders-who-waved-a-red-flag-in-the-ukraine-affair | Administration Insiders Who Waved A Red Flag In The Ukraine Affair | 2019-11-04 | national_security | Administration Insiders Who Waved A Red Flag In The Ukraine Affair
President Trump 's efforts to pressure the government of Ukraine did n't sit well with some key members of his administration .
One of them , whose identity remains unverified , felt strongly enough to write down his concerns about the president 's actions in a whistleblower complaint to the intelligence community 's inspector general .
Here 's what you need to know about some of the government officials known to have raised red flags about Trump 's strategy for Ukraine . Most of the activity remained confidential , but Democrats ' impeachment inquiry has since brought some of it into the open .
Much of the testimony about the Ukraine affair remains sealed , but some accounts have emerged in the form of written opening statements and in characterizations by those who heard it .
Some of the officials who 've been described as most uncomfortable with Trump 's actions were those closest to it at the policymaking level .
Then-National Security Adviser John Bolton , a lifelong Russia hawk , was described as objecting to Trump 's policy on its merits : Holding up military assistance for Ukraine to help it resist Russian military activity was antithetical to Bolton 's worldview .
Bolton , like many other national security and foreign policy professionals in the Trump administration , is also said to have objected that Trump deputized his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to handle the Ukraine portfolio in parallel with official channels .
Giuliani was `` a hand grenade who is going to blow everybody up , '' Bolton was described as warning , according to accounts of testimony by Fiona Hill , a Bolton deputy , before House investigators . Bolton also was said to have compared the Ukraine situation to a `` drug deal . ''
That caution proved prescient as the Ukraine affair escalated quickly β in Washington terms β from a kerfuffle about foreign policy into the basis for Democrats ' impeachment inquiry .
More than one witness has been described as telling House investigators that Bolton encouraged them to report their concerns about the Ukraine policy to their various superiors , either within the National Security Council or within the State Department .
What remains unclear is how strongly Bolton registered his own objections , if that 's what they were , with his own supervisor : Trump . Investigators likely will press Bolton about this and more if he appears for a closed-door deposition before the impeachment committees this week .
Fiona Hill was a top Russia specialist on the National Security Council who has been described as dubious about the plan to pressure Ukraine to undertake investigations that might help Trump politically .
Hill also has been described as telling House investigators that Bolton encouraged her to report her concerns within the National Security Council , including the departures from protocol embodied in Giuliani 's involvement with the parallel channel to Kyiv .
House investigators have scheduled a deposition on Monday with White House lawyer John Eisenberg , whom Hill is believed to have approached .
Other White House officials also have been invited to give depositions , but it is n't clear whether they or Eisenberg will appear , given the Trump administration 's rejection of the impeachment inquiry .
Eisenberg also reportedly has been described as working to limit access to accounts of the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy β a call in which Trump asked Zelenskiy to launch investigations that might help his 2020 campaign as a `` favor . ''
Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is the top Ukraine specialist on the National Security Council . He listened to the July 25 call and is said to have told House investigators that he raised concerns about it immediately .
Vindman is understood to have approached Eisenberg and , according to his opening statement to House investigators , said he believed Trump 's request of Zelenskiy not only was wrong but contravened U.S. strategic interests .
Since 2014 , when Russia invaded Ukraine , the United States has been providing assistance to Kyiv to help it against Russian and Russian-backed forces inside its borders .
The Ukraine affair centers on the efforts to condition the next tranche of that aid on Zelenskiy 's willingness to accommodate Trump . The White House ordered that nearly $ 400 million in assistance be frozen in the summer and ultimately restored it in September .
Although Trump and other White House officials have acknowledged that they expected concessions from Ukraine , they 've also said that nothing about this arrangement was improper and specifically that there was no `` quid pro quo '' of engagement or aid for political assistance .
Vindman is said to have documented his objections and pushed within the administration for Trump to reverse his pressure strategy . He also reportedly told members of Congress that he sought to restore key terms to the White House account of Trump 's call with Zelenskiy .
That account has been an important element in the Ukraine affair . Two top diplomats β Gordon Sondland and William Taylor β said they received accounts of the call that either did n't mention the political requests or otherwise omitted problematic aspects of the conversation .
Once a senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo , diplomat Michael McKinley resigned out of frustration with the Ukraine affair .
McKinley is believed to have objected to the scourging of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine , Marie Yovanovitch , who may have been recalled because she would not go along with Giuliani 's parallel channel of pressure on Kyiv .
McKinley is said to have told members of Congress that he sought a public defense of Yovanovitch β but State Department officials would n't go along . More broadly , he reportedly said , McKinley worried about what he called the use of diplomats to `` advance a domestic political objective . ''
William Taylor is the interim boss of the U.S. diplomatic mission in the Ukrainian capital , Kyiv .
He told members of Congress that Sondland , the U.S. ambassador to the European Union , revealed to him that Trump wanted Zelenskiy trapped `` in a public box '' β committing to investigations that Trump wanted β in order to secure U.S. military assistance for Ukraine and a coveted Oval Office meeting .
Taylor told investigators that he supports a strong U.S. relationship with Ukraine and that he opposed the pressure policy . When Bolton visited Kyiv in August , Taylor said , he voiced his concerns about the Giuliani back channel and the principle of leaning on Zelenskiy .
Bolton encouraged him to record his objections on the record in a cable to Pompeo , Taylor said β which he then did .
The Ukraine affair has been unusual in the context of Washington scandals , in part because so many facts about it have emerged so quickly β and remain largely uncontested by Trump .
Although the president and his supporters have slammed what they call Democrats ' `` sham '' impeachment inquiry for being unfair , they also have defended the merits of the underlying conduct at issue .
Trump continues to insist that his call with Zelenskiy was `` absolutely perfect , '' and he and others have said it 's legitimate for the United States to expect guarantees about `` corruption '' before extending hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance .
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy , R-Calif. , described what he called Trump 's `` legitimate actions '' in the Ukraine affair in rejecting Democrats ' legislation to formalize the inquiry on Thursday .
There also have been witnesses from inside the administration who are described as having verified some facts about the story without objecting to them . Timothy Morrison , the Russia specialist who replaced Hill on the National Security Council , was described as having been willing to verify the recollections of other witnesses .
But Morrison , according to accounts of his testimony , evidently did not belong to those who viewed Trump 's actions as illegal or improper . Although they complicated the Western posture against Russia , Morrison is said to have believed the president was within his rights .
Sondland 's situation appears to be among the most complicated . Although Taylor quoted Sondland to House investigators as having attributed the Ukraine pressure policy directly to the president , Sondland said that for his part , he did n't piece the picture together until later .
Moreover , Sondland said , with the perspective he had by the time of his deposition in October , he reached the point at which he opposed Trump 's actions , or the principle of any president inviting a foreign government to interfere in an election .
House investigators have more depositions scheduled , and then they plan to open public hearings to discuss their findings . The remainder of the process could reveal more about whether anyone else inside the government spoke about what they were observing before the impeachment inquiry β or whether they will now , to Congress . | yaGiMrBJiEn72IU1 | 1 | Ukraine | 0.1 | National Security | -0.1 | Defense And Security | -0.1 | null | null | null | null |
coronavirus | ABC News | https://abcnews.go.com/US/coronavirus-updates-fda-ftc-warn-infowars-selling-products/story?id=70078277&cid=clicksource_4380645_2_heads_hero_live_hero_hed | Coronavirus updates: Amid racial disparity, Cuomo says 'let's learn from this moment' | 2020-04-10 | Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus | US surpasses half a million coronavirus cases In the U.S. , more than 18,000 people have died .
The global novel coronavirus death toll has climbed over 102,000 .
The virus has killed more people in the U.S. in a matter of months than those who died in recent years from homicide , according to FBI data .
In the U.S. , over 500,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 , the disease caused by the new respiratory virus , according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University . At least 18,693 people in the U.S. have died .
Worldwide , more than 1.69 million people have been diagnosed since the virus emerged in China in December . The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages , many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding the scope of their nations ' outbreaks .
Wisconsin Dept . of Health tracking if new cases stem from Tuesday 's election
Here 's how the news is developing . All times Eastern . Please refresh this page for updates .
The U.S. now has half a million confirmed cases of COVID-19 , three times more than Spain , the country with the second-most infections .
The country 's case total rose to 500,399 on Friday night , the same day the world death toll crossed into six digits .
4:40 p.m. : Los Angeles stay-at-home order extended to May 15
Los Angeles County 's `` safer at home '' order is being extended until at least May 15 , officials said Friday .
All indoor and outdoor private gatherings remain prohibited , as well as all nonessential businesses , parks and beaches .
The order also requires essential businesses to post social distancing and sanitation plans .
Tune into ABC at 1 p.m . ET and βββ Live at 4 p.m . ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full βββ team , including the latest news , context and analysis .
A small study of the antiviral drug remdesivir showed that it was associated with clinical improvement in 68 % of patients with COVID-19 , according to a report Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine .
Gilead Sciences , the makers of remdesivir , analyzed patients who received the drug from Jan. 25 through March 7 in the U.S. , Europe , Canada and Japan .
Of the 53 patients studied , 36 , or 68 % , saw clinical improvement in their conditions .
Researchers categorized clinical improvement as a discharge from the hospital or decreased oxygen support . Eight of 53 patients ( 15 % ) got worse , according to the study .
3:40 p.m. : Some shops in Italy will be allowed to open next week
In hard-hit Italy -- the nation suffering the most coronavirus fatalities -- the entire country has been on lockdown since March 9 .
While the lockdown continues until May 3 , some stores -- including stationary shops , bookshops and children clothing stores -- can begin to reopen on April 14 , Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday .
A man wearing a protective mask sits on a scooter in front of a crucifix displayed outside the Santa Maria della Sanita church during Good Friday , as Italy remains on lockdown during the Easter period to try and contain the spread of coronavirus disease ( COVID-19 ) , in Naples , Italy , April 10 , 2020 . Ciro De Luca/Reuters
3:15 p.m. : Louisiana 'in a better place today ' than this time last week
Despite a slight increase in number of hospitalizations and number of patients on ventilators , Louisiana is `` in a better place today than we were at this time last week , '' Gov . John Bel Edwards said Friday .
`` It is because of you , '' he said . `` It is because of the people of Louisiana and your compliance with the stay-at-home order . ''
A streetcar conductor wears a mask due to the coronavirus pandemic as she runs her route on St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans , March 19 , 2020 . Gerald Herbert/AP , FILE
Louisiana has over 19,000 people diagnosed with COVID-19 . The state has lost 755 lives , including state Rep. Reggie Bagala .
In the wake of data revealing a major racial disparity in COVID-19 deaths , the governor said a Health Equity Task Force will be put in place .
The recently released data showed that while African Americans make up roughly 32 % of Louisiana 's population , they account for 70 % of the deaths in the state .
`` We want to make sure that we have better health outcomes on the other side of this pandemic , as well , '' the governor said . `` So we need to answer the question : 'What are the social determinants of health disparity and how do we ensure health equity for all of our citizens ? ' And this task force will be meeting this charge . ''
Edwards said his state has received additional federal funding for continuing testing sites in the state , some of which were scheduled to close as soon as today . Edwards said he still is n't satisfied with the testing within the state and that is another issue the task force will tackle .
`` There is no region of our state that is n't currently testing , but we do n't believe that we have adequate testing anywhere , '' he said .
Dr. Deborah Birx , the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force , cautioned Friday , `` We have not reached the peak . ''
β You can see for the first time that in the United States we β re starting to level on the logarithmic phase , like Italy did about a week ago , β Birx said at the White House briefing .
`` This gives us great heart , '' she said , adding , `` Everyday we need to continue to do what we did yesterday and the week before and the week before that . ''
Cataldo Ambulance medics bring a patient who has tested positive for the coronavirus disease ( COVID-19 ) to the ambulance at an assisted living facility in Chelsea , Mass. , April 10 , 2020 . Brian Snyder/Reuters
As data shows that COVID-19 disproportionately kills people of color , U.S . Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said the government is `` taking steps now '' to combat the `` alarming '' trend .
The government is working `` on data collection , targeted outreach , and increasing financial employment , education , housing , social and health support so everyone has an equal chance to be healthy , '' Adams said at Friday 's briefing .
12:15 p.m. : New York sees fewer ICU admissions for 1st time
In New York , the state hit hardest by the pandemic , Gov . Andrew Cuomo is `` cautiously optimistic we are slowing the infection rate . ''
A medical worker wears personal protective equipment due to COVID-19 concerns at The Brooklyn Hospital Center , April 9 , 2020 , in the Brooklyn , N.Y. John Minchillo/AP
The three-day average hospitalization rate is down , and for the first time , New York has registered a negative number of ICU admissions , Cuomo said at his Friday press briefing . There were 17 fewer people in intensive care units statewide than there were previously , Cuomo said .
In New York state , over 160,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 -- that 's more than any other state in the U.S. and country in the world .
`` The death toll is going up . And I understand the logic to that , '' Cuomo told `` Good Morning America '' anchor Michael Strahan Friday . `` These are people who came into the hospital a couple of weeks ago , they did n't recover , they were put on ventilators and once you 're on a ventilator , the longer you 're on a ventilator , the worse it gets . ''
As preliminary data showed the largest percentage of coronavirus deaths in New York City was among Hispanics , the governor on Wednesday called for more testing in minority communities .
Hispanics accounted for 34 % of COVID-19 deaths though they make up 29 % of the population . Twenty-eight percent of those who have died from COVID-19 in NYC have been African-American .
`` Are we shocked that the rates are higher in the African-American/Latino community ? We should n't be , Michael , if we 're being honest , '' Cuomo told `` GMA . '' `` We know that there 's inequality in the health care system . We know that the poorer communities often pay the highest price for these types of emergency situations because they 're really just bringing to light that systemic racism and discrimination in the system . ''
Governor Andrew Cuomo appears on `` Good Morning America , '' April 10 , 2020 . βββ
`` Let 's learn from this moment , '' Cuomo said . `` It 's testing and understanding why the minority community has a higher rate . Is it because they work in public sector jobs and they were essential workers and they did n't have the luxury , Michael , of staying home ? And they did n't have the luxury of going to stay at their second house ? Or staying with a relative in their home in the suburbs ? ''
`` There has to be some lesson that we take from this , '' he said .
11:40 a.m. : Boris Johnson 'at an early stage ' of recovery
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson , who is in a London hospital battling the coronavirus , is `` continuing his recovery , which is at an early stage , '' according to a statement from his official residence and office , 10 Downing Street .
Three police officers at left and a security guard at right guard an entrance outside St Thomas ' Hospital in London , where British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being treated for coronavirus , April 10 , 2020 . Matt Dunham/AP
Johnson , 55 , remains `` in very good spirits , '' the statement added .
β The Prime Minister has been able to do short walks , between periods of rest , '' a spokesman said . β He has spoken to his doctors and thanks the whole clinical team for the incredible care he has received . ''
A spokesman said Friday , `` I am told he was waving his thanks towards the nurses and doctors that he saw as he was being moved from the intensive care unit back to the ward . ''
Johnson has been hospitalized since Sunday evening due to `` persistent symptoms '' of the novel coronavirus . He was transferred to the intensive care unit on Monday after his condition `` worsened , '' and released from intensive care on Thursday , a spokesperson said .
The U.K. death toll on Friday increased by 980 for a total of 8,958 fatalities .
Military personal are seen testing people at a coronavirus test centre in the car park of Chessington World of Adventures as the spread of the coronavirus disease ( COVID-19 ) continues , London , April 10 , 2020 . Peter Nicholls/Reuters
11:20 a.m. : DOJ investigating conditions at nursing home where more than 30 died
After a COVID-19 outbreak left more than 30 dead at a Massachusetts nursing home , the Justice Department β s civil rights division is investigating whether the facility violated its residents β rights by failing to provide adequate care during and before the pandemic .
A welcome sign is seen outside the Soldier 's Home in Holyoke , Mass. , March 31 , 2020 . The director of the center has been placed on leave after several veterans have died and others including staff have been diagnosed with Covid-19 . CJ Gunther/EPA via Shutterstock
`` The federal Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act specifically protects the rights of those confined in state facilities like the Holyoke Soldiers β Home , '' located in Holyoke , said U.S. attorney Andrew Lelling .
`` It would be difficult to overstate our obligation to the health and well-being of elderly and disabled military veterans and , by extension , to their families , '' Lelling said in a statement .
Massachusetts Gov . Charlie Baker called for an independent investigation into the Soldiers β Home . This probe is the first publicly-announced federal investigation of a nursing home since the start of the coronavirus crisis .
10:50 a.m. : Wisconsin Dept . of Health tracking if new cases emerge from Tuesday 's election
The Wisconsin Department of Health said it plans to track whether new cases of COVID-19 arise from Tuesday 's in-person election , which was held despite the pandemic .
Voters fill out ballots at Riverside University High School during the presidential primary election , held amid the coronavirus disease ( COVID-19 ) outbreak , in Milwaukee , Wisc. , April 7 , 2020 . Daniel Acker/Reuters , FILE
Public health officials said they expect to see any cases from exposure begin to appear next week .
`` We will continue this important work to ensure that every case is followed up on , contacted , and anyone who may have been exposed notified , '' said DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm . `` We hope the extraordinary efforts taken by local clerks , public health , voters and poll workers helped minimize any transmission but we stand prepared to respond if that isn β t the case . ''
How it started and how to protect yourself : Coronavirus explained
Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide : Coronavirus map
5:35 a.m. : IMF anticipates worst economic fallout since the Great Depression
In a preview of its World Economic Outlook event next week , the International Monetary Fund says the world should be prepared for the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression due to the novel coronavirus .
`` Today we are confronted with a crisis like no other . COVID-19 has disrupted our social and economic order at lightning speed and on a scale that we have not seen in living memory , '' Kristalina Georgieva , IMF managing director , said in a statement Thursday .
Three months ago , the IMF said it expected at least 160 countries would see positive per capita income growth in 2020 . As of Thursday , the organization now predicts over 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year .
`` The bleak outlook applies to advanced and developing economies alike . This crisis knows no boundaries . Everybody hurts , '' Georgieva said . `` In fact , we anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression . ''
In the U.S. , more than 16 million people have filed for unemployment insurance in just three weeks , according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor .
The 2020 World Economic Outlook event is scheduled for Tuesday , April 14 .
The Food and Drug Administration , along with the Federal Trade Commission has sent a notice to Alex Jones ' Infowars website to stop selling products it claims can help `` mitigate , prevent , treat , diagnose , or cure COVID-19 . ''
Officials not only warned against selling alleged treatments for coronavirus , but it also asked consumers not to use the products since none are approved by the FDA to treat COVID-19 .
Among the items the FDA said the conspiracy theory website was selling include , β Superblue Silver Immune Gargle , β β SuperSilver Whitening Toothpaste , β β SuperSilver Wound Dressing Gel β and β Superblue Fluoride Free Toothpaste. β The products were sold on the website and promoted on Infowars videos , the FTC letter said .
The FDA has sent 26 warning letters to companies and organizations claiming to have COVID-19 treatments since March 6 . Of those , 14 have been labeled as corrected .
While there are trials running across the world , there is no known treatments or vaccines to cure or prevent COVID-19 . | 8f34426838cc4176 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | American Spectator | https://spectator.org/the-democrats-the-party-of-resistance/ | The Democrats: The Party of Resistance | politics | One explanation for the ferocity of modern politics is that The Political Party That Is Never Wrong is getting a frightful drubbing today . Moreover , it is coming from a man who has only sought political office once in his life , our president , Donald J. Trump . Congratulations , Donald !
He is beating the Democrats with policies that have revived the economy and rendered laughable Ex-President Barack Obama β s pathetic claim that the β new normal β is someplace around 2 percent growth . President Trump responds that his economy is now growing at a rate of some 4.2 percent , most likely even higher . President Trump is also beating The Political Party That Is Never Wrong with his judicial appointees . He has had confirmed 67 to the courts . More than any of his predecessors at this stage in their presidencies , and if all goes well he will have landed two appointees on the Supreme Court shortly . Finally , he is beating The Political Party That Is Never Wrong by rolling back that party β s stifling regulations and antiquated procedures . The party is desperate .
The Political Party That Is Never Wrong is led by septuagenarians who are exhausted and feckless , and they are about to be replaced by greenhorns who are self-proclaimed Socialists . That is to say , the septuagenarians are about to be replaced by Machiavels whose politics are at best lifted from the European left or at worst lifted from Venezuelans , some of whom have to stand in line for toilet paper . The Democrats , at various times in our history , have called themselves Liberals , Progressives , the left , and now Socialists . They claim that history has been on their side since at least the French Revolution . Every major achievement by mankind in such areas as philosophy , science , government , warfare , and β forget not β women β s studies and sex hygiene have been achieved by the American left .
That is why they are so furious today . In last week β s grilling of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh , they threatened to break the law . Some actually did break the law , and they all charged Judge Kavanaugh with barbaric beliefs , grievous wrongs , and writing for The βββ , which was one of their few accurate observations . Judge Kavanaugh β s wife had to remove his children from the hearing rooms . Possibly she removed them from the entire city of Washington , D.C. and surroundings .
Accepting defeat is quite incomprehensible to the left . That is why every contested presidential election of the modern era β in fact , every contested presidential election in any era β has been contested by the left , not the right . Interestingly , in recent years , as the left β s power dwindles , the number of contested elections has increased and grown more rancorous .
Nineteen-sixty was a very close election , but if it were to be contested Richard Nixon would have had to do it . He would not put the country through the ordeal of a recount . His reelection of 1972 was one of the greatest landslides in American history , and The Political Party That Is Never Wrong immediately put our country through the travail of Watergate . Few claimed the 1972 election was stolen by the fiendish Nixon β though I recall one or two fanatics β but by 1974 The Political Party That Is Never Wrong had come to the realization that there is more than one way to challenge an election . Nixon went quietly and with dignity . He had after all lied . When Bill Clinton faced impeachment in 1998 there was no dignity . There was in 1998 , as Clinton β s wife is demonstrating today , only β resistance . β
The elections of 1980 through 1996 were pretty much normal , though The Party That Is Never Wrong did sense a glimmer of hope in 1986 when Iran-Contra inspired dark murmurings about President Ronald Reagan β s possible impeachment and , who knows , possible incarceration for life without parole ? Then came the election of 2000 with all the left β s talk of β hanging chads , β replacing the Electoral College , and , in Florida , dark cabals . Suffice to say that in Florida George W. Bush won by 537 votes and with it won in the Electoral College . To this day there are Democrats who will tell you that their candidate won , but not according to the Constitution , which is still in effect .
In 2016 as in 2000 The Party That Is Never Wrong won the popular vote , but it lost in the Electoral College by 304 to 227 . Two years later we are still wrangling about the outcome with Democrats in the FBI , the CIA , the Democratic National Committee , British Intelligence , a law firm hired by the Clintons , and the mysterious Fusion GPS claiming Russian collusion though no Russian has been found . Once again there is talk from the Democrats of a Republican president β s impeachment , though this time the Republican President might not be as nice as Richard Nixon in 1960 and 1974 .
This time the Republican is Donald Trump , who has his finger on the atomic bomb . | RQLyETED1hMrZvea | 2 | Democratic Party | -1.4 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | |
democratic_party | The Hill | http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/340314-obama-plays-behind-the-scenes-role-in-rebuilding-democratic-party | Obama plays behind-the-scenes role in rebuilding Democratic Party | 2017-07-02 | democratic_party | Former President Obama is involved in discussions about the future of the Democratic Party , sources close to the former president tell βββ .
Since leaving office , he has held meetings β on a by-request basis β with a handful of House and Senate lawmakers in his office in Washington β s West End and over the phone .
In recent months , for example , he sat down one-on-one with freshman Sen. Chris Van Hollen ( D-Md . ) , according to a Democrat familiar with the meeting .
He has also met with and has had phone conversations with Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez Thomas Edward PerezClinton β s top five vice presidential picks Government social programs : Triumph of hope over evidence Labor β s 'wasteful spending and mismanagement β at Workers β Comp MORE throughout the spring , according to two sources .
β Hey man , it 's only the future of the world in your hands , β Obama joked with Perez in one conversation , according to a DNC aide .
Obama β s former political adviser David Simas , who is now the CEO of the Obama Foundation , has also been making a string of calls to DNC officials in recent months .
Sources familiar with Obama β s meetings with members of Congress declined to offer the names of all of the lawmakers he has met with , saying the sessions were meant to be private .
The DNC source described Obama β s chats with Perez as regular β check ins . β
Obama hasn β t had a major public presence on the political stage since leaving the White House .
β He doesn β t want the focus to be on him , β said one source close to the former president . β He doesn β t want to be out in front . β
But the private activity suggests that the former president , who left the White House with a 60 percent approval rating , is quietly doing more to shape the party than is often visible .
The meetings and calls have come at a time when the Democratic Party , still reeling from the stunning 2016 presidential election loss , is searching for leadership .
As the party attempts to rebuild , Democrats find themselves in an identity crisis , still trying to figure out how they lost white working-class voters and the states of Pennsylvania , Michigan and Wisconsin to President Trump .
A string of disappointing House special election losses has contributed to a sense of unease , and left Democrats questioning some of their leaders β particularly House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ( Calif. ) .
One source close to the former president said that while Obama wants to provide space for new leadership in the party to step in , he also wants to be β an available resource β for those drafting the Democratic message .
The conversations between Obama and the lawmakers and party leaders are said to vary .
With Perez , the men discussed the outlines of the party 's future . With others , he has discussed policy .
Obama β known for his ability to reach various segments of the Democratic Party β has talked about bridging the party β s current divide by explaining policy nuance in story form .
The former president is expected to stay out of the political fray for now , sources familiar with his planning say , but he will begin emerging on the fundraising circuit and on the stump for candidates including Ralph Northam , the Democrat running for governor of Virginia , in the fall .
Northam approached the former president β who carried the state in 2008 and 2012 with the help of millennials and African-Americans β and asked him to get involved .
When Obama does hit the trail , he is expected to keep the debate policy-focused β and at least initially he won β t be pounding the drum on Trump .
Obama has taken a similar tack when he does weigh in publicly . He does so sparingly , when he feels much is at stake , those around him say .
Last week , for example , as Republicans considered a bill aimed at repealing his signature healthcare law , Obama put out a statement blasting his opponents for putting the American people through β pain . β
β Simply put , if there β s a chance you might get sick , get old , or start a family β this bill will do you harm , β he said in the statement . β And small tweaks over the course of the next couple weeks , under the guise of making these bills easier to stomach , can not change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation . β
Obama also weighed in on the French election , choosing to endorse the eventual winner Emmanuel Macron over the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen .
While Obama β who still lives in Washington β remains out of the political spotlight , his post-presidency work has kept him on the road β and meeting with world leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau .
The meetings have left some Democrats pining for what was during the Obama presidency and contrasting it with Trump β s rocky foreign policy relations .
A news story in The New York Times , noting the chumminess in Obama β s meetings with foreign leaders , went as far to say , β one might be forgiven for thinking that Mr. Obama was trolling President Trump . β
Those in Obamaworld say that wasn β t the former president β s intent and that his focus is on his foundation and other post-presidency efforts .
β He doesn β t want to be president or the voice of the Democratic Party , β one former Obama aide said . β But he β ll definitely be there to guide folks along the way . β | z3Bz8LUL8defR0kU | 1 | Democratic Party | 1.5 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
immigration | ABC News (Online) | https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-authorizes-ice-target-schools-churches/story | Trump authorizes ICE to target schools and churches | 2025-01-22 | Immigration, Trump Administration, Donald Trump, DHS, Illegal Immigration | This page either does not exist or is currently unavailable. From here you can either hit the "back" button on your browser to return to the previous page, or visit the ABCNews.com Home Page. You can also search for something on our site below. | f853cfde93b69379 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | New York Times (News) | http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/05/us/politics/trump-gop.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0 | Victory for Trump has some in GOP Bolting | 2016-05-04 | Presidential Elections, Elections | Advertisement Supported by By Patrick HealyJonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman Republican elected officials, donors and strategists grappled uncomfortably on Wednesday with the inevitability of Donald J. Trump as their presidential nominee, an unexpectedly sudden denouement that left many in a state of political paralysis and others vowing to oppose the partyβs new standard-bearer. While some called for unity, many Republican leaders refrained from falling in line behind Mr. Trump, with dozens avoiding inquiries about where they stood or saying they wanted Mr. Trump to detail his policies or tone down his language first. Others tied themselves in knots as they praised and criticized Mr. Trump in a single breath, or suggested that they could abide Mr. Trump but loathed his agenda. Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who is in a tough re-election race, signaled that she would βsupportβ Mr. Trump but not βendorseβ him, as a spokeswoman put it, a rhetorical contortion that other Republicans repeated privately. Representative RaΓΊl R. Labrador of Idaho, a staunch conservative, said he would support Mr. Trump but derided him for βnot knowing much about the Constitution or politics.β Former Gov. Bob Martinez of Florida, who retains a strong network of donors, said he would raise money for Mr. Trump but was unsure about his proposals, like temporarily banning foreign Muslims from entering the United States. For a party that usually rallies around its presumptive nominee quickly, the brutal primary campaign and the questions about Mr. Trumpβs substance and style have fueled a remarkable level of dissatisfaction β antipathy that will not fade simply because Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio have ceded the race to him. Advertisement The journey from denial and resistance to grudging acceptance, and even peace, with the Trump nomination may never be complete for some Republicans. But leaders hope to change that quickly, to save the party from splintering and to have a real shot at winning in November. βThere will be some that will take days and weeks to realize that there are two choices and that itβs between Donald Trump and the Democratic nominee, which most of us believe will be Hillary Clinton,β said Gov. Phil Bryant of Mississippi. Mr. Bryant, who supported Mr. Cruz, called on him and others to back Mr. Trump. βRealistically, and I think Republicans are realists, this is an opportunity to have a Republican president sitting in the Oval Office,β he said. Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like. Jennifer Steinhauer contributed reporting. Find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via Facebook, Twitter and the First Draft newsletter. Advertisement Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Times. See subscription options | b0f195799bc5cb2b | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
labor | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/27/us-jobless-claims-fall-to-5-year-low/ | U.S. jobless claims fall to a 5-year low | 2012-12-27 | labor | The average number of people seeking unemployment benefits over the past month fell to the lowest level since March 2008 , a sign that the job market is healing .
The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000 in the week ended Dec. 22 . The four-week average , a less volatile measure , fell to a nearly five-year low of 356,750 .
Still , the figures were affected by the Christmas holiday . A department spokesman said many state unemployment offices were closed Monday and Tuesday and unable to compile complete data . Fourteen states provided estimates and the department estimated the numbers for five additional states .
The government might estimate one or two states in a typical week , but 19 state estimates are unusually high .
Weekly applications are a proxy for layoffs . They have mostly fluctuated this year between 360,000 and 390,000 . At the same time , employers have added an average of 151,000 jobs a month in the first 11 months of 2012 . That 's just enough to slowly reduce the unemployment rate .
The recent decline in unemployment benefit applications suggests companies are not yet slashing jobs because of concerns over the `` fiscal cliff . '' That 's the name for sharp tax increases and spending cuts that are scheduled to take effect next week unless the Obama administration and Congress can reach a deal before then .
Still , unemployment remains high and companies are reluctant to ramp up hiring . The unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent in November from 7.9 percent in October mostly because many of the unemployed stopped looking for jobs . The government counts people as unemployed only if they are actively searching for work .
Negotiations between President Barack Obama and House Republican leaders on a package to avoid the fiscal cliff stalemated last week . Obama and congressional lawmakers return to Washington Thursday with just days to go before the deadline .
There are signs the economy is improving . The once-battered housing market is recovering , which should lead to more construction jobs in the coming months . Companies ordered more long-lasting manufactured goods in November , a sign they are investing more in equipment and software . And Americans spent more in November . Consumer spending drives nearly 70 percent of economic growth .
While a short fall over the cliff wo n't push the economy into recession , most economists expect some tax increases to take effect next year . That could slow growth .
Consumers are starting to worry about higher taxes . A measure of consumer confidence fell to a five-month low this month , a survey released Friday found . And reports show the holiday shopping season was the weakest since 2008 , when the country was in a deep recession . | nLPFygIX8inTLgJG | 2 | Jobs Report | 0.4 | Jobs | 0.2 | Labor | 0.2 | Economy And Jobs | 0 | null | null |
energy | American Spectator | https://spectator.org/coals-colossal-comeback/ | Coalβs Colossal Comeback | 2017-04-17 | Energy, Coal, White House | Buried in an otherwise humdrum jobs report for March was the jaw-dropping pronouncement by the Labor Department that mining jobs in America were up by 11,000 in March . Since the low point in October 2016 and following years of painful layoffs in the mining industry , the mining sector has added 35,000 jobs .
What a turnaround . βIt comes at a time when liberals have been saying that Donald Trump has been lying to the American people when he has said that he can bring coal jobs back . Well , so far he has brought them back .
There β s more good news for the coal industry . Earlier this month , Peabody Coal β America β s largest coal producer β moved out of bankruptcy , and its stock is actively trading again . Its market cap had sunk by almost 90 percent , during the Obama years . Arch Coal is also out of bankruptcy .
It turns out that elections do have consequences , after all . Regime change in Washington has brought King Coal back to life since late 2016 when coal production had fallen by almost half from its peak . The Obama administration and its allies like the Sierra Club tried to kill coal , because of their hyper-obsession with global warming . The Trump administration pledged to coal miners in small towns across America in Ohio , Pennsylvania , Virginia , West Virginia and Wyoming that he would be a friend to American coal and fossil fuels .
As promised , Trump has lifted the so-called Clean Power Plant regulations and several other EPA rules that were intentionally designed to kill coal jobs ( and thousands more in related industries like trucking and steel ) and shutter coal plants , which they accomplished with ruthless precision . Hillary had promised her green allies that she would finish off every last coal mining job in America .
The coal miners weren β t too happy about this , and her arrogant disregard for a leading American industry that hires tens of thousands of union workers contributed to her losses in almost all the coal states β many of which were once reliably βDemocratic .
America was built on cheap and abundant coal . Fossil fuels powered the U.S. into the industrial age and replaced inefficient windmills and woodburning as the primary sources of electricity . America currently has access to 500 years β worth of coal β far more than any other nation . Even despite the last decade β s war on coal during the Obama years , the U.S. still derives about one third of our power from coal β second only to natural gas .
Coal is indispensable today , even if renewable β green β energy starts to catch on , because wind and solar power are only viable with coal burning power plants as a backup for when the wind doesn β t blow and the sun doesn β t shine . Without coal , green energy means rolling blackouts across America .
Liberals have argued that coal could never make a comeback because of cheap natural gas . Clearly , the shale gas revolution with prices falling from $ 10 to $ 3 per million cubic feet has hurt coal producers .
But economic necessity is the mother of invention , and coal companies like Peabody have figured out how to become far more efficient in their production . What β s more , clean coal is here . Emissions from coal plants of lead , sulfur , carbon monoxide , and other air pollutants have fallen by more than half and , in some cases , by 90 percent in recent decades .
The climate change industrial complex pontificates that the U.S. has to stop using coal to save the planet . But even if the U.S. cut our own coal production to zero , China and India are building hundreds of coal plants . βBy not suspending American coal production , we are merely transferring jobs from the U.S. Do liberals care more about jobs in India and China than in America ?
Renewable energy is at best one or two decades away from being a major energy source for the world , so until that happens , coal and natural gas will compete as low-priced and super-abundant , domestically produced energy sources for 21st century America . Nuclear power will hopefully continue to play an important role , too . Meanwhile , for all the talk of the increase in wind and solar industries , they still account for less than 5 percent of our energy . Almost 70 percent comes from natural gas and coal .
Coal isn β t dead in America . It is unleashed . As a Washington Times editorial put it very well recently , β The left gave up on the 100,000 coal workers in America more than a decade ago . Donald Trump has not. β Remember this the next time Elizabeth Warren or Nancy Pelosi lecture us about how much they care about the working class in America .
Stephen Moore is an economic consultant with Freedom Works and co-author of Fueling Freedom : Exposing the Mad War Against Energy . | 9db8458941137c70 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
terrorism | New York Post | http://nypost.com/2015/02/18/say-it-obama-islamic/ | Say it, Obama: βIslamicβ | 2015-02-18 | terrorism | A recent news bulletin announced that police in Nova Scotia broke up a plot by two men who aimed to carry out mass murder at a shopping mall and then commit suicide .
Here is what the Associated Press said about the plot in its second paragraph :
β Police and other officials said it was not related to Islamic terrorism . β
If you shared my instant reactions , you also are wondering what the hell is going on with the Obama administration . When the liberal Associated Press feels the need to address readers β assumptions about Islam and terrorism , we have a reached a tipping point .
Make that a worldwide tipping point . With the pope and Cardinal Timothy Dolan joining Jewish leaders and growing numbers of Muslim officials in Arab lands speaking honestly about the horrors perpetrated under Islam β s name , that leaves President Obama as the odd man out .
Not every Muslim is a terrorist . But almost all terrorists are Muslims . Those two statements are both accurate , as even Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi tacitly conceded when he scolded Islamic clerics for failing to halt the spread of jihadists . But inconvenient truths don β t matter to Obama .
The president β s ideological blinkers will be on vivid display this week , with 60 countries invited to a White House summit on extremism . But aides made clear there would be no change in the willful ignorance .
β We are not treating these people as part of a religion . We β re treating them as terrorists , β an official told reporters .
This is nuts . Although the Islamic State , al Qaeda , Boko Haram and the Taliban cite Islam as the basis of their death cults , Obama argues that their acts are contrary to Islam , and therefore , refuses to associate them with Islam .
Thankfully , Christian leaders finally realize they can not count on the president and must themselves sound the alarm about what is happening in Muslim countries . The beheading of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya was the latest outrage linked to a genocidal religious cleansing .
As the pope and Dolan made clear , the victims were killed because of their faith , with the Islamic butchers calling them β people of the cross β and β crusaders . β
The fact that Jews are singled out for their religion is hardly in doubt β except at the White House . After Obama foolishly used the word β randomly β to describe the slaughter of four Jews in a Paris kosher deli , aides scrambled to defend him . They soon gave up , conceding what French authorities said all along β the slaughter was an anti-Semitic attack by a follower of the Islamic State .
Obama β s hesitation to admit the obvious fact about the victims echoes the refusal to properly call Islamic terrorists what they are .
At the same time , he has no problem standing up for Islam when he thinks its adherents are wronged . Although police have not concluded that the murder of three Muslims in North Carolina had anything to do with religion β the killer confessed and denied religion was an issue β the Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation and Obama issued a statement suggesting the murders were hate crimes .
β No one in the United States of America should ever be targeted because of who they are , what they look like , or how they worship , β he said .
Remember , too , that he recently singled out the Crusades to warn Christians about getting on their β high horse β over Muslim killers .
If the issue were only semantics , it would be minor in the grand scheme . But the refusal to concede that Islamic terrorists are , in fact , Islamic leads to flawed understandings of the problem and missed chances for potential solutions .
One example of the garbage-in , garbage-out dynamic is the ridiculous assertion by a State Department official that jobs programs are part of the answer .
β We can not win this war by killing them , β spokeswoman Marie Harf said on MSNBC , arguing that America should β help them build their economies so they can have job opportunities for these people . β
The rot of denial runs deep , and starts at the top .
Gov . Andrew Cuomo is still sending mixed messages about his commitment to cleaning up Albany , saying on TV that β You β ve always had and you probably always will have some level of corruption . β β
Technically speaking , he β s right . But the context β a parade of government perps , including the arrest of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver β makes Cuomo sound too defensive and casts doubt on his latest promise to do something about the rotten apples .
Earlier this month , he proposed ethics demands that he said the Legislature must pass before he would sign a budget . He conceded then that β we have not yet proven . . . that Albany writ large can be trusted . β
He was right then , and wrong now . His suggestion that the crime wave is nothing extraordinary recalls Daniel Patrick Moynihan β s warning about β defining deviancy down. β As the late senator noted , rot becomes permanent when people accept the abnormal as normal and give up trying to fix it .
Cuomo also said in the NY1 interview that there are no plans to hang the customary portrait of former Gov . Eliot Spitzer because he resigned in a prostitution scandal .
The old Soviet system of erasing out-of-favor pols from history comes to mind . Sure , Spitzer was a disgrace , but he belongs on Albany β s wall of governors . If nothing else , his face will be a daily reminder of what happens when politicians think they are above the law .
Let Client No . 9 take his place . And let his successors take their cue from his fall .
In my next life , I want to come back as a progressive . That way , I β ll know everything for certain .
After a federal judge put a temporary halt to President Obama β s immigration orders , Mayor Bill de Blasio and his Mini-Me , Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito , declared the judge wrong on the law .
Neither is a lawyer , but that didn β t stop them . The mayor called the president β s actions β lawful β and said he was confident the ruling would be overturned on appeal .
Mark-Viverito chimed in to say Obama β s β plan is constitutional and necessary . β
Inadvertently , the would-be tyrants point up a big potential for savings . With progressives in power , we don β t need judges , courts , checks and balances . We could just turn back the clock to the 18th century and go for a monarchy . Who needs elections ?
The New York Times reports that murders in St. Louis increased 33 percent last year , to 159 in a city of 318,000 people . By comparison , New York had 328 murders in a city of 8.4 million .
The Times headline said , β Rise in Murders has St. Louis Debating Why . β
Really ? Perhaps murder is out of control because St. Louis has a political culture that reflexively attacks cops for doing their jobs , brands them as racists and orders them to ignore looters and arsonists . | 8gq4jDGpoWIMdDui | 2 | Terrorism | -0.3 | ISIS | 0.1 | Islam | 0 | Barack Obama | 0 | null | null |
technology | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/16/opinion/obeidallah-social-media-sharing/index.html?hpt=op_t1 | Are we sharing too much online? | 2013-08-16 | Social Media, Technology | Story highlights Dean Obeidallah : Social media evolved from sharing trivial matters to more personal ones
NPR host Scott Simon tweeted from his dying mother 's hospital room
Obeidallah : Sharing more is a good thing , if it helps bring comfort to those who suffer
Remember when social media websites were just about sharing fun things ? I 'm talking about the time when Facebook was essentially a place to post photos of you having a great time and the most serious event shared was when a person changed his or her status from `` in a relationship '' to `` single . ''
But those days are gone . Social media has now become a place to share deeply personal and often horribly painful events in our lives . It has , in essence , become an online group therapy session where people reveal the details of dreadful events from their lives in the hopes it helps them cope and will attract support from others .
We saw it on display this week with 16-year-old Hannah Anderson , who was taken hostage by James DiMaggio for a week after he allegedly killed Hannah 's mother and younger brother . Within days of being freed , Hannah went online to the website ask.fm and answered questions from the public about her ordeal . And she did n't just respond to a few questions , she fielded a long list of probing questions from `` Why did n't you run ? '' to `` Are you glad ( DiMaggio is ) dead ? ''
I noticed this evolution in the way people had begun to use social media last year , and at the time , I did n't like it . My concern was : Why would anyone share the intimate details of tragic events from their lives with people online , many of whom are strangers ?
It really hit home this year when a friend posted on Facebook that he had been diagnosed with cancer . I was shocked , first by the news but second by the fact he announced his diagnosis on Facebook . Typically , this would be the type of news you would share only with family and close friends , and probably in a face-to-face conversation .
But reading the comments responding to his original posting -- and the comments to his subsequent posts about his treatment -- caused me to change my view on what was appropriate to share on social media . The amount of support he received on his Facebook page was astounding . He was touched by it , noting that the outpouring brought him comfort and inspired him to fight the disease even harder .
Many others are sharing the most heartwrenching events in their lives . In just the past few weeks , friends on Facebook or Twitter have posted information about the deaths of a parent or a grandparent .
JUST WATCHED Rescuing Hannah Anderson Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Rescuing Hannah Anderson 02:48
And this week , I saw an even more candid sharing of information when a friend posted on Facebook that his brother in Egypt had been shot by the police there during the recent protests . He followed that up a few hours later with updates about surgery to save his brother 's life . Finally , he posted a photo of his deceased brother from the morgue where they identified his body .
A few weeks ago , NPR host Scott Simon tweeted live updates from his dying mother 's hospital room to his more than 1 million Twitter followers . Some said Simon was invading his mother 's privacy while others labeled him as self-centered , focused more on himself than his dying mother . But like many others , I found it to be a moving tribute to his mother .
What sparked this trend to divulge information that had once been revealed only to family and close friends ? There are a few reasons . First , it 's clearly therapeutic for many . By sharing their painful experiences , it helps the person heal , and the show of support by others bolsters them .
Second , those who have been using social media for years on a daily basis have grown accustomed to sharing events and experiences from everyday life . We are now extending the scope of what we will share from our lives .
Finally , I believe there 's a connection between a willingness to share private aspects of our lives and the reality TV show world in which we have been immersed for over a decade . On a nightly basis , we see people share their triumphs and tragedies , be it on shows like `` Big Brother '' or `` The Real World '' or more contrived ones like `` Honey Boo Boo '' or `` Keeping up with the Kardashians . '' They have made it easier and more acceptable for us to do the same .
To me , the best thing about this new trend is that you get to control it . It 's your choice whether to disclose deeply personal information . Those who find it unnerving or inappropriate can keep that information secret . But for the rest , social media may end up being a less expensive but helpful form of therapy . | 4c54e8177c8d3431 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
world | Reuters | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g7-summit-miami/trump-puts-forward-own-miami-golf-course-for-next-g7-summit-idUSKCN1VG12J | Trump puts forward own Miami-area golf course for next G7 summit | 2019-08-26 | World, G7, France, United States, Donald Trump | BIARRITZ , France ( βββ ) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would probably host next year β s Group of Seven summit of the major industrialized countries at one of his own properties - the Trump National Doral golf resort near Miami - but insisted he would not personally profit from the resort β s selection .
The G7 countries take it in turn to stage the summit , often choosing locations that show off areas of natural beauty .
Trump said the Florida resort was a perfect choice , both due to its size and the fact it was just a five-minute drive from Miami airport .
β They love the location of the hotel , they also like the fact is it right next to the airport for convenience . And it is Miami , Doral , Miami , so it is a great area , β he said during this year β s summit in the French coastal town of Biarritz .
He said a final decision had yet to be taken , but added : β We haven β t had anything that could even come close to competing with it , especially when you look at the location . β
Related Coverage Trump says he would not make money if G7 hosted at his resort
In a news conference later on Monday , Trump said he would not directly benefit from hosting the G7 at his golf resort , saying : β From my standpoint , I β m not going to make any money . In my opinion , I β m not going to make any money . β
Trump has attended three G7 summits , in Italy , Canada and France . On each occasion , the meeting has been held far from any airport that can take his Air Force One plane , meaning he has had to be shuttled in by helicopter or by a smaller plane .
β So many places are so far away , the drive is so long , they need helicopters . This is somewhere you can be at within minutes of landing , β he said .
Although he did not like the fact he had to swap planes in France , Trump praised the setup in Biarritz , at a conference center overlooking the Atlantic .
β We can learn from what they did here , even architecturally , the way the rooms were set up and designed , β he said .
He , however , made clear he would not produce any unexpected guests , as France did by inviting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to hold talks on the sidelines of the gathering on Saturday . | 3d1ad822c992ec31 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
donald_trump | Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/21/pam-bondi-trump-attorney-general-florida/ | Pam Bondi, Trumpβs pick for attorney general, is a longtime loyalist | 2024-11-22 | Donald Trump, Attorney General, Matt Gaetz, Politics, Florida | President-elect Donald Trump announced that he plans to nominate former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi to become the next U.S. attorney general, hours after former congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) withdrew. Gaetz has been accused of sexual misconduct, allegations he has denied, and faced a narrowing path to confirmation in the Senate before dropping his bid.Bondi, 59, is a longtime Trump loyalist who served on the defense team during his first impeachment trial. Her selection to be the countryβs top law enforcement official follows a presidential campaign in which Trump criticized the justice system as βweaponizedβ against him and vowed retribution in a second term.βFor too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans - Not anymore,β Trump said in a Truth Social post. βPam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again. I have known Pam for many years β She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!βAdvertisementIn 2010, Bondi became the first woman to be elected Florida attorney general and served two terms. She serves in leadership roles with the Center for Litigation and the Center for Law and Justice at the America First Policy Institute. Her selection for a Cabinet role reinforces the right-wing think tankβs status as a leading source of political appointees for Trumpβs second term. The group helped lay the groundwork for a second Trump term but avoided the type of backlash levied against a similar effort, the Heritage Foundationβs Project 2025.She is also a partner at Ballard Partners, a powerhouse lobbying firm where Trumpβs incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles once worked. The firmβs website lists Bondi as chair of the corporate regulatory compliance practice. She was registered to work for the Qatari Embassy in Washington on βefforts to combat human traffickingβ during parts of 2019 and 2020, Justice Department filings show. She also lobbied for General Motors and Amazon. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)Bondi played a leading role in Trumpβs efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, appearing at news conferences and on television to press his false claims that voting fraud had rigged the election in Joe Bidenβs favor. Like many of Trumpβs other Cabinet choices, Bondi built her national profile with appearances on Fox News.AdvertisementAs Floridaβs attorney general, Bondi faced widespread criticism for declining to prosecute one of Trumpβs businesses, Trump University, which faced fraud charges in New York. Days after her office announced that it was reviewing allegations against Trump University, one of Trumpβs foundations donated $25,000 to a political committee tied to Bondiβs reelection campaign.Trump denied that the donation had anything to do with the allegations. He later paid a $2,500 penalty to the IRS because his charitable foundation had violated tax laws in making the contribution.As Floridaβs attorney general, Bondi joined with other Republican law enforcement chiefs in a high-profile lawsuit that aimed to overturn President Barack Obamaβs Affordable Care Act. In 2014, she argued that other statesβ recognition of same-sex marriages would βimpose significant public harmβ to Floridians.AdvertisementIn 2018, Florida joined several other states in lawsuits against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, accusing the company of fueling a nationwide epidemic by deceptively marketing prescription painkillers. βItβs time the defendants pay for the pain and the destruction theyβve caused,β Bondi said at the time.This is not the first time Trump has leaned on Bondi after a close male ally was immersed in a sexual misconduct scandal. In 2021, when Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski was accused of sexually harassing a Republican donor at a charity event, he was fired from a pro-Trump super PAC and Bondi was put in charge.Bondiβs selection by Trump for attorney general was welcomed by a conservative group that opposes abortion and same-sex marriage.βPam is a thorough professional, a seasoned and capable prosecutor and a woman of enormous integrity who has Trumpβs respect and confidence,β said Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. βShe is uniquely qualified to restore the rule of law and put the blindfold back on Lady Justice and the Department of Justice.βBondi grew up in the Tampa area and worked as a prosecutor for 18 years in Floridaβs Hillsborough County. She received her bachelorβs degree in criminal justice from the University of Florida and her law degree from the Stetson University College of Law. | b3fa3e0f222fdb1e | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
supreme_court | American Spectator | https://spectator.org/california-targets-supreme-court/ | California Targets Supreme Court | 2018-06-21 | California, Supreme Court | California β s government has set itself up as Ground Zero for the resistance , epitomized by the 29 lawsuits the state has filed or joined ( with other states ) since the beginning of the Trump administration . Most of these cases are symbolic and serve mainly to energize the Democratic base . They make for great political theater and also offer an unusual narrative as left-wing California becomes the new redoubt of states β rights .
The courts will sort through that mess , but there β s a far more noxious way that California β s union-dominated Legislature is resisting changes at the federal level . In particular , the U.S. Supreme Court is soon expected to issue a ruling in the Janus v. the American Federation of State , County and Municipal Employees case . Given the makeup of the court , virtually all court watchers expect the high court to toss a law that requires public employees to pay union dues .
This is a fabulous likely development , and could be the president β s most significant achievement given that Justice Neil Gorsuch is the swing vote . Since the 1977 Abood decision , the court allowed workers to opt out of the portion of union dues that is used for direct political purposes , but not for collective bargaining . Janus β s plaintiffs argue , however , that all dues payments β even those related to contract negotiations β are inherently political . This surely is true , given that union contracts affect policy issues such as public spending , pension debt , and tenure .
Instead of waiting for the ruling and then following the new law of the land , the state β s unions and legislators β but perhaps I repeat myself ? β are preemptively undermining what they expect that decision to be . As I reported for the Spectator in March , β some unions have sent out contracts to their members with β trap language β that essentially convinces them to give up in advance ( at least temporarily ) any new rights they might get following a Janus verdict. β Last year , the state passed a law allowing unions to hold on-the-job recruitment sessions .
Now , their efforts are getting more brazen . The California School Employees Association , the union representing non-teacher school employees , sent out an email to public schools on Tuesday detailing some of the new rules included in a newly passed budget trailer bill . For starters , the new measure β requires school districts to refer all requests from union members to revoke their dues authorization over to the union , which then is responsible for notifying the employer if the revocation request should be honored. β The bill β also confirms that CSEA β s new membership application which requires a one-years dues commitment is enforceable. β Critics of such contracts have argued that they may not be legally enforceable , so the state has , once again , weighed in on the side of unions .
According to CSEA , the new trailer measure also β prohibits employers from engaging in communications with more than one employee about their right to drop union membership unless and until the employer has negotiated over such communications with the certified union β and mandates that those previously approved orientation seminars are kept out of the public view by exempting them from the California Public Records Act .
The California Policy Center β s Ed Ring detailed some of the other overtly anti-Janus bills that have been enacted so far . Two of them expand the categories of public-sector unionization . The first would unionize the staff for the Judicial Council , which is responsible for running the state β s court system . It β s easy to see how that would undermine the administration of justice . The second would unionize student employees at colleges and universities .
Another measure gives the union-dominated Public Employment Relations Board the power to police the way that employers communicate about unionization to their employees . A fourth law would require employers to pay a union β s legal fees involving most disputes . Other bills that currently are making their way through the Legislature would likewise hamper the ability of employees from deducting dues in the future , subjecting the decisions to approval by the union .
As Ring explained , Democratic lawmakers are taking a five-prong approach . First , they are expanding the categories of public unionization . Second , they are limiting the ability of employers to discuss employees β post-Janus rights . Third , they are limiting the ability of local agencies to honor the requests of employees who may want to withhold union dues . Fourth , they are forcing agencies to pay unions β legal dues if they lose these disputes . Fifth , they are shifting the adjudication of such disputes from the courts to a union-friendly agency .
On an unrelated note that gives insight into how the government here operates when it comes to unions , last month the Fresno-based 5th District Court of Appeal ruled that the Agricultural Labor Relations Board β a union-dominated agency that was formed in the 1970s to give farm workers a voice β is required to count the votes of farm workers who were deciding whether to decertify a union . It β s taken five years to get to this point . The union-friendly agency wouldn β t even count the workers β votes . Apparently , workers are free to have a voice provided that voice favors union representation .
If anyone still has any illusions about how the state government operates on behalf of unions , consider that PERB , which is gaining a vastly expanded role , is the same agency that tried to invalidate a 2012 pension-reform measure approved by San Diego voters . The agency β s argument : the reform should have been negotiated with the city β s unions rather than placed on a ballot β something that would eviscerate the citizenry β s constitutional right to vote .
This is a reminder that an expected favorable ruling , however wonderful it might be , is not a panacea in dealing with union power , especially in liberal states such as California . It will help level the battlefield , but conservatives still have a long fight ahead of them . | 6b3ed8820c5ada40 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_senate | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/14/politics/senate-nuclear-option/index.html?hpt=po_c1 | 'Nuclear option' will make Congress more toxic | 2013-07-14 | us_senate | Story highlights Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid threatens to go nuclear over stalled Obama appointees
Congressional aides predict any chance of bipartisan cooperation would reach `` grinding halt ''
Republicans threatened to use the same tactic when they controlled Senate
Senators have scheduled a closed-door meeting Monday to try to avoid bitter fight
It 's hard to imagine the atmosphere in Congress getting any more toxic , but it could if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid carries out his threat to use the `` nuclear option '' to budge stalled presidential appointees forward .
A top Republican aide warns that important bills like the recently approved immigration measure would never pass in a post-nuclear Senate .
`` If they blow the place up , then anything requiring a big bipartisan push like immigration will be impossible , '' the GOP aide said .
Republicans will protest by slamming the brakes on action in the Senate , current and former senior Senate aides from both parties predicted to CNN .
The poisoned atmosphere could stall passage of several important items moving through Congress like tax reform , judicial nominations , government spending bills and a debt ceiling increase . Even a relatively modest rewrite of student loan laws could be in jeopardy , meaning students headed to school this fall would have to pay higher interest rates .
Democrats control the Senate but do n't have the 60 votes necessary to break a filibuster . Reid warned Republicans if they do n't drop filibusters against Obama 's Cabinet and agency picks , he will take the drastic step of changing Senate rules without Republican consent .
JUST WATCHED Agreeing to disagree on immigration Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Agreeing to disagree on immigration 02:09
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The change would prevent filibusters of executive branch nominations , allowing them to be confirmed on a simple majority vote .
A last-ditch effort to head off the crisis will come Monday night , when all senators are scheduled to attend a closed session that Republicans requested in the historic Old Senate chamber .
`` A likely result of Reid triggering the nuclear option will be an erosion in the comity that makes the Senate the unique institution that it always has been , '' one senior Republican staffer told CNN . `` It is very likely that bipartisan cooperation will come to a grinding halt . ''
A top Democratic aide said , `` The immediate aftermath will be messy . The GOP will shut down the Senate and they will keep it locked down until there are tangible impacts from inaction . Only then , when people start to realize that their lawmakers are not working on the farm bill , immigration , budget and other issues , will they pick up the phone and call their lawmakers . ''
Jim Manley , a former top aide to Reid , said Republicans have a number of options to slow things down .
`` I 'm not so sure what else ( Senate Republican leader ) Sen. ( Mitch ) McConnell can do to slow down the Senate more than he already has , but I 'm entirely confident he has any number of tricks up his sleeves , '' said Manley , who was with Reid in 2005 when Republicans , then in the majority , threatened to use the nuclear option to prevent filibusters against President George W. Bush 's judicial nominations .
`` Declining unanimous consent agreements , doubling the number of amendments they 're demanding , using special procedures to try and divide bills into multiple sections . They have a number of options available to them . ''
Republicans would n't disclose exactly how they will respond but made clear they wo n't stand idly by .
`` I think this senator summed it up nicely , '' said Don Stewart , a senior aide to McConnell , pointing to a quote from then-Sen. Barack Obama during the 2005 standoff .
`` Everyone in this chamber knows that if the majority chooses to end the filibuster , if they choose to change the rules and put an end to democratic debate , then the fighting , the bitterness , and the gridlock will only get worse , '' Obama said then .
Both Reid and McConnell were asked on Sunday about being on different sides of the argument in 2005 .
Reid said the change he is proposing is `` very minimal , '' applying only to Cabinet and executive branch positions .
`` This is not judges , this is not legislation -- this has allowing the people of America to have a president who can have his team in place , '' Reid said on NBC 's `` Meet the Press . '' `` This is nothing like what went on '' in 2005 .
Appearing later on the same program , McConnell seemed to tamp down some of the acrimony . Three days after saying Reid would be remembered as the worst Senate leader ever , McConnell said Reid was `` a reasonable man , he 's a good majority leader . ''
A Democratic leadership aide said Republicans have more to lose in a slowdown than Democrats do .
`` The conundrum -- for Republicans , not for Democrats -- is whether they can bear shutting the Senate down over a rules change that allows simple nominations to be confirmed , and therefore also end support for popular items like immigration reform , the farm bill , and investments in education , infrastructure and health research , '' said a Democratic leadership aide . `` It may play well with their base , but the outrage is certain to fall on deaf ears with the Hispanic community , farmers , teachers , parents and students . ''
Two other veterans of the 2005 fight , which was resolved after a bipartisan `` Gang of 14 '' senators reached a compromise , expressed hope this standoff would be resolved , too , without a change in filibuster rules .
At that time , Bob Stevenson was a top aide to then-Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee . He described the threat then as an `` action-forcing mechanism '' that resulted in the creation of the `` Gang of 14 . ''
Stevenson warned if Reid employs the nuclear option now it would `` dramatically change the very nature and culture of the Senate , spilling over into already poisonous partisan debates down the road and making resolution of those issues even more difficult . ''
He said he is hopeful , but not optimistic , that when senators meet Monday night , the seriousness of the potential consequences will lead to `` cooperation and compromise . ''
A Democratic aide , who was also at the center of the 2005 fight and who asked not to be identified , said he hopes when the senators meet privately maybe `` some of the more seasoned veterans of these battles '' will come forward and say `` 'Is n't there a way to resolve this ? ' That 's what happened in 2005 . ''
McConnell said Sunday that he hoped an ugly fight can be avoided , as it was in 2005 when `` cooler heads prevailed . ''
`` We knew it would be a mistake for the long-term future of the Senate and the country . That 's what I hope is going to happen here , David , '' McConnell told NBC 's David Gregory . `` We have an opportunity to pull back from the brink in this meeting we 're going to have of senators in the Old Senate chamber Monday night . I hope we 'll come to our senses and not change the core of the Senate . '' | qt8vt3u34MJwjua9 | 0 | Senate | -0.2 | Filibuster | -0.2 | US Senate | -0.2 | Harry Reid | 0 | Mitch McConnell | 0 |
elections | Politico | https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/28/bernie-sanders-emotion-2020-1476623 | Bernie Sanders wonβt kiss your baby, but he feels your pain | 2019-08-28 | elections | SIOUX CITY , Iowa β Bernie Sanders is getting warm and fuzzy .
The Democratic presidential candidate who wouldn β t be caught dead kissing babies or flipping burgers at state fairs has figured out a way to engage in retail politics on his own terms β and there β s evidence it might be working .
Over the past month , Sanders has held a series of small , share-your-pain town halls and other events , in which he β s asked voters to respond to prompts such as β Talk about your health care experience '' and `` Anybody in the room trying to make it on less than $ 15 '' an hour ? People have told wrenching tales of not being able to afford treatment for PTSD after surviving a mass shooting , losing their home , and their boyfriend killing himself after being kicked off Medicaid , as the candidate offers sympathy and encouragement . At times , Sanders has cut himself off during a talk or ditched a planned speech to segue into a conversation with voters .
β How do you do well in school if you can β t hear what your professors are saying ? β Sanders said at one event after a 19-year-old college student discussed having to pay more than $ 5,000 for a hearing aid . β And this is a story we hear a hundred times . ''
The emphasis on intimate , personal interactions with voters is a departure from the early days of Sanders β 2020 campaign , when he often spoke uninterrupted for long periods of time at large rallies . When he held smaller town halls , Sanders would sometimes take a few questions from the audience and be done .
The more emotive style of campaigning β emotive for Sanders , at least β coincides with a small polling upswing for him after he stalled in some surveys in the early summer months . The Vermont senator had notably slipped in a handful of polls of the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa , where retail politics is paramount .
β He does retail , it β s fair to say , in his own way , β Faiz Shakir , Sanders β campaign manager , said after a Q & A with rallygoers in Iowa this month . β Particularly when you β re campaigning and winning votes in Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina and Nevada , it β s critical that he hears people and they hear him . It is truly a conversation . β
Though Sanders began holding smaller town halls and events months ago , his aides said he started making them more participatory at the beginning of August . The new format was on display during his 10-stop , three-day swing in Iowa last week . For instance , he was delivering his stump speech for about 15 minutes at a rally at his campaign office in Sioux City , Iowa β and then stopped .
β Let me take a break here and ask some of you a question , β he said . β I want people to tell me , if they could , tell me what they β re paying for health care right now . Anyone want to volunteer that ? β
All across the room , hands shot up . β I just got hit by a car , β one man said , adding that he owes $ 4,000 for the trip to the ER and lives on money from Social Security . β I got rejected from Medicaid , β a woman said , adding she has paid more than $ 5,000 so far this year in out-of-pocket expenses .
Sanders β advisers said they understand that campaigning with a personal touch is critical in early caucus and primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire . But it isn β t always easy to persuade Sanders to put that knowledge into practice : For years , he had resisted his aides β advice to tell his personal story on the stump . Then he relented this winter and placed his biography at the center of his kickoff rallies , only to largely let it recede after his launch .
In recent months , though , Sanders has increasingly participated in β selfie lines , β a practice Elizabeth Warren popularized . He took photos with supporters at almost every stop in Iowa last week , including at several events with actress Susan Sarandon , one of his most high-profile surrogates , and her dog , Penny .
Dave Johnson , a former Iowa city councilor who has endorsed Sanders , said it 's critical for presidential candidates to engage in retail politics in his state because the hourslong caucuses are so demanding .
β With a caucus , it β s very important that your supporters are enthusiastic . Because unlike a primary , it β s not a 10-minute process where you go in and you vote and you leave , β Johnson said as Sanders snapped pictures with fans in his backyard after an ice cream social . β When people get photos with him or even donate $ 5 to him , it β s like an investment into this idea , this political revolution . It β s theirs now , and they β re much more likely to come out and caucus because of it . β
Sanders has especially high expectations in Iowa : He came within nearly a third of a percentage point of defeating Hillary Clinton in the state in 2016 , and caucuses have a reputation of favoring liberal candidates . But many Democratic activists and operatives have named Warren β s Iowa team as the most organized , and Joe Biden has hired the biggest staff .
Sanders has spent six days in Iowa in August , more days than in any other state this month . While Sanders fell to fourth place in Iowa in Monmouth University and USA Today/Suffolk University surveys this summer , he 's polling better in New Hampshire and South Carolina . Sanders β team said it has nine campaign offices open in Iowa , with three more on the way by the end of September , and employs 51 staffers in the state , with plans to hire at least another 25 soon .
On the trail in Iowa last week , Sanders opened up in other ways : He took questions from reporters twice , something he rarely does . He brought his wife , grandson and son to a softball game between his campaign and members of the media . When his staff told reporters to give him some space while he was practicing before the game , he said , β You guys want to stay , they can stay . β
Sanders β aides said his intimate town halls have helped them recruit more volunteers in Iowa and other states . They β ve also spread his message that the nation β s health care industry is failing and workers are suffering through the mouths of everyday voters . His social media team often quickly clips the interactions and shares them on social media .
Unlike some other parts of campaigning , Sanders β aides also said he enjoys hearing the life stories of working-class Americans β and is energized by them .
`` We β ll get in the car and he β ll tell me , β Did you hear that one ? Did you hear this one ? β '' Shakir said . `` They stick with him . '' | xCaGMuIUnwni8fPk | 0 | Presidential Elections | -0.2 | Elections | -0.2 | Bernie Sanders | 0.1 | null | null | null | null |
coronavirus | BBC News | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53228134 | Coronavirus: What's behind alarming new US outbreaks? | 2020-07-01 | Coronavirus Testing, Coronavirus | As coronavirus outbreaks are slowly brought to heel in many places around the world , the US is among a handful of countries facing a surge of new infections .
More than two dozen states are now seeing increases in new cases over the last 14 days .
Of these , Texas , Florida , Arizona and California have emerged as the country 's latest virus epicentres .
But while cases are clearly rising , state leaders and health experts are divided on the cause .
Here 's a look at these four US hotspots , the facts and figures raising alarm , and the theories that may help explain each surge .
First , it 's important to note that across the US , more efficient testing has played some role in the climbing case count . The number of Covid-19 tests being administered now is nearly double what it was in April and May .
But the positive test rate tells us that testing ca n't explain away the rise .
If lots of tests are being conducted and the spread of the coronavirus has been reduced , then the positive case rate would fall in tandem . The World Health Organization says that states should have a positive case rate at or below 5 % for two weeks before they loosen restrictions on movement .
Even with testing success stories , it 's clear that the southern and western US are seeing a particularly sharp spike in infections and their rate .
As of 30 June , Texas , Florida , Arizona or California all fall under that category - and all fail to meet the bar .
After nearly three months of new cases hovering between 1,000 and 2,000 each day - Texas ' infection count has spiked in the last two weeks , with up to 6,000 new illnesses reported in a single day .
The sharp rise in cases has been mirrored by record highs in hospital admissions - reaching at 5,913 on Monday - and stoking fears that the state 's hospitals will soon be overwhelmed .
If this trajectory persists , Houston , the state 's most populous city , `` would become the worst affected city in the US '' , possibly rivalling what 's happening now in Brazil , wrote Peter Hotez , director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children 's Hospital , on Twitter . `` I can not really see how things get better on their own . ''
Why the rise ? Many point to the south-western state 's leading role peeling back lockdown measures .
Texas Governor Greg Abbott allowed his stay home order to expire on 30 April , with almost all businesses - including bars and restaurants - operating to at least 50 % capacity by early June . Last week , amid the surge , the governor shut down all bars and ordered restaurants to cut down capacity from 75 to 50 % .
`` If I could go back and redo anything , it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars , '' Mr Abbott said to El Paso station KVIA-TV . A `` bar setting , in reality , just does n't work with a pandemic '' .
Packed restaurants and bars may also fit with another national trend : the average age of people diagnosed with Covid-19 has decreased gradually throughout the pandemic .
In certain counties , people under the age 30 make up the majority of Covid patients , Mr Abbott said at a press conference earlier this month , which `` typically results from people going to the bar-type settings '' .
Parts of the state are now also enacting rules on face coverings .
Policies on masks are one of the factors differentiating states like Texas from those seeing lower transmission rates .
In 11 states with mask rules in place - including New York and Illinois - the number of new cases has declined 25 % in the last two weeks , according to an analysis by the Philadelphia Inquirer . On the other hand , in states where only some employees have to wear masks , new cases have risen by an average of 70 % .
Florida 's stay home order expired shortly after Texas ' , on 4 May .
While the state 's most populous counties , Miami-Dade and Broward , held off until 18 May , Florida still had one of the more aggressive reopening strategies in the US .
Disney properties and beaches began reopening by the end of last month , just as Americans across the country celebrated the Memorial Day holiday . Days into June , bars , restaurants , gyms , and shops were also resuming business .
Now , the Sunshine State is seeing a surge in Covid-19 - this past weekend saw over 8,500 new cases per day . In the last two weeks , cases have increased fivefold , according to the New York Times .
Hospitalisations are up as well , but Florida 's death toll has not seen so sharp a rise thus far .
The governor 's answer for why that may be lines up with what the White House has said : more testing and more young people with infections .
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said a backlog `` test dump '' coupled with transmission in the 18 to 35 age range is behind the concerning counts . He said that 20 % of Floridians aged 25 to 34 are testing positive , and called on younger residents to be more careful , citing graduation parties that ignored social distancing rules .
`` We 've been stressing avoiding the three Cs , which are : closed spaces with poor ventilation , crowded places with many people nearby and close-contact settings , such as close-range conversations , '' Mr DeSantis said .
But some experts say even with testing , the numbers still point to community spread linked to more social contact .
Former CDC Director Tom Frieden told Fox News on Sunday : `` As a doctor , a scientist , an epidemiologist , I can tell you with 100 % certainty that in most states where you 're seeing an increase , it is a real increase . It is not more tests ; it is more spread of the virus . ''
Mr DeSantis has stopped short of enacting any mandatory measures to curb Covid-19 transmission - however , mayors in South Florida , the hardest-hit region of the state , have been discussing next steps .
In Miami , Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach , beaches will be closed for the Fourth of July Independence Day weekend . Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez will also be limiting gatherings to no more than 50 people , with masks required .
Arizona may be the region with the most concerning surge in America . In mid-June , a Harvard epidemiologist noted the state had a higher case count and percent positivity rate than Brazil and Peru at the time .
It 's a familiar story here too : the south-western state 's spike follows its reopening timeline .
Republican Governor Doug Ducey lifted Arizona 's stay-at-home order on 15 May . In the time since , dine-in restaurants , bars , casinos , gyms , golf clubs and swimming pools reopened . There were health recommendations but no mandate on face coverings or enforcement of social distancing .
As of 30 June , cases have been increasing by 85 % in a 14-day period , according to the Covid Exit Strategy tracker . Saturday alone saw a new record of over 3,500 new infections reported .
Arizonians between 20- and 44-years-old make up the bulk of the nearly 80,000 confirmed cases , but 1,200 of its 1,600 deaths are from those aged 65 and up , according to state data . Native Americans make up 18 % of the state 's deaths , but just over 5 % of the state 's population .
In addition to the case counts , it 's the speed at which they 're increasing that concerns health experts .
Arizona 's summertime climate could be adding to the problem , as many opt for indoor activities thanks to the triple-digit temperatures . Among indigenous groups , some households are without running water , making frequent hand-washing difficult , and live in areas with limited access to healthcare facilities .
There has also been local pushback to following health guidance , with anti-lockdown and , more recently , anti-mask rallies .
Amid this new outbreak , Arizona 's hospitals - which are in emergency mode - have warned intensive care units ( ICU ) could soon be overwhelmed . Bed space is already in short supply , with 88 % of ICU beds and 84 % of hospital inpatient beds occupied , according to AZ Central .
The state 's health director on Monday announced hospitals could activate `` crisis care standards '' that would allow them to prioritise resources to patients based on factors like likelihood of survival .
Following criticism from public health officials and Democrats over his inaction , Mr Ducey ordered bars , nightclubs , gyms , movie theatres and water parks to shut for at least 30 days to `` relieve stress '' on the healthcare system on 29 June .
Of the four states hit hardest by the resurgence , California is in many ways an outlier .
Its 19 March stay home order - the first in the nation - is widely credited with helping guard against the death tolls seen in other large states like New York and New Jersey .
But two months after Governor Gavin Newsom said the Covid curve had `` arguably flattened '' , cases are now sharply on the rise , hitting an all-time single day high of new cases on 30 June , with 8,086 confirmed new cases . Hospital admissions jumped 43 % in the last two weeks .
Los Angeles County has the most Covid-19 cases confirmed in the nation , at over 100,000 as of 30 June , according to a Johns Hopkins University count . Local health officials have warned that one in 140 residents may unknowingly have the virus - last week , that estimate was one in 400 .
California officials pin the surge in part to a rise in social and family gatherings , particularly among residents in the 18-49 age group , who make up the majority of California 's positive cases .
Easing restrictions on indoor businesses , like gyms and restaurants , likely also played a role . State leaders have also noted that many bars and restaurants were not following social distancing protocols or requiring face coverings .
Seven counties on Sunday , including Los Angeles , were ordered to shut their bars . Counties and cities , like San Francisco , have reversed reopening plans . Disney also delayed plans to reopen , citing a lack of guidance from the state .
Clusters of the virus have emerged in prisons , nursing homes , as well as rural and urban areas .
The San Francisco Bay Area 's San Quentin Prison reported more than 1,000 Covid-19 cases among its 3,500 inmates this week , following a transfer earlier this month from a prison experiencing an outbreak .
State data also shows a significantly higher number of Latino residents have been infected : Latinos account for around 39 % of the state 's population , but 56 % of the total positive cases as of 30 June .
California 's big cities , like thousands across the nation , also saw massive protests in the wake of George Floyd 's death - though we still do n't have data on how those gatherings may affect the virus ' spread . | 5059c70910723658 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
joe_biden | Politico | https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/23/biden-first-overseas-trip-g7-nato-summit-484439 | Biden to make first overseas trip in June for G-7, NATO summits | 2021-04-23 | Joe Biden, Foreign Policy, World, NATO, G7, Europe, European Union, United Kingdom, Belgium | White House Biden will visit the U.K. and Belgium for international summits. President Joe Biden will take part in bilateral meetings with other leaders during both summits. | Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images By Ben Leonard 04/23/2021 11:40 AM EDT Link Copied Joe Biden will head to Europe for his first overseas trip as president, the White House announced on Friday, traveling in mid-June to the United Kingdom and Belgium. Biden will attend international summits during the trip, including the G-7 summit in Cornwall, England, from June 11-13 and then the June 14 NATO Summit in Brussels. While in Brussels, Biden will also participate in a U.S.-EU summit, the White House said. βThis trip will highlight his commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalizing the Transatlantic relationship, and working in close cooperation with our allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges and better secure Americaβs interests,β White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. During the G-7 summit, Biden will take part in bilateral meetings with other leaders, including with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the statement said. The president will also hold bilateral meetings with NATO leaders at the trans-Atlantic allianceβs summit, Psaki said. At the NATO Summit, Biden will βaffirm the United Statesβ commitment to NATO,β the statement said, an apparent rebuke of former President Donald Trumpβs approach to the alliance, which was at times rocky and focused in large part on what the former president characterized as the inadequate defense spending of other member nations. That imbalance in defense spending also prompted Trump to decline to affirm U.S. commitment to NATOβs Article Five, the mutual-aid provision that obligates member states to view an attack on one member as an attack on all of them. Trump ultimately did commit the U.S. to its Article Five obligations but threatened a year later to pull the U.S. out of NATO if member states did not up their defense budgets. Later in his presidency, Trump made a habit of claiming credit for NATO nationsβ increased military spending. But Psaki said Friday that pushing member states to invest more in defense was a U.S. priority that predated Trumpβs presidency. βI know he thought he invented that, but having worked in the Obama administration, I can say the objective has always been encouraging members of NATO to pay more, pushing members of NATO to pay more,β Psaki said. βAnd thatβs consistently been the U.S. policy for some time.β Biden, at this yearβs NATO summit, will also affirm Americaβs βcommitment to...Transatlantic securit[y] and collective defense,β according to the statement from Psaki. βNATO leaders will discuss how to orient the Alliance to future threats and ensure effective burden sharing,β the press secretary said in her statement. Psaki said in the statement that the EU-U.S. summit in Brussels will βunderscore our commitment to a strong Transatlantic partnership based on shared interests and values.β During the summit, Biden and foreign leaders will discuss items on a βcommon agendaβ such as the economy, climate change, trade and other βmutual foreign policy concerns,β among other things. During the G-7 summit, Biden will βreinforce our commitment to multilateralism, work to advance key U.S. policy priorities on public health, economic recovery, and climate change, and demonstrate solidarity and shared values among major democracies,β the statement said. The unofficial guide to official Washington, every morning and weekday afternoons. The unofficial guide to official Washington, every morning and weekday afternoons. Loading You will now start receiving email updates You are already subscribed Something went wrong Β© 2025 POLITICO LLC | ea69c705d10cc537 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | USA TODAY | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/16/georgia-republican-secretary-of-state-brad-raffensperger-hits-back-trump-doug-collins/6311847002/ | Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger fires back against Trumpβs false claims about election | 2020-11-17 | Elections, Presidential Elections, 2020 Election, Mail-In Voting, Brad Raffensperger, Lindsey Graham | After a barrage of unfounded claims from President Donald Trump questioning various aspects of Georgiaβs voting system, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger fired back. In a series of Facebook posts from the Secretary of State page, Raffensperger, a Republican, addressed claims about the makers of the stateβs election system, Dominion, as well as claims made by the president about Georgiaβs recount and absentee ballots system. Raffensperger has faced a string of attacks. Last week he was under fire from his own party. Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue β both up for re-election in the Jan. 5 runoff β called for his resignation. In a series of tweets over the past three days, Trump incorrectly claimed Georgia election officials are unable to verify signatures on absentee ballot envelopes because of a legal settlement known as a consent decree. In a Saturday tweet, Trump claimed in a tweet: βThe Consent Decree signed by the Georgia Secretary of State, with the approval of Governor @BrianKempGA, at the urging of @staceyabrams, makes it impossible to check & match signatures on ballots and envelopes, etc. They knew they were going to cheat. Must expose real signatures!β But the reality is: nothing in the consent decree stops Georgia election clerks from scrutinizing signatures. The legal settlement signed in March addresses accusations about a lack of statewide standards for judging signatures on absentee ballot envelopes. Raffensperger, in an uncharacteristically aggressive retort, drove this point home on Facebook, including a shot at former Rep. Doug Collins, a Republican who was gunning for the senate seat currently held by Loeffler. Collins, who didnβt get enough votes to make it into the runoff, has repeated Trump's misleading claims about the Georgia recount. βWe strengthened signature match. We helped train election officials on GBI signature match β which is confirmed twice before a ballot is ever cast. Failed candidate Doug Collins is a liar β but whatβs new?β Raffenspergerβs post read. βOur office has received multiple requests to match ballots back to voters β exposing how a Georgia voter has voted.β Raffenspergerβs post read. βWe stand ready to prevent any and all attempts from any party to intimidate voters. Georgia voters have a right to vote in secret without intimidation from any political candidate or party. β Rudy Guilianiβs claims of Dominion, the makers of Georgiaβs voting system, having ties to Venezuela and China were also corrected by Raffensperger. β³**Dominion voting system** American owned. America. βMerica,β Raffenspergerβs post read. βNot Venezuela. #America.β Raffenspergerβs post on the subject read. Meanwhile, the stateβs hand recount is moving at a rapid clip, with a Friday deadline for statewide certification. Thus far, the results do not look much different than they did before the recount began. Collins responded to Raffensperger's remarks in a tweet, saying, "In a year of political division in Georgia, few things have unified Republicans and Democrats β one of them is Brad Raffenspergerβs incompetence as Secretary of State." Raffensperger said he has been pressured by fellow Republicans, including national leaders like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, to find ways to exclude or invalidate legally cast absentee ballots and reverse President Donald Trumpβs loss in the state, according to the Washington Post. Raffensperger told the Post he was frustrated over allegations by President Donald Trump and others that the election had been somehow rigged or tainted by illegal votes. Raffensperger said Georgiaβs ongoing hand-ballot recount would βaffirmβ the results of the election. βOther than you getting angry, itβs also very disillusioning," the secretary of state said of death threats he had and his wife had received from Republicans who blamed President-elect Joe Bidenβs victory in the state on the Raffensperger. Both the stateβs Senate seats will be up for grabs in a January runoff election that will determine the balance of power in the upper chamber. The stakes have elevated the temperature within the party and led to infighting, with the Republican incumbent senators from Georgia writing a letter to Raffensperger alleging unspecified claims of fraud. Trump has also made repeated insinuations that the vote count in Georgia was somehow tampered with, without any evidence. There are no substantiated claims of voter fraud in the state. Graham said Raffenspergerβs insinuations were βridiculous" when asked whether he had pressured the Georgia secretary of state to discard ballots. "What I'm trying to find out was, how do you verify signatures on mail-in ballots in these states that are just the center of attention,β Graham said, saying he otherwise thought the two had had a βgood conversation. I'm surprised to hear he characterized it that way." Raffensperger expressed concerns about insinuations that the stateβs laws were too restrictive to vote in his interview with the Post. βI donβt think itβs helpful when you create doubt in the election process,β Raffensperger told the Post. βPeople might throw up their arms and say, βWhy vote?ββ | 3b490dce697e42f7 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
general_news | Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/10/06/hurricane-matthew-intensifies-as-florida-governor-orders-1-5-million-to-evacuate/?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_no-name%3Ahomepage/story&utm_term=.0e8758dc124d | Hurricane Matthew intensifies as Florida governor orders 1.5 million to evacuate | 2016-10-06 | General News | clockThis article was published more than 8 years ago ORMOND BEACH, Fla. β Hurricane Matthew churned along Floridaβs Atlantic Coast on Friday, its center remaining just offshore as the storm battered the state with punishing rain, beach-swallowing sea surges and destructive wind gusts topping 100 mph. By late Friday afternoon, the strongest hurricane to menace the United States in a decade had weakened to a Category 2 storm, and it was clear that Florida had dodged some of the worst-case scenarios laid out by forecasters and public officials. Yet the danger wasnβt past: South Carolina was bracing for the stormβs potential landfall there Saturday, and even residents in North Carolina faced a considerable threat. | e7177887324e4fef | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
white_house | New York Magazine | http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/u-s-needs-new-faa-head-trump-offers-his-personal-pilot.html | U.S. Needs New FAA Head, Trump Generously Offers His Personal Pilot | 2018-02-26 | white_house | When Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign , he was a highly respected real-estate mogul known for his incredible business instincts and impeccable taste ( or at least , that β s the character he played on TV ) . He could have spent his days enjoying the good life β golfing at a different Trump resort every weekend , eating fast food in bed , and tweeting about things he saw on Fox News β but instead , he generously decided to share his talents with the American people . β My whole life , I have been greedy , greedy , greedy , β Trump explained . β But now I want to be greedy for the United States . β
As president , Trump has made good on that promise by putting a number of his personal employees to work for the American people . He put Lynne Patton , who organized his golf tournaments and planned his son Eric β s wedding , in charge of the Department of Housing and Urban Development β s New York and New Jersey office . Keith Schiller , Trump β s longtime personal bodyguard , ran Oval Office operations , and is now sharing his vast security expertise with the Republican National Committee for just $ 15,000 per month . Deeply impressed by Jared Kushner β s ability to run his dad β s company and be married to his daughter , Trump put him in charge of large swaths of U.S. policy .
Now Trump is at is again . Axios reports that his longtime personal pilot , John Dunkin , is on the short list to lead the Federal Aviation Administration . While there are some other candidates in the running , and no decision has been made , Trump has reportedly been telling people that he wants Dunkin to get the job .
While Dunkin is mainly known for serving as Trump β s personal pilot since 1989 , one administration official said he has all the experience necessary to oversee civil aviation in the U.S .
β John Dunkin isn β t just a pilot , β the official said . β He β s managed airline and corporate flight departments , certified airlines from start-up under FAA regulations , and oversaw the Trump presidential campaign β s air fleet , which included managing all aviation transportation for travel to 203 cities in 43 states over the course of 21 months . β
But don β t take some anonymous official β s word for it . The president has often cited Dunkin β s expertise when discussing issues facing modern aviation . For example , Trump cited the pilot during a White House meeting in February , as he told a group of airline executives what β s wrong with their industry .
β I have a pilot who β s a real expert , β Trump explained . β He said , β Sir , the equipment they β re putting on is just the wrong stuff . If we β re going to modernize our system we should be using the right equipment. β My pilot , he β s a smart guy , and he knows what β s going on . β
Just watch the reactions of Myron Gray , president of U.S. Operations at UPS in the video below . You can tell he β s blown away by Dunkin β s insights , as relayed by President Trump .
Trump tells airline CEOs theyβ & govt.βare using β obsolete β equipment β the airports give you. β Trump says his pilot , β a smart guy , β told him . pic.twitter.com/kvbRzrlSkY β Bradd Jaffy ( @ BraddJaffy ) February 9 , 2017
We β re lucky to finally have a president who can identify the β best people β to hire for government positions β by looking to his own business . | jaP6wxNaDG1QwDi2 | 0 | White House | -1.5 | Politics | -0.8 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
defense_and_security | Reuters | https://www.allsides.com/node/add/allsides-news-item | U.S., Israel sign joint pledge to deny Iran nuclear weaponry | 2022-07-14 | Defense And Security, Israel, Iran, Nuclear Weapons, Middle East | Don't have an AllSides account? Create one. Notice: AllSides.com no longer supports logging in via social media profiles. If you typically log in using your Facebook or Twitter profile, please click here to set a password for your account. AllSides uses cookies and other similar technologies to enable you to use our site. We also use cookies to enable you to personalize your use of our site, provide you enhanced functionality, and improve the performance of our site. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. You can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. | 664c9b97673fcf44 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
china | South China Morning Post | https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3257549/xi-jinping-joe-biden-conclude-phone-call-xinhua-says | Xi, Biden in first phone call since 2022, make progress for China-US relations with βcandidβ exchange of views | 2024-04-03 | China, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Foreign Policy, Taiwan, Trade, Economy And Jobs, Technology, Defense And Security, South China Sea | Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden spoke by phone on Tuesday, as the two countries sought to make headway in their limited areas of aligned interests amid heightening tensions between the two powers.AdvertisementβThe two heads of state had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on Sino-US relations and issues of common concern to both sides,β state news agency Xinhua reported.However, it added that Xi criticised the Biden administrationβs βendless stream of effortsβ to block the transfer of advanced technology to China.A White House read-out after the call said the leaders βreviewed and encouraged progress on key issues discussed at [their November summit in California], including counter-narcotics cooperation, ongoing military-to-military communication, talks to address AI-related risks and continuing efforts on climate change and people-to-people exchangesβ.25:55 Biden is freezing out Chinaβs tech industry Biden is freezing out Chinaβs tech industryAhead of the call, a senior White House official said Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduling a trip to China in coming weeks and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was also visiting the country this month. The two sides were also expecting a call between their top military officials βsoonβ. | 17d1dc7bd0e7de72 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
sexual_misconduct | The Atlantic | https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/pogrebin-kelly-kavanaugh/598159/ | We Spent 10 Months Investigating Kavanaugh. Hereβs What We Found. | 2019-09-17 | sexual_misconduct | As women , we could not help but be moved by the accounts of Ford and Ramirez , and understand why they made such a lasting impact . As reporters , we had a responsibility to test those predilections . We had to offer Kavanaugh the benefit of the doubt , venturing to empathize with his suffering if he were falsely accused .
As mothers of daughters , we were prone to believe and support the women who spoke up . As mothers of sons , we had to imagine what it would be like if the men we loved were wrongly charged with these offenses .
As people , our gut reaction was that the allegations of Ford and Ramirez from the past rang true . As reporters , we uncovered nothing to suggest that Kavanaugh has mistreated women in the years since .
Ultimately , we combined our notebooks with our common sense and came to believe an utterly human narrative : that Ford and Ramirez were mistreated by Kavanaugh when he was a teenager , and that Kavanaugh over the next 35 years became a better person .
We come to this complicated , seemingly contradictory , and perhaps unsatisfying conclusion based on the facts as we found them .
Unproven as it is , we found that the account of Christine Blasey Fordβto use Martha β s phraseβ β rings true. β Ford β s social circle overlapped with that of Kavanaugh as a high-school student . She dated his good friend Chris Garrett . Her good friend Leland Keyser dated Mark Judge . Judge and Kavanaugh , whom Ford recalled being together in the room where she was allegedly assaulted , were close friends . They were often seen together at parties , and their tendency to drink beer , sometimes to excess , was well known .
None of that means that Ford was , in fact , assaulted by Kavanaugh . But it does mean that she has a baseline level of credibility as an accuser .
Her credibility is affirmed in other ways , too . We have seen no evidence of Ford fabricating stories , either recently or historically . Multiple people attest to her honesty . Last August , she passed a polygraph test focused on her Kavanaugh memories . Her former boyfriend Brian Merrick said in a sworn affidavit to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he hadn β t known of her fear of flying or of tight spaces when they dated in the 1990s , raising questions for Republicans about the anxiety issues Ford has attributed in part to the alleged assault . But Merrick also said in the affidavit and in a later interview that he has never doubted Ford β s truthfulness .
Experts on memory and sex crimes say that Ford β s spotty recollections of the alleged assault are in line with those of a typical victim : clear on the basic elements of the violation and its perpetrator ( especially given that , in this case , that person was alleged to be an acquaintance ) , and hazy on ancillary elements like the exact location and the transportation that got her there and back . Victims also often keep their experiences to themselves . | eYJiYsBqm8WutYbb | 0 | Brett Kavanaugh | 0.4 | New York Times | -0.3 | Sexual Misconduct | -0.1 | Yale | 0 | null | null |
banking_and_finance | Washington Examiner | https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/joe-biden-extends-student-debt-relief-125-000-borrowers | Biden extends $9 billion more of student debt relief to 125,000 borrowers | 2023-10-04 | Banking And Finance, Student Loans, Student Loan Forgiveness, Polarization | President Joe Biden announced Wednesday $9 billion in new student loan debt relief for 125,000 borrowers.White House officials called the move a βkey stepβ in his efforts βto fix the broken student loan system, make college more affordable, and bring the promise of higher education in reach for more Americans.βSOCIAL SECURITY UPDATE: FIRST ROUND OF DIRECT PAYMENTS WORTH UP TO $4,555 ARRIVES IN EIGHT DAYSThe relief itself comes in the form of restructured income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness, the core focus of Bidenβs debt agenda following the Supreme Courtβs striking down of his unilateral cancellation earlier this year.In total, $5.2 billion of Wednesdayβs allotment will be extended to 53,000 borrowers through Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs, and $2.8 billion comes from amending income-driven repayment plans so that βborrowers who made 20 years or more of paymentsβ can receive βthe relief they were entitled to,β according to the White House.Biden also wiped $1.2 billion in loan debt for 22,000 borrowers with βa total or permanent disability.βSince entering office, Biden has approved roughly $127 billion in student loan debt cancellation for 3.6 million borrowers.White House officials also criticized Republican lawmakers seeking to reverse student loan cancellation efforts. GOP members have balked at widespread debt forgiveness plans as an unfair transfer of costs to taxpayers who paid off their debts or never attended college.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINERβRepublicans in Congress have tried every which way to block these efforts and keep their own constituents under the burden of student loan debt,β officials said in a statement. βPresident Biden will show that his Administration will not be deterred in delivering for the American people and giving hardworking families breathing room.βThough Bidenβs debt cancellation remains popular among young Democratic voters, the president still receives dismal economic marks from most voters. A recent poll from NBC found that just 38% of the country approves of Bidenβs economic stewardship. | 62804efe57d46954 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
coronavirus | Associated Press | https://apnews.com/d4a7850aa3452304fd4ad553fdc3e098 | VA says itβll stop almost all use of unproven drug on vets | 2020-05-28 | Hydroxychloroquine, Coronavirus, Healthcare, Veterans Affairs, Politics | VA says it β ll stop almost all use of unproven drug on vets
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie speaks during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction , Veterans Affairs , and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington , Thursday , May 28 , 2020 , on the Department of Veterans Affairs response to COVID-19 . ( AP Photo/Andrew Harnik , Pool )
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie speaks during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction , Veterans Affairs , and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington , Thursday , May 28 , 2020 , on the Department of Veterans Affairs response to COVID-19 . ( AP Photo/Andrew Harnik , Pool )
WASHINGTON ( AP ) β Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said Thursday that his department has all but stopped use of an unproven malaria drug on veterans with COVID-19 .
At a House hearing , he defended initial use of hydroxychloroquine on coronavirus patients as justified β to give them hope , β given few treatment options at the time . But Wilkie said that government-run VA hospitals have β ratcheted it down β β to just three prescriptions in the last week β as studies pointed to possible dangers and other possible treatments were brought online . β I expect that trend to continue in the future , β he added .
President Donald Trump has heavily pitched the drug β even saying in recent days he had been taking it to prevent coronavirus infection β without scientific evidence of its effectiveness .
β We are all learning as we go in this crisis , β Wilkie told a House appropriations subcommittee . β Our mission is to preserve and protect life . β
The department , which is the nation β s largest hospital system , has recently been turning to remdesivir . Preliminary results from a major study found reduced recovery time , as well as convalescent plasma .
According to the VA β s website , 13,657 veterans have been infected with the coronavirus , and 1,200 have died .
Major veterans organizations had called on the VA to explain its use of hydroxychloroquine after an analysis of VA hospital data was published month showing hundreds of veterans who took the drug saw no benefit for COVID-19 . About 28 % of veterans who were given hydroxychloroquine plus usual care died , versus 11 % of those getting routine care alone .
VA data provided Thursday to Congress show that weekly prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine surged from about two in mid-March to a peak of 404 about two weeks later as Trump began promoting its use . They remained at higher levels before tapering off in late April amid backlash over results of the VA hospital analysis and as remdesivir emerged as a form of treatment . In all , 1,370 veterans were prescribed hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 .
Wilkie said Thursday that he expected the VA to continue using the drug in limited forms such as clinical trials , based in part on the guidance of Dr. Anthony Fauci , the nation β s top infectious-diseases expert and a member of the White House coronavirus task force .
That answer drew a rebuke from Rep. Nita Lowey , D-N.Y. , chair of the appropriations committee , who said the VA should have been listening to Fauci β s counsel urging caution on the drug from the start .
β I hope VA will respond to the science that is clearly coming from Dr. Fauci , rather than some wishful thinking coming from the president , β Lowey said .
No large , rigorous studies have found hydroxychloroquine safe or effective for COVID-19 , and it can cause heart rhythm problems and other serious side effects . The Food and Drug Administration has warned against the drug and said hydroxychloroquine should only be used for the coronavirus in formal studies .
The VA has said it prescribed the drug only when medically appropriate , after full discussion between doctor and patient about the risks . | 63c1a19c92774d01 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Guest Writer - Left | https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/24/politics/iran-immigration-donald-trump-2020-reelection/index.html | OPINION: How politics explains Trump's U-turns on Iran and immigration | 2019-06-24 | politics | ( CNN ) The whims and last minute reversals of President Donald Trump 's impulsive leadership style are sending America and the rest of the world on a wild and sometimes dangerous ride .
From Iran to immigration policy and North Korea to trade wars , Trump 's tactic of escalating confrontations before backing off from the brink is leaving everyone unsure of where the US government stands .
In key shifts in recent days , Trump has backed off a retaliatory attack abroad on Iran after its forces shot down a US drone and postponed a plan at home to launch coordinated arrests and deportations in 10 cities .
Trump 's U-turns come just as he embarks on his 2020 reelection campaign , beset by polls that show him losing to most Democrats . It 's that political context that might explain these latest examples of erratic presidential behavior .
Often as crises build , Trump seems caught between competing instincts as he pursues approaches -- even toward national security emergencies -- that seem mostly designed to satisfy his domestic political goals .
On the one hand , Trump relishes the strongman persona around which he built his political brand . He 's the man who will chase down undocumented migrants and reverse what he sees as his predecessor President Barack Obama 's capitulation to Iran .
Yet over the last week , the President , giving Washington whiplash , has seemed to shy away from the potential political consequences of his planned actions .
This is how the United States came to be just 10 minutes from a conflict with Iran last week , which could have consumed much of the Middle East but for a last minute call by the President that stood down his own administration 's military machine .
Such a conflict -- sparked by Iran 's downing of a US drone and a planned US retaliatory strike on missile batteries and radar stations -- would have trashed Trump 's campaign vow to stop the United States getting pulled into endless foreign wars .
Trump 's change of heart on Iran was mirrored earlier in his presidency when he threatened to rain `` fire and fury '' on North Korea -- yet then buddied up to the country 's brutal leader Kim Jong Un on the grounds that he wanted to avoid another foreign war .
In this undated photo provided on Sunday , June 23 , 2019 , by the North Korean government , North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reads a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump . Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government . The content of this image is as provided and can not be independently verified . Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads : `` KCNA '' which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency .
The President threatens dire consequences to get foes to the table . But though he opened talks with Kim , he 's nowhere in persuading him to give up his nuclear weapons . And as a negotiating tactic , Trump 's similar approach toward Iran seems even less promising .
US leadership , for decades a force of global stability , is coming to mirror the bullying outbursts , illogical leaps and shock course changes of Trump 's own untamed personality . And the President appears to be operating increasingly without the safety nets provided by long-term strategies or a coherent policy process .
At home , immigration agents were poised to launch a sweep against migrant families on Sundayβ after a directive from Trump last week that surprised his own officials and looked a lot like an effort to fire up his base before his election launch rally .
But the President suddenly countermanded his order for mass deportations in a weekend tweet . CNN 's Jake Tapper reported that Trump relented after a phone call with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
`` At the request of Democrats , I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process ( Deportation ) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border . If not , Deportations start ! '' Trump tweeted .
While Trump made his name on harsh immigration rhetoric -- from his first moments as a presidential candidate -- footage of raids in 10 cities might tip the issue into a net negative for him given that many Republicans blame his scorched earth talk for helping to hand the House to Democrats last fall .
Maybe Trump never planned for the arrest and deportation raids to go ahead . Often the President has used such threats to try to win leverage from Democrats in immigration talks -- - though he 's never been ready when it really matters to compromise , fearing a backlash from his base and the conservative media .
And while he has stepped back on the raids for now , Trump always has the option to crank the immigration rhetoric , as he often does , when the political need arises .
The President hinted at one possible explanation for his sudden course corrections in his interview with `` Meet the Press , '' broadcast on Sunday .
`` I 'm probably not too prepared to lose . I do n't like losing . I have n't lost very much in my life , '' Trump said , referring to his 2020 campaign
Democrats hoping to impose that shattering personal defeat on the President will be sure to seize on his unpredictable leadership and an immigration policy that critics regard as inhumane when they gather for their first campaign debates Wednesday and Thursday .
They are particularly likely to drill down on the chaotic national security process that apparently brought the US to the verge of conflict with Iran -- after Tehran shot down a US drone over the Gulf of Oman .
And they will make the case that it is Trump 's own hardline policies -- including his decision to pull out of an international nuclear deal with Iran -- that caused the crisis he is now struggling to cool .
Trump 's claim that he only found out 10 minutes before he was due to give the final go-ahead for the operation that 150 Iranians could die seems unlikely to be the whole story . It will give an opening to Democrats to argue that he has proven himself unfit to serve as commander in chief .
The President is likely to seek to insert himself into the debates -- probably with a volley of tweet storms . He may have deprived Democrats of one key talking point by suspending the immigration raids -- though candidates are sure to highlight accounts this week of barely believable conditions at detention centers holding undocumented migrant children .
Trump is also taking his anarchic political show on the road this week β to the G20 summit in Japan , that is expected to feature high stakes encounters with the presidents of Russia and China .
Given his impulsive and self-contradictory mood , it 's anybody 's guess how those could turn out . But he is under intense pressure to extract a win against President Xi Jinping from his trade war with China
The confrontation is another example of how Trump 's dueling political priorities often seem to clash -- as they also do in his approach to Iran and immigration .
On the one hand , Trump put standing up to China at the center of his 2016 campaign , accusing the rising Asian giant of `` raping '' the American economy and stealing US jobs .
Yet by waging war with hundreds of millions of dollars in tariffs he has imposed higher prices on US consumers . And China 's response -- targeting sensitive political battlegrounds in the Midwest -- is also now threatening to exert a painful price on many of Trump 's core voters .
So Trump will again face the choice between escalating his showdown when he meets Xi at the G20 -- - or stepping back from the brink to shield himself from further political damage .
Trump 's supporters would argue that his wrecking ball presidential demeanor is exactly what they hoped for when he was elected to shake up Washington and the world .
And he has the luxury of a friendly conservative media to ensure that his reversals and unpredictable nature do him no harm with his loyal political base .
Conservative lawmakers and commentators who pounced on Obama and called him weak after he called off military action to enforce his Syria red line in 2013 , were quick to praise Trump for doing something similar . They painted his move as a shrewd counterpoint to hawkish members of his administration who want war -- an impression Trump sought to solidify on `` Meet the Press . ''
Referring to his national security adviser John Bolton , Trump said : `` He is absolutely a hawk . If it was up to him he 'd take on the whole world at one time . ''
The President however portrayed himself as a voice of moderation -- far from the unstable neophyte who Hillary Clinton and other critics said should be kept from the nuclear codes because he could be baited with a tweet .
`` You know , a lot of them said , `` We 're going to be in World War III the first week . '' Did n't work out that way , '' Trump said . | tZdHRIgeocodcVTb | 0 | Donald Trump | -1 | Politics | -0.7 | Iran | -0.3 | Immigration | 0 | null | null |
technology | CNN (Web News) | https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/11/politics/donald-trump-social-media-summit-census-fact-check/index.html | Trump makes 6 false claims during his 'social media summit' | 2019-07-11 | Facts And Fact Checking, Donald Trump, Social Media, Technology | ( CNN ) During a wide-ranging , largely off the cuff speech during his `` social media summit '' Thursday , President Donald Trump made several misleading and downright false claims about social media companies , the census , the economy , crowd sizes and Democrats ' past positions on a border wall .
Trump spoke at length about what he falsely suggested was a deliberate attempt by social media companies to prevent him from gaining followers , alleging that `` a lot of bad things are happening . ''
Trump said it used to take him a mere `` short number of days '' to gain 100,000 new followers , but it now takes `` 10 times as long '' even though , he claimed , his personal brand is `` much hotter '' than it was when he was gaining followers more quickly .
`` People come up to me : 'Sir , we want to follow you ; they do n't let us on , ' '' Trump said . He added later : `` I have millions of people , so many people I would n't believe it , but I know that we 've been blocked . People come up to me and they say , 'Sir , I ca n't get you . I ca n't follow you . ' ''
Facts First : There is no evidence that Twitter or other social media companies have made it difficult for people to follow Trump .
We obviously ca n't verify what certain people might have told Trump in private about following him on social media , but following him is not complicated : doing so is simply a matter of signing up for an account , searching his name and clicking a single button .
If Trump is not gaining followers as quickly as he used to , that 's because fewer people are now trying to follow him . ( At the time of his speech , he had 61.9 million followers on Twitter . He had fewer than 13 million a week before his election and fewer than 23 million at the time of his inauguration , according to Factba.se , which tracks Trump-related data . )
Twitter did take followers away from Trump last year , but that was part of a broad purge of suspected fake accounts . The purge also removed followers from the accounts of many other famous people . Trump lost approximately 300,000 followers , far fewer than Barack Obama ( more than 2 million ) and the Dalai Lama ( about 375,000 ) , according to a New York Times count .
When Trump began accusing Twitter last year of malicious behavior over the purge , Twitter issued a statement saying `` many prominent accounts have seen follower counts drop . '' It explained that it had removed `` fake accounts and those engaging in malicious behavior '' to improve the health of the service .
Trump touted the low unemployment rate for women , saying : `` Women , I think , Kellyanne ( Conway ) , the best in 75 years -- the best unemployment numbers in 75 years . ''
Facts First : Trump exaggerated slightly . The women 's unemployment Trump exaggerated slightly . The women 's unemployment rate for June is 3.6 % , a tick above the 3.4 % in April and 3.5 % in May . Those are excellent numbers , but it has been 66 years since the women 's rate has been this low , not 75 . Prior to Trump 's presidency , the last time the rate fell to 3.6 % was October 1953 .
While arguing that he should be permitted to include a citizenship question in the 2020 US census , Trump said that the census survey can ask people about the number of beds and toilets they have but not about whether they are citizens .
`` They go through houses , they go up , they ring doorbells , they talk to people . How many toilets do they have ? How many desks do they have ? How many beds ? What 's their roof made of ? '' Trump said . `` The only thing we ca n't ask is 'Are you a citizen of the United States ? ' ''
Facts First : Trump is wrongly suggesting that the decennial census asks households about the number of toilets in a house . He could be referring to supplemental surveys from the Census Bureau , which do ask questions about living conditions of a small sample of households . If that 's the case , then he 's still wrong , since these surveys do ask questions of citizenship .
The decennial census -- which counts the US population every ten years and is required by the Constitution -- was last administered in 2010 . That census did not include questions on plumbing , bedrooms , and desks . Instead , the decennial census focuses on questions like age and race and number of occupants in a household .
Trump could be referring to other surveys sent out from the Census Bureau such as the American Community Survey , which is sent to just a fraction of households , about 3.54 million addresses every year .
One of the main functions of the ACS , according the Census Bureau , is to gather `` data that help determine how more than $ 675 billion in federal and state funds are distributed each year . '' The 2019 version of this survey includes questions on the education levels and employment status of those living on the property , as well as the property 's computer access , number of rooms , if there is access to hot and cold water and much more .
But the ACS also includes questions on citizenship . `` Is this person a citizen of the United States ? '' this year 's version asks . So , Trump is wrong to suggest that while you can ask these more specific questions on living conditions you can not ask a citizenship status question .
On the specifics , Trump 's argument lacks facts , and on his larger point he 's flatly wrong : the decennial census did not ask about number of bathrooms , bedrooms , and so on .
Trump touted a new record set by the Dow Jones Industrial Average , then made a claim about how much 401 ( k ) retirement plans have increased .
`` I do n't know if you know but we just hit 27,000 on the Dow . ... The highest in history , for those of you that like the stock market , but the stock market means jobs . I view it as jobs , and I view it as 401 ( k ) s. ... And people with 401 ( k ) s , they 're up 72 % and 67 % , and the wife or the husband , whoever 's responsible , the other one says 'you 're a genius , you 're a great financial investor , darling you 're up 77 % this year . ' ''
Facts First : These percentages overstate gains in US stock markets .
It is possible that some people have 401 ( k ) s that are up 77 % on the year or since Trump was elected , but stock markets themselves are not up that much . At the close of trading on the day Trump spoke , the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 16 % , the S & P 500 Index by 20 % , the Nasdaq by 24 % .
The gains are greater if you go back to Trump 's election day , as the President often does : 48 % for the Dow , 40 % for the S & P , 58 % for the Nasdaq . Still , none of them approaches 77 % .
Trump claimed that there were thousands of people outside his June campaign kickoff rally in Orlando in addition to the large crowd inside .
`` We had sort of an opening rally in Orlando , Florida . We had 109,000 , maybe more , wanting to come . We were doing as much as we could to keep people not from coming . We had a 21,000-seat stadium , and then with the basketball court , it held many more than that , it was packed . And we had a similar number outside . ''
Facts First : There were nowhere close to 21,000 people outside the rally as Trump was speaking . And the arena had a capacity of 20,000 that night , not `` many more than '' 21,000 .
The Orlando Sentinel , which debunked a previous version of Trump 's claim about the crowd `` outside , '' reported that the overflow area outside the Amway Center was `` virtually empty '' as Trump spoke , with only `` a few dozen people in the holding area . '' The paper reported : `` About an hour before the President 's speech , the long lines around the Amway were gone and people could easily walk into the event right up to the start of the rally . ''
The city of Orlando , which owns the arena , issued an official crowd count of 19,792 , just shy of the 20,000 a city spokesperson said would have been let in , the Sentinel reported .
Trump has previously claimed , also falsely , that tens of thousands of people were stuck outside various other campaign events , many of which have been debunked previously
Trump then took a shot at the number of people in the audience when Joe Biden announced his candidacy earlier this year .
`` You look at Biden . They say he had 600 people . That was n't 600 , that was 150 people . That was 150 . ''
Facts First : Independent observers reported that Joe Biden did indeed have 600 people at his first public event after announcing his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination .
The Atlantic said that journalists occupied 100 of the 600 spots at a union hall in Pittsburgh , but that is still 500 non-journalists , not 150 .
Trump accused the Democrats of hypocrisy for their opposition to his proposed border wall .
`` For instance , on the wall : Chuck Schumer was totally in favor of a wall , right Liz ( Cheney ) ? Totally in favor . Everybody : Hillary , everybody . They were all in favor of a wall just a few years ago . ''
Facts First : Some Democrats , not all , voted in 2006 to approve a fence that Trump himself said was much different than the wall he wanted .
It is not true that `` everybody '' in the Democratic Party supported even this fencing . House Speaker Nancy Pelosi voted against . In the Senate , 26 Democrats ( including Schumer and Clinton ) voted yes , 17 voted no .
The law , called the Secure Fence Act , was to authorize 700 miles of fencing on the Mexican border . Trump himself said during the 2016 campaign that this fencing was not comparable to the giant concrete wall he was proposing : `` It was such a little wall , it was such a nothing wall , '' he told Fox News . | 115fd5714393517a | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
coronavirus | Reason | https://reason.com/2020/03/16/the-cdcs-shift-from-vaping-to-covid-19-highlights-the-crucial-differences-between-real-and-metaphorical-epidemics/ | The CDC's Shift From Vaping to COVID-19 Highlights the Crucial Differences Between Real and Metaphorical Epidemics | 2020-03-16 | CDC, Coronavirus, Vaping | The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) , an agency that is currently focusing on the core mission reflected in its name , until recently was darkly warning us about a very different kind of `` epidemic '' : an increase in e-cigarette use by teenagers , coupled with an outbreak of vaping-related lung injuries . The first concern did not involve any sort of disease ; the latter did , but unlike COVID-19 , the condition that the CDC dubbed `` e-cigarette , or vaping , product use-associated lung injury '' ( EVALI ) was not a contagious illness caused by a micoorganism . And contrary to the CDC 's misleading nomenclature and dangerously misguided initial advice , the two developments appear to be completely unrelated .
The CDC 's switch from vaping to COVID-19 highlights the moral and practical differences between actual epidemics and metaphorical epidemics of risky behavior , both of which fall under the all-encompassing umbrella of `` public health . '' Even within that framework , which is built around minimizing morbidity and mortality , the CDC 's conflation of EVALI with vaping in general was counterproductive , impeding the harm-reducing shift from conventional cigarettes to nicotine delivery systems that are far less dangerous . By fostering confusion about the relative hazards of smoking and vaping , the CDC damaged its credibility on the eve of a public health crisis in which policy makers and the rest of us are expected to rely on its expertise .
Vaping is something people choose to do . In that respect it resembles many other phenomena that activists , politicians , bureaucrats , and academics have described as epidemics or public health problems , including smoking , overeating , using illegal drugs , riding a motorcycle or bicycle without a helmet , gambling , playing violent video games , and watching violent movies or pornography . COVID-19 , by contrast , is something that happens to people . They do not consciously choose to be infected , although they can do things that increase or decrease that risk .
While there is plenty of room for debate about the legality , propriety , and effectiveness of specific policies aimed at curtailing the spread of COVID-19 , there is a stronger argument for coercive measures when we are confronted by a potentially deadly disease that moves from person to person . That argument is much less compelling when we are talking about self-regarding actions that may lead to disease or injury but do not inherently endanger other people .
The habit of describing nearly anything that large numbers of people do as an epidemic , depending on whether it might compromise their health or whether others view it as pernicious , elides this crucial distinction . If protecting public health is presumed to be a legitimate function of government , an open-ended definition of that term is a prescription for constant political meddling in personal choices through taxes , regulations , and prohibitions as well as state-sponsored propaganda . Likening choices to contagious diseases invites the government to act as if those choices , and the personal tastes and preferences underlying them , morally matter as much as a virus 's evolutionary imperative to survive and reproduce by infecting human hosts .
Once a particular pattern of behavior has been defined as an epidemic , that framing can lead to policies that make no sense even if you accept the collectivist calculus at the heart of the `` public health '' mission . That is what happened with drug prohibition , which is ostensibly aimed at reducing the harm associated with drug use but in practice increases the hazards faced by people who defy it , exposing them not only to the risk of arrest but also to black-market violence , potentially deadly variability in quality and potency , and communicable diseases fostered by a legal environment in which sanitary injection equipment is hard to obtain and risky to possess .
That is also what happened with vaping , which the CDC was predisposed to view as problematic , a prejudice that colored its depiction of EVALI . Even though it was clear early on that vaping-related lung injuries overwhelmingly involved black-market cannabis products , the CDC repeatedly intimated that legal , nicotine-delivering e-cigarettes might kill you . That message endangered public health by implying that peopleβteenagers as well as adultsβwould be better off smoking , which is demonstrably not true .
Only belatedly did the CDC recalibrate its guidance to focus on the potential hazards of `` THC-containing e-cigarette , or vaping , products , particularly from informal sources like friends , family , or in-person or online dealers . '' It also foregrounded a warning that `` adults using nicotine-containing e-cigarette , or vaping , products as an alternative to cigarettes should not go back to smoking '' βadvice that surely is equally sound for teenagers who are vaping rather than smoking .
We have to hope that the CDC 's COVID-19 recommendations are more scientifically grounded than its initial scaremongering about e-cigarettes . I assume they are . But when public health agencies stray beyond their central mission and allow moral panics to affect their advice , they undermine the public trust that is vital at a time like this . | ab95775e219f2de0 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
china | Politico | http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/opinion-america-china-dream-president-xi-92359.html | Opinion: America and China's dream | 2013-06-07 | china | Obama should do all that he can to help Xi achieve the reform he seeks , the author writes . America and China 's dream
Forty five years ago as a high school senior , I stood on street corners handing out literature for Senator Robert F. Kennedy β s run for president . I listened to him quote Shaw and say , β Some see things as they are and say why , I dream things that never were and say why not. β I believed that his vision would bring a prosperous and peaceful America .
Last February I stood with Chinese President , Xi Jinping - he was then vice president - at a luncheon and I experienced a new kind of Chinese leader . I presented him with a photo album of his father β s 1980 American visit hosted by our organization . The photos showed a Chinese delegation of provincial governors and party secretaries , led by his father , visiting the United States right after the historic β opening β of China and eager to understand the American dream as they met with leaders and ordinary Americans across the United States .
Rather than simply saying thanks and putting the book aside , he opened it and we discussed each picture . He told me who each Chinese leader was , asked where the pictures were taken and who each American was . It was unscripted , human , extended far beyond the allocated time and showed a Chinese leader willing to expose his human side . Today when President Xi speaks of his β Chinese dream , β I β m reminded of that time 45 years ago when RFK talked about that dream . Like RFK , President Xi dreams of poverty alleviation , national rejuvenation , and freedom from corruption .
His message is to not repeat the mistakes of history , to not allow historic great power rivalries to dictate our future . This weekend , when President Obama meets President Xi in California , they will have the first opportunity to define that concept together and see if they can dream things that never were and ask why not .
We have already begun to see the outlines of Xi β s China dream . On the domestic front , Premier Li Keqiang , in a speech delivered to senior party leaders , committed to an aggressive agenda for economic reform , pledging to reduce government involvement in the economy and allowing market forces to play a greater role in guiding economic growth and increasing investment and innovation .
The National Development and Reform Commission proposed an absolute cap on greenhouse gas emissions , as well as a cap on coal consumption . Additionally , Xi β s elevation of substance over form , his decision to follow in the footsteps of Deng Xiaoping β s 1992 Southern trip by visiting Shenzhen ( which relaunched economic reform ) , and his anti-corruption drive , all combine to demonstrate his commitment to reform .
Internationally , China is becoming the responsible stakeholder that Robert Zoellick called for in his speech before our National Committee in 2005 . Unequivocal statements that a denuclearized Korean peninsula is China β s first priority , vastly improved military-to-military relations between our countries , commitment to establish standards for cyber hacking and progress on long-stalled discussions regarding diligence by auditors on Chinese listed companies show progress on issues long stalled .
Xi β s dream is about reform , and Obama should do all that he can do to help him achieve the reform he seeks . As a first step , Obama and Xi should announce the commencement of negotiations for a free trade agreement with a three-year deadline for conclusion . Just as WTO accession helped Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji reform China , a free trade pact would do the same , as well as add jobs here in America .
They should also enliven the negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty and set a one-year deadline for completion . Bilateral investment will play an increasingly important role in this new great power relationship . To jump start a major Chinese investment in the U.S. , Obama should also pledge to authorize exports of shale gas to China . Construction of the terminals and extraction of the gas will create American jobs , reduce China β s reliance on imported energy and coal , reduce China β s CO2 emissions , and improve its environment .
The protection of intellectual property must be a top priority in a new great power relationship because both sides require it . In order to achieve an innovation society , China knows it must protect intellectual property . For the U.S. , theft of its citizen β s intellectual property makes it difficult to believe that China is committed to a truly new relationship . The presidents should establish a bilateral task force to agree on specific policies that will ensure greater protection for intellectual property .
Finally , the presidents should announce that Obama will visit China within the next twelve months and during that visit he will directly address the Chinese people about his vision of the future for America and U.S.-China relations . Let the two presidents lay the foundation for this new great power relationship and dream things that never were and ask why not .
Stephen A. Orlins is the president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations | q5Bw0nukfbBfk3Sb | 0 | China | 1.6 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/05/politics/wisconsin-recall/index.html | Walker's fate in Wisconsin comes down to ground game | 2012-06-05 | Elections | Story highlights Democratic groups say they contacted nearly 750,000 voters over the weekend
The recall fight stems from a battle over collective bargaining rights for public employees
Republican Gov . Scott Walker faces off against Democrat Tom Barrett , mayor of Milwaukee
In the canon of political cliches , `` it all comes down to turnout '' is among the most tired .
But in the case of the polarizing and closely watched Wisconsin recall election , the maxim happens to ring true .
Public polling , internal polling and campaign strategists all tell the same story : Republican Gov . Scott Walker is clinging to a tiny lead over his Democratic opponent , Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett , heading into Tuesday 's vote .
And the number of undecided voters has dwindled to almost zero , strategists in both parties say , meaning that the only mission left for both sides is to get their rabid supporters to the polls .
`` Our sole focus right now is on our grassroots get-out-the-vote-effort , '' said Ben Sparks , a spokesman for the Wisconsin Republican Party .
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`` We Are Wisconsin , '' an umbrella group funded by labor unions and the Democratic Governors Association , said it contacted nearly 750,000 voters over the weekend , with the goal of touching 1.4 million people with phone calls or door knocks by the close of polls Tuesday .
Meanwhile , the state GOP and the Republican National Committee , which are coordinating some of their efforts with the Walker campaign , boasted Monday that they have identified and contacted 4 million voters since January -- a number that has national Republicans speculating that they can put the state in play for Mitt Romney in November .
The recall fight has its roots in Walker 's successful push in early 2011 to strip public employees of their collective bargaining rights in an effort to close an ugly budget shortfall .
The push sparked a bitter partisan battle between Walker and Democrats in the state legislature , and set off a wave of historic protests from union members inside and outside the state capitol in Madison .
After Walker signed the controversial budget bill in March 2011 , labor organizers subsequently managed to collect 900,000 certified signatures to trigger a recall and are now among those leading the final get-out-the-vote push .
On Monday , at a Madison-area branch of the American Federation of State , County and Municipal Employees ( AFSCME ) , Barrett supporters spent the day popping in to pick up fliers for door-to-door voter contact efforts .
Randy Case , a retiree from Cross Plains , was among those who dropped by the AFSCME office to help .
He said Walker deserves to be removed from office because he trampled on Wisconsin 's cherished tradition of fair play in state government .
`` This is a friendly state , '' Case said . `` People get along here , and I think in our government , that has meant we elect people who work across the aisle and listen to other side . And that has just been absent with this current administration . It 's 'my way or the highway , ' which is simply not a Wisconsin value . It 's not how we govern ourselves . ''
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Walker argues that his reforms are working , pointing to a projected budget surplus and a modest uptick in jobs since he took office last year .
Democrats have tried to poke holes in those numbers , but according to recent poll from Marquette University Law School , a slight majority of voters approve of Walker 's performance in Madison .
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , Barrett 's hometown paper , also came to Walker 's defense with a helpful messaging point last week , writing in an editorial that the governor deserves to finish his term .
Walker is not the only Republican facing a recall Tuesday .
Lt. Gov . Rebecca Kleefisch is on the ballot against Democrat Mahlon Mitchell , a Fitchburg firefighter dubbed `` M & M '' by some of his supporters .
The undercard also features four of the Republican state senators who helped Walker pass his budget reforms . Just one GOP loss in those recall races would flip control of the state Senate back to Democrats , at least until the next election in November .
But the marquee race is between Walker and Barrett , a rematch of the 2010 governor 's race .
In that historically Republican year , Walker edged Barrett in their original matchup by 5 points .
Different dynamics are at work on Tuesday , though , giving Democrats some hope even though Walker is considered the narrow favorite .
While the anti-Walker fervor may have waned since protests consumed the state capitol grounds in early 2011 , insiders here predict that turnout on both sides is likely to be higher than it was for the original Walker-Barrett race .
But even in the race 's eleventh hour , strategists in both parties are struggling to figure out whether turnout will be closer to 2008 levels , when nearly 70 % of eligible Wisconsin voters participated in the presidential election , or 2010 , when voter turnout dropped to 49 % .
Democrats are hoping for the 2008 model . Almost 3 million people voted in that election , and the state went heavily for Barack Obama .
`` It was a low turnout in 2010 and a high turnout in 2008 , '' said former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold , who spent Monday traveling the state rallying Democrats . `` If we get anywhere near 2008 or even halfway there , we are going to win , because those folks are more likely to vote for Tom Barrett . ''
But unlike 2008 , when Republican turnout underwhelmed , Wisconsin voters on both sides are now engaged at a level not seen in recent memory .
`` We have an example of Hatfields and McCoys going on in this state like we have never seen , '' said Brian Nemoir , a Milwaukee-based Republican strategist . `` People are hyper-engaged , as much in support for their own candidate as in disgust for the opponent . ''
Handmade signs are nearly as prevalent as official ones . Some locals say they have resorted to lowering their voices in public when discussing the recall to avoid setting off arguments with strangers .
The Marquette University poll revealed that 26 % of all voters have slapped a bumper sticker on their car or planted a sign in their lawn .
The same survey found that a third of voters have simply stopped talking politics with someone they know because the race is so heated .
And this is all in a state with a historical reputation for collegiality and Midwestern politeness .
A flood of campaign money , much of it from out-of-state interest groups and most of it benefiting Republicans , is partially responsible for the hothouse political climate .
About $ 64 million has been spent on the race since November 2011 , an analysis from the Center for Public Integrity found .
That 's a new state record , shattering the previous record of $ 37.4 million spent during the 2010 governor 's race .
Beginning last fall , Walker seized on a loophole in Wisconsin law that allows incumbents in recall elections to raise unlimited sums .
Walker outraised his opponent by an almost 8-1 margin , collecting $ 30.5 million to Barrett 's $ 4 million .
Roughly two-thirds of Walker 's contributions came from out of state , the Center for Public Integrity reported , while only a quarter of Barrett 's funds originated from outside Wisconsin .
Beyond the individual campaigns , independent groups have played a major role in the race , helping saturate television and radio airwaves with negative advertising .
The Republican Governors Association , for instance , has spent more than $ 8 million on Walker 's behalf , most it on television ads .
Working against Walker are unions like AFSCME , the American Federation of Teachers , the National Education Association and the Service Employees International Union , which have also steered millions of dollars to the state in their efforts to unseat the governor . | fdde9c2937754fd0 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
economy_and_jobs | Bustle | https://www.bustle.com/p/bernie-sanders-new-job-plan-wants-to-make-sure-every-american-who-wants-employment-is-hired-8877541 | Bernie Sanders' New Job Plan Wants To Make Sure Every American Who Wants Employment Is Hired | 2018-04-24 | Economy And Jobs | News A small group of left-leaning congresspeople appear to be more willing than ever to drift away from the political center, though one of them shouldn't come as much of a surprise. According to multiple reports, Sen. Bernie Sanders' new job plan would guarantee employment for every American who is willing and able to work. It might sound like a big promise to make, but he suggests the government would be smart to back it. And he's not the only one saying so. Sanders' team has underscored that the plan is in its earliest stages, and that certain logistics haven't yet been worked out. For instance, they haven't finalized a proposal for funding, and they also haven't quite worked out how to discipline workers who violate employment rules. But, all in all, the plan represents an eagerness to explore greater government intervention in the economy and job market. According to The Washington Post, Sanders' plan would divide the United States into 12 regional districts. Within those areas, governments at the state and local level, plus American Indian tribes, would submit project proposals to the district offices. Those offices would be tasked with reviewing these proposals and sending the ones they approve to the Department of Labor. The idea, according to the Post, is that coordinators for approved projects would then hire Americans to do the work. Under the proposal draft, they would not hire any worker for less than $15 an hour, and the jobs would include basic employment benefits, like medical leave and retirement options, the Post reports. The program would also team up with job training centers, working to train those willing to work who do not yet have the skills to do so. Many job training centers already exist in the United States, so it appears that much of the plan's success would require connecting those training centers with the new employment opportunities. In the current political moment, a universal employment plan may be a moot point. With a Republican-held Congress and White House, a socialized jobs bill stands little to no chance of moving forward, even if it were lucky enough to make it to debate. However, the midterm elections are fast approaching, and the contest is expected to be fierce. While Democrats face a massive gap that they would have to close in order to win a majority in the Senate alone, proposals like Sanders' could give more voraciously left candidates a viable topic to campaign on. Sanders, himself, is up for reelection, and has been extremely vocal about his views on social media in recent months, especially when it comes to health care and social security. (Sanders, it's worth remembering, is an Independent, though he does caucus with the Democrats.) Sanders is also not the only elected official to advocate for a government-backed jobs proposal, either. Earlier in April, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand tweeted that, instead of tax cuts, the Republicans might have tried investing in an employment plan. She wrote: Similarly, Sen. Cory Booker also recently announced the Federal Jobs Guarantee Development Act. His plan functions similarly to Sanders', proposing 15 work districts that would pay $15 an hour, or else whatever the typical minimum wage is for that work, according to Vox. Funding for the positions would reportedly come from federal coffers. Historically, and especially so since the Obama administration, Democrats have largely avoided proposing sweeping, socialized economic plans. The word "socialism" in and of itself is incredibly polarizing, and there is often fear that, without centrists, legislation (and political campaigns) would lack the necessary backing. This, of course, was upended after Sanders' historic presidential campaign, which relied heavily (and proudly) on small donations, and emphasized a form of democratic socialism highly-palatable to younger voters. (Obama also campaigned on small donations, but Sanders never used a super PAC.) That being said, while the plan could be incredibly divisive, the 2016 presidential campaign indicated that there is definitely a voter base that supports it, and some politicians seem eager to try it out. | 246dc3a48c76e119 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | CNN Digital | https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/26/politics/barack-obama-redistricting-u-gerrymandering-initiative/index.html | Obama announces new effort in fight against gerrymandering | 2019-08-27 | Gerrymandering, Barack Obama, Politics | Washington CNN βFormer President Barack Obama on Monday announced a new initiative that will help volunteers influence redistricting efforts in states across the country.Redistricting U, an extension of the All On The Line campaign, will send trainers to provide free training and tools to volunteers about their state redistricting process, gather feedback on ways to improve their communities and teach them how to be leaders in the fair map movement, according to the initiativeβs website.All On The Line, launched earlier this year, is a combination of Obamaβs Organizing For Action and former Attorney General Eric Holderβs National Redistricting Action Fund.Obama said in a statement he has always believed βtraining is at the heart of organizing.ββItβs why I made it a priority in my 2008 campaign and throughout our larger movement for change in the years since,β Obama said in a statement on the groupβs website.He added, βThe movement for fair maps will determine the course of progress on every issue we care about for the next decade. And we canβt wait to begin organizing when the redistricting process starts in 2021. We need to build this movement from the ground up β right now.βThe new initiative is the latest effort by Obama to push for voting reform and fight against gerrymandering. The Obamas have long pushed for increased voter participation and fought against partisan gerrymandering. Ahead of the 2018 midterm election, former first lady Michelle Obama launched her When We All Vote initiative and traveled to various cities pushing for increased voter turnout. | 277e6a26474b6049 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
healthcare | Politico | http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/obamacare-health-care-democrats-cadillac-tax-216966 | Are Democrats crippling Obamacare? | 2015-12-28 | healthcare | Obamacare has survived a pair of Supreme Court battles and half a decade of Republican repeal efforts .
But as the Obama administration enters its final year , the Affordable Care Act is facing formidable hurdles that are largely of Democrats ' making .
By voting to delay the so-called Cadillac tax as part of a year-end budget deal , Democrats knocked out an economic pillar critical to achieving one of the act 's central goals β tamping down U.S. health care spending . President Barack Obama and the Democrats pursued that goal at great political cost . But if it falls by the wayside , Obama may have his own party to blame for his diminished legacy .
The White House β s defeat on that , as well as several other Obamacare taxes , comes as a series of problems have piled up since coverage expansion kicked in two years ago , from collapsing co-op health plans to double-digit premium increases . No single one of them is likely to prove fatal , but together they have significantly weakened the law that Obama spent much of his presidency fighting for .
By joining with Republicans to delay the Cadillac tax , in particular , the president β s party chose the short-term demands of organized labor β a key ground-game player going into an election year β over the long-term goals of Obamacare . The party offered fresh ammunition to Republicans who say the law is a money pit . And it showed a lack of political will to make Americans change their habits on health care spending .
β Is it the death knell ? No . But it is harmful , β said Peter Orszag , Obama β s Office of Management and Budget director during the drafting of the law .
The Cadillac tax was designed in part to help pay for Obamacare . But its main goal was to curb generous insurance policies that make health care virtually free to consumers , thereby encouraging its overuse and driving up spending .
While health care spending has increased at historically low levels since passage of the health care law in 2010 , there 's no consensus on whether that slowdown is primarily attributable to the Great Recession or to Obamacare . Last year , health care spending shot back up and grew by 5.3 percent , easily surpassing overall inflation . If it does n't slow down , forecasters say health spending will cripple the U.S. economy within decades .
The White House emphasizes the health care law 's successes . More than 17 million people have acquired coverage under Obamacare , and the uninsured rate is the lowest ever recorded . Competition in the fledgling Obamacare marketplaces is robust . And HealthCare.gov , after a disastrous rollout , has become a reliable vehicle for Obamacare customers to shop for coverage . More broadly , Obamacare β s supporters argue that multiple provisions of the law , unaffected by the Cadillac tax , are fundamentally changing the economics of health care by paying doctors for quality , not quantity , of care .
The 2016 enrollment season is off to a good start , with more than 8 million signed up , and may well exceed admittedly modest expectations .
Obama touted the law β s accomplishments and the signup surge before he left for his Hawaii vacation . β The more who sign up , the stronger the system becomes . And that 's good news for every American who no longer has to worry about being just one illness or accident away from financial hardship , β he said .
Zeke Emanuel , an oncologist who advised Obama on the health care overhaul , said Obamacare so far has been a success β by any stretch of any metric β especially access , especially cost control , to some degree quality , the solvency of the Medicare trust fund . β
Emanuel acknowledged , however , β As they say in the stock brochures , past performance is no indication of future performance . β
Indeed , the recent travails of the health care law were sizable even before the budget deal reached last week knocked out funding .
In October , the Obama administration announced it could pay only a fraction of the funds that were supposed to protect insurers competing in the exchanges from big losses β not quite 13 cents on the dollar . Republicans had blocked fuller payments . That shortfall hastened the demise of half the nonprofit co-op plans established with Obamacare loan dollars and infuriated other insurers , which are crucial to the law β s success . One of them , UnitedHealth Group , has threatened to leave the exchanges .
While UnitedHealth is only a minor player in most states , other big insurers are raising alarms about how sick and expensive their exchange customers are . Just this week , the trade group for the Blue Cross Blue Shield plans , which dominate many state exchanges , spelled out its concerns as it commented on proposed market regulations . β The current risk pool is out of balance , '' the group wrote . `` A course correction is needed now or this unsustainable trend will only get worse in the future. β
Big price hikes have also been a headache for Obamacare supporters . Premiums for many plans rose by double digits for 2016 , and bigger deductibles are translating into higher out-of-pocket costs .
Unions have been plotting to junk the Cadillac tax ever since it was proposed . It 's the persistent pull of Obama 's `` if you like your plan , you can keep it '' promise : Many of them negotiated generous employer-sponsored plans in place of increased wages , and they want to keep them . So they hate the tax because it would imperil those benefits β and that β s the whole point of it .
Rather than pay a 40 percent excise tax on expensive policies above a certain dollar amount , employers will likely cut back , the reasoning goes . Workers will have to pay more for their own health care , so they β ll comparison shop and think twice before agreeing to extensive tests and procedures that they might not actually need . The whole system will have to respond by focusing on quality .
That threatened to create a lot of unhappy middle-class families over the next few years as the tax hit their benefits , too , thanks to Obamacare and the Democrats .
β Almost everybody but health care economists was opposed to the thing , β said former Sen. Evan Bayh , a moderate Indiana Democrat who declined to run for reelection after voting for Obamacare . β On Capitol Hill , that β s a pretty hard thing to withstand . β
It β s not just Democrats in Congress : Hillary Clinton came out against the Cadillac tax in September . It was just days before she won the endorsement of the National Education Association , a coup over her main rival , Sen. Bernie Sanders , who has long opposed the tax .
Congress only voted for a two-year delay β from 2018 to 2020 . But few on either side of the debate think the Cadillac tax will ever go into effect , with such a powerful bipartisan precedent for opposing it .
β The unions and the trial lawyers have the kind of stranglehold on the Democrats that the NRA and the Chamber of Commerce have on the Republicans , β said Steven Brill , author of β America β s Bitter Pill , β a history of the Obamacare debate .
Administration officials acknowledge privately that they weren β t surprised by the Cadillac tax β s delay , given the broad and longstanding opposition . But they remain hopeful that the two-year lapse and next round of congressional debate will give the provision a privilege that so many other parts of Obamacare have been denied : a chance to actually be refined . The original tax was a blunt instrument , and the White House is open to modifying it to make it more politically sustainable .
For now , the administration waves off the delay as having β minimal β impact . As White House press secretary Josh Earnest explained , three taxes were postponed in the budget deal , depriving the government of $ 35 billion , β which sounds like a lot of money . But when you consider that during that time period β essentially over the next four years , between 2015 and 2019 β the Affordable Care Act is slated to cost $ 203 billion less than was originally projected , and that means that the net outcome here continues to be a health care policy that saves the government money . β
The Congressional Budget Office hasn β t yet endorsed that perspective . Republicans never bought the idea that a trillion-dollar health care law could possibly save money . And part of the reason Obamacare has come in under budget : Not all the states took federal funds to expand Medicaid , and not as many people signed up on the Obamacare exchanges as expected , meaning the feds have to shell out less in subsidies .
Brill has argued that the law was crippled from the outset because of the political tradeoffs the drafters had to make to drugmakers , hospitals and other big health care players from coming out against it . As a result , there 's still β a very powerful industry that has the freedom to charge whatever . β
Others say this is just a rough patch . Supporters of the law hope this is just a transition period as insurers figure out the right types of policies for the exchanges and wait for more young , healthy people to sign up .
For big-picture backers like Emanuel , the question isn β t so much whether the HealthCare.gov marketplaces will survive . It β s whether , 30 years from now , the U.S. will still use and pay for health care the same way .
β I β m worried that we will slip back into the usual mode , and the usual mode is not a good mode , β Emanuel said . His final assessment : β It β s not quite optimistic , β he said . β We β re hopeful . β | JVIKl7XD8hVioJNI | 0 | Obamacare | 0.3 | Healthcare | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Julian Zelizer | http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/opinions/democrats-should-learn-from-republicans-zelizer/index.html | OPINION: What Democrats should learn from Republicans | 2017-02-01 | politics | When Senate Democrats on the Finance Committee finally showed some grit by boycotting the vote over President Donald Trump 's nominees for secretary of treasury , Steven Mnuchin , and secretary of health and human services , Tom Price -- two of the most controversial picks to come from the White House -- Republicans simply changed the rules .
Although the committee rules stipulate that there needed to be a quorum with one member from the minority party present to vote on a nominee , Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah and the committee Republicans suspended the rules by unanimous consent . With a statement that begged for the chyron `` irony alert , '' Hatch justified the action as a response to the `` unprecedented obstruction on the part of our colleagues . ''
Any Democrat who has experienced the hardball tactics of the tea party era could n't help but roll their eyes .
Throughout the presidency of Barack Obama , Republicans on Capitol Hill were willing to practice a style of ruthless , smash-mouth politics where the legislative rules are used as a brutal weapon to stop their opponents from making any progress on their agenda .
Republicans threatened to send the nation into default by refusing to raise the debt ceiling . They used the filibuster as a routine tactic . They gridlocked many of President Obama 's nominees , including Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland , who was never even allowed a hearing , let alone a vote on the Senate floor . Almost any time that President Obama asked for bipartisan support , most members of the party stood firm and voted no .
Sen. Mitch McConnell is a brilliant practitioner of procedural warfare . He understands that the rules in Congress are not simply a backdrop to the action , they are the mechanism through which partisan combat takes place . What has been striking about McConnell and his colleagues in the House and Senate is that they are willing to use the rules in the most ruthless fashion possible .
While obstruction cost Republicans in the court of public opinion -- and did n't inspire much confidence that the party knew how to govern -- the Republicans were willing to take their chances .
In their minds , the benefits that came from stopping the President 's agenda and energizing party activists around a combative , fighting style would eventually pay off . They also made the bet that in the end , voters blame the President when nothing gets done in Washington , not the Congress , even if the House and Senate are in the hands of the opposition .
Now that Republicans have control of the White House as well , they are using the tools to push the President 's agenda forward . Despite some important points of contention , such as on free-trade agreements , the Republican Party is remarkably united and disciplined on most other issues . They know what they want , much of which President Trump is signaling that he will deliver and they are willing to do whatever it takes within the boundaries of the rules to get it done .
For all the chaos and tumult in the Trump White House , this is a strength upon which the entire party is depending .
JUST WATCHED Sen. Hatch : Democrats 'idiots ' for boycotting Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Sen. Hatch : Democrats 'idiots ' for boycotting 01:32
With all the attention on President Trump , in many ways the real action is taking place in Congress , where they are smoothing the way for very rightward leaning appointees , demonstrating almost no resistance to the President 's most controversial actions , such as the executive order on refugees , and preparing to move forward with a legislative menu of tax cuts , deregulation and higher military spending that must be making Ronald Reagan smile in his grave .
If Senate Democrats dare to filibuster the Supreme Court appointment of Neil Gorsuch , it 's safe to bet that no Senate Republicans will defect from the President and the GOP will do whatever it takes to get enough Democrats from swing states to back the nominee .
It is not difficult to imagine that if there is a filibuster , Sen. McConnell would turn to Harry Reid 's playbook to employ the nuclear option of jettisoning the right to endless talk altogether . Indeed , President Trump has already encouraged him to do so
So , as Senate Democrats start to make decisions about how they intend to fight this administration , they would do well to look at what Republicans achieved . They might see that even if obstruction and legislative grandstanding is ugly and turns off voters , it can be a useful tool toward larger partisan objectives .
On great matters of principle , which can include a Supreme Court nominee that stands for a set of values that they believe would move the nation in the wrong direction , the toughest legislative fight possible could be just the right elixir for mobilizing party activists -- and it could be an effective tool in forcing a president away from a particular direction .
If a party is willing to deal with the inevitable heat that comes from using roughhouse tactics , it 's possible , as Republicans learned in 2016 , to come out on the winning side of politics and policy . Indeed , the first serious crack in the Republican offensive has appeared , with two GOP senators , Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski , saying they would oppose the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as education secretary .
And if Democrats are worried about the apparent hypocrisy of doing what they criticized Republicans for doing , they probably should n't . After all , Senate Republicans now insist that Democrats have an obligation to give Gorsuch a fair hearing , despite the obvious contradiction with how Republicans treated Garland .
The biggest danger , of course , is what all of this legislative warfare does to the democratic process . As both parties get deeper and deeper into the muck -- and this is something on the minds of many Democrats -- there will be growing concerns over how all this effects our ability to govern and responsibly resolve the great problems of the day .
Given that the Supreme Court has now only had eight members since Justice Antonin Scalia died last February 13 , those risks are apparent to everyone in the upper chamber .
But Republicans have shown that there is a space between total destruction of the political process and old-fashioned congressional combat where Democrats have an opportunity to slow down the rapid fire activity of the White House .
Back in the 1960s , liberals like Missouri Democrat Richard Bolling discovered that the only way to fight the conservatives of the day , Southern Democratic committee chairmen who remained in office for decades , was to organize , mobilize and fight back through the rules upon which the Dixiecrats had depended to stop domestic policies like civil rights .
In short , if Democrats are going to stand any chance of stopping the transformational changes that are looming , they may well need to look much more closely at the Republicans as potential models for a path forward . | Tm5mjyFljdI0kULp | 0 | Politics | -0.3 | Republican Party | 0.2 | Democratic Party | -0.1 | null | null | null | null |
campaign_finance | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/01/politics/donald-trump-big-money-success/index.html | Trump finally hits the big-money jackpot | 2016-10-01 | campaign_finance | Amid the campaign 's final frenzy , there are encouraging signs that Trump 's slow-to-build money operation has matured to presidential caliber , but alarm persists that it may be too late to combat Hillary Clinton 's big-dollar machine , according to a dozen people with ties to Trump 's finance team .
The fundraising quarter that ended Friday has injected sorely needed cash into Trump 's White House hopes , with long-sought donations finally clearing and optimism abound that Trump himself will match his tightening poll numbers with a loosening of his own wallet .
Trump has two families in particular to thank : the Adelsons of Las Vegas and the Ricketts of the Midwest , who are behind the scenes directing major cash -- and critically , major credibility -- to Trump 's fundraising ambitions . Despite only publicly committing $ 5 million to what is likely to be the de facto Trump super PAC , Sheldon and Miriam Adelson are pledging at least $ 25 million to pro-Trump presidential efforts , according to multiple people briefed on their donations . That sum includes giving to nonprofit group that will never be required to disclose his donations .
`` I 'm doing more than a lot of people think I 'm doing , '' Adelson recently told one top Trump ally . The casino magnate reportedly pledged to spend $ 100 million at the onset of the general election -- a total some expect him to still hit , though several sources cautioned that the famously hard-to-read casino magnate can always change his mind should Trump slump .
The Ricketts family , the founder and heirs to the TD Ameritrade fortune , have told associates that the Adelsons has pledged $ 25 million to their groups , which includes a revived super PAC , Future 45 , and the nonprofit 501 ( c ) ( 4 ) group , 45Committee . It is unclear how the Adelsons plan to split their checks between the entities .
And two people who have spoken personally with Todd Ricketts this week said Ricketts said he now had $ 35 million in the bank thanks to the Adelson donation and was working toward raising $ 70 million , earmarked exclusively for the presidential race .
Adelson and Ricketts representatives did not respond to request for comments , though an Adelson spokesman did deny a report in The Guardian , which first reported the $ 25 million commitment but claimed it was all promised to the super PAC .
After inviting unprecedented scorn from the Republican donor base during the primary only to plead for their checks once winning it , Trump enters the homestretch in a competitive financial position versus Clinton . That is mostly driven by Trump 's surprisingly successful online fundraising program , which flooded him with money over the summer largely given directly to his campaign -- though he had to pay a pretty penny to collect it .
Yet now there is mounting evidence that traditional donors are at least begrudgingly giving : A post-debate fundraising drive this week yielded $ 18 million , and about $ 11 million of that cash came from high-dollar givers who fielded the calls of top Trump fundraisers at Trump Tower on Tuesday , according to a person with knowledge of the figures .
And Trump himself is sparking hope from Republicans that he himself will put more skin in the game than the $ 2 million a month he has been investing in his bid since he wrapped up the primary . While Trump has yet to make a final commitment -- and fundraising emails as recently as this week suggested that he would only give his standard $ 2 million in September -- the $ 150 million last-hurrah advertising plan unveiled by Trump aides last week is almost certainly not possible without a substantial check from the man at the top .
And those who know the billionaire expect him to not tolerate a loss on account of his own stinginess -- and are predicting infusions from a competitive businessman who hates losing . Trump revealed Friday at a rally that he would spend `` over $ 100 million '' on the race .
`` If he wanted to run 10 more ads and there was n't money in the Republican National Committee or any other fund , '' said John Catsimatidis , a grocery magnate who himself spent over $ 10 million on his own political run for New York mayor , `` I would write a check . ''
Meanwhile , a collection of super PACs -- at first scorned , at least officially , by Trump brass -- are preparing final fundraising drives that they hope can at least mitigate the advertising gap that could swallow Trump 's dreams in swing states . Rebuilding America Now , the favorite of Trump leadership during the summer , has stalled since . But it held a major fundraiser on Thursday evening in New York City with Donald Trump Jr. and the group has obtained another $ 2 million check from Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus , according to a person close to the group , boosting his overall contributions to the group to $ 5 million .
The group , struggling since the departure of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and now threatened by the rise of Future 45 , is not required to disclose its fundraising totals until October 15 . But people close to the group predict -- and their abrupt stop in advertising this fall after a $ 13 million push substantiates -- that the super PAC has raised only between $ 15 and $ 20 million , far short of their initial goal .
Marcus is also expected to have donated to Make America Number One , a super PAC run by key Trump influencer and megadonor Rebekah Mercer .
It is the Adelson and Ricketts families , though , that are the hot commodities in GOP finance circles : Sheldon and Miriam Adelson scored four third-row seats to the first presidential debate this week in New York and were seen mingling with Trump friends ranging from Rudy Giuliani to Don King . And at a recent fundraiser in the Chicago suburbs this week , Trump praised Todd Ricketts on three separate occasions , according to an attendee , even as he ripped into other Illinois Republican elites like GOP Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk , who is trailing badly in his re-election race .
`` Guys like Kirk who are behind in the polls ca n't figure out why guys like me are ahead in the polls , '' Trump told the crowd , according to two attendees who relayed the remarks .
The Ricketts family is also focused on a half-dozen Senate races -- though their spending would not boost Kirk , who is not running in a presidential swing-state . And their focus remains tearing down Clinton , as they have done in a pair of searing new advertisements out this week .
The Ricketts family has committed $ 1 million to the effort , and is likely to find success in the American Opportunity Alliance , an exclusive , Wall Street-tied , socially liberal donor network that has largely spurned Trump , most prominently by hedge-funder Paul Singer , the most prolific bundler in GOP politics .
At least one of those prominent donors is not currently expected to get behind the group : Linda McMahon , the former US Senate candidate , who co-hosted the Rebuilding America Now event on Thursday .
In addition to Adelson and Marcus , Trump is also making inroads with their fellow leaders in the Republican Jewish Coalition , where Marc Goldman , a Florida investor and RJC board member , has taken the lead in trying to win over his pro-Israel peers .
One possible route for Trump-shy donors : the nonprofit arm , which gives Republicans the cloak of non-disclosure .
Cecil O'Brate , a Kansas-based energy titan who has supported Ricketts-led groups in the past , said he would consider the groups but was especially attracted to any entities that kept his donations out of the public eye .
`` If you push one guy hard and the name 's out there , and then he does n't win , then you 're in trouble , '' said O'Brate , who as of this week had not heard from Future45 . `` I 'll wait and see what they try and do . ''
Yet there are significant limitations on what a pro-Trump nonprofit could do . Given that Clinton is not a current federal officeholder , many campaign-finance lawyers have long believed that their options are particularly limited in the 2016 cycle . To maintain their tax-exempt status , nonprofits can not spend a majority of their money on elections , leading most of these political groups to run ads either `` thanking '' or scolding various public officials -- who just happen to be up for election -- that are ostensibly not related to the campaign .
Attacks on Clinton -- or , for that matter , praise for Trump , another person not in office -- could be severely limited by nonprofit law . Yet the Ricketts operation believes it has a way to tactically play 2016 politics even with their nonprofit , according to a person briefed on the plans .
But whatever limitations may apply , the Ricketts name is gold in political finance circles , and Republican money operatives and donors alike voice confidence in any shop led by the politically savvy family . The clearest sign of trust was that the Adelsons , who control their own top-flight operation and had considered helming their own super PAC , entrusted their fortunes .
Doug Manchester , a San Diego developer who also at one point thought of starting his own PAC , said he had now sworn off giving to outside groups . But Manchester , who has given the maximum to Trump Victory , was piqued when informed of the new Ricketts venture .
`` I just have n't been approached correctly by the right people , '' said Manchester , voicing his displeasure with negative advertisements . `` If they were to approach me , I may be interested . '' | C0i6sry077DFO0M6 | 0 | Campaign Finance | 0.5 | Donald Trump | 0.2 | Elections | 0.2 | null | null | null | null |
elections | Christian Science Monitor | http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/0624/What-Brexit-tells-us-about-Donald-Trump-and-US-politics | What Brexit tells us about Donald Trump and US politics | 2016-06-24 | elections | Britain β s vote to exit the European Union , or β Brexit , β contains clear echoes of the choice Americans face this November : a future , as championed by Hillary Clinton , that favors a more open , internationalist system versus the one embodied by the populist , nativist Donald Trump .
Mr. Trump himself , in Scotland visiting his golf courses , drew the parallel Friday .
β They took their country back , just like we will take America back , β Trump tweeted after the result was announced .
Brussels , the headquarters of the EU , isn β t equivalent to Washington , but the alienation from a distant capital that many British and US citizens feel is real .
β There was a definite flavor of β Make Britain Great Again β running through the Leave campaign , with Brexit proponents arguing that British sovereignty was being undermined by unelected elites in Brussels , β writes Peter Weber in The Week .
And there β s no doubt that Trumpism is part of the larger strain of nationalism sweeping Europe , as seen in France β s National Front , the Alternative for Germany party , Hungary β s ruling nationalist Fidesz party , and Britain β s own UKIP ( the United Kingdom Independence Party ) , which pushed hard for Brexit .
The vote for Brexit also contained an element of anti-elitism that echoes Trump β s outsider message - a rejection of the powers-that-be in politics , business , and the media that promoted staying in the EU . British Prime Minister David Cameron promptly announced his resignation Friday , opening the door to the possible rise of a distinctly Trump-like figure in former London Mayor Boris Johnson .
Though down in the polls , Trump has some advantages , starting with enormous crowds that dwarf those that greet the less-charismatic Mrs. Clinton . Crowd sizes don β t necessarily predict election outcomes , but they are a signal of enthusiasm - and Trump supporters are nothing if not fervent .
True , Trump has big unfavorable ratings , now at an all-time high of 70 percent of Americans in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll . But love him or not , the billionaire real-estate magnate is the driving story of the 2016 election , and always , it seems , at the center of the news .
For now , he β s losing to Clinton by an average of only five percentage points . Clinton is also unpopular , though not nearly as unpopular as Trump . Bottom line , with more than four months to go till Election Day , the election is far from over .
Still , there β s an important way in which Britain β s vote to exit the EU doesn β t necessarily foretell Trump β s election as president : The US has a buffer , known as the Electoral College . Even if Trump can manage to win a majority of the popular vote in November , he can still lose in the Electoral College , which hands disproportionate power to a handful of battleground states . Recall George W. Bush β s election in 2000 , despite Vice President Al Gore β s victory in the popular vote .
The Founding Fathers sought to protect the nation from the risks of direct democracy . Until 1913 , for example , US senators were elected by the state legislatures , not by popular vote . And today , even though many states and localities allow for policy to be set by ballot measures or referenda , there β s no mechanism to do so nationally . To US opponents of the Brexit , Thursday β s vote vindicates that practice .
β What you β re seeing here is the danger of government by referendum , β Richard Haass , president of the Council on Foreign Relations , said Friday on CNBC .
The US presidential campaign of 2016 is also an example of what can happen in an increasingly democratized nomination process - when outsiders like Trump and Bernie Sanders , a self-described democratic socialist , can take the traditional parties by storm and upend the status quo .
If nothing else , the success ( so far ) of Trump in the US and the British campaign to quit the EU shows the risk of making predictions . At the start of the 2016 election campaign , virtually no one saw Trump winning the nomination . This week , before the Brexit votes were in , global financial markets and other prediction forums showed confidence that Britain would remain in the EU .
As Nate Cohn writes in The New York Times , betting markets gave β Remain β an 88 percent chance of winning as late as 6 p.m. Eastern US time Thursday . β Remain β ended up losing by four percentage points .
Opinion polls consistently showed there was a very real chance that Britain would vote to leave , Mr. Cohn points out .
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US election-watchers should take note . Prediction markets show Clinton winning in November easily ; the website PredictIt , for example , has Clinton trading at 66 cents to Trump β s 34 cents . But some recent polls show Clinton leading barely outside the margin of error .
Polling has taken some hard knocks in recent years , including in Britain . But election-watchers ignore the polls at their peril . | rRX0FTjRUGE1s29m | 1 | Donald Trump | -0.3 | Presidential Elections | -0.3 | Brexit | 0.2 | Elections | 0 | null | null |
donald_trump | Washington Times | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jul/29/texas-trump-warns-biden-will-demolish-states-energ/ | In Texas, Trump warns that a Biden presidency would demolish state's energy industry | 2020-07-29 | Donald Trump, Texas, Election 2020, Energy, Environment, Oil | 'The proud people of Texas will never bow, kneel or surrender to the left-wing mob.' President Trump traveled to up-for-grabs Texas on Wednesday to warn voters that Democrat Joseph R. Bidenβs βradicalβ green energy plans would destroy the stateβs oil and gas industry. βIf these far-left politicians ever get into power, they will demolish not only your industry, but the entire U.S. economy,β Mr. Trump told an audience at an oil-drilling operation in Midland. βYou will have no more energy coming out of the great state of Texas.β The president said of his rival, βI donβt think Bidenβs going to do too well in Texas. Heβs already written it off.β But public polling shows the race in Texas, historically a red state, as a statistical tie. It was Mr. Trumpβs 16th trip to Texas, and he also attended a fundraiser in Odessa that brought in about $7 million for his reelection campaign and the GOP. Texas is in the grip of a resurgence of the coronavirus, and the president urged residents to βremain vigilant.β He cited a broad range of help from the federal government, including medicines and protective gear for healthcare workers. Underscoring the rise in cases, Rep. Louis Gohmert, Texas Republican, tested positive for COVID-19 at the White House on Wednesday morning and did not fly on Air Force One with the president to Texas, as planned. And the GOP candidate for Texasβ 7th Congressional District, Wesley Hunt, reported on Twitter that he, too, tested positive on his way to the presidentβs events and returned home. The president highlighted his policies that have spurred an increase of U.S. oil and gas production by 3.1 million barrels per day, including a doubling of production in the Permian Basin in West Texas. Mr. Trump said the Democrats would impose βimpossibleβ zero-carbon-emissions targets that would βmean the death of American prosperity and the end of the American middle class.β βThey want to destroy our country. These people are sick,β Mr. Trump said. βThereβs no respect for the American way of life. They want to wipe away every trace of religion from national life, they want to indoctrinate our children, defund our police, abolish the suburbs, incite riots, and leave every city at the mercy of the radical left.β He predicted, βThe proud people of Texas will never bow, kneel or surrender to the left-wing mob. We are telling the Washington politicians trying to abolish American energy: Donβt mess with Texas.β Mr. Biden said Texas families are βsuffering because President Trumpβs inability to lead this country and combat the spread of COVID-19.β βThe pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 5,700 Texans, positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to climb, and hotspots are becoming harder and harder to contain,β Mr. Biden said in a campaign statement. The Texas Oil and Gas Association said the industry directly employed 428,234 Texans in 2019. The stateβs natural gas and oil industry generated $16.3 billion in taxes and state royalties in 2019. β’ Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com. Copyright Β© 2025 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. SEE MORE VIDEOS DOJβs bribery of New York City Mayor Eric Adams Carville says Trump playing 4D chess while Democrats still looking for board Border czar Homanβs attack on the pope reveals deeper truths about moral certainty | 1ff5820036a1a66d | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
criminal_justice | Associated Press | https://apnews.com/article/missouri-execution-marcellus-williams-8be20e2f252992610a30fa0cfef4185a | Missouri executes a man for the 1998 killing of a woman despite her familyβs calls to spare his life | 2024-09-25 | Criminal Justice, Capital Punishment And Death Penalty, Missouri, NAACP | BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) β A Missouri man convicted of breaking into a womanβs home and repeatedly stabbing her was executed Tuesday over the objections of the victimβs family and the prosecutor, who wanted the death sentence commuted to life in prison.Marcellus Williams, 55, was convicted in the 1998 killing of Lisha Gayle, who was stabbed during the burglary of her suburban St. Louis home.Williams was put to death despite questions his attorneys raised over jury selection at his trial and the handling of evidence in the case. His clemency petition focused heavily on how Gayleβs relatives wanted Williamsβ sentence commuted to life without the possibility of parole.βThe family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live,β the petition stated. βMarcellusβ execution is not necessary.βAs Williams lay awaiting execution, he appeared to converse with a spiritual advisor seated next to him. Williams wiggled his feet underneath a white sheet that was pulled up to his neck and moved his head slightly while his spiritual advisor continued to talk. Then Williamsβ chest heaved about a half dozen times, and he showed no further movement.Williamsβ son and two attorneys watched from another room. No one was present on behalf of the victimβs family.The Department of Corrections released a brief statement that Williams had written ahead of time, saying: βAll Praise Be to Allah In Every Situation!!!βRepublican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he hoped the execution brings finality to a case that βlanguished for decades, revictimizing Ms. Gayleβs family over and over again.ββNo juror nor judge has ever found Williamsβ innocence claim to be credible,β Parson said in a statement.The NAACP had been among those urging Parson to cancel the execution.βTonight, Missouri lynched another innocent Black man,β NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement.It was the third time Williams faced execution. He got reprieves in 2015 and 2017, but his last-ditch efforts this time were futile. Parson and the state Supreme Court rejected his appeals in quick succession Monday, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene hours before he was put to death.Last month, Gayleβs relatives gave their blessings to an agreement between the St. Louis County prosecuting attorneyβs office and Williamsβ attorneys to commute the sentence to life in prison. But acting on an appeal from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Baileyβs office, the state Supreme Court nullified the agreement.Williams was among death row inmates in five states who were scheduled to be put to death in the span of a week β an unusually high number that defies a yearslong decline in the use and support of the death penalty in the U.S. The first was carried out Friday in South Carolina. Texas was also slated to execute a prisoner on Tuesday evening.Gayle, 42, was a social worker and former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. Prosecutors at Williamsβ trial said he broke into her home on Aug. 11, 1998, heard the shower running and found a large butcher knife. Gayle was stabbed 43 times when she came downstairs. Her purse and her husbandβs laptop were stolen.Authorities said Williams stole a jacket to conceal blood on his shirt. His girlfriend asked him why he would wear a jacket on a hot day. She said she later saw the purse and laptop in his car and that Williams sold the computer a day or two later.Prosecutors also cited testimony from Henry Cole, who shared a cell with Williams in 1999 while Williams was jailed on unrelated charges. Cole told prosecutors that Williams confessed to the killing and provided details about it.Williamsβ attorneys responded that the girlfriend and Cole were both convicted of felonies and wanted a $10,000 reward. They said that fingerprints, a bloody shoeprint, hair and other evidence at the crime scene didnβt match Williamsβ.A crime scene investigator had testified the killer wore gloves.Questions about DNA evidence also led St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell to request a hearing challenging Williamsβ guilt. But days before the Aug. 21 hearing, new testing showed that DNA on the knife belonged to members of the prosecutorβs office who handled it without gloves after the original crime lab tests.Without DNA evidence pointing to any alternative suspect, Midwest Innocence Project attorneys reached a compromise with the prosecutorβs office: Williams would enter a new, no-contest plea to first-degree murder in exchange for a new sentence of life in prison without parole. A no-contest plea isnβt an admission of guilt but is treated as such for the purpose of sentencing.Judge Bruce Hilton signed off, as did Gayleβs family. But Bailey appealed, and the state Supreme Court blocked the agreement and ordered Hilton to proceed with an evidentiary hearing, which took place last month.Hilton ruled on Sept. 12 that the first-degree murder conviction and death sentence would stand, noting that Williamsβ arguments all had been previously rejected. That decision was upheld Monday by the state Supreme Court.Attorneys for Williams, who was Black, also challenged the fairness of his trial, particularly the fact that only one of the 12 jurors was Black. Tricia Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project said the prosecutor in the case, Keith Larner, removed six of seven Black prospective jurors.Larner testified at the August hearing that he struck one potential Black juror partly because he looked too much like Williams β a statement that Williamsβ attorneys asserted showed improper racial bias.Larner contended that the jury selection process was fair.Williams was the third Missouri inmate put to death this year and the 100th since the state resumed use of the death penalty in 1989.___AP writer Mark Sherman contributed from Washington. Salter reported from OβFallon, Missouri. | 68db5a8dd9be823c | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
supreme_court | New York Times - News | http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/arizonas-immigration-law-and-mandatory-life-terms/?ref=politics | ArizonaΓΒ’Γ’β¬ÒβΒ’s Immigration Law and Mandatory Life Terms | 2012-06-25 | Supreme Court | Still no ruling on health care , but the Supreme Court did hand down two important decisions this morning . The justices struck down most of Arizona β s immigration law , with the backing of Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. , and prohibited mandatory life terms without parole for juvenile offenders .
Starting with the parole case : The ruling said that such mandatory sentencing schemes violate the 8th Amendment because they do not allow for consideration of β an offender β s age and the wealth of characteristics and circumstances attendant to it. β Those , it said , include β immaturity , impetuosity , and failure to appreciate risks and consequences , β as well as the juvenile β s β family and home environment. β It is unconstitutional to prohibit a court from considering the individual circumstances of a case .
This logic seems unassailable to meβbut it was a five-four decision . Justice Samuel Alito was so incensed that he read his dissent from the bench .
The Arizona ruling was more muddied . The justices struck down three provisions : That it β s a state crime to be in the country without proper authorization , a state crime for an undocumented worker to apply for a job or to work in Arizona , and that state law enforcement officials can arrest a person who is in the United States legally , but who the police believe may have committed a deportable offense βwithout a warrant .
In each of those cases , the majority said those powers rest with the federal government , not with Arizona lawmakers .
But it refused to overturn the most controversial section of the Arizona law , which requires the police to check the immigration status of people they detain before releasing them . The Supreme Court said a lower court had erred in blocking this law , because there is no evidence yet that its enforcement would pre-empt federal law .
Arguing the pre-emption case against that part of the Arizona statute was always a weak approach . The real problem with the β papers please β law is the risk of racial profiling , which would be a violation of the civil rights of those detained β and could lead to lawful residents being harassed and even jailed by the authorities . Given Arizona β s history on these matters ( Joe Arpaioβ¦ ) I have little doubt that will happen . But at least today β s ruling left open the possibility that the one surviving part of the Arizona law could be brought back to court if it is enforced unconstitutionally .
Among all the quick reactions to the Arizona ruling , I found Mitt Romney β s most disappointing . He blamed President Obama , saying that the ruling was somehow a result of his lack of β leadership on immigration. β That β s just silly . The stalemate on immigration is as much , if not more , the fault of hard line Republicans than that of Mr. Obama . Remember , just a few weeks ago , during the G.O.P . primaries , Mr. Romney was one of those hard line Republicans .
David Firestone will weigh in later today on the Court β s decision to strike downβ without oral argument β a Montana ban on corporate spending in elections . | 959e9e77d24e1402 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
russia | NBC News Digital | https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/justice-department-review-origins-russia-probe-turns-criminal-investigation-n1071731 | Justice Department review of Russia probe turns into criminal investigation | 2019-10-25 | Justice Department, Donald Trump, Robert Mueller, Collusion, FBI, Russia | A probe by Attorney General William Barr into the origins of the Russia investigation has changed from an administrative review into a criminal investigation, a person familiar with the review confirmed to NBC News.The review is being conducted by Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham. The New York Times first reported Thursday that the administrative review has turned into a criminal investigation.Itβs not clear when the change occurred, but the probe began in May as an administrative review.The Times reported that the change in status gives Durham the power to subpoena witness testimony and documents, to impanel a grand jury and to file criminal charges.Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politicsPresident Donald Trump has repeatedly called the Russia investigation conducted by former special counsel Robert Mueller a "witch hunt."On Friday, Trump, talking to reporters on the White House lawn, predicted the investigation could bring to light "a lot of really bad things.""It looks like it's becoming very serious from what I'm hearing. Investigate the investigators," Trump said.Republicans have suggested the investigation stemmed from a plot by members of the Obama administration and career intelligence officials, in what they call the "deep state," to undermine Trump.Attorney General William Barr attends a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Oct. 21, 2019. Pablo Martinez Monsivais / APThe FBI began investigating Russian election interference in July 2016. The firing of FBI Director James Comey led to the appointment of Mueller as special counsel in May 2017.Ultimately, Mueller did not establish that the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russian election interference effort, although he documented dozens of what critics say were inappropriate contacts between Trump aides and Russians.Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department inspector general, has conducted an investigation into the FBI's actions in launching the Russia probe.But Barr has said he believes an IG inquiry is not sufficient to answer the questions he has about how the investigation began. In doing so, he made comments suggesting Durham had authority only a criminal investigation could provide.Barr was criticized after he released a brief account of the Mueller report in March that critics said was inaccurate. Mueller, in a letter and phone call, said that Barr's four-page description of what Barr called the reportβs principal conclusions did not fully capture the context and substance of the more than 440-page document.Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham will now have the power to subpoena witness testimony and documents to impanel a grand jury and to file criminal charges, the Times reported. Bob Child / AP fileThat the administrative review into the origins of the Mueller probe has turned into a criminal investigation could raise alarms that Trump is using the Justice Department to go after his perceived enemies, the Times reported.Democrats in the House are conducting an impeachment inquiry into Trump that centers on alleged attempts to pressure the president of Ukraine to announce investigations into what has been described as a conspiracy theory about interference in the 2016 election, as well as into former vice president Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.Critics say that alleged pressure amounts to Trump using withheld foreign aid and the power of the presidency to advance his own political interests, inviting a foreign power to again interfere with the U.S. presidential election.Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Jerrold Nadler, who heads the House Judiciary Committee, called the reports of a criminal investigation troubling."These reports, if true, raise profound new concerns that the Department of Justice under Attorney General William Barr has lost its independence and become a vehicle for President Trump's political revenge," the lawmakers said in a statement."If the Department of Justice may be used as a tool of political retribution or to help the President with a political narrative for the next election, the rule of law will suffer new and irreparable damage,β they added. | b88d52c05b891a2d | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
education | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/09/politics/obama-community-college-fate/index.html | Can Obama's community college plan get through Congress? | 2015-01-09 | Education, Community College, Barack Obama | Knoxville , Tennessee ( CNN ) President Barack Obama 's ambitious proposal to give millions of Americans more affordable access to a community college education and what he called a `` ticket to the middle class '' is unlikely to become law any time soon .
His plan is to partner with states and fund the first two years of community college for Americans `` willing to work for it . '' The White House will work to push this plan through Congress `` in the next few weeks , '' Obama promised .
But with a roughly $ 60 billion price tag over the next 10 years , the proposal may have little chance of getting through the wall of Republican deficit hawks that now control both houses of Congress .
Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker , both Republican senators from Tennessee , joined Obama on Air Force One and at the community college during Obama 's speech , but neither want Obama 's plan to become federal law .
That 's despite the fact that Obama called his proposal bipartisan , noting that similar policies have been implemented by Tennessee 's Republican governor and Chicago 's Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel .
Asked whether he would support Obama 's proposal , Corker said `` Oh no , no , no , no , no , '' instead urging other states to take the president 's initiative , and do something similar themselves rather than create `` a whole new bureaucratic federal program . ''
Sen. Alexander , chairman of the Senate 's education committee and the former education secretary , echoed that in a statement on Friday saying states should follow Tennessee 's lead .
Obama 's proposal , dubbed America 's College Promise , would n't be the first broad-sweeping proposition that did n't get far in Washington , but -- aided by a presidential push -- could still make inroads throughout the country by way of state and local initiatives .
`` It 's not necessarily all about bills and funding , '' said Maine 's Sen. Angus King who serves on the Senate Budget Committee . `` Sometimes it 's about the bully pulpit and raising the profile of an issue . ''
King , an independent who caucuses with Democrats , pointed to the President 's previous ambitious proposal for universal early childhood education in 2013 . It has n't produced results on Capitol Hill , but has spurred attempts to provide Pre-K education in King 's state of Maine .
And while Congress has n't raised the federal minimum wage since Obama called for an increase during last year 's State of the Union , dozens of states and municipalities have since passed laws to create a higher minimum wage on their own .
`` Setting the national agenda is an important part of what the presidency is , '' King said .
King said Obama is `` definitely in the target zone '' with his proposal , but said there would be a challenge to find the $ 60 billion , which he called `` a big number . '' While he supports Obama 's idea , King said he would n't endorse the proposal outright until he reviews the plan 's funding mechanism , which remains a massive question mark .
And King was thrilled to learn that Obama committed in his speech to working with Alexander on a bill King cosponsored that would shrink the size of the federal student aid application form , which has more than a hundred questions -- something college affordability advocates have pushed for in recent years .
Obama 's proposal would give states a huge break -- with the federal government picking up three-quarters of the cost of waiving community college tuition for the first two years , and leaving states to fund the rest .
`` States would have to do their part too . For those willing to do the work and for states and local communities who want to be a part of it , it could be a game changer , '' Obama said .
Emphasizing that there are `` no free rides in America , '' free tuition would be contingent on students getting good grades , enrolling at part-time and following through on earning their degree .
Deputy White House Press Secretary Eric Schultz told reporters on Air Force One recognized that the $ 60 billion plan was a `` significant investment . ''
`` But it 's one the president believes is worthwhile because we need to make sure that America 's young people are getting the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century economy , '' Schultz said .
Obama modeled the proposal on a Tennessee program started under Republican Gov . Bill Haslam a year ago .
`` Why not just build on something that works ? '' Obama said at Pellissippi State Community College on Friday .
Haslam launched the Tennessee Promise , a program that covers the cost of tuition and fees of a certificate or degree at any of the state 's community colleges after students already kick in whatever financial aid they can get .
But higher education experts stress that the Tennessee program does n't make a community college education `` free '' since students incur many other costs to attend college -- from living expenses to lost wages .
Lauren Asher , President of The Institute for College Access & Success , said Obama 's plan is different ( and , she said , better ) since it would waive tuition costs and let students use federal aid , like Pell Grants for the neediest students , go toward expenses other than tuition .
And Obama 's focus on community colleges was also a welcome message , just one of the many steps the administration has taken to address college access and affordability , Asher said .
`` The President is rightly calling attention to the importance and value of community colleges and of education and training after high school , '' Asher said . `` What the President is proposing has the potential to help low-income students .
Nicholas Wyman , CEO of the Institute for Workplace Skills and Innovation , a consulting firm , called Obama 's focus on community colleges and skills-driven , vocational training a much-needed step to boost the U.S. economy .
The number of job openings could halve the unemployment rate , but a massive gap between the skills of prospective employees and those in demand is holding the economy back . And by elevating community colleges , Obama is helping to destigmatize what many view as bottom-rung institutions .
`` Companies want to employ people with strong academics , but they also want to employ people with strong workplace skills . A lot of the community colleges offer that and unfortunately a lot of the four year colleges do n't , '' Wyman said . `` This is an opportunity to move the community college system into the 21st century . ''
Obama also hit on a note that is a focus of Wyman 's consulting firm , addressing the need to connect community colleges and employers who could benefit from the neatly-tailored skills of a community college graduate .
And even if Obama 's proposal flops in Washington , Wyman , who has travelled around the country , asserted that states are `` hungry for reforms . ''
`` There 's a lot of states who would look at this and often as you know states do n't like being told what to do , '' Wyman said , and maybe they 'll now take the initiative themselves . | 780074eb561af608 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
general_news | Vox | https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/15/17957266/bill-gates-interview-poverty-economics-ai | Why Bill Gates is worried | 2018-10-15 | general_news | Is the world becoming a better place ? Are human beings , on average , becoming healthier , richer , safer ? And if they β re not , why not ? And how can we do better ?
Each year , the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation releases its annual Goalkeepers Report . The publication is thick with charts and graphs , metrics and statistics . And usually , it β s optimistic β global poverty , infant mortality , and a host of other key measures have dashed toward decency in recent years , and the Gateses have sought to make sure the public knows that progress is being made .
The 2018 edition , however , started on a tougher note . β Optimism requires being candid about the hard problems that still need to be solved , β the Gateses write . β That β s what this year β s Goalkeepers Data Report aims to do : confront a pressing yet neglected challenge , and identify some of the most promising strategies to meet it . β
β To put it bluntly , β they continue , β decades of stunning progress in the fight against poverty and disease may be on the verge of stalling . This is because the poorest parts of the world are growing faster than everywhere else ; more babies are being born in the places where it β s hardest to lead a healthy and productive life . β
The Gateses are talking specifically here about Africa . β Africa as a whole is projected to nearly double in size by 2050 , which means that even if the percentage of poor people on the continent is cut in half , the number of poor people stays the same , β they write .
There is no topic in the philanthropic world more fraught than population growth . The history of efforts to analyze and address it is filled with bad predictions and , worse , cruel solutions . As development expert Alex Ezeh writes elsewhere in the report , β population issues are so difficult to talk about that the development community has been ignoring them for years . β
The Gateses , though , are trying to take a different approach to the issue . Rather than seeing a population problem in the demographic projections , they β re framing it as a poverty problem β and , for that matter , an opportunity .
β There β s been a lot of discussion about what happens if large numbers of young people in the poorest countries are denied opportunities to build better lives , β they write . β People worry about insecurity , instability , and mass migration . We wish they would also recognize young people β s enormous potential to drive growth . They are the activists , innovators , leaders , and workers of the future . β
With an endowment of more than $ 50 billion , the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is , by far , the largest foundation in the world . What it does matters , and so the ideas that power its work matter .
I spoke to Bill Gates for my podcast , The Ezra Klein Show . We discussed the geographic and political forces that have held Africa back ; whether economic development brings political freedom ; the risk posed by artificial intelligence ; how we should weight future human lives ; whether philanthropists should worry about animal suffering ; and much more . The full audio is here . A transcript of our conversation , edited for length and clarity , follows .
You often make a point , in my experience , of pushing an optimistic narrative in the face of an increasingly pessimistic culture . But in the new Goalkeepers report , you begin by writing , β To put it bluntly , decades of stunning progress in the fight against poverty and disease may be on the verge of stalling. β Why is that ?
Well , the point there is that the dramatic decline of 26 percent of the world β s population being in extreme poverty down to 9 percent , a lot of that came because Asian countries β first China and then later India , Indonesia , and Pakistan and Bangladesh β did a reasonable job of governance . They invested in health . They invested in agricultural productivity . They improved their education systems , and so they lifted a lot of their population out of extreme poverty .
As you look at the projection out through 2050 , the portion of people in extreme poverty will overwhelmingly be on one continent , which is Africa . It means that unless we do a good job in those countries where an increasing portion of the births are taking place , we won β t see anywhere near that decline that we saw over the last 25 years .
I think that raises the big background question to this report , which I wanted to understand your framework on : Why do you believe , at this point in history , that Africa is poorer than Asia or Europe or North America ?
Well , Africa , of course , is not nearly as poor as it was in the past . The number of kids in education , the childhood survival rate , there has been quite a bit of improvement there . But in Africa , the geography is tough . The disease burden is tough . The ecosystems are very , very different .
Asia , Europe , and the United States , those Northern Hemisphere areas , they developed in terms of getting rid of disease , being able to have infrastructure for very efficient transport , and having more than enough food to feed the population . They got into a virtuous cycle of high education , high discovery , high innovation , and generally quite strong governance .
In Africa , there was colonialism , which certainly held those countries back . There β s the geography that makes moving things across the country very difficult . The rivers aren β t as navigable . Because you β re equatorial , you don β t have winters where the pathogens get killed off . Equatorial regions have things like malaria in a very different way than other parts of the world .
Now , South Africa , Botswana β there are parts of the continent that have gotten themselves up to this middle-income level . But particularly if you look at the central areas β Northern Nigeria , [ the ] Democratic Republic of Congo β the level of development there is not very high at all . It β s mostly subsistence farming , very little infrastructure , very little resources for the government , and very little capacity to build up even the basic health and education systems .
Can you talk a little bit about that interaction between geography and disease burdens and land usability and then institutional and economic development ?
There is a type of poverty trap where if your economy doesn β t develop , then it β s very hard to bootstrap those things . Africa , in particular , it β s hard to move physical goods around . Europe was very lucky in that you could move things by sea . They built up canal systems . Some mountains caused a challenge , but the transport cost was fairly low , and you had this temperate zone area that extended all the way into Asia . That β s why they use this term Eurasia , where a lot of development , including the initial Industrial Age , gets going .
At that time , the same educational things are not happening in Africa . There β s not that same level of investment . You don β t have the notion of a nation-state that you belong to as a key organizing principle so you can scale up and make these kinds of investments .
The temperate zone countries got way , way ahead . Now , when we have some equatorial countries like Malaysia or parts of India that are actually having economic development , that β s a fantastic thing . But it β s still very predictive whether you are temperate or tropical how well you will have done in economic development .
If we can take those parasitic diseases and the low agricultural productivity and malaria , if we can get rid of those and , through aid , get some bootstrap in terms of the infrastructure , health , and education , then you can get the uplift . Asia , where the geography and disease burden isn β t quite as bad , has provided an example . I β ve taken to African leaders many times the book How Asia Works , which talks about the progression starting with agricultural productivity as a key bootstrap to get to middle-income levels .
Do you see the Asia story as primarily a story of institutional development ?
Well , institutions are a huge part of the mix , but you can only get there if you have the resources , either locally raised or through donors , that you β re creating the health care system and the education system and the roads and telling farmers what to do .
Take India in the 1960s and β 70s . There were a lot of investments as the Green Revolution crops came along ; the agricultural productivity more than doubled . It was very timely because a lot of people had expected mass starvation in Asia as their population growth had stayed high into those decades . But in fact , the institutional capacity , the roads , the new seeds , came together and actually , nutritional levels actually went up during that time period . Asia is a huge source of learning about what can go on in Africa .
There are African exemplars . Ethiopia starts out 20 years ago as one of the very , very poorest countries . When you thought about famine in Africa , Somalia and Ethiopia are the two countries that would come to mind . Now Ethiopia , although it still can have droughts with weather variability , it β s now feeding itself because that agricultural productivity has gone up . They β re an exemplar in this human capital equation . They β ve really thought about local resources , donor money , and the health and education systems there are constantly improving . That β s over 90 million people that really are following the path that should get them to middle income and self-sufficiency .
The human capital piece of this , I think , is really important . One of the most striking statistics in the report to me was that a third of African children are stunted . Can you talk about what stunting means ?
Yeah , stunting formally is that your height is substantially below what it should be for your age . Unfortunately , it also means that you haven β t had access to nutrition . So not just your stature or your height but also your overall physical capacity and your mental capacity isn β t anywhere near what it would be if you β d had proper nutrition .
This is very , very important to solve because if you don β t get that nutritional piece right , then your investments in educating that kid β both for the kid individually and for the country β aren β t going to create the economic payoff that you expect . It β s a huge area of focus , and we actually have some leads on how we have to change the diet , what micronutrients might be missing , to get the physical and mental capacity up to its full potential .
I want to ask a question that β s going to reveal how dumb I am about all this . This seems like a problem that is reasonably straightforward to solve , making sure children have enough protein and enough micronutrients to reach a non-stunted level of development . Why has the world not solved it ?
Going out and finding those kids who are falling behind and weighing them and then making sure they have these supplemental foods is actually fairly difficult . Targeted delivery to children that are out in very rural areas requires a level of sophistication that β s even beyond getting vaccinations out to the children .
We have countries like Ethiopia and Tanzania that get well over 90 percent of their kids the vaccines where this effort to go out and find those kids that are falling behind isn β t done . I β m optimistic about this problem , but it β s been one of the toughest . There aren β t as many exemplars in getting stunting down at a low level of income as there are the overall reduction in childhood death where just getting your vaccine coverage up gives you dramatic gains in that measure .
It sounds like for this problem and for a lot of the others , what β s most important is for the governance institutions and economic institutions to strengthen . The difference between the quality of governance in , say , China and Nigeria , to say nothing of Nigeria and South Korea , is huge . Is that a problem that the philanthropy community doesn β t know how to tackle ? Or is it a problem that it doesn β t seem like it is the philanthropy community β s right or responsibility to tackle ?
You β re absolutely right . Poor governance is a huge block to these issues . However , if you wait , usually you only get really good governance once a country is middle-income . When you have a leader like [ Paul ] Kagame in Rwanda who appoints good people and really cares about these results , it β s a fantastic thing . Now , neither Ethiopia [ nor ] Rwanda checks every box of excellent government . It β s likely that those countries , until they get to middle-income status , won β t have all those characteristics . Neither did South Korea and many other countries . We wish we knew how to help even more with governments . We know it β s very , very important .
When I heard discussions of changing governance structures to drive economic growth 10 , 15 years ago , they were more optimistic in this way : There was a belief that you needed something that was much more like the American model . Free markets , free minds .
But now we β ve seen the rise of China and a lot of other countries that have induced very rapid development through market-oriented but authoritarian governance structures . If you β re a developing economy and you β re looking at what is a model , I think for all kinds of reasons , there have begun to be more questions about America β s political systems , but also China has become a very powerful exemplar .
You brought up Kagame in Rwanda , who has both done some remarkable things in terms of governance and the economy and has also , as I understand it , become much more authoritarian . Do you worry that the governance model that countries are beginning to look to for economic growth is much less of a model that prizes other kinds of freedom ?
It β s important to separate out the economic model of development from that political model . There are no examples of countries who β ve grown their economy on a broad-based basis without using market-based pricing .
Whatever the political model is , this willingness to reduce corruption , to get the health and education system working well , that makes a huge difference . Taiwan , when it developed , it was an autocracy . Korea , when it developed , it was under a dictator . Then they progressed to more democratic forms of government . Now , China certainly raises the question that now that they β re middle-income level , will their political model progress or not ? That β s a valid question and important in terms of the rights of the people in those countries .
But economic development isn β t quite as stringent . It β s more about taking a long-term view and making these human capital investments .
How much are political rights intertwined with economic development ? The argument that has long been made is often an economic self-interest argument β if you don β t have these things , you β re not gon na have these other things .
There β s never been as strong a coupling between economic growth and democratic freedoms as we β d all like . China grew dramatically faster than India did . Now , India β s a very good story . It β s growing ; the health statistics are improving ; it β s on quite a good path . But it β s not even close to what happened in China , what happened in South Korea , what happened in Taiwan . The human freedom argument is going to have to be made on its own .
With the Goalkeepers construct , the idea is : Is all this innovation continuing to help the poorest countries , people in extreme poverty ? At least once a year , there β s a question about did we let HIV spread and create a disaster there ? Did we continue to innovate malaria so we could stay ahead of drug resistance ? Why do we still have places left where over 15 percent of the kids die before the age of 5 ? What β s it gon na take for those remaining areas to get below that ? There β s progress and then there β s progress with equity . Goalkeepers is a focus on that β with equity β part .
I want to ask you a question about the far-off future . One of the things that has become powerful in the effective altruism movement is the idea that we should be much more concerned about existential planetary-level risk because the weight of future human lives is so dramatic .
My colleague Dylan Matthews puts it in this way that I think is pretty stark , which is that if humanity lasts as long as the dinosaurs did , then about 8 quadrillion people will live total . That means over 99.99 percent of all the humans who β ll ever live have yet to be born . If that β s true , then even very small reductions in the danger of those future lives not happening begins to outweigh large improvements in the value of life now . I β m curious how you think about weighing that far-off future against the present we live in .
Well , the people in the future will have more knowledge and more resources than we have today . They β ll understand what those emerging problems look like .
If you said there was a philanthropist 500 years ago that said , β I β m not gon na feed the poor , I β m gon na worry about existential risk , β I doubt their prediction would have made any difference in terms of what came later . You got to have a certain modesty . Even understanding what β s gon na go on in a 50-year time frame I would say is very , very difficult .
If somebody thinks there β s a magic thing they can do today that helps all those future lives , in a free economy , they have a chance to build whatever it is they think does that . We do have a few things like climate change where you want to invest today to involve problems tomorrow . I β m always a little surprised there β s not more engagement on that issue . Pandemic risk , weapons of mass destruction .
But there β s not many that we can identify . There β s not many that we really understand with clarity , and so somebody who says , β Okay , let β s just let a million people die of malaria because I β m building this temple that will help people a million years from now , β I wonder what the heck they β re building that temple out of .
A lot of people have become very focused on the question of AI risk . I β m curious how you weight that as a risk to future human life ?
And so they think that β s more important than kids dying of malaria ?
I don β t want to say more important . I don β t want to put words in other people β s mouths , but as I understand it , the idea is there are a lot of good people working on malaria , and AI is so dangerous that it β s better for people on the margin to be working on AI risk now than to beβ
But most of those people aren β t working on AI risk . They β re actually accelerating progress in AI .
No , they like working on AI . Working on AI is fun . If they think what they β re doing is reducing the risk of AI , I haven β t seen that proof of that . They have a model . Some people want to go to Mars . Some people want to live forever . Philanthropy has got a lot of heterogeneity in it . If people bring their intelligence , some passion , overall , it tends to work out . There β s some dead ends , but every once in a while , we get the Green Revolution or new vaccines or models for how education can be done better . It β s not something where the philanthropists all homogenize what they β re doing . Even in the Giving Pledge , we celebrate the diversity of causes that people are investing in .
Related to that , how do you weight animal suffering ? We know animals are sentient . We know , as human beings , we β ve gotten more technologically advanced . We β ve been able to raise them in what are , on the one hand , more efficient , but on the other hand , more cruel , ways for meat . As we get richer and 10 billion people are alive , there β s going to be a larger demand for them . How do you think about the moral weight of chickens and pigs and cows and other kinds of suffering creatures in the future we β re building ?
Well , because of climate change , I β m involved in a number of efforts to create meat-equivalent products without using animals . Impossible Foods , Beyond Meat , Memphis Meats , a number of things . There actually is some progress there .
In the meantime , the foundation is now the biggest funder of new vaccines to improve animal health . Livestock is very important in terms of the diet issues or the economic value that you create out of the agricultural sector . I do think , over time , artificial meat will get popular . Then people can say , β Is it sad that there β s less cows alive ? β I personally don β t have a good metric of what type of cow life is better that it happened versus better that it didn β t happen . But there β s a lot of benefits that accrue to creating these meat-like products in a different way .
Do you think we should worry about , from a philanthropic view or moral view , the suffering along the way ? You were talking about developing vaccines and genetic strains that make animals more productive and able to live in some of these conditions . But I think there β s certainly an argument that making them more able to live in these conditions is creating lives of such suffering that there β s an immoral , or at least amoral , dimension to it as well .
Well , I think vaccinating the animals is hard to argue against . You β re preventing what are bad diseases for these animals , and you β re extending their lifetime . It β s just like vaccines for humans . | iLhkK1fVQAsEeJBr | 0 | Bill Gates | 1.2 | General News | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
fiscal_cliff | Ann Coulter | http://townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/2012/12/05/america_nears_el_tipping_pointo | America Nears El Tipping Pointo | 2012-12-05 | Taxes | I apologize to America 's young people , whose dashed dreams and dim employment prospects I had laughed at , believing these to be a direct result of their voting for Obama .
On closer examination , it turns out that young voters , aged 18-29 , overwhelmingly supported Romney . But only the white ones .
According to Pew Research , 54 percent of white voters under 30 voted for Romney and only 41 percent for Obama . That 's the same percentage Reagan got from the entire white population in 1980 . Even the Lena Dunham demographic -- white women under 30 -- slightly favored Romney .
Reagan got just 43 percent of young voters in 1980 -- and that was when whites were 88 percent of the electorate . Only 58 percent of today 's under-30 vote is white and it 's shrinking daily .
What the youth vote shows is not that young people are nitwits who deserve lives of misery and joblessness , as I had previously believed , but that America is hitting the tipping point on our immigration policy .
The youth vote is a snapshot of elections to come if nothing is done to reverse the deluge of unskilled immigrants pouring into the country as a result of Ted Kennedy 's 1965 immigration act . Eighty-five percent of legal immigrants since 1968 have come from the Third World . A majority of them are in need of government assistance .
Whites are 76 percent of the electorate over the age of 30 and only 58 percent of the electorate under 30 . Obama won the `` youth vote '' because it is the knife 's edge of a demographic shift , not because he offered the kids free tuition and contraception ( which they do n't need because it 's hard to have sex when you 're living with your parents at 27 ) .
In 1980 , Hispanics were only 2 percent of the population , and they tended to be educated , skilled workers who got married , raised their children in two-parent families and sent their kids to college before they , too , got married and had kids . ( In that order . )
That profile has nothing to do with recent Hispanic immigrants , who -- because of phony `` family reunification '' rules -- are the poorest of the world 's poor .
More than half of all babies born to Hispanic women today are illegitimate . As Heather MacDonald has shown , the birthrate of Hispanic women is twice that of the rest of the population , and their unwed birthrate is one and a half times that of blacks .
That 's a lot of government dependents coming down the pike . No amount of `` reaching out '' to the Hispanic community , effective `` messaging '' or Reagan 's `` optimism '' is going to turn Mexico 's underclass into Republicans .
Any election analysis that does n't deal with the implacable fact of America 's changing demographics is bound to be wrong .
Perhaps the reason elections maven Michael Barone was so shockingly off in his election prediction this year was that , in the biggest mistake of his career , Barone has been assuring us for years that most of these Third World immigrants pouring into the country would go the way of Italian immigrants and become Republicans . They 're hardworking ! They have family values !
Maybe at first , but not after coming here , having illegitimate children and going on welfare .
Charles Murray recently pointed out that -- contrary to stereotype -- Hispanics are less likely to be married , less likely to go to church , more supportive of gay marriage and less likely to call themselves `` conservative '' than other Americans .
Rather than being more hardworking than Americans , Hispanics actually work about the same as others , or , in the case of Hispanic women , less .
It seems otherwise , Murray says , because the only Hispanics we see are the ones who are working -- in our homes , neighborhoods and businesses . `` That 's the way that almost all Anglos in the political chattering class come in contact with Latinos , '' he notes . `` Of course they look like model Americans . ''
( Black males would apparently like to work more . Nearly 20 percent of black males under 30 voted for Romney , more than three times what McCain got . )
An article by Nate Cohn in the current New Republic argues , as the title puts it : `` The GOP Has Problems With White Voters , Too . '' As proof , Cohn cites Jefferson County , Colo. ; Loudoun County , Va. ; Wake County , N.C. ; and Somerset County , N.J. , all of which went Republican in presidential elections from 1968 through 2004 , but which Romney lost in 2012 .
Smelling a rat , I checked the demographic shifts in these counties from the 2000 to the 2010 census . In each one , there has been a noticeable influx of Hispanics ( and Asians , who also vote Democrat ) , diminishing `` the white vote '' that Cohn claims Republicans are losing .
Between the 2000 and 2010 census , for example , the white population of Jefferson County declined from more than 90 percent to less than 80 percent , while the Hispanic population more than doubled , from 6 percent to 14 percent .
In Loudoun County , the Asian population tripled from 5 percent to 15 percent and the Hispanic population doubled from 6 percent to 12 percent . Meanwhile , whites plummeted from 83 percent to 69 percent of the population .
Similarly , Wake County shifted from 74 percent white to 66 percent white in the past decade , while the Hispanic population doubled , from 5 percent to 10 percent , and the black population stayed even at about 20 percent .
In Somerset County , the Hispanic population grew by 63 percent and the Asian population grew by 83 percent since 2000 . The number of whites has remained steady , resulting in a population that is now just 62 percent white .
These were the counties chosen by Cohn , not me , to show that Republicans are losing `` the white vote . '' Except they 're not so white , anymore . With blacks , Asians and Hispanics voting 93 percent , 73 percent and 71 percent for Obama , Republicans have to do more than just win the white vote . They have to run the table .
Romney got a larger percentage of the white vote than Reagan did in 1980 . That 's just not enough anymore .
Ironically , Romney was the first Republican presidential candidate in a long time not conspiring with the elites to make America a dumping ground for the world 's welfare cases . Conservatives who denounced Romney as a `` RINO '' were the ones doing the bidding of the real establishment : business , which wants cheap labor and could n't care less if America ceases to be the land of opportunity that everyone wanted to immigrate to in the first place . | cd377d0c9ec902bb | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Washington Times | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/may/29/eric-greitens-missouri-governor-resign/ | Missouri's embattled Republican governor resigns | 2018-05-29 | politics | Missouri β s embattled Republican governor suddenly resigned Tuesday afternoon , saying that while he did nothing wrong , he could not allow β the forces opposed to us β to damage his family .
Gov . Eric Greitens , mired in a scandal over an extramarital affair and allegations of campaign-finance violations , announced his resignation , effective Friday , at a hastily called news conference as an impeachment effort in the Legislature gained momentum .
The governor has acknowledged having an affair with his hairdresser . β I β m not perfect , β he said Tuesday . β But I β ve not broken any laws or committed any offense worthy of this treatment . β
β Millions of dollars of mounting legal bills , endless personal attacks designed to cause maximum damage to family and friends , legal harassment of colleagues , friends and campaign workers , and it β s clear that for the forces that oppose us , there β s no end in sight . I can not allow those forces to continue to cause pain and difficulty to the people that I love , β he said .
The Missouri Legislature began a special session earlier this month to consider impeachment and a House panel issued a subpoena last week ordering the governor to testify next Monday .
Lt. Gov . Michael L. Parson , also a Republican , will take the state β s reins at 5 p.m. Friday .
Missouri β s Republican-dominated establishment had turned against Mr. Greitens before Tuesday β s announcement , saying he needed to resign for the good of the state .
Attorney General Josh Hawley is looking to unseat Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill this fall and wouldn β t want the albatross of a Republican governor β s sex scandal dominating the news during the year of # MeToo .
Republican reaction Tuesday in the state echoed Mr. Hawley β s comments that the governor had β done the right thing . β
The Legislature β s three top Republicans β House Speaker Todd Richardson , Speaker Pro Tem Elijah Haahr , and Senate Majority Leader Rob Vescovo β said in a joint statement that public servants must put the people β s interests first and that the governor β s decision β honors that duty and allows Missouri to move forward . β
Added Sen. Roy Blunt : β the governor made the best decision for his family and the state . I look forward to Gov . Parson β s leadership and will do everything I can to be helpful . β
Earlier Tuesday , a judge had ordered a pro-Greitens political group to turn over to the Legislature documents that could show banned coordination between Mr. Greitens , his campaign committee and the group , A New Missouri .
As for the possibility of criminal charges over the extramarital affair , St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said after the resignation that a β fair and just resolution β had been reached , though details would not be released until Wednesday .
Charges of invasion of privacy against the governor were withdrawn earlier this month amid concerns that Ms. Gardner had a conflict of interest in the case . Ms. Gardner had said at the time that she would consider handing the case over to a special prosecutor .
Prosecutors had accused Mr. Greitens of invasion of privacy based on the woman β s account that he surreptitiously took a cellphone photo of her while she was bound and blindfolded and told her that it β d be released if she ever talked .
The governor has denied the allegation from the start and continued to do so Tuesday .
β People of good faith know that I am not perfect , β Mr. Greitens said Tuesday . β I will let the fairness of this process be judged by history . β | xhHohEgyWPSvJOMf | 2 | Missouri | 1.1 | Politics | -0.3 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
voting_rights_and_voter_fraud | Townhall | https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2019/04/25/no-convicted-felons-shouldnt-be-allowed-to-vote-from-behind-bars-n2545296 | OPINION: No, Convicted Felons Shouldn't Be Allowed to Vote From Behind Bars | 2019-04-25 | voting_rights_and_voter_fraud | Earlier in the week , Bernie Sanders endorsed allowing convicted felons to vote -- not after they 've paid their debt to society , mind you , but while they 're still behind bars . He framed this stance as an matter of principle on voting rights , implying that opposing arguments are effective endorsements of GOP-backed voter `` suppression '' efforts . It 's a `` slippery slope '' he intoned , ignoring the fact that expanding the franchise to incarcerated people would be the opposite of 'chipping away . ' Craven Kamala Harris pronounced herself open to the idea during the same CNN 'town hall ' marathon , employing her typical `` let 's have a conversation '' dodge , then walking it back after realizing how badly the radical proposal was playing . Only Pete Buttigieg flatly rejected the notion , earning strong ( and telling ) applause from the Democratic audience . CNN 's anchors seemed shocked that Bernie went out on that limb , going so far as to argue that convicted terrorists should be voting in US elections from their Supermax prisons . Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 's chief of staff is rallying to this general idea :
What 's the reason NOT to let incarcerated people vote ? Should n't the people most affected by unjust laws have some say in electing people to change them ? β Saikat Chakrabarti ( @ saikatc ) April 24 , 2019
If laws are `` unjust , '' then change them . Applying an `` unjustness '' standard to the rights of the incarcerated ( i.e. , treating people convicted of `` unjust '' laws more generously ) , is extremely subjective and unworkable on its face . I think the violent vs. non-violent felon dichotomy being floated by others also fails , despite the two-tiered approach some other counties use :
Playing defense for Bernie , I 'm seeing a fair amount of lefty chatter about letting * non-violent * felons vote from behind bars . Really ? Someone convicted of pistol-whipping a clerk while robbing a liquor store should n't be allowed to vote ... but Paul Manafort should ? β Guy Benson ( @ guypbenson ) April 24 , 2019
As another example , why should a white collar criminal who defrauded investors out of millions , or ruined a company -- putting hundreds of people out of work -- be allowed to cancel out any law-abiding citizen 's vote from behind bars , whereas some 18-year-old kid who served as as a lookout during an armed car robbery could not ? Or why should public officials sent to prison for corruption be permitted to vote for their cronies , while someone who accidentally paralyzed another person during a drunken bar fight would be treated differently ? My basic argument on this overall issue is that the right to vote is guaranteed to eligible US citizens . We 've made the decision that law-abiding 15-year-old citizens , for instance , are not yet ready to participate in the voting process ( despite having first amendment rights to political expression ) , and that non-citizens are not eligible ( though some leftists want to change this , too ) . We 've also decided that people who commit felonies , and are therefore definitionally not law-abiding , forfeit their ability to vote for lawmakers .
We deprive felons of all sorts of rights . They do n't have unfettered first amendment rights ( they ca n't say whatever they want ) , they do n't have second amendment rights ( for obvious reasons ) , they do n't have fourth amendment rights ( agents of the state can toss their cells at random ) , etc . Having chosen to infringe upon or extinguish others ' rights -- to life , liberty and property , among others -- through their crimes , convicted felons are rightfully forced by the state to surrender many of their own former rights . Having broken our laws , they should not be able to participate in the process of shaping our laws while serving out their sentences . As a supporter of criminal justice reform , I 'm very open to the idea of restoring felons ' voting rights upon release , but Bernie 's plan is a far cry from that . He openly favors , on `` principle , '' the idea that the Boston Marathon bomber should be voting from inside prison walls , as should convicted murderers , rapists , child molesters , and others . It 's wrong , and I suspect it 's also deeply unpopular .
Convicted felons are treated as second class citizens , due to their own actions . These second class citizens , who 've harmed others , should not join regular citizens as we elect representatives to shape our laws , especially while they are still imprisoned for their crimes . That blanket policy should apply evenly to all incarcerated citizens , even though some felonies are obviously worse than others . That 's why sentences vary from offense to offense . As Bernie admits , his position is a ready-made attack ad . I 'll leave you with Buttigieg appearing to question whether the Vermont Socialist could win a general election . | t0mOsnxUOicOBX4V | 2 | Voting Rights And Voter Fraud | -0.3 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | The Guardian | https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/27/mississippi-senate-runoff-cindy-hyde-smith-mike-espy-south-racism | Mississippi Senate runoff collapses into referendum on 'old south' racism | 2018-11-27 | Midterm Elections, Mississippi, Race And Racism, Elections | As β blue wave β talk dissipates , the racial subtext of the race between Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy has fallen inwards to the state
For weeks , a string of awkward remarks and investigative reports had placed race squarely in the center of Tuesday β s Mississippi Senate runoff election . There was talk of β public hangings β and Confederate symbology , and what that all meant in an election between a white woman and a black man in the US state that , rightly or wrongly , has long been held in public imagination as the nation β s most racist .
Trump defends Cindy Hyde-Smith ahead of rallies for Mississippi senator Read more
Then , on the eve of the contest between the Republican senator Cindy Hyde-Smith and her Democratic challenger , Mike Espy , the racial subtext burst open when trees at the state capital were found adorned with nooses and β hate symbols β on Monday afternoon .
It was an almost cartoonish final stanza to a contest that was once viewed as the possible vanguard of a β blue wave β during the midterms as voters turned out for Democrats nationwide . Instead , with control of the Senate already in Republican hands , the race has collapsed inwards to Mississippi and into a referendum of sorts , on what place traditional β old south β racism has in the Senate in 2018 .
β Her victory would say that Mississippi has not changed , β said Wesley Bridges , president of the Lawrence County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) . β It would say that Mississippi is still like the stories that we heard and were taught growing up β that Mississippi is a predominantly racist state . β
Hyde-Smith , who was appointed to the Senate in April after the retirement of Thad Cochran , enters the runoff far more politically battered than when she entered the first round of the midterm three weeks ago . First she received waves of criticism after video emerged of her remarking publicly that if invited to a β public hanging β by a constituent she would β be on the front row β .
The off-kilter remark rang loud in Mississippi , which holds the dubious distinction of having lynched more black Americans than any other state through the late 19th and early 20th century β usually in a public hanging spectacle . More than a dozen high-profile corporate donors including AT & T and Major League Baseball asked Hyde-Smith to return campaign donations in the wake of the comments , for which she issued a half-hearted apology during a debate with Espy last week .
Then a CNN review of Hyde-Smith β s legislative work as a state senator found that she β once promoted a measure that praised a Confederate soldier β s effort to β defend his homeland β and pushed a revisionist view of the civil war β . Affection for the Confederacy and appropriation of its symbolism , especially its battle flag , is common among white conservatives in the south , despite the fact that many Americans , especially black Americans , find it offensive .
The runoff was triggered when no candidate received more than 50 % of the vote during the election day contest earlier this month . Hyde-Smith led that race with 42 % of the vote to Espy β s 40 % . Virtually all the remaining ballots were cast for Chris McDaniel , a conservative Republican whose voters are unlikely to move to Espy in the runoff .
The white southerners who changed their views on racism Read more
Still , the seat in this reliably Republican state has been seen by many as a possible , if longshot , Democratic pickup after Democrat Doug Jones β s surprise victory in a 2017 special Senate election in neighboring Alabama . The two deep south states share similar political , cultural and demographic fundamentals .
Races for statewide office between Democrats and Republicans are not typically very competitive in either state , but in both cases anti-Trump resistance was seen as a force that could skew turnout rates and eke out a victory for the Democratic candidate . Like in Alabama , prognosticators have said that a Democratic victory in Mississippi would require record turnout from black voters , and for Espy to take 20 to 25 % of the expected white vote .
The Alabama race , of course , also tilted heavily after numerous allegations of sexual predation were levied against Republican candidate Roy Moore .
Conversations about Hyde-Smith β s past continued last week when the Jackson Free Press revealed that Hyde-Smith had attended an all-white high school that was founded in 1970 for the purpose of skirting federal orders for Mississippi to desegregate its school system . The Free Press also noted that Hyde-Smith had elected to send her daughter to a similar school that had , by that time , technically desegregated , but had just one black student out of nearly 400 , despite residing in the majority-black city of Brookhaven .
β In 2018 it is still very evident that people are sending their kids to different counties , and to different private schools because they do not want their children engaged with African American kids , β Bridges said of Lawrence county , where his NAACP chapter resides and where Hyde-Smith β s segregated high school academy once did too .
β You have the right to send your kids wherever you want to β¦ but to teach that this kind of hatred is all right is just terrible . β | 11490d50b75a1c0b | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_congress | CNN (Web News) | https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/24/politics/robert-mueller-testimony-highlights/index.html | 5 key takeaways from Robert Mueller's testimony | 2019-07-24 | us_congress | ( CNN ) The big day is over . After months of legal wrangling -- and more than 100 days after the release of his report detailing Russia 's attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election -- former special counsel Robert Mueller took questions from Capitol Hill lawmakers for hours on Wednesday .
I watched all of it and collected my key takeaways in real time . They 're below .
President Donald Trump and his aides have gone out of their way to paint the President as annoyed but unconcerned about Mueller 's testimony . `` No , I 'm not going to be watching , probably , maybe I 'll see a little bit of it , '' Trump told reporters on Monday in the Oval Office . `` I 'm not going to be watching Mueller because you ca n't take all those bites out of the apple . We had no collusion , no obstruction . ''
Except that Trump 's Twitter feed -- a direct window into how he 's thinking and feeling at any given time -- sent the exact opposite message . By 8:15 a.m. on the east coast , the President had already sent seven tweets about the Mueller hearing , tweets that largely revisited many of his old hobby horses , like this one : `` Why did n't Robert Mueller & his band of 18 Angry Democrats spend any time investigating Crooked Hillary Clinton , Lyin ' & Leakin ' James Comey , Lisa Page and her Psycho lover , Peter S , Andy McCabe , the beautiful Ohr family , Fusion GPS , and many more , including HIMSELF & Andrew W ? ''
Is that the tweet of a man who is entirely unworried about what the former special counsel would say -- and what it might mean for his political future ? Yeah , I do n't think so either .
In his opening statement , Mueller made clear that he would be unable to address anything related to the origins of the counterintelligence investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election or the so-called `` Steele dossier , '' an opposition research document put together by former British spy Christopher Steele .
President Trump has long insisted that the entire investigation -- the initial probe which led to the appointment of the special counsel and all that followed from it -- was illegal because it was based on the Steele document , which contained research that was partially funded by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee .
Mueller 's affirmation that he would not answer any questions about the genesis of the probe and/or the Steele dossier took a major line of questioning off the table for Republicans .
In that same opening statement , Mueller said he would not address any questions involving Attorney General William Barr or the actions of Congress . That 's a big blow for Democrats , who very much wanted to explore differences in public statements about the special counsel investigation between Mueller and Barr , particularly as it related to how Barr characterized the findings of the report on obstruction .
If Democrats hoped that Mueller would easily bat away Republican attacks -- on him and on his report -- they were sorely disappointed in the opening moments of his testimony . Mueller seemingly contradicted himself ( and the report ) when he told Georgia Rep. Doug Collins , the ranking Republican member on the committee , that collusion and conspiracy were not the same thing .
Mueller also seemed to struggle to hear and/or understand questions from member of both sides as well as to find various references members were making to the Mueller report , asking for questions to be repeated . Democrats viewed the hearing as a chance for the public to hear what the President did ( and did n't do ) from a straight-out-of-central-casting prosecutor . Mueller did n't come across like that .
On Wednesday morning , Trump tweeted this : `` It has been reported that Robert Mueller is saying that he did not apply and interview for the job of FBI Director ( and get turned down ) the day before he was wrongfully appointed Special Counsel . Hope he does n't say that under oath in that we have numerous witnesses to the interview , including the Vice President of the United States ! ''
Except ... under questioning from Republican Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert , Mueller directly contradicted Trump 's version of events . As Gohmert was attacking Mueller 's alleged conflicts of interest , he cited Mueller meeting with Trump the day before he was appointed as special counsel as a job interview for the open FBI spot . `` Not as a candidate , '' for the job , Mueller said .
So someone is lying here . Worth noting : Mueller 's testimony was under oath . Trump 's tweet was , uh , not .
When Democrats asked questions of Mueller , they mostly followed this blueprint : a ) praise Mueller for his service b ) ask Mueller to draw conclusions from his report c ) when Mueller declines to do so , read a portion of the report d ) say that Trump clearly obstructed the investigation and e ) thank Mueller for his service .
When Republicans asked question of Mueller , they mostly followed this blueprint : a ) yell at Mueller b ) ask him questions about Christopher Steele that -- per point No . 2 above -- he has already said he will not go into and c ) conclude that Mueller unfairly persecuted Trump and his inner circle .
The whiplash was stark . And meant -- stop me if you 've heard this before -- that people will likely hear what they want to hear coming out of this hearing .
7 . Mueller said that he did n't consider indicting Trump on obstruction because of Justice guidelines . Except ...
In an exchange with Democratic California Rep. Ted Lieu , Mueller said , unequivocally , that the reason that he did not even consider indicting the President on obstruction charges was because of guidance from the Office of Legal Counsel ( within the Justice Department ) that a sitting President can not be indicted .
That contradicts repeated assertions by Barr that the OLC ruling was not the only reason that Mueller did n't indict Trump . It also seemingly contradicts a May joint statement from spokespeople for the special counsel 's office and the Department of Justice that said this : `` The Attorney General has previously stated that the Special Counsel repeatedly affirmed that he was not saying that , but for the [ Office of Legal Counsel ] opinion , he would have found the President obstructed justice . The Special Counsel 's report and his statement today made clear that the office concluded it would not reach a determination -- one way or the other -- about whether the President committed a crime . There is no conflict between these statements . ''
When questioned about this seeming contradiction by Republican Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko , Mueller said only that he `` would have to look at it closer . '' Uh , yeah .
Mueller later clarified -- during his appearance before the House Intelligence Committee -- that he had misspoken to Lieu when asked about the role the OLC opinion played in his decision not to consider charging Trump . `` We did not reach a determination as to whether the President committed a crime , '' Mueller said .
8 . Mueller came to life when his underlings were attacked
In a rare break from a low-key performance in front of the Judiciary Committee , Mueller pushed back hard against Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube 's attacks on the political affiliations ( and donations ) of the lawyers who worked for him in the special counsel 's office .
Mueller said that at no time in his 25 years of doing just this sort of thing had he `` had occasion once to ask somebody about their political affiliation . It is not done . '' That is a clapback at not just Steube but also Trump , who has been fixated for much of the last two years , on donations made to Hillary Clinton by some members of the special counsel 's office .
Donald Trump was clearly thrilled with the way the morning hearing went . `` I would like to thank the Democrats for holding this morning 's hearing , '' he tweeted just after 1 p.m . ET . `` Now , after 3 hours , Robert Mueller has to subject himself to # ShiftySchiff - an Embarrassment to our Country ! '' And while it 's clear that Democrats did not reap the huge wins some of them expected they might , it 's also true that Mueller confirmed , verbally that is , lots of facts that the President of the United States seems reluctant to admit . Among them : a ) Russia interfered in the election to help Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton b ) the Trump campaign was thrilled about that effort and c ) Trump was involved in business dealing in Russia ( the discussions of the construction of Trump Tower Moscow ) . None of that is good news -- at all -- for the President and his many past denials on these issues .
Democratic Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley read a series of tweets and quotes from Trump during the final months of the 2016 election in which he touted WikiLeaks , which was releasing emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta . Quigley asked Mueller what he thought of Trump 's actions . Mueller responded : `` Problematic is an understatement , in terms of what it displays , in terms of giving some hope or some boost to what is and should be illegal activity . ''
In terms of Mueller 's willingness to scold or smack down Trump , this was about as far as he was willing to go . | sQxYoHO5RgVhD0i0 | 0 | Robert Mueller | -0.4 | Donald Trump | -0.4 | Russia Meddling | -0.2 | US Congress | 0 | National Security | 0 |
politics | Newsmax | http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/hillary-clinton-record-republicans-state/2014/05/18/id/571932/ | As Hillary Leans Toward 2016 Run, Republicans Take Aim at Record | 2014-05-18 | Hillary Clinton, Republican Party, Politics | She sounds increasingly like a presidential contender , but as Hillary Clinton mulls a run , Republicans are taking aim at her record in a bid to smother the momentum building around her prospective campaign .
With critics dragging her into the political fray before she has announced 2016 plans , Team Clinton is pushing back against Republican storylines that she may not be fit for another gruelling White House race , and that she was an ineffectual secretary of state crafting her own political future instead of advancing US interests .
Hillary , hawking a new memoir , insisted she adeptly handled an `` endless set of tough calls '' as the top US diplomat , prodding Iran into nuclear talks and nudging the Mideast peace process forward .
`` History will judge '' her record , Senator Bob Corker , top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee , told AFP .
Below are issues that could be Clinton 's Achilles ' heels , and the defense she is building against them .
Clinton would be 69 should she win in 2016 , younger only than president Ronald Reagan when he first took office .
Republicans tiptoed around the subject -- until strategist Karl Rove attacked Clinton 's health head on last week , suggesting she suffered traumatic brain injury from a 2012 fall .
Her husband , former president Bill Clinton , insisted she works out regularly and is in `` better shape '' than him . And while he said there was nothing to Rove 's charge , the ex-president acknowledged a candidate 's health is fair game in national campaigns .
The terrorist attack in Libya that killed four Americans on September 11 , 2012 occurred on Clinton 's watch .
While she has deemed it her darkest hour and taken responsibility , Republicans latched on like pit bulls , stressing that President Barack Obama 's administration bungled consular security and misled Americans about what triggered the attack .
`` What difference does it make ? '' Clinton told lawmakers when pressed about whether the assault was planned or spontaneous .
Vowing to get to the `` truth , '' the GOP set up a select committee on Benghazi , expecting Clinton to be the chief witness .
`` Should we as a country have a commander-in-chief who did n't provide adequate security in Libya , did n't send reinforcements and then gave us nothing but spin ? '' asked Senator Rand Paul , himself a likely 2016 contender .
Clinton devoted an entire chapter to the tragedy in her forthcoming book , and her husband insisted `` Hillary did what she should have done '' on Benghazi .
Clinton said Wednesday she `` worked , cajoled and implored '' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas into face-to-face negotiations over a two-state solution .
Republicans counter that the Middle East peace process collapsed , Syria is plagued by civil war and Egypt seethes with unrest .
And poignant criticism came from the Democratic camp , with former president Jimmy Carter saying Clinton `` took very little action to bring about peace . ''
On Iran , Clinton boasts co-authoring Obama 's strategy of threatening tough economic sanctions while urging negotiations on Tehran 's nuclear program , culminating in a November preliminary accord .
In 2009 Clinton declared a `` reset '' with Moscow , but President Vladimir Putin snubbed his nose at Washington and annexed parts of Ukraine .
Republican Senator Marco Rubio , another possible presidential candidate , gave Clinton an `` F '' on foreign policy , saying her diplomacy `` has failed everywhere in the world . ''
The kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls by Islamist extremists Boko Haram is Clinton 's newest political headache .
While she stands with nations worldwide in efforts to `` bring back our girls , '' Republicans point to her failure to brand the group a foreign terrorist organization , leaving it to successor John Kerry .
`` Had she done so , it would have made it easier to go after them years ago and could have perhaps prevented them from carrying out despicable acts , '' Republican National Committee co-chair Sharon Day said Friday .
Clinton would be the presumptive Democratic frontrunner , but with president George W. Bush 's brother Jeb considering a campaign , the prospect of another Bush-Clinton matchup is stomach-churning for many .
Hillary 's candidacy could also dredge up an unsavory scandal from her days as first lady : Bill Clinton 's affair with Monica Lewinsky , who recently broke her silence with a tell-all account in Vanity Fair .
But Clinton pointed to her husband 's successes , saying the 1990s enjoyed `` a balanced budget that resulted in surpluses as far as the eye could see . '' | 4a8a157bd4360b4d | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
europe | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/22/politics/eu-referendum-brexit-donald-trump/index.html | Brexit: The UK's Donald Trump moment | 2016-06-22 | europe | A toxic political brew is percolating around the UK 's decision Thursday to leave the European Union , a fateful vote with consequences not just for America 's closest historical ally but for Western stability that could trigger economic and political reverberations in the United States .
While the vote is designed to settle Britain 's long-ambivalent attitude toward Europe , the underlying themes of the referendum look familiar to anyone who has been transfixed by the turbulent U.S. presidential election .
The similarities in the two campaigns suggest powerful shared tensions are tearing at the world 's most enduring English-speaking democracies . The forces unleashed seem likely to rattle the respective political systems for years to come .
They both feature a torrent of populist anger , fear-mongering by politicians , hostility toward distant elites and bitterness toward the ruling political , media and business establishment .
In the U.S. and the UK , emotion and hyperbole have become a constant undercurrent of politics and are being used as a weapon by politicians in both camps , right and left , `` Leave '' and `` Remain . ''
Former London mayor Boris Johnson warned in May that the E.U . was the latest manifestation of a 2,000-year project to unify Europe under a single government .
`` Napoleon , Hitler , various people tried this out , and it ends tragically , '' Johnson told the Sunday Telegraph in arguing for leaving the European Union . `` The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods . ''
Such emotive rhetoric is reminiscent of Trump 's own claims that the independence of the United States itself is under threat .
`` We will no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of globalism , '' Trump said in a major foreign policy speech in Washington in April .
And among voters , the anger is palpable in both countries .
In the United States , clashes have broken out between supporters and opponents of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee , while the debate is as coarse as it has been in living memory .
JUST WATCHED Town , husband mourns loss of British MP Jo Cox Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Town , husband mourns loss of British MP Jo Cox 02:52
In the United Kingdom , politicians of all sides were shocked by the killing of pro-Europe lawmaker Jo Cox of the Labour Party on Thursday . The man charged with her murder said when asked his name at a court appearance on Saturday : `` Death to traitors , freedom for Britain . ''
In Britain , as in the U.S. , the atmosphere has been particularly soured by an emotive debate about a wave of migration from the south and a perception that newcomers threaten the ethnic and political characteristics of each nation .
And at the center of both the referendum and the U.S. presidential election is the idea that the political status quo is not working for voters and that elected leaders are either incompetent or not listening .
JUST WATCHED Brits talk Brexit , immigration and 'white privilege ' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Brits talk Brexit , immigration and 'white privilege ' 01:56
`` On the one hand , we have disenchantment with elites , '' said Nicholas Dungan , a leading expert in European politics with the Atlantic Council . `` On the other hand , it seems extraordinarily difficult for the elites to actually get anything done . The reason people are upset with the leadership class is not because of their leadership , it 's because of their lack of leadership . ''
Professor Robert Tombs of St. John 's College , Cambridge University , said many U.K. voters are frustrated that politicians do n't seem to be listening .
`` There is a sense that people feel that standard centrist politics is no longer representing them , and that has meant membership ( in ) political parties , and the proportion of people voting all over the Western world , has fallen , '' said Tombs , author of the book `` The English and Their History . ''
He continued , `` There is a sense that politics no longer matters , or that the people who run mainline politics are no longer in contact with the people who vote for them . ''
In the United States , that has enabled Trump to muster grassroots fury to stage a hostile takeover of the Republican Party . It also fed the `` political revolution '' ignited by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders , motivated not just by anger against Washington politicians but another form of elites : Wall Street titans .
The frustration runs particularly deep in Britain , where anti-Europe voters are not just motivated by fury toward members of Parliament but the regulations drafted by faceless bureaucrats in Brussels who execute EU policies -- and whom they can not kick out of office in an election .
JUST WATCHED Brexit : The immigration number that matters Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Brexit : The immigration number that matters 01:16
There is also a current of nationalism at work . It 's not unusual , for instance , to see both Eurosceptics and Trump supporters utter the phrase : `` I want to take our country back . ''
In each country , such feelings have translated to hostility toward outsiders .
In Britain , immigrants from struggling Eastern European states willing to work for low wages have become targets in a nation , like the U.S. , in which globalization has badly hit heavy industry .
Brexit : What will immigration look like if Britain leaves the EU ?
In the United States , Trump has accused undocumented migrants , most of them from Latin America , of undercutting U.S. workers . Trump has also slammed foreign actors like China and Japan for fleecing the U.S. in trade deals . The immigration question has been exacerbated by the flows of refugees from Middle East wars into southern Europe and opposition to the core E.U . principle of free movement of peoples between member states.In the United States , Trump has accused undocumented migrants , most of them from Latin America , of undercutting U.S. workers . Trump has also slammed foreign actors like China and Japan for fleecing the U.S. in trade deals .
Similarly , Eurosceptics have argued that , freed from the constraints of the European Union , British companies will be more competitive .
There is also the unconventional populist appeal that figures leading the establishment critiques have cultivated by expressing both their personalities and previously taboo sentiments .
In the United States , unorthodox outsiders like Trump and Sanders have left opponents -- like the entire Republican presidential field and Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton -- flat-footed .
Britain has its own colorful political characters -- most prominently Johnson , who like Trump , operates from beneath an improbable edifice of blond hair . The former London mayor grabbed a leadership role in the Brexit campaign that many observers see as positioning to become the next prime minister .
And UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage last week sparked outrage among opponents by posing in front of a poster that suggested waves of brown-skinned immigrants were poised to swamp Britain , recalling Trump 's labeling Mexican illegal immigrants criminals and racists .
Those leading the pro-Europe `` Remain '' campaign in Britain struggled to match the personality of the exit camp . Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron , despite winning the election last year , is mistrusted by many voters . Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn does n't even enjoy majority support among lawmakers of his own party and is viewed as too left-wing by many others .
And the American president also has not seemed successful in moving British sentiment : In London in April , President Barack Obama made a personal appeal for the UK to stay in the EU that did not seem to register in polls .
For Trump , Brexit is one more policy on which to oppose Obama . The billionaire businessman expressed support for the `` Leave '' side last month .
`` I think maybe it 's time , especially in light of what 's happened , with the craziness that 's going on with the migration , with people pouring in all over the place , '' Trump told `` Good Morning Britain '' on ITV in March .
While no one knows how the referendum will turn out , there is one thing that everyone in Britain agrees on -- the referendum is the most important election in years .
And it is a vote that splits the U.K. Scotland and Northern Ireland are generally seen as more pro-Europe , while England -- with the exception of London -- and much of rural Wales are seen as harboring majorities in favor of Brexit .
There is at least one more common ideological similarity between the U.S. and UK .
Leading British Conservative Michael Gove , who broke with his boss Cameron to support leaving the EU , suggested that the United States is a model for the independence and self-determination the Brexit forces desire .
`` The ability to choose who governs us , and the freedom to change laws we do not like , were secured for us in the past by radicals and liberals who took power from unaccountable elites and placed it in the hands of the people , '' Gove wrote in a personal statement explaining his position in February .
`` Like the Americans who declared their independence and never looked back , '' he continued , `` we can become an exemplar of what an inclusive , open and innovative democracy can achieve . '' | TUE33xxmsHPf5S1c | 0 | Europe | -0.3 | Brexit | -0.3 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | New York Times (News) | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/us/west-virginia-impeachment-supreme-court.html | A Coup or a Couch? Whatβs Behind the Impeachment of West Virginiaβs Supreme Court | 2018-08-14 | Politics | Advertisement Supported by By Campbell Robertson CHARLESTON, W.Va. β The whole episode began with office renovations and a $32,000 dark blue suede sectional sofa, accented with more than $1,000 worth of throw pillows. Now West Virginiaβs entire Supreme Court is being impeached. Late Monday night, after a long day of discussion and at times testy debate, the West Virginia House of Delegates passed 11 articles of impeachment against the four sitting justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals, the stateβs highest court. Advocates for the impeachment, mostly Republicans, who hold a large majority in the House, said the scale of the justicesβ misconduct, though not illegal, called for an extraordinary response, a process the Legislature has resorted to only once over the past hundred years. βThey think theyβre better than everybody in this state that works a blue collar job!β thundered Delegate Michael Folk, a Republican, tapping into the populism that runs deep in the state. βThe average citizen in the state of West Virginia is appalled.β Advertisement No one has defended the lavish spending. But the prospect of a mass judicial impeachment struck opponents as a partisan power grab by Republicans who control the governorβs office and both houses of the State Legislature. On the Supreme Court bench, three of the five justices were elected as Democrats. Any temporary replacements would be named by the Republican governor, Jim Justice, and would sit on the bench until a new election, a period that could last up to a year and a half. A number of Democrats saw it, in the phrase of one lawmaker, as nothing less than βa coup.β And in a rare moment of public agreement, the state chapter of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the state chamber of commerce called the impeachments an unwelcome precedent. [Read more about the impeachment vote from late Monday night] Hours after the impeachment proceedings, Justice Robin Davis, who sat on the court for 21 years, announced at a brief news conference in the Supreme Court chamber that she had retired to free up her seat so that someone could run for it in November. βWhen a legislative body attempts to dismantle a separate branch of government, the immediate effects as well as the precedent it sets for the future can only be deemed disastrous,β she read in a prepared statement. βThe will of the people of West Virginia is being denied.β The fifth justice, Menis Ketchum, resigned in July before entering a federal guilty plea, to having used a state-owned car to drive to golf outings. Mr. Ketchum was a Democrat, and his seat will be filled after an election in November. Members of the court are elected to 12-year terms. Advertisement Last fall, investigative TV news reports revealed lavish office renovation spending by Supreme Court Chief Justice Allen Loughry. The profligate spending seemed particularly abhorrent in a state as cash-strapped as West Virginia. More reports followed, on the spending by Justice Loughry but also by other justices, adding up to hundreds of thousand dollars on marble, stainless steel cabinets, and a $7,500 wooden inlaid medallion depicting West Virginia. The scandal ballooned with more revelations beyond just interior design choices, leading to a 23-count federal indictment against Justice Loughry, who has been suspended but has not resigned. Justice Loughry, a Republican, was found to have put state employees to work moving furniture from the Supreme Court building to his home and to have taken his state car to events where he signed copies of his book: βDonβt Buy Another Vote, I Wonβt Pay for a Landslide: The Sordid And Continuing History of Political Corruption in West Virginia.β He faces trial in October. Most of the impeachment articles involve Justice Loughry, though there were multiple articles concerning the three other sitting justices. Some of the articles have nothing to do with the headline-grabbing office expenses, but, unlike the expenses, involve a debatable legal question: whether the justices broke the law by approving higher-than-allowed payments to retired circuit judges who filled in on the bench in their absences. Advertisement Still, much of the outrage was centered on office renovations. Roughly half a million dollars was spent renovating the office of Justice Davis, though there is disagreement on how much of that was for necessary work, like plumbing, and how much was for less essential features, like track lighting. Two other justices, Beth Walker and Margaret Workman, spent more than $100,000 each, but this was considerably less than the others and their charges were voted down. The court as a whole was impeached, on a narrow vote, for not putting policies in place to rein in the spending of one another. In speeches on the floor on Monday, lawmakers talked of how incomprehensible such spending was in comparison to their own frugal tastes, how angry their constituents were at the haughtiness of the court and how the spending of public money in such staggering amounts constituted an impeachable offense in itself. βTheyβre going after everyone because itβs the balance of the court,β said Delegate Mike Pushkin, a Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. In February, he was one of the first lawmakers to push for an investigation into Justice Loughry, for the personal use of state property as well as for allegedly covering it up. At the time, Mr. Pushkinβs resolution was brushed aside as βridiculousβ by the Senate president. But the extravagant spending became fodder for a court-wide impeachment β as Mr. Pushkin contends β after Mr. Loughry was suspended and control of the court appeared up for grabs. Nonetheless, Mr. Pushkin added, lavish spending by itself is not actually illegal. Unusually among state constitutions, West Virginiaβs Constitution allows the judiciary to set and control its own budget. Judicial salaries are set by the Legislature and there are plenty of mandated costs, but the purchase of a $32,000 sofa, as a strict legal matter, is at the discretion of the court. There is an amendment on the ballot this November that would put the judiciaryβs budget under legislative oversight. Advertisement This is what dominated talk in the State Capitol on Monday: the extent to which extravagant spending was unconstitutional or simply appalling, and whether something could be appalling enough to justify annulling the results of a statewide election β perhaps even four statewide elections. βI find many of these purchases offensive,β said Delegate Chad Lovejoy, a Democrat, who pointed out that the cost of the infamous sofa was far greater than the per capita income in his district. But, he continued, the Legislature had recently spent nearly a million dollars renovating bathrooms in the Capitol. A mass judicial impeachment, over lavish but legally permissible spending, he said, was unwarranted and possibly even a violation of the separation of powers. βItβs unprecedented in the United States that one branch of the government goes in and lops off another,β he said. In response, Republican lawmakers argued that at some point bad judgment, even if legal, can be so bad that it becomes βmaladministration,β and thus grounds for impeachment. βIs it not the opinion of the legal community that the Supreme Court, the justices that sit on the highest court in this state, should be beyond reproach, like Caesarβs wife?β said Delegate Patrick McGeehan, a Republican, who referred to several ancient Romans in his remarks. βIs that not the standard that Iβve heard over and over again?β Advertisement The discussion went late into the night, becoming especially heated at one point when it appeared the House might fully spare Justice Walker, who ran as a nonpartisan but is a clear favorite of Republicans. Democrats and some conservatives were indignant, and a motion that would have shielded Justice Walker failed to pass. Then, at 15 minutes past midnight, the House of Delegates voted to impeach the whole Supreme Court. Advertisement | 6c66b41faaf0cdcd | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | NPR (Online News) | https://www.npr.org/2019/12/06/785681527/trump-declines-to-take-part-in-baseless-house-impeachment-inquiry | White House Rules Out Participating In House Impeachment Inquiry Process | 2019-12-07 | Donald Trump, Impeachment, House Judiciary Committee, House Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, Jerry Nadler, White House, Politics | Ayesha Rascoe The White House called the House impeachment process "completely baseless" and ruled out participation in next week's hearing. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption The White House called the House impeachment process "completely baseless" and ruled out participation in next week's hearing. President Trump has decided to stay out of the impeachment inquiry being conducted by the House of Representatives. White House counsel Pat Cipollone rejected an offer from House Democrats that would have allowed the president to send counsel to represent him at future impeachment hearings. In a short two-paragraph letter to Democrats, Cipollone said the impeachment inquiry is "completely baseless and has violated basic principles of due process and fundamental fairness." "House Democrats have wasted enough of America's time with this charade," Cipollone said. "You should end this inquiry now and not waste even more time with additional hearings." The decision is in line with the White House's general approach toward the House probe. Trump and his supporters have repeatedly called the investigation a sham and argued it was unfair to the president. At the same time, the White House has ordered current and former officials to not testify and has refused to turn over documents. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that the House Democrats were moving ahead with drafting articles of impeachment. Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee released a 300-page report this week outlining evidence that they say shows that Trump abused his office and pressured Ukraine to open investigations that would boost him politically. Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor These cookies are essential to provide you with services available through the NPR Services and to enable you to use some of their features. For example, these cookies allow NPR to remember your registration information while you are logged in. Local station customization, the NPR Shop, and other interactive features also use cookies. Without these cookies, the services that you have asked for cannot be provided, and we only use these cookies to provide you with those services. You may opt out of the sharing of your information with our sponsorship vendors for delivery of personalized sponsorship credits and marketing messages on our website or third-party sites by turning off "Share Data for Targeted Sponsorship." If you opt out, our service providers or vendors may continue to serve you non-personalized, non-"interest-based" sponsorship credits and marketing messages on our website or third-party sites, and those sponsorship credits and marketing message may come with cookies that are used to control how often you encounter those credits and messages, to prevent fraud, and to do aggregate reporting. These cookies are used to collect information about traffic to our Services and how users interact with the NPR Services. The information collected includes the number of visitors to the NPR Services, the websites that referred visitors to the NPR Services, the pages that they visited on the NPR Services, what time of day they visited the NPR Services, whether they have visited the NPR Services before, and other similar information. We use this information to help operate the NPR Services more efficiently, to gather broad demographic information and to monitor the level of activity on the NPR Services. These cookies allow our Services to remember choices you make when you use them, such as remembering your Member station preferences and remembering your account details. The purpose of these cookies is to provide you with a more personal experience and to prevent you from having to re-enter your preferences every time you visit the NPR Services. These cookies track your browsing habits or other information, such as location, to enable us to show sponsorship credits which are more likely to be of interest to you. These cookies use information about your browsing history to group you with other users who have similar interests. Based on that information, and with our permission, we and our sponsors can place cookies to enable us or our sponsors to show sponsorship credits and other messages that we think will be relevant to your interests while you are using third-party services. | f6a1eecafe1aec8f | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | NPR Online News | http://www.npr.org/2015/11/05/454702147/bernie-sanders-still-sees-a-path-to-the-presidency | Sanders Says He's Democrats' Best Bet On Issues β And Electability | 2015-11-05 | elections | Sanders Says He 's Democrats ' Best Bet On Issues β And Electability
It was late summer when America began to `` feel the Bern , '' and Sen. Bernie Sanders , the beneficiary of that warm-weather bump , still sees himself as hot on the campaign trail to the White House .
Sanders sat down Wednesday with Steve Inskeep , host of NPR 's Morning Edition , to review his own remarkably resilient campaign . Inskeep asked the self-described Democratic socialist from Vermont if he sees a path to the Democratic nomination .
`` I do , '' Sanders said in his clipped Big Apple manner . `` Look , when we began this campaign some six months ago , I would say 80 percent of American people did n't know who Bernie Sanders was or what I stood for . We have come a very , very long way . ''
Now , Sanders says , he still needs to acquaint millions more voters with his view of the nation , its economy and its future . But the progress so far has been phenomenal .
`` We have hundreds of thousands of volunteers in the 50 states . We 've received more individual contributions β some 750,000 of them β more than any other candidate in history at this point in the campaign . Averaging , I should tell you , $ 30 apiece . ''
Sanders readily concedes that he trails Hillary Clinton , the former senator and secretary of state , in the Democratic nomination contest . But he points to another result in the same polling data . `` When you look at some of the polls that have come out recently , we often do better than Hillary Clinton in running against the Republicans . ''
The data in these hypothetical general election matchups indicate that Sanders polls better than Clinton against Republicans such as Donald Trump and Ben Carson , especially among men and independents .
Inskeep asked how Sanders might convert some of this appeal to a better showing in the primaries and caucuses against Clinton .
`` I probably can and will do better in drawing a contrast , '' Sanders said . `` There are significant differences of opinion between Hillary Clinton and myself .
`` I 'm glad that Hillary Clinton is now against the TPP [ Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement ] . Check my record out . I knew from Day One β in terms of NAFTA , CAFTA , permanent normal trade relations with China β that our trade policies were a disaster for American workers . ''
Sanders also pointed to the Keystone pipeline , a project bringing Canadian tar-sands oil to the Gulf of Mexico . Clinton recently decided to oppose the long-running project .
`` How can you be serious about saying you want to combat climate change and [ still ] have doubts about whether you want to support the Keystone pipeline or not ? '' asked Sanders , his voice rising in incredulity . `` The Keystone pipeline is transporting and excavating some of the dirtiest fossil fuel on Earth . I was against it from Day One . ''
Sanders has called for an end to all future extraction of oil , gas and coal from federal lands . But he also wants to establish a program for workers in the fossil fuels industries .
`` It is not their fault , but the products they are producing are destroying our planet . They have got to be made whole . We have to make sure they have jobs , income , health care , education , job training they need . ''
Sanders noted he was also years ahead of Clinton in supporting gay marriage and opposing the 2002 resolution authorizing force against Iraq .
While drawing contrasts with Clinton , Sanders said he would not allow their future debates to devolve into the `` food fights '' he says the Republicans ' debates have been .
He also said he will continue to distinguish himself from his better-known rivals in both parties by refusing to form an independent fundraising and spending arm known as a superPAC : `` If I 'm going to walk the walk and not just talk the talk , I can not have a superPAC . ''
Sanders ripped into the Supreme Court decision known as Citizens United , which he said `` makes the campaign finance system corrupt , '' adding that `` billionaires are able to spend as much as they have to elect whom they want . ''
Sanders pledged to work for an amendment to the Constitution to overturn that decision .
Inskeep asked about Clinton 's enormous lead among African-American Democrats , which Sanders readily acknowledged . Sanders said he was still working to be better known in the black community , supporting policies that would benefit African-Americans and Latino Americans as well β including higher wages , job creation programs and free tuition at public colleges and universities .
Pressed about his vote for the 1994 crime bill that created mandatory minimum sentences for many nonviolent crimes , Sanders noted that the same bill included provisions to ban certain assault weapons and protect women from violence . The mandatory sentences , he added , were clearly a mistake that have `` devastated literally hundreds of thousands of lives . ''
In the interview , Sanders embraced two elements of his political identity in particular β being a socialist and being Jewish .
He said he had joined the Young People 's Socialist League in his early years and always felt affinity for ideas of equality and social and economic opportunity for all .
In the current U.S. , he said , he did not see socialism as nationalization of steel mills but as the adoption of policies that have long been accepted in other developed countries . `` Social Security is a socialist program , '' he said .
`` We are the only major country not to guarantee health care as a right , '' said Sanders , `` and not to have paid family and medical leave . ''
Sanders said what he was against as a socialist was `` casino capitalism where people on top are making out like bandits β of course , many of them are bandits . ''
Sanders said his Jewish family had included many who lost loved ones in the Holocaust , and this history inspired him to oppose the current upsurge in anti-immigrant sentiment and `` Islamophobia . ''
`` I will do everything I can to fight that , '' he said . `` And that relates to the fact that I 'm Jewish . As a young boy I remember seeing people who had numbers on their arms , the Nazi identification put on in concentration camps . ''
Inskeep asked if the crowds who came to see Sanders had anything in common with those who turned out for Donald Trump .
`` They do and they do n't , '' Sanders replied . `` People who go to Trump rallies are angry , and some who come to my rallies are angry as well . The middle class and working class in this country have a right to be angry , working longer hours for lower wages while almost all the wealth is going to the top . ''
The difference , he said , is that Trump tells his crowds he 's smart and tough , and if elected he 'll solve all the problems .
`` What I say is the exact opposite , '' said Sanders . `` I say we need to bring millions of people together to take on the powerful corporate interests that now run America . '' | gjqhXUIX1BNVPNzE | 1 | Bernie Sanders | 1.3 | Presidential Elections | -1 | Elections | -1 | null | null | null | null |
elections | The Hill | https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/445504-the-top-10-democrats-in-the-2020-race | The top 10 Democrats in the 2020 race | 2019-05-28 | elections | The race for the Democratic presidential nomination is gathering pace .
The first debates will be held next month in Miami , even though the Iowa caucuses will not take place until February 2020 .
The field grew to 24 last week when New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Bill de BlasioDNC raises qualifying thresholds for fifth presidential debate Biden extends lead over Warren , Sanders βββ 's 12:30 Report : Trump defends call as Ukraine controversy deepens MORE announced his candidacy .
1 . Former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenHouse Republicans voice concerns about White House 's impeachment messaging Giuliani consulted with Manafort on Ukraine info : report Top Pence adviser was on Trump-Zelensky phone call at center of whistleblower complaint : report MORE
Biden has surprised skeptics with the extent of his early strength .
His rallies have been largely gaffe-free , his initial fundraising totals β $ 6.3 million in his first 24 hours β have been formidable and he has vaulted to a big polling lead .
In four major recent polls β from Monmouth University , Quinnipiac University , Morning Consult and Fox News β Biden held a greater than two-to-one lead over his nearest challenger , Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders2020 Democrats push for gun control action at forum Sanders heart procedures shines spotlight on age of top Democrats Sanders uses health scare to promote 'Medicare for All ' MORE ( I-Vt. ) .
Biden β s appeal is simple : He bills himself as the best candidate to beat President Trump Donald John TrumpSessions says he still supports Trump despite ouster as AG House Republicans voice concerns about White House 's impeachment messaging Giuliani consulted with Manafort on Ukraine info : report MORE , in part because of his roots in Scranton , Pa. , and his cultural empathy for voters in the Rust Belt and Upper Midwest .
Trump has attacked Biden on Twitter as β Sleepy Joe. β But those attacks have boosted Biden β s cachet among Democrats , who see them as proof that the president fears him .
Biden β s appeal to nonwhite voters is , so far , stronger than anyone else in the field β in part , perhaps , a tribute to his loyal service to former President Obama .
Biden β s critics on the left insist his standing is falsely inflated right now and that he will fall to earth as his past record on everything from criminal justice to credit card companies becomes more widely known .
The 76-year-old former vice president has also had some verbal stumbles , as when he briefly referred to the late Margaret Thatcher , rather than Theresa May Theresa Mary MayUK 's Johnson sends EU 'final offer ' on Brexit Saagar Enjeti warns 2020 Democrats against embracing Hillary Clinton The 'Mother of Parliaments ' and the 'Lords of Misrule ' MORE , as the prime minister of the United Kingdom .
The Vermont Independent has held on to his position as the main standard-bearer of the left , despite facing increasing competition from Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren2020 Democrats push for gun control action at forum On The Money : Trump blames impeachment inquiry for stock market drop | Trump to hit EU with new tariffs after WTO ruling | Warren outlines tax on federal lobbying Hillicon Valley : Clapper praises whistleblower complaint | Senators urge social media giants to take action against 'deepfakes ' | Tim Cook asks Supreme Court to protect DACA | Harris pushes Twitter to suspend Trump MORE ( D-Mass . ) .
Love him or hate him , Sanders is consistent . He is committed to the same democratic socialist ideals he has espoused for decades , he is as acerbic as ever about the media β s tendency to focus on personality over policies and many of his supporters display an intense devotion to him .
Sanders also has enormous resources . His campaign raised $ 18.2 million in the 41 days between his launch and the end of the first quarter .
But can he recapture the same kind of magic that powered his 2016 campaign against eventual nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonGiuliani consulted with Manafort on Ukraine info : report California political donor indicted for 2 overdose deaths at his home Sanders heart procedures shines spotlight on age of top Democrats MORE ?
The recent Monmouth University poll , conducted May 16β20 , indicated support for him had declined by 5 points since the month before .
To win , Sanders needs the left to coalesce behind him . Warren β s rise suggests the opposite is happening .
Warren is enjoying real momentum . In polls , she has broken out of the pack to become the clear No . 3 .
Warren β s skill as a campaigner is evident in warmly received stump appearances .
Her campaign has also shown a deft touch for social media and popular culture . In a video posted on Twitter , she discussed β Game of Thrones β with progressive icon Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-CortezOcasio-Cortez wishes Sanders speedy recovery : 'Rest up , friend ' Trump campaign releases ad accusing Democrats of carrying out a 'coup ' Jeffress denies predicting 'actual civil war ' over Trump impeachment MORE ( D-N.Y. ) . In another tweet , she responded to comedian Ashley Nicole Black β s request for a plan to fix her love life .
Those flippant moments work because no-one doubts Warren β s intellect β she is a former Harvard Law School professor β or her policy chops .
Warren has rolled out policies on a broad range of issues , which she is able to explain with specificity and accessibility . Her campaign has underlined this strength , selling merchandise with the slogan , β Warren has a plan for that . β
Like Sanders , Warren is vulnerable to the suggestion that her left-leaning beliefs make her less electable than other front-line candidates . The memory of her shaky handling of the question of her Native American heritage has not disappeared .
For all that , though , Warren is snapping at Sanders β s heels . If she were to supplant him as the leading progressive candidate , the landscape of the race would shift .
4 . Sen. Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris2020 Democrats push for gun control action at forum Hillicon Valley : Clapper praises whistleblower complaint | Senators urge social media giants to take action against 'deepfakes ' | Tim Cook asks Supreme Court to protect DACA | Harris pushes Twitter to suspend Trump Krystal Ball on Yang 's fundraising haul : 'Even a random man has a shot at the Oval Office ' MORE ( D-Calif . )
At the time , she had been boosted by a huge launch rally in Oakland , a sense that she brought more charisma to the race than any other candidate β and the fact that Biden had not yet declared .
One persistent criticism is that she is too prone to caution . Her propensity to say she is willing to β have a conversation β about certain hot-button issues has been an inviting target for her skeptics .
Harris has also clarified or shifted her positions on several issues , such as whether her vision for β Medicare for All β involves the outright elimination of private insurance or whether police shootings should be investigated by independent prosecutors rather than local district attorneys .
Harris , the top-performing black candidate in the race , is so far receiving adequate but not outstanding support from nonwhite voters .
It β s far too early to count Harris out , but she needs some big moments that could push her closer to the very top of the pack .
5 . South Bend , Ind. , Mayor Pete Buttigieg Peter ( Pete ) Paul Buttigieg2020 Democrats push for gun control action at forum O'Rourke hits Buttigieg over not supporting mandatory gun buybacks : 'It 's time to lead ' 12 candidates qualify for October Democratic debate MORE ( D )
A Buttigieg Boomlet has propelled the 37-year-old mayor from near-obscurity to the higher tiers of the field . Can he go any further ?
Buttigieg has embarked on an exhaustive round of media appearances , which have showcased his chief assets : likability , an ease and clarity before the cameras , and a center-left appeal to comity and cooperation .
But there are real doubts about Buttigieg β s ability to appeal beyond the upscale whites who form the main pillar of his support . Some racially-tinged controversies during his tenure in South Bend could further hamper his appeal to non-white voters .
O β Rourke is already seeking to reboot his campaign , appearing at a CNN town hall and on ABC β s β The View β and expressing regret for telling Vanity Fair that he was β born '' to run for the presidency .
The effort comes after the initial hype over O β Rourke fell flat .
The kind of retail campaigning that helped him in his Senate bid against Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael ( Ted ) Edward CruzCruz , Graham send well wishes to Sanders after heart procedure Hillicon Valley : Treasury sanctions Russians over 2018 election meddling | How Facebook fought back on FTC fine | WeWork calls off IPO | Elon Musk unveils Mars rocket Cambridge Analytica whistleblower 's book coming out next week MORE ( R-Texas ) last fall has not broken through this time . Nor has O β Rourke enjoyed the same kind of viral moment as he did in the Senate race , when his defense of NFL players protesting racial injustice became a sensation .
O β Rourke could come back , but he is not an especially strong debater and he faces the possibility that Buttigieg β whose appeal is demographically similar β may have stolen his thunder .
7 . Sen. Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker2020 Democrats push for gun control action at forum Booker calls out O'Rourke for criticizing gun licensing before El Paso shooting 12 candidates qualify for October Democratic debate MORE ( D-N.J . )
Booker has struggled to find a place for himself in the crowded primary field .
Having started his campaign talking about the transformative power of β radical love , β he has more recently sharpened his appeal β and his willingness to attack others .
He has taken a strong stance on some issues , including the protection of abortion rights .
But it β s not quite clear what the rationale for a Booker candidacy β or a Booker presidency β actually is .
8 . Sen. Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar2020 Democrats push for gun control action at forum Joaquin Castro volunteers to play his brother on 'SNL ' 12 candidates qualify for October Democratic debate MORE ( D-Minn . )
Klobuchar β s bid is predicated on the idea that Democrats are willing to choose a centrist from the heartlands as the best candidate to take on Trump .
She is a lot more circumspect than her more progressive rivals when it comes to issues such as the Green New Deal and Medicare for All . She has referred to herself as β Heartland Amy β and she , like Buttigieg , has done a Fox News town hall .
Klobuchar β s appeal does make her distinctive to some degree . But Biden β s dominance among centrist voters seriously curtails Klobuchar β s room to run .
9 . Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development JuliΓ‘n Castro
Castro got off to a slow start in his campaign and usually polls in the low single digits . But that β s better than some better-known candidates , including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten GillibrandTo win the federal paid family leave debate , allow states to lead the way DNC raises qualifying thresholds for fifth presidential debate βββ 's 12:30 Report : Trump defends call as Ukraine controversy deepens MORE ( D-N.Y. ) , who has failed to register at all in several recent surveys .
Castro has made opposition to Trump β s immigration policies one of his signature issues . He has also sought to play up his connection to Obama , in whose Cabinet he served .
Will that take him far ? Probably not . But a respectable performance in the field could put him on someone β s shortlist for vice president .
10 . Businessman Andrew Yang Andrew Yang2020 Democrats push for gun control action at forum Krystal Ball on Yang 's fundraising haul : 'Even a random man has a shot at the Oval Office ' 12 candidates qualify for October Democratic debate MORE
Yang , a rank outsider , has at least nurtured his own small band of supporters β the self-proclaimed Yang Gang .
Yang has an idiosyncratic approach , for sure β boosting his profile by appearing on well-known podcasts rather then cable news , for example .
He has bemoaned the power of big tech companies . He has suggested a new value-added tax on corporations , with the proceeds dispensed as a universal basic income .
It is virtually inconceivable that Yang will be the nominee . But he has at least made some kind of imprint on a race where many others have barely been noticed . | zZwwVzN0ZltBq302 | 1 | Democratic Party | 3.9 | Election2020 | -0.2 | Presidential Elections | 0 | Elections | 0 | null | null |
republican_party | The Hill | https://thehill.com/latino/460002-democrats-walk-tightrope-in-fight-over-trump-wall-funds | Democrats walk tightrope in fight over Trump wall funds | 2019-09-05 | republican_party | Democrats face politically fraught options in opposing President Trump Donald John TrumpDem lawmaker says Nunes threatened to sue him over criticism Parnas : U.S. ambassador to Ukraine removed to clear path for investigations into Bidens Five takeaways from Parnas 's Maddow interview MORE β s move to divert $ 3.6 billion in military funds to build 175 miles of his border wall .
The legislative responses available to Democrats are few , given that the courts have largely ruled in the administration β s favor when it comes to emergency powers and the transfer of Pentagon funds . Pressing the issue runs the risk of derailing government funding legislation that Congress needs to pass by Oct. 1 to avert another shutdown .
While Democrats have vowed not to backfill accounts for the 127 military construction projects being tapped by the Pentagon for wall construction , standing firm could allow Trump to blame them for reduced funding for military projects .
And Democrats know that trying to add stringent language about the wall to any funding bills this month could increase the odds of another shutdown .
They β re wary of risking a shutdown over what β s likely to be a short-term stopgap measure and would rather address the issue as part of a wider funding debate later this year .
β The goal of keeping the government open would outweigh a provision the White House would never agree to , β said a Democratic aide .
But Democrats have pushed back by ruling out a request by the Office of Management and Budget to free up border wall funds as part of any forthcoming stopgap .
That prompted a swift rebuke from the White House on Wednesday .
β After more than a year of denying there was a crisis at the border , Democrats have now decided it β s good politics to refuse critical resources for the same crisis they now admit is real , β said a senior administration official . β It β s time Congressional Democrats end the gimmicks , and do what β s right to end this crisis and protect the American border . β
The back-and-forth on Wednesday came a day after Defense Secretary Mark Esper Mark EsperState Department cancels two classified congressional briefings on Iran , embassy security βββ 's 12:30 Report : Pelosi names impeachment managers as focus shifts to Senate βββ 's Morning Report - Trump trial questions ; civil Democratic debate MORE announced the funding policy in a letter to congressional leaders .
β The funds being made available are associated only with deferred military construction projects that are not scheduled for award until fiscal year 2020 or later and do not include any family housing , barracks , or dormitory projects , β Esper wrote in a letter announcing the policy .
That did little to mollify Democrats , who also rejected Esper β s characterization that the reprogramming was nothing more than a delay of project funding .
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz Deborah ( Debbie ) Wasserman SchultzAppropriators fume over reports of Trump plan to reprogram .2 billion for wall American Cancer Society says Trump does n't get credit for drop in cancer deaths Joe Kennedy mentions kids in impeachment address MORE ( D-Fla. ) , who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction , Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies , made clear on Tuesday that she would not support backfilling the funds being diverted for the wall .
β I reminded his Administration today that I will not support this theft from our military and that down the road , the House of Representatives will not backfill any projects he steals from today , β she said .
But that position could prove tricky for Democrats since it would let Republicans argue that Democrats are willing to hold military projects hostage due to their opposition to the wall .
β We need to secure our border and protect our military ; we can and should do both , β said Sen. Martha McSally Martha Elizabeth McSallyMartha McSally raises over million in fourth quarter for Arizona Senate race Democrat Mark Kelly raises nearly .3 million for Arizona Senate bid in fourth quarter of 2019 βββ 's Campaign Report : Deadline day for Dems to make January debate MORE ( R-Ariz. ) , who is up for reelection next year .
McSally noted that the Senate passed its version of an annual defense policy bill that backfills money the White House diverted toward building a border wall .
The House and Senate are still working to iron out differences between their respective annual defense policy bills , known as the National Defense Authorization Act , before the law expires at the end of the year .
The House-passed version includes a provision that would prevent the Trump administration from using Pentagon funds for a border wall , while the Senate bill goes in the other direction and calls for meeting the Trump administration β s request to backfill the $ 3.6 billion for military construction projects .
But before Congress gets around to making final spending decisions for fiscal 2020 , it will have to pass a stopgap measure by Oct. 1 to avert a shutdown . That deadline could also become a flashpoint .
A showdown over the wall in December prevented a similar stopgap measure from going through , resulting in a record 35-day partial government shutdown .
Another possible line of attack for Democrats could be a renewed attempt to overturn Trump β s emergency declaration , a move that would force a Senate vote and require Republicans in both chambers to go again on the record on the Trump administration bypassing Congress .
Trump in March vetoed Congress β s attempt to nix his declaration . But Democrats can force another vote every six months , and that could create a dilemma for GOP lawmakers whose states or districts stand to lose out on military construction projects under the diversion of funds .
`` Congress has been ceding far too much powers to the executive branch for decades and it is far past time for Congress to restore the proper balance of power between the three branches , β said Sen. Mike Lee Michael ( Mike ) Shumway LeeSens . Kaine , Lee : 'We should not be at war with Iran unless Congress authorizes it ' Overnight Defense : War powers fight runs into impeachment | Kaine has 51 votes for Iran resolution | Trump plans to divert .2B from Pentagon to border wall War powers fight in Senate runs squarely into impeachment MORE ( R ) , who along with fellow Utah Sen. Mitt Romney Willard ( Mitt ) Mitt RomneyGraham on impeachment trial : 'End this crap as quickly as possible ' Senate begins preparations for Trump trial βββ 's Morning Report - Trump trial questions ; civil Democratic debate MORE ( R ) raised concerns about $ 54 million worth of military construction projects in their state affected by the declaration .
Democrats also say they will rely on legal challenges to block the funds , arguing that Trump β s move usurps Congress β s power of the purse enshrined in the Constitution . But a lawsuit filed by House Democrats earlier this year was dismissed by a federal judge in Washington , who ruled in June that they lacked standing to bring the challenge .
That β s not stopping other entities from turning to the courts , even though previous challenges have fallen short . In July , the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could use $ 2.5 billion in military funds for the wall while litigation played out .
But on Tuesday , the American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU ) said it would seek a court order to stop the Pentagon β s transfer of funds .
β The fact that the government sat on these so-called β emergency funds β for seven months further confirms that this is nothing but an unlawful power grab , β said Dror Ladin , staff attorney with the ACLU β s National Security Project . β We β ll be back in court very soon to block Trump β s latest effort to raid military funds for his xenophobic wall . '' | ui8nVSwx3qLx2Jey | 1 | Democratic Party | -0.8 | Border Crisis | -0.8 | Republican Party | -0.4 | Politics | 0 | null | null |
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