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politics | New York Post (News) | https://nypost.com/2025/01/24/us-news/la-residents-fume-at-mayor-karen-bass-during-trump-wildfire-meeting/ | LA residents fume at Mayor Karen Bass during Trump wildfire roundtable: ‘We can’t even see our homes right now!’ | 2025-01-26 | Politics, Donald Trump, Los Angeles, California, California Wildfires, Karen Bass | Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass drew the ire of California wildfires victims Friday after suggesting during a meeting with President Trump that residents will be allowed to start rebuilding “right away” – when they haven’t even been allowed to see the devastation up close yet. “No, that will not be the case,” Bass responded, when told by the president that he’s heard it will be 18 months before Pacific Palisades residents that lost their homes can start rebuilding. Bass, 71, claimed that fire-affected homeowners “really shouldn’t have to go through much of a process” once city and county officials clear the hazardous material left on home lots. The mayor’s suggestion that the process was being fast-tracked was met by disbelief and confusion from several homeowners in the back of the room of the Pacific Palisades fire station where the public meeting took place. “So, I mean, we were told last night 18 months,” one resident told Bass. “So, if that’s not the answer, Mayor Bass, what is the answer? Because that’s what we were all told last night.” Bass responded that the city and county are doing “everything we can – slashing regulations, expediting everything, so that people can begin the process right away.” “You have to clear the lots. You guys are in charge!” another resident shouted at Bass. “We were told last night by the Army Corps of Engineers that it’d be 18 months. Is it not 18 months?” a third resident asked the mayor. “That’s the answer that we got and that’s what we’re all hanging on.” The exasperated man explained that the people in the community are desperate for a clear answer, noting that how long they decide to rent out other homes and other important arrangements are dependent on the timeline for rebuilding that they get from local officials. “So if you’re telling us now faster, is it six months?” he asked Bass. Before the mayor could respond Trump chimed in that six months “is no good.” “We’re concerned right now over the weekend because of the potential rain, but we are going to move as fast as we can,” Bass said. “But we want you to be safe, and we want you to be back in your homes immediately.” Trump argued that the upset homeowners in the back appeared ready to begin work “tonight.” “He doesn’t want to wait around for seven months,” the president said of the man probing Bass for clarity. Bass argued that “if individuals want to clear out their property, they can.” The remark enraged one woman in the crowd. “We can’t even get in there without Trump!” she shouted, demanding to know exactly when residents will be allowed back in their neighborhoods. Hesitantly and in an unsure tone, Bass responded: “We think within a week.” “We can’t even see our homes right now,” the incredulous woman fired back “We are blocked from entering our street. We can’t even – the first time we saw our house was yesterday.” Bass, who had been on a trip to Africa when the fires broke out, has seen her approval ratings nose dive in the aftermath of the devastating and deadly blazes. More than half of the people surveyed in a recent Madison McQueen poll said they disapprove of Bass’ leadership, and the mayor lags behind Democratic rival Rick Caruso by 7 points in a hypothetical mayoral match-up. Advertisement Unknown | 62a910a4d8ab967d | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Townhall | http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2015/09/16/suspense-joe-biden-met-with-a-top-obama-bundler-last-week-n2052681 | Suspense: Joe Biden Met With A Top Obama Bundler Last Week | 2015-09-16 | elections | Speculation has mounted over the possibility of Vice President Joe Biden entering the race after his little New York trip last week . According to John Heilemann of Bloomberg , he met with a top Obama donor , gave a speech to back a minimum wage hike with Gov . Andrew Cuomo with some of the Big Apple ’ s most powerful unions in attendance , stood by Attorney General Loretta Lynch who announced an $ 80 million effort to get rape kits tested in a more timely manner , and of course , that emotional interview with Stephen Colbert . In fact , for columnists like David Brooks * , a New York Times Republican , this is what had him reevaluate the prospects of a Biden candidacy :
With Colbert , one saw the kernel of a Biden formation story that could connect not only with Democratic voters but with other voters as well . It is a story of dual loss : his wife and daughter decades ago and his son this year . Out of that loss comes a great empathy , a connection to those who are suffering in this economy and this world . Out of that loss comes a hypercharged sense of mission . Out of that loss comes a liberation from the fear of failure that dogs most politicians , and causes them to dodge , prevaricate and spin . [ … ] On the Democratic side , a Biden run would be more formidable than I thought last month . You need emotion to beat emotion . With Stephen Colbert he revealed a story and suggested a campaign that is moving , compelling and in tune with the moment .
The bundler in question was Robert Wolf : the former chairman and CEO of UBS Americas , a prodigious buck-raker on behalf of Barack Obama in two successive campaigns , a four-time appointee to economic panels in the Obama administration , and perhaps the only person in the American business community—and certainly the sole Wall Street potentate—with whom Obama during his time in office has developed a deep and genuine friendship . ( The two are frequent golf partners , most recently last month on Martha 's Vineyard , where they were part of a foursome with Larry David and White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett 's cousin Cyrus Walker . ) Having picked up scuttlebutt about a possible Biden-Wolf tete-a-tete on Friday , I phoned Wolf over the weekend to see if it was true . Wolf , whom I 've known since he first backed Obama in early 2007 , confirmed that the meeting had taken place . The topics they discussed , Wolf said , ranged from the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank to the nation 's crumbling infrastructure , a focus of Wolf 's consulting firm , 32 Advisors . When I asked him if Biden had declared definitively that he was running , Wolf said no . Had Biden made a plea for Wolf 's support ? Wolf again said no—and pointed out he was supporting Clinton . Had Wolf come away with the impression that Biden was going to run ? “ If he does n't know yet , ” Wolf said coyly , “ how would I ? ” [ … ] If Biden does decide to run , the benefits of landing Wolf would be many , some obvious and some subtle—but all perfectly clear to each party . First , having raised north of $ 500,000 for Obama in both 2008 and 2012 , he could be a source of a great deal of campaign cash . Second , he could help Biden establish ties to Wall Street , where the V.P . has few . Third , he could be a valuable adviser on economic matters , where the priorities of the two are in sync . Fourth , Wolf 's defection from the Clinton camp would be a major symbolic blow to her already reeling campaign . And fifth , given Wolf 's closeness to Obama , the move would carry with it the widespread ( and likely accurate ) assumption that the president had blessed it .
Heilemann added that Team Biden might be aiming for a later entry date . They ’ re still waiting to see if this Hillary collapse continues into the fall , especially when the former first lady testifies in front of the Select House Committee On Benghazi on October 22 . Moreover , his possible campaign can still meet the filing deadlines to have his name on the ballot in the early voting states , and allow his family to continue to reflect in private their loss of Beau Biden , who passed away from brain cancer in May . Nevertheless , Biden would miss the first Democratic debate on October 13 , and the Florida Democratic Party convention on October 31 and Nov. 1 .
There are still a lot of uncertainties , one of them being that 800 lb . elephant in the room , which is that Biden has run twice before and lost both times . He ’ s never done well in New Hampshire , and this focus of starting something in South Carolina may have some good buzz , but can that translate into votes–especially when Hillary Clinton , despite her sagging campaign , holds a 70-80 percent approval rating with black voters in the state ? It ’ s a demographic Biden has to compete with seriously if he wishes to clinch that primary .
There seems to be enough support for Biden to at least mount a challenge , but it ’ s a question about whether the man has the “ emotional fuel . ” | Xqw8C5w9iuPGaF7A | 2 | Joe Biden | 1 | Presidential Elections | 0 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null |
immigration | CNN (Web News) | http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/28/gop-rep-many-house-republicans-will-sign-onto-immigration-bill/ | GOP Rep: Many House Republicans will sign onto immigration bill | 2013-10-28 | Immigration, Republican Party, US House | Washington ( CNN ) - The only House Republican to so far sign onto a Democratic immigration bill in the lower chamber thinks he will soon be joined by many other Republicans .
Asked by CNN 's Wolf Blitzer Monday how many other Republicans will sign onto the House bill , Rep. Jeff Denham answered that `` I 'm confident we 're going to get a huge number of Republicans , '' he said , although `` the ultimate number I think remains to be defined . ''
The immigration bill in question has 185 Democrats signed on as co-sponsors . The Republican co-sponsors ? One , Denham , a California Republican whose central-valley district is 40 % Latino .
Like its Senate-passed cousin that Speaker John Boehner has refused to bring up , the House bill includes a pathway to citizenship for most of the nation 's 11 million estimated undocumented migrants . At minimum , that pathway would take 13 years , with 10 years just to become a legal permanent resident .
The difference between the House and Senate versions , Denham said , is border security . While the Senate bill greatly expanded the U.S. Border Patrol , it included little or no requirements for exactly how much the flow of undocumented workers must be stunted before the pathway to citizenship can even begin . That lack of metrics , along with a pathway to citizenship labeled as amnesty for lawbreakers by many in the GOP , has caused House Republicans to swear off the Senate version . They favor a piecemeal approach with multiple bills .
`` We have now added the Republican version to this bill , that addresses that border security with real metrics , guaranteeing that we have a solid , over 90 percent success rate before we even implement the rest , '' including the pathway , Denham said on `` CNN Newsroom , '' calling the bill `` a bipartisan solution . ''
Rubio favors House approach over immigration bill he helped author
The new House immigration bill is called `` The Border Security , Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act , '' or bill H.R . 15 . It includes Denham 's ENLIST Act which would allow for qualified undocumented immigrants to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces and thus earn their citizenship at an accelerated rate .
Immigration reform was placed on the backburner after the Senate bill passed in June . It has seen a new push after President Barack Obama made a renewed call for reform last week .
Whether or not the push will reach the ears of House Republicans remains to be seen . Only a few Republicans have districts with a strong presence of Latino voters , such as Denham .
Denham shrugged off the suggestion Monday that he is breaking ranks from the rest of the House GOP .
`` This is to focus the House on getting real reform done this year , '' Denham said of his co-sponsorship . Whether one bill or many , `` my focus is to make sure we have a solution this year . '' | b7cb8e83ecbeb2ac | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
federal_budget | Salon | http://www.salon.com/2014/02/12/gops_demented_threat_for_2015_how_it_can_still_hold_the_economy_hostage/ | GOP's demented 2015 threat: The debt limit | 2014-02-12 | Debt Ceiling, Federal Budget, Economy And Jobs | Yesterday marked a year and a week since President Obama signed the No Budget , No Pay Act of 2013 , which short-circuited the first debt limit crisis of Obama 's second term . It also marked the third time in Obama 's second term that the House of Representatives , under GOP leadership , has passed legislation increasing the debt limit without extorting unreciprocated concessions from the president .
The fact that Tuesday 's debt limit increase -- valid until March 15 of next year -- was appended to a random bill designating the air route traffic control center in Nashua , N.H. , as the `` Patricia Clark Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center '' underscores how frivolous and contrived all of the legislative kabuki surrounding the debt limit has been , and at unknown cost to the economy .
Obviously the Senate still has to pass the plan in order to avoid calamity at the end of the months , and thanks to filibuster rules at least five Republicans will have to martyr themselves for that to happen .
But the past year has revealed two irreducible facts about the GOP and its weaponization of the debt limit . First , that Republican leaders have no intention of allowing the U.S. government to default on its obligations to creditors ; and second , that Republicans ' oft-repeated claims that clean debt limit increases ca n't pass the House have always been false -- bluster meant to intimidate Democrats into conceding something , anything , for a debt limit increase and keeping the cycle of brinkmanship alive .
What has truly upset the cycle is that Republicans have finally learned -- after a couple of failed extortion attempts -- that President Obama and Democrats are serious about de-weaponizing the debt limit . They will not be scared into negotiations . Once that became clear the two above facts have augured for clean debt limit increases , which is what we 've gotten ever since . It 's practically a logical certainty .
But as nice and sensible as it would be for Congress to grant the executive unlimited authority to increase the debt limit , or to increase the debt limit until the year 1 billion A.D. , the House bill only increases it for a year . Until just a few weeks after the beginning of the 114th Congress .
Part of that 's just a concession to political realities on the right . By weaponizing the debt limit and creating an expectation of routine hostage taking , Republicans have made it very difficult for themselves to explain to their own primary voters why they 've started increasing it routinely again , as if Obama were George W. Bush or something .
So a year 's probably the most we can hope for . But it 's just as easy to see this as a hiatus -- a temporary accession to political reality paired with a hope that in March of next year the balance of power will have shifted enough to knock Obama back into negotiations .
If that 's the case , the spring of 2015 will be a fraught with danger . Particularly if Republicans flip the Senate .
Unlike the so-called Boehner rule , which has somewhat nebulously and malleably circumscribed the GOP 's ransom demands , Obama 's post-2011 refusal to surrender any concessions for a debt limit increase is both consistent and unarbitrary . His position wo n't change no matter how well or poorly Republicans perform in November because no election outcome short of veto-proof congressional majorities neutralizes the executive branch 's role in the lawmaking process . No plausible outcome in November will make it legitimate for the GOP to extort its entire agenda on the threat of tanking the global economy . That is a cardinal fact .
Hopefully a Republican Party in full control of the Congress would recognize that , recognize that their party will be fully held to account for the consequences of a debt limit breach , and increase it without drama . Ironically the one upside to full GOP control is that they would n't be able to shirk responsibility for various crises on to Senate Democrats anymore .
But a GOP sweep in 2014 would also restimulate the right 's appetite for confrontation . It would n't really matter how contrived or unfeasible their demands were -- they would expect Republicans in Congress to produce . The tension between factions on the right would be much greater than it is right now or at any time last year . And that would create an environment of uncertainty rivaling the summer of 2011 . | 8e2e7307d3db57f0 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/27/bernie-sanders-downplays-wisconsin-recount-nobody-/ | Bernie Sanders downplays Wisconsin recount: ‘Nobody cares’ | 2016-11-27 | elections | Sen. Bernard Sanders on Sunday dismissed the presidential vote recount in Wisconsin , saying “ nobody cares ” about it and that it ’ s unlikely to affect the outcome of the election in any way .
Speaking on CNN ’ s “ State of the Union , ” the Vermont independent and former presidential hopeful said the recount , while perfectly justified , simply is not a big deal .
“ It ’ s taking place . The Green Party has the legal right to do it … No one expects there to be profound change , but there ’ s nothing wrong with going through the process , ” Mr. Sanders said , going on to throw cold water on any notion that the result in Wisconsin could change .
“ This is exactly the issue — nobody cares , ” he said . “ I don ’ t think Hillary Clinton , who got 2 million more votes than [ President-elect Donald ] Trump in the popular election , thinks it ’ s going to transform the election . But do people have the legal right to do it ? Yeah , we do . ”
Mr. Trump narrowly defeated Mrs. Clinton in the state , garnering 1404,000 votes to 1,381,823 for the former first lady , according to the Wisconsin Election Commission .
The recount has been spearheaded by Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein , who raised millions of dollars for the effort in just a few days . Over the weekend , the Clinton campaign said it would join the effort despite having no evidence of voter fraud or miscalculation .
The Green Party also is pushing recounts in other battleground states .
“ This recount is just a way for Jill Stein , who received less than 1 percent of the vote overall and wasn ’ t even on the ballot in many states , to fill her coffers with money , most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount , ” the president-elect said in a statement . | SsBrFe9lhaONrByV | 2 | Presidential Elections | -0.1 | Elections | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
supreme_court | New York Times - News | http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/us/supreme-court-lets-health-law-largely-stand.html?ref=politics | Supreme Court Lets Health Law Largely Stand, in Victory for Obama | 2012-06-29 | supreme_court | Justice Anthony M. Kennedy , who had been thought to be the administration ’ s best hope to provide a fifth vote to uphold the law , joined three more conservative members in an unusual jointly written dissent that said the court should have struck down the entire law . The majority ’ s approach , he said from the bench , “ amounts to a vast judicial overreaching . ”
The court ’ s ruling was the most significant federalism decision since the New Deal and the most closely watched case since Bush v. Gore in 2000 . It was a crucial milestone for the law , the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 , allowing almost all — and perhaps , in the end , all — of its far-reaching changes to roll forward .
Mr. Obama welcomed the court ’ s decision on the health care law , which has inspired fierce protests , legal challenges and vows of repeal since it was passed . “ Whatever the politics , today ’ s decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives are more secure because of this law , ” he said at the White House .
“ Obamacare was bad policy yesterday ; it ’ s bad policy today , ” Mitt Romney , the presumptive Republican presidential nominee , said in remarks near the Capitol . “ Obamacare was bad law yesterday ; it ’ s bad law today. ” He , like Congressional Republicans , renewed his pledge to undo the law .
The historic decision , coming after three days of lively oral arguments in March and in the midst of a presidential campaign , drew intense attention across the nation . Outside the court , more than 1,000 people gathered — packing the sidewalk , playing music , chanting slogans — and a loud cheer went up as word spread that the law had been largely upheld . Chants of “ Yes we can ! ” rang out , but the ruling also provoked disappointment among Tea Party supporters .
In Loudoun County , Va. , Angela Laws , 58 , the owner of a cleaning service , said she and her fiancé were relieved at the news . “ We laughed , and we shouted with joy and hugged each other , ” she said , explaining that she had been unable to get insurance because of her diabetes and back problems until a provision in the health care law went into effect .
After months of uncertainty about the law ’ s fate , the court ’ s ruling provides some clarity — and perhaps an alert — to states , insurers , employers and consumers about what they are required to do by 2014 , when much of the law comes into force .
The Obama administration had argued that the mandate was necessary because it allowed other provisions of the law to function : those overhauling the way insurance is sold and those preventing sick people from being denied or charged extra for insurance . The mandate ’ s supporters had said it was necessary to ensure that not only sick people but also healthy individuals would sign up for coverage , keeping insurance premiums more affordable .
Conservatives took comfort from two parts of the decision : the new limits it placed on federal regulation of commerce and on the conditions the federal government may impose on money it gives the states .
Five justices accepted the argument that had been at the heart of the challenges brought by 26 states and other plaintiffs : that the federal government is not permitted to force individuals not engaged in commercial activities to buy services they do not want . That was a stunning victory for a theory pressed by a small band of conservative and libertarian lawyers . Most members of the legal academy view the theory as misguided , if not frivolous .
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“ To an economist , perhaps , there is no difference between activity and inactivity ; both have measurable economic effects on commerce , ” Chief Justice Roberts wrote . “ But the distinction between doing something and doing nothing would not have been lost on the framers , who were practical statesmen , not metaphysical philosophers . ”
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg , in an opinion joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer , Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan , dissented on this point , calling the view “ stunningly retrogressive. ” She wondered why Chief Justice Roberts had seen fit to address it at all in light of his vote to uphold the mandate under the tax power .
Akhil Reed Amar , a Yale law professor and a champion of the health care law , said that it was “ important to look at the dark cloud behind the silver lining . ”
“ Federal power has more restrictions on it , ” he said , referring to the new limits on regulating commerce . “ Going forward , there may even be laws on the books that have to be re-examined . ”
The restrictions placed on the Medicaid expansion may also have significant ripple effects . A splintered group of justices effectively revised the law to allow states to choose between participating in the expansion while receiving additional payments or forgoing the expansion and retaining the existing payments . The law had called for an all-or-nothing choice .
The expansion had been designed to provide coverage to 17 million Americans . While some states have indicated that they will participate in the expansion , others may be resistant , leaving more people outside the safety net than the Obama administration had intended .
Although the decision did not turn on it , the back-and-forth between Justice Ginsburg ’ s opinion for the four liberals and the joint opinion by the four conservatives — Justice Kennedy and Justices Antonin Scalia , Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. — revisited the by-now-familiar arguments . Broccoli made a dozen appearances .
“ Although an individual might buy a car or a crown of broccoli one day , there is no certainty she will ever do so , ” Justice Ginsburg wrote . “ And if she eventually wants a car or has a craving for broccoli , she will be obliged to pay at the counter before receiving the vehicle or nourishment . She will get no free ride or food , at the expense of another consumer forced to pay an inflated price . ”
The conservative dissenters responded that “ one day the failure of some of the public to purchase American cars may endanger the existence of domestic automobile manufacturers ; or the failure of some to eat broccoli may be found to deprive them of a newly discovered cancer -fighting chemical which only that food contains , producing health care costs that are a burden on the rest of us . ”
All of the justices agreed that their review of the health care law was not barred by the Anti-Injunction Act , which allows suits over some sorts of taxes only after they become due . That could have delayed the health care challenge to 2015 . The conservative dissenters said that the majority could not have it both ways by calling the mandate a tax for some purposes but not others .
“ That carries verbal wizardry too far , deep into the forbidden land of sophists , ” they said .
As a general matter , Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the decision in the case , National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius , No . 11-393 , offered no endorsement of the law ’ s wisdom .
Some decisions , the chief justice said , “ are entrusted to our nation ’ s elected leaders , who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them . ”
Justice Ginsburg , speaking to a crowded courtroom that sat rapt for the better part of an hour , drew a different conclusion .
“ In the end , ” she said , “ the Affordable Care Act survives largely unscathed . ” | FWOXVxCTxcs17m7g | 0 | Supreme Court | 2.5 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
economy_and_jobs | Townhall | http://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2015/02/23/why-those-wage-equality-demands-should-be-aimed-at-hillary-clinton-n1961085 | Why Those Wage Equality Demands Should be Aimed at Hillary Clinton | 2015-02-23 | economy_and_jobs | We all heard Patricia Arquette calling for wage equality and women ’ s rights last night on the Oscar stage , with her new Supporting Actress award in hand . Meryl Streep and J-Lo just about went nuts cheering on her feminist speech and Planned Parenthood was giddy with glee on Twitter .
COSIGN ALL OF THAT , @ PattyArquette : `` It is time for wage equality ... and equal rights for women in America ! '' # Oscars2015 # fyeahfeminism — Planned Parenthood ( @ PPact ) February 23 , 2015
With their passionate pleas for gender equality in the workplace , I wonder how these same figures and women ’ s organizations will react to this morning ’ s news that Hillary Clinton paid women on her staff only 72 cents for every dollar paid for men while working in the U.S. Senate . From the Washington Free Beacon :
During those years , the median annual salary for a woman working in Clinton ’ s office was $ 15,708.38 less than the median salary for a man , according to the analysis of data compiled from official Senate expenditure reports .
The inequality in Clinton ’ s office is a bit ironic , considering the causes the former Secretary of State professes to promote .
20 years ago , women made 72 cents on the dollar to men . Today it 's still just 77 cents . More work to do . # EqualPay # NoCeilings — Hillary Clinton ( @ HillaryClinton ) April 9 , 2014
Those “ ceilings ” she speaks of seem to have been right over her and her staff ’ s own heads .
In June , the Free Beacon also broke the news that in the 1980s Clinton defended a man who raped an underage girl – a scandal which will be remembered as The Hillary Tapes .
Yet , groups like Planned Parenthood and EMILY ’ s List continue to honor her “ efforts ” on behalf of women . And as for those same A-list celebrities who cheered for wage equality last night , they appear to have no problem being chummy with the former First Lady .
I wonder , after these pay gap revelations , if Clinton will now feel the wrath of these famous feminists and popular women ’ s rights groups , or if the latter will continue to air their grievances against the “ real threat ” – the suffocating patriarchy .
The answer is too obvious to be placed inside one of those golden envelopes . | BKotCwVQhYIZSjnH | 2 | Equal Pay | 0.8 | Hillary Clinton | -0.7 | Income Inequality | -0.7 | Economy And Jobs | 0 | null | null |
healthcare | Washington Post | http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/about-40000-americans-are-said-to-have-signed-up-for-plans-on-healthcaregov/2013/11/11/622ec9dc-4b1b-11e3-9890-a1e0997fb0c0_story.html?hpid=z1 | About 40,000 Americans are said to have signed up for plans on HealthCare.gov | 2013-11-12 | Healthcare | clockThis article was published more than 11 years ago An earlier version of this article identified Rep. Dave Camp as a Wisconsin Republican. He is from Michigan. This version has been corrected. Roughly 40,000 Americans have signed up for private insurance through the flawed federal online insurance marketplace since it opened six weeks ago, according to two people with access to the figures. That amount is a tiny fraction of the total projected enrollment for the 36 states where the federal government is running the online health-care exchange, indicating the slow start to the president's initiative. The first concrete evidence of the popularity — and accessibility — of the new federal insurance exchange emerged as the White House has been preparing to release this week the first official tally of how many people have chosen coverage using the Web site, HealthCare.gov. | fcc60bab55142bca | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Poynter | https://www.poynter.org/newsletters/2020/the-third-person-on-tonights-debate-stage-might-be-the-most-important-so-who-is-kristen-welker/ | The third person on tonight’s debate stage might be the most important. So who is Kristen Welker? | 2020-10-22 | Elections, 2020 Election, Debates, Donald Trump, Joe Biden | NBC News’ Kristen Welker will moderate tonight’s debate. Her name has been in the news a lot the past few days, mostly because President Donald Trump keeps running her down, calling her “terrible” and “totally partisan.” But she’s a well-respected journalist, even earning praise from Trump adviser Jason Miller, who called her “very fair.” She is especially well respected inside NBC News. When she was named a moderator, NBC News President Noah Oppenheim told his staff, “The selection of Kristen as a moderator is a testament to her talent, skill, work ethic and tenacity. As she demonstrated during the November presidential debate, Kristen will ask the tough and necessary questions on behalf of American voters. Anyone who knows Kristen knows this — there is preparing, and then there is the way Kristen prepares. As Andrea (Mitchell) noted on air today, ‘No one works harder … she does more homework than anyone I have ever known.’” Her colleagues also hold her in high regard. “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie called her “the best of the best” and, when Welker was named moderator, NBC News’ Peter Alexander said, “Nobody is better deserving. She’s going to be terrific.” NBC News’ Kasie Hunt tweeted on Wednesday, “If there was ever a journalist who could handle this, it’s (Welker).” What else do we know about Welker? She was born and raised in Philadelphia and graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in American history. Before joining NBC News, she worked at local stations in Philadelphia; Providence, Rhode Island; and Redding, California. She began covering the White House in 2011 and began co-anchoring “Weekend Today” in January 2020. Welker does have some debate experience, co-moderating the fifth Democratic presidential debate last November. She will be the first Black woman to moderate a presidential debate since ABC News’ Carole Simpson in 1992. As has become customary with debate moderators, Welker hasn’t done any interviews leading up to tonight’s debate. Trump has made a big deal out of reports that Welker’s parents have donated to the Democratic Party. But, as we all know, we shouldn’t assume anything about anyone based on their parents’ politics. PolitiFact’s Bill McCarthy wrote that, despite accusations, Welker has not donated money to the Democratic Party, is not a registered Democrat and did not spend Christmas with the Obamas. Andrea Mitchell, Welker’s NBC News colleague who has been helping her with debate prep, told the Associated Press’ David Bauder, “She’s got her eye on the prize.” Although, Mitchell admits tonight will be a challenge and that Welker will have to have the best night of her career. “It’s a hard challenge,” Mitchell said. [the_ad id=”667826″] (Courtesy: NBC News) Here’s what the major networks have planned for tonight: ABC: Coverage will begin with a one-hour special at 8 p.m. to preview the debate. Coverage will be led by George Stephanopoulos. He will be joined by “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir and “ABC News Live Prime” anchor Linsey Davis. ABC’s coverage also will include White House correspondent Jonathan Karl and congressional correspondent Mary Bruce — both reporting from Nashville. ABC correspondents Martha Raddatz, Cecilia Vega and Tom Llamas will report on their beats. And, offering up analysis will be correspondent Terry Moran, FiveThirtyEight editor-in-chief Nate Silver, special correspondent Matthew Dowd, and legal analyst Dan Abrams, as well as contributors Chris Christie, Yvette Simpson, Rahm Emanuel, Kate Shaw and Sara Fagen. CBS: Coverage will be anchored by “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell. “CBS This Morning” co-host and “60 Minutes” correspondent John Dickerson will join O’Donnell, and CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett will handle fact-checking in the post-debate coverage. Nikole Killion will report live from Nashville and Paula Reid will be at the White House. NBC: Coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern and will be led by “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt and “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie from New York. “Meet the Press” moderator and political director Chuck Todd and senior Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell will anchor from the nation’s capital. MSNBC’s coverage starts at 8 p.m. and there will be plenty of post-debate coverage, led by Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid and Brian Williams. PBS: “PBS NewsHour” will broadcast live coverage starting at 9 p.m. Judy Woodruff will anchor with contributions from “PBS NewsHour” senior national correspondent Amna Nawaz, White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, Capitol Hill correspondent Lisa Desjardins and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report, among others. Fox News will have coverage on its various programs all day. Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will co-anchor debate coverage. Sean Hannity’s program will air immediately after the debate at 11 p.m. Eastern, followed by Laura Ingraham at midnight. Topics for tonight’s debate are scheduled to be fighting COVID-19, American families, race in America, climate change, national security and leadership. A few thoughts about the topics: All are worthwhile topics, including climate change, which hasn’t received as much attention as it should have because it has been swallowed up by other stories. Hopefully, Welker can keep the candidates on point, especially because Trump is expected to bring up Hunter Biden as often as possible. Save for the “leadership” topic (and maybe “national security”), there really isn’t another topic that Trump can use to bring up Hunter Biden without really stretching it off topic. In addition, there really doesn’t seem to be a spot among those topics to delve into the Supreme Court opening. Then again, just because topics are set and certain questions are asked does not mean the candidates can’t take the debate in the direction they want to go. For instance, Trump’s camp is upset that foreign policy isn’t a main topic in the debate. So Trump also is expected to hit that hard, especially because he views that as a Biden weakness. Meanwhile, The Trump-Biden conversation about COVID-19 will include something that wasn’t a factor in the last debate. This time, Trump is likely to bring up his own personal experience with the coronavirus. [the_ad id=”667872″] FiveThirtyEight has a cool new interactive map. It allows users to pick a candidate to win a state (or a combination of states) and then see how it impacts the electoral college. So, for example, what would happen if President Trump wins swing states such as North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania? What happens if Biden wins one of those states, but wins Wisconsin and Michigan? Type in any combination you like and you’ll see how it improves or decreases a candidate’s chances of winning the election. The map already takes into account polling where the candidates are favored to win, allowing users to concentrate on states where both candidates have a chance to win. Quibi founders Meg Whitman and Jeffrey Katzenberg. (AP Photo) This news seems to have been coming for a while now. Quibi, the short-form mobile video company, is shutting down after not being able to find a buyer. In a story first reported by The Wall Street Journal’s Benjamin Mullin and Joe Flint, the startup founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman apparently had no other choice. A restructuring firm told Quibi it had several options, but the only one that made sense was to cut its losses and shut down. Quibi employs about 200. All will be laid off and given a severance package. There were high hopes when Quibi launched in just April of this year after raising $1.75 billion. The service had two subscriptions: $4.99 a month with ads and $7.99 a month without. It had big stars on board. It originally had short-form original titles with such big names as Jennifer Lopez, Chance the Rapper and Sophie Turner. In addition, it had projects lined up with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Antoine Fuqua, Anna Kendrick and others. The snack-sized approach to video was supposed to attract a younger audience. But, clearly, launching such an ambitious project during a global pandemic that slammed the economy was awful luck, and the customers just weren’t there. CNBC’s Steve Kovach wrote, “Quibi originally projected it would have more than 7 million subscribers after its first year, but it only had about 500,000 subscribers as of a few weeks ago.” Kovach also added this notable tidbit: “According to people familiar with the matter, Quibi had difficulty selling itself to a larger company because it only owned its content for two years, meaning any potential buyer would just be purchasing Quibi’s technology.” In an open letter, Katzenberg and Whitman wrote, “Quibi was a big idea and there was no one who wanted to make a success of it more than we did. Our failure was not for lack of trying; we’ve considered and exhausted every option available to us.” They added, “And yet, Quibi is not succeeding. Likely for one of two reasons: because the idea itself wasn’t strong enough to justify a standalone streaming service or because of our timing. Unfortunately, we will never know but we suspect it’s been a combination of the two. The circumstances of launching during a pandemic is something we could have never imagined but other businesses have faced these unprecedented challenges and have found their way through it. We were not able to do so.” Can the news get any weirder? Apparently, yes. Now comes the bizarro story involving Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and a scene from Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest movie starring his character Borat. It’s a story almost too weird to pay attention to, and yet it’s a story that could very well blow up and therefore shouldn’t be ignored. To save time and space, check out the details from The Daily Beast’s Matt Wilstein and Asawin Suebsaeng. But there’s this tweet from veteran journalist Maureen Dowd: “I’ve seen the Giuliani moment in Borat 2. It’s even wilder than it sounds. Beyond cringe.” Whatever ends up happening, we can all agree that the election and the end of 2020 can’t get here soon enough. A preview of Fox News’ new state-of-the-art technology that will be used on election night. (Courtesy: Fox News) Fox News will unveil state-of-the-art technology for its election night coverage. According to Fox News, it will include “new immersive 3D graphics and enhanced studio technology for live updates, providing viewers unprecedented access to the election process and comprehensive insight into the evening’s developments.” The technology being used is from the company that created Fortnite and includes “real-time 3D graphics and visual effects of a digitally-constructed White House (that) will serve as an immersive backdrop to showcase the status of various races and guide viewers through the most critical developments across both FNC’s and FOX Business Network’s live coverage.” The graphics will illustrate turnovers of Democrat and Republican-held seats as results are reported, as well as special features for the presidential race. [the_ad id=”667878″] Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org. Note: This story has been updated to include PBS’s debate coverage plans. The Poynter Report is our daily media newsletter. To have it delivered to your inbox Monday-Friday, sign up here. Follow us on Twitter and on Facebook. When Trump accused Zelenskyy of starting the war between Ukraine and Russia, journalists loudly spelled out the truth Notes that cite fact-checkers earn more trust from X users and combat misinformation faster The nonpartisan US Government Accountability Office did, in March 2024, and the estimate includes all federal agencies since 2003 Inviting a radio show to broadcast from the Pentagon probably isn’t dangerous, but it further shows the Trump admin’s intent to favor friendly media These unglamorous stories — lawsuits, house fires and council meetings — once formed the backbone of civic life. Their loss leaves us in the dark. Get the Poynter newsletter that's right for you. Support responsible news and fact-based information today! | bec06739600cb1af | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
race_and_racism | Daily Beast | https://www.thedailybeast.com/tom-cotton-cries-fake-news-when-fox-and-friends-directly-quotes-him-on-slavery?ref=home | Tom Cotton Cries ‘Fake News’ When ‘Fox & Friends’ Directly Quotes Him on Slavery | 2020-07-27 | US Senate, Slavery, 1619 Project, Tom Cotton, Arkansas, History, American Heritage, Race And Racism | Senior Editor The hosts of Fox & Friends waited until the final moments of their interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) to bring up the comments he made about slavery and The New York Times’ ‘1619 Project’ over the weekend. Cotton used the opportunity to accuse them of spreading “fake news.” “Senator Tom Cotton, you’re in the eye of the storm, you like to take on red-hot issues, including ‘The 1619 Project,’” Brian Kilmeade said as the senator smiled awkwardly. He then quoted directly at length from Cotton’s interview with the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. “We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country,” Cotton said in that interview. “As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.” After reading that quote aloud, all Kilmeade had to say was, “Some say that was insensitive.” “Well, that is fake news, Brian,” Cotton replied, chuckling uncomfortably. “That is not what I said.” “What I said is that many Founders believed that only with the Union and the Constitution could we put slavery on the path to its ultimate extinction,” the senator continued. He did not clarify whether he believed Fox or his local newspaper actually misquoted him at any point or if or if they were just cleaning up the comments after the fact. “Of course slavery is an evil institution,” Cotton added, “in all its forms, at all times, in America’s past or around the world today.” Somehow, there was a “but” coming. “But the fundamental moral principle of America is right there in the Declaration: ‘All men are created equal,’” he said. “And the history of America is the long and sometimes difficult struggle to live up to that principle.” “That’s a history we ought to be proud of, not the historical revisionism of ‘The 1619 Project,’ which wants to indoctrinate America’s kids and teach them to hate America,” Cotton continued, as Kilmeade’s co-host Steve Doocy could be seen typing on his phone. “To believe that America was founded not on human freedom, but on racism. To think that slavery was not an aberration, but the true heart of America.” In response to Cotton’s comments, ‘The 1619 Project’s’ Nikole Hannah-Jones tweeted over the weekend, “Were the Founders right or wrong, @TomCottonAR, when they called slavery a ‘necessary evil upon which the Union was built’? Because either you agree with their assessment of slavery as necessary or you admit they were lying and it was just an evil and dishonorable choice. Which?” Cotton’s interview on Fox fell short of answering her question. Senior Editor matt.wilstein@thedailybeast.com Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT | 2ee29ec5ac6f336f | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | The Hill | http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/403204-trump-flipping-to-take-a-plea-deal-almost-ought-to-be-illegal | Trump: ‘Flipping’ to take a plea deal ‘almost ought to be illegal’ | 2018-08-23 | politics | President Trump Donald John TrumpGOP senators balk at lengthy impeachment trial Warren goes local in race to build 2020 movement 2020 Democrats make play for veterans ' votes MORE on Thursday suggested that the practice of cooperating with prosecutors as part of a plea agreement `` ought to be illegal '' after his former personal attorney , Michael Cohen , said in a guilty plea that he violated campaign finance laws at Trump 's direction .
Trump told `` Fox & Friends '' host Ainsley Earhardt that Cohen was able to secure a better deal because he used Trump 's name . The president suggested in a tweet on Wednesday that Cohen lied to get such a deal .
`` If somebody defrauded a bank and he ’ s gon na get 10 years in jail , or 20 years in jail , but you can say something bad about Donald Trump and you ’ ll go down to two years or three years , which is the deal he made , in all fairness to him most people are going to do that , '' Trump said on `` Fox & Friends . ''
`` It ’ s called flipping , and it almost ought to be illegal , '' he added .
Trump : Flipping should be illegal pic.twitter.com/qVFsOWHbkv — TPM Livewire ( @ TPMLiveWire ) August 23 , 2018
Trump suggested that individuals who flip are n't being truthful , telling Earhardt that they `` make up stories '' and `` just make up lies . ''
`` I ’ ve seen it many times , '' Trump said , without providing examples . `` They make up things and now they go from 10 years to they ’ re a national hero . ''
Legal experts have noted in the aftermath of Cohen 's guilty plea that prosecutors would not have accepted his plea if they believed he was not being truthful .
On Tuesday , Cohen pleaded guilty to eight felony charges , including two counts of violating campaign finance law by arranging the payments to two women who say they had affairs with Trump .
The president pushed back on that claim , telling Earhardt that he found out about the arrangements `` later on '' and argued such a payment would not constitute a campaign finance law violation .
The president 's former attorney recorded a conversation , released last month , in which he and Trump discuss how they would purchase the rights to the story of former Playboy model Karen McDougal , who says she had an affair with Trump in 2006 .
In addition , the payments Cohen described in court are what is known as an in-kind contribution on behalf of the Trump campaign . | hQDsQItjmNm295Mb | 1 | Donald Trump | -1.2 | Michael Cohen | -0.4 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null |
politics | John Stossel | http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/12/30/heres-what-went-right-in-2015.html | OPINION: Here's what went right in 2015 | 2015-12-30 | politics | We reporters focus on bad news , but at year ’ s end , let ’ s remember what went right . 2015 was a better time to be alive than most any prior point in history .
The rich got richer . Some people think that ’ s a problem , but why ? Do rich people sit on their piles of money and cackle about how rich they are ? Do they build giant houses that damage the environment ? Well , they sometimes do .
But mostly they invest , hoping to get richer still . Those investments create jobs and better products and make most everyone else richer . Even if the rich leave money in banks , banks lend it to people who put it to productive use .
Sure , income inequality has grown -- but so what ? The rich don ’ t get richer at the expense of the poor . Poor people ’ s income grew 48 percent over the past 35 years . Bernie Sanders says that “ the middle class is disappearing ! ” But that ’ s mainly because many middle-class people moved into the upper class . Middle class incomes grew 40 percent over the past 30 years .
This year we heard more horror stories about bad schools and students who don ’ t learn . But take heart : Seven more states passed education choice legislation .
That means more students can opt out of bad schools and pick better ones , and over the long haul competing schools will have to get better at what they do . That will lead to a brighter future for all students -- and for society , which will benefit from their improved skills .
In 2015 , two more states and Washington , D.C. , legalized marijuana . Authorities are always reluctant to give up control , but gradually the end of the expensive , destructive and futile drug war will come .
Meanwhile , real crime -- violence and thefts -- continue to fall . We cover horrible mass shootings and spikes in crime in cities like Baltimore and St. Louis , but overall , crime is down -- over the past 20 years , down by about half .
Unfortunately , terrorism has increased -- mainly because of ISIS in Syria , Iraq and Afghanistan . Nevertheless , there are far fewer deaths from war and terror than there were 30 years ago , and in America , the odds of you or your family being killed by a terrorist are infinitesimal compared to disease , accidents and a thousand more-ordinary threats .
Marriage is good for civilization . This year the Supreme Court declared that gay people may get married . Government shouldn ’ t be in the marriage business at all , since marriage is a contract between individuals , but if it ’ s going to wade into that issue , it ’ s better to have one clear rule instead of ugly ongoing fights about it .
Ending the political squabble means we can all go back to minding our own business and worrying about our own marriages .
The picture isn ’ t all rosy . As I mentioned , terrorism is up . Medicare , Medicaid and Social Security are on track to lead America into bankruptcy . We have eternal problems like hunger and disease .
But even those “ eternal ” problems are closer to being solved than they used to be .
Thanks to better vaccines , 6 million fewer children under the age of 5 die each year compared to 30 years ago .
Twenty-five years ago , 2 billion people lived in extreme poverty -- that meant surviving on about a dollar a day , often with little access to basic needs like water and food . “ Experts ” predicted that number would rise as the population grew . Happily , thanks to the power of free markets , they were wrong . In the space of a generation , half the people most in need in the world were rescued .
Ten percent of the world ’ s people still live in dire poverty , but the trend is clear : Where there is rule of law and individual freedom , humanity is better off . As Marian Tupy of HumanProgress.org puts it , “ Away from the front pages of our newspapers and television , billions of people go about their lives unmolested , enjoying incremental improvements that make each year better than the last . ” | SOfAzyfDwTSzBp1v | 2 | Libertarian | 1.2 | Politics | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
coronavirus | Scientific American | https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-immunity-to-covid-19-really-means/ | What Immunity to COVID-19 Really Means | coronavirus | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently granted an “ emergency use authorization ” of a blood test for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 , the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 . It is the first such test to receive approval for the U.S. market . And it comes at a time when health experts and leaders are embracing immunity as a potential end point to the pandemic . In Colorado , a company that makes a coronavirus antibody test has donated kits to the state ’ s San Miguel County so that everyone there can be tested if they want to . And in Italy , politicians want to use antibody status to determine which people will get “ back to work ” passes .
Several ambitious surveys to test for these antibodies have now been launched around the globe . The World Health Organization ’ s Solidarity II study will pool antibody data from more than half a dozen countries . In the U.S. , a collaborative multiyear project aims to provide a picture of nationwide antibody prevalence . Its first phase is already collecting samples from blood donors in six major urban areas , including New York City , Seattle and Minneapolis . And the effort will evolve into three national surveys of donors , supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and conducted this fall and in the fall of 2021 .
Unlike diagnostic tests , which are used to confirm the presence and sometimes load , or amount , of the virus , antibody tests help determine whether or not someone was previously infected—even if that person never showed symptoms . Widespread use of such assays could give scientists greater insight into how deadly the virus is and how widely it has spread throughout the population .
It is less clear what those antibody tests mean for real life , however , because immunity functions on a continuum . With some pathogens , such as the varicella-zoster virus ( which causes chicken pox ) , infection confers near-universal , long-lasting resistance . Natural infection with Clostridium tetani , the bacterium that causes tetanus , on the other hand , offers no protection—and even people getting vaccinated for it require regular booster shots . On the extreme end of this spectrum , individuals infected with HIV often have large amounts of antibodies that do nothing to prevent or clear the disease .
At this early stage of understanding the new coronavirus , it is unclear where COVID-19 falls on the immunity spectrum . Although most people with SARS-CoV-2 seem to produce antibodies , “ we simply don ’ t know yet what it takes to be effectively protected from this infection , ” says Dawn Bowdish , a professor of pathology and molecular medicine and Canada Research Chair in Aging and Immunity at McMaster University in Ontario . Researchers are scrambling to answer two questions : How long do SARS-CoV-2 antibodies stick around ? And do they protect against reinfection ?
Early on , some people—most notably U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson ( who has the virus and is currently in intensive care ) and his government ’ s scientific adviser Patrick Vallance—touted hopes that herd immunity could be an eventual means for ending the pandemic . And although it appears that recovered COVID-19 patients have antibodies for at least two weeks , long-term data are still lacking . So many scientists are looking to other coronaviruses for answers .
Immunity to seasonal coronaviruses ( such as those that cause common colds ) , for example , starts declining a couple of weeks after infection . And within a year , some people are vulnerable to reinfection . That observation is disconcerting when experts say it is unlikely we will have a vaccine for COVID-19 within 18 months . But studies of SARS-CoV—the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome , or SARS , which shares a considerable amount of its genetic material with SARS-CoV-2—are more promising . Antibody testing shows SARS-CoV immunity peaks at around four months and offers protection for roughly two to three years . As Preeti Malani , chief health officer and a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan , said in a video interview with JAMA Editor in Chief Howard Bauchner , this period presents “ a pretty good time line for thinking about vaccines and therapeutics ” for COVID-19 .
Even if the antibodies stick around in the body , however , it is not yet certain that they will prevent future infection . What we want , Bowdish says , are neutralizing antibodies . These are the proteins that reduce and prevent infection by binding to the part of a virus that connects to and “ unlocks ” host cells . They are relatively easy to detect , and they are far easier for vaccine developers to generate than the alternative : the immune system ’ s T cells . In contrast , nonneutralizing antibodies still recognize parts of the pathogen , but they do not bind effectively and so do not prevent it from invading cells .
“ If humans naturally make neutralizing antibodies [ against SARS-CoV-2 ] , then all we have to do is figure out what [ sites they are ] binding on the virus and really target that one little piece of protein , and that ’ s our magic bullet , ” Bowdish says . For SARS-CoV-2 , that target site is most likely on the so-called receptor-binding domain of its spike glycoprotein—a protein attached to a sugar that the virus uses to enter cells . But , Bowdish says , this spot may present a challenge because human immune systems are not very good at making antibodies against sugar-coated substances .
Nevertheless , a few small studies of cells in laboratory dishes suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers the production of neutralizing antibodies . And animal studies indicate such antibodies do prevent reinfection , at least for a couple of weeks . Furthermore , because some antibodies seem to recognize and react to the spike proteins on multiple coronaviruses , including SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV ( the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome , or MERS ) , researchers can build on knowledge learned from previous outbreaks .
Research on real-life immunity to SARS-CoV-2 is in its preliminary stages , and uncertainties remain . One study found no correlation between viral load and antibody presence , leading the authors to question the antibodies ’ actual role in clearing the virus in humans . In addition , peer-reviewed research on SARS-CoV and preprint studies on SARS-CoV-2 report that some nonneutralizing coronavirus antibodies might trigger a harmful immune response upon reinfection with those pathogens or cross infection with other coronaviruses . Thus , while much of the emerging research is promising , Bowdish cautions against using antibody testing to drive policy until researchers know the proportion of COVID-19 survivors who are producing neutralizing antibodies .
In an ideal world , SARS-CoV-2 immunity would resemble that acquired by children who get chicken pox . Early research suggests we are in for a much more complex scenario but one that time and unprecedented global cooperation might be able to untangle . Eventually antibody tests could be the key to getting our lives and economies back on track . For now , they promise to give experts , officials and citizens a clearer picture of the pandemic . | ntziTp83tQZvV2zw | 1 | Public Health | 1.2 | Coronavirus | 0.5 | Healthcare | 0.5 | Science | 0 | null | null | |
polarization | Counter Currents | http://www.countercurrents.org/bardi030516.htm | Trump, The Unavoidable: Is Political Polarization Destroying Democracy? | 2016-05-03 | Polarization, Political Polarization | Image from Pew Research Center . The increasing polarization of the US electorate has destroyed
all the previous certitudes in politics , generating the unavoidable rise of Donald Trump .
The hurricane named Donald Trump has taken everyone by surprise by going against all the established rules in politics . So far , candidates were always trying hard to avoid taking extreme positions ; aiming for the center of the political spectrum was seen as the way to win , and it worked . But Trump has taken exactly the opposite strategy , always aiming to positions that not long ago would have been seen as extreme and even unspeakable . But he is having success . How can that be ?
For everything that exists , there must be reasons for it to exist , and this universal rule must be valid also for Donald Trump . And , indeed , the rise of Trump should be seen not only as having reasons to exist , but even as unavoidable . Let me try to explain why .
In 1929 , Harold Hotelling developed a model of spatial competition among firms that today is still well known and takes his name . The idea is sometimes described in terms of what the best location for selling ice cream on a beach . Assuming that customers are distributed evenly along a linear beach , it turns out that the best position for all of them is to cluster exactly at the center . Something similar holds in politics : it is called the Hotelling-Downs model . It says that , in a political competition , the most advantageous position is at the center . This is a well known and traditional political strategy ; those who are at the center win elections .
So , did Donald Trump disprove the Hotelling-Downs model with his strategy based on taking extreme position ? No , but all models work only within the limits of the assumptions that produced them . If the assumptions change , then the models change as well . The Hotelling-Downs model , as it is commonly described , works on the assumption that voters ' preferences tend to cluster in the middle of the spectrum of political views , something like this
Imagine that the horizontal axis describes the voters ' preferences about , say , war and peace . At the two extremes of the diagram there are absolute warmongers and absolute pacifists , At the center , there is a majority that takes an intermediate position ; preferring peace but not ruling out war .
This was the situation up to not long ago for most issues . But the recent data indicate a remarkable ongoing transformation , something more like this :
You see how the preferences among American voters are splitting into two halves . Liberals and conservatives are becoming more and more different , a split that may increase in the future .
In a previous post of mine , I interpreted this trend as the result of the growing impoverishment of society , a phenomenon that increases the competition for the remaining resources . The increased polarization derives from the fact that some categories or social classes tend to find it easier to gather resources by stealing them from those who have them rather than creating them out of natural resources ( e.g . banks vs. citizens or the elites vs. the middle class ) . If this interpretation is correct , political polarization is here to stay with us for a long time .
The problem is that polarization has deep political consequences . If society is split into two ideologically incompatible halves then the mechanism of the `` primaries '' enhances the split even more . The Hotelling-Downs model still holds , but separately for the two halves . At this point , in order to win votes , a candidate may be better off by aiming for one of the two peaks , either at the left or at the right ; a position that 's in practice obligatory with the primaries , where voters are split into two halves as well .
Indeed , Donald Trump has been playing king of the hill in the republican hump while pushing most of the other candidates in the Republican desert of the center . The only Republican rivals that survived Trump 's onslaught are those , like Ted Cruz , who are competing with him for the same rightmost peak . Something similar has generated the relative success of Bernie Sanders on the opposite side of the political spectrum ; even though that may not lead him to the nomination . So , Donald Trump was really an unavoidable phenomenon .
And now ? It seems increasingly likely that Trump will obtain the Republican nomination by means of his successful polarizing tactics . But , in order to win the presidency , Trump should abandon the safe but limited hill on the right and try to conquer the center . But can he really do that after such an aggressive and divisive nomination campaign ? Trump has nearly supernatural communication skills , but this may be too much even for him . The problem is that the President of the United States is supposed to be the president of everyone , not just of those who voted for him . But , we already saw a dangerous crack in this arrangement with President Obama , when a considerable number of people seemed unable to accept the idea of having a black president . As president , Donald Trump would be likely to generate similar reactions from a different section of the public . That could produce a split in society that , euphemistically , we could define as a little difficult to manage .
But , again , Trump is not the cause of anything , he is just the unavoidable result of the rising internecine competition within an increasingly poorer society . He may fail in his bid for the presidency , but the social and political factors that created him will remain . And these factors might easily lead to something much worse than Trump if the economic situation deteriorates further , as it probably will .
So , where is the institution we call `` democracy '' going ? It is difficult to say , but , in order for democracy to exist , there must exist certain conditions , in particular a reasonably equitable distribution of wealth in society . And this is something that we are rapidly losing . As we slide down the Seneca Cliff , democracy may be rapidly lost as well .
Ugo Bardi teaches physical chemistry at the University of Florence , in Italy . He is interested in resource depletion , system dynamics modeling , climate science and renewable energy . | e4137a546530156b | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
impeachment | Reuters | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-impeachment/house-panel-moves-to-intensify-trump-impeachment-probe-idUSKCN1VX10A | House panel moves to intensify Trump impeachment probe | 2019-09-12 | Impeachment, Donald Trump, US House, Politics | WASHINGTON ( ███ ) - The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted to intensify its investigation of Republican President Donald Trump on Thursday , as lawmakers edged closer to deciding whether to recommend his impeachment .
The 41-member panel adopted a resolution allowing it to designate hearings as impeachment proceedings , subject witnesses to more aggressive questioning and quicken the pace of an investigation that is expanding into areas that could prove politically explosive for both Trump and Congress .
“ With these new procedures , we will begin next week an aggressive series of hearings investigating allegations of corruption , obstruction and abuse of power against the president , ” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler told reporters after a 24-17 vote along party lines .
A more aggressive probe could also increase pressure on House Democratic leaders including Speaker Nancy Pelosi , who has resisted impeachment of Trump as a politically risky step for moderate Democratic freshmen from swing districts where ousting the president is an unpopular idea .
“ Democrats have never gotten over the fact that I won the Election very fairly , ” Trump said in a statement posted to his Facebook page hours after the vote .
Related Coverage Factbox : Majority of House Democrats support Trump impeachment
“ If they go down the path of impeachment they will be dividing the nation ! So ridiculous to even be talking about this subject when all of the crimes were committed by the other side , ” the president said .
Trump and his Republicans allies charge that former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller ’ s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the Trump campaign ’ s possible collusion stemmed from an earlier effort to sink his candidacy , and later his presidency , by former officials at the Justice Department .
Republican lawmakers rejected the notion that the panel was pursuing an impeachment inquiry and dismissed the resolution as a “ fantasy ” intended to distract from Democrats ’ unwillingness to have the full House authorize a formal impeachment inquiry , as occurred during the Watergate era and the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton .
Republicans said Democrats lacked the votes to obtain formal House authorization and denounced Thursday ’ s action as a show intended to pander to Democratic voters who want Trump removed from office .
U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler ( D-NY ) leads Democratic members of the committee in a statement to reporters following the committee ’ s vote to adopt a resolution allowing it to designate hearings as impeachment proceedings against President Trump , on Capitol Hill in Washington , U.S. September 12 , 2019 . ███/Jonathan Ernst
Representative Doug Collins , the panel ’ s top Republican , said the resolution simply reiterates powers that the committee has had all along .
“ These rules are not new , ” he said . “ This is to make you believe something is happening , more than what ’ s actually happening . ”
Nadler said that during the Watergate era , the House Judiciary Committee was already considering impeachment charges against then-President Richard Nixon and conducting a related probe when the House voted to authorize a formal inquiry .
Committee Democrats plan to use the new tactics that allow an hour of questioning by committee lawyers of Corey Lewandowski , a close Trump confidant and one of his campaign managers in 2016 . Lewandowski is due to appear before the panel next Tuesday for what may be a contentious hearing .
Democrats expect his testimony to help lay out a charge of obstruction of justice . But they are also pursuing allegations of campaign finance violations , witness tampering and unlawful self-enrichment through his business ventures .
Democrats aim to decide by the end of the year whether to recommend articles of impeachment against Trump to the full House . If approved by the chamber , the Republican-controlled Senate would be left to hold a trial and consider the president ’ s ouster .
A ███ head count shows that 135 House Democrats back an impeachment inquiry . While that is a majority of the caucus , the number is well short of the 218 votes needed to pass a resolution .
Only two American presidents have been impeached by the House : Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Clinton in 1999 . Neither was convicted by the Senate .
Nixon resigned in 1974 after the House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment against him , but before the full House voted on the matter . | 22014fc0ef2225b5 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
gun_control_and_gun_rights | Christian Science Monitor | https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2017/1005/Gun-control-where-glimmers-of-compromise-may-be-appearing | Gun control: where glimmers of compromise may be appearing | 2017-10-05 | gun_control_and_gun_rights | It ’ s perhaps America ’ s most intractable life-and-death dilemma : The mounting human – and increasingly public – toll of gun violence .
The Las Vegas Strip massacre became the deadliest such attack since the Thibodeaux Massacre in Louisiana and several other mass killings of black Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries . It comes just over a year after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando , Fla. , which killed 49 people and previously stood as the largest mass shooting in modern US history .
The Strip massacre , which targeted a country music festival on Sunday , killed 58 people and wounded more than 500 . It shocked even a country that has grown wearily familiar with such killing fields , and for some , cemented a feeling of national helplessness .
Yet it has also prompted a flurry of movement around the question of gun rights versus gun control , from Washington to state capitols .
Even as police search for the killer ’ s motives , lawmakers are suggesting the country might be able to inch toward more open compromise , where both sides can hold their moral high ground – while , perhaps , saving American lives in the process .
Congress has , since 1934 , curtailed American gun rights on several occasions . But since 1994 , there has been little appetite for more stringent gun controls . In fact , though the legislation was postponed after being set for a vote this week , Congress may yet revisit making it easier to buy sound suppressors – often called silencers , though they pop loudly – and push toward a national reciprocity for concealed-carry permits , meaning that states will lose much of their ability to control the practice inside their own borders .
After the 2012 Sandy Hook shootings in Newtown , Conn. , which killed 20 grade-schoolers and six adults , Sen. Dianne Feinstein ( D ) of California tried to ban assault weapons , including bump stocks . But that effort failed , as did a broader package that would have strengthened background checks . She said this week that her daughter had a “ near miss ” after canceling plans to attend the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas that the shooter attacked from the 32nd floor of a hotel .
This week Senator Feinstein , one of the nation ’ s most outspoken gun control advocates , introduced a bill that would explicitly ban bump stocks .
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Sen. Dianne Feinstein , D-Calif. , speaks during a news conference about gun legislation on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 4 .
Several Republican leaders signaled they would seriously consider voting for it . The more polarized House , too , began drawing up a ban bill .
Sen. Ron Johnson ( R ) of Wisconsin said he would have “ no problem ” banning the device . Mr. Johnson is a Republican who has an “ A ” rating from the National Rifle Association .
In Washington , Sen. John McCain ( R ) of Arizona , who has a B-plus rating from the NRA , was more blunt .
`` Look at Las Vegas , ” he said . “ That 's how I account for it . Americans are horrified by it . They 're horrified . And they should be . '' While the senator wants to see the details of the bill before making up his mind , he says it has merit .
The NRA also called Thursday for a federal review of whether bump stocks are legal , and , according to a report by Politico , already bans them at its own firing range .
To be sure , banning the devices may not have much impact on crime and murder levels in the US , given that the device is basically a novelty in the gun world , argues Larry Pratt , the emeritus director of the Gun Owners of America , in Springfield , Va .
But small compromises can lead to trust , which can lead to more detailed – and perhaps effective – policy shifts , suggests University of Arizona sociologist Jennifer Carlson , who studies American gun culture through the use of data .
President Trump called the shooter “ sick and demented. ” But while Stephen Paddock may have been a gruff and enigmatic Vegas high-roller and former IRS employee , police say , he passed his background checks with flying colors as he bought dozens of high-powered weaponry in a 10-month period .
Mr. Trump became the first sitting president since Ronald Reagan to address the NRA ’ s annual conference , crediting the organization with assuring his victory . Trump earlier this year quietly rolled back Obama-era executive actions that empowered the Social Security Administration to make sure mentally unstable older Americans couldn ’ t get access to weapons .
Trump has also reversed policies that now make it easier for some ex-fugitives to have their gun rights returned , drawing complaints from some police quarters . The US Army Corps of Engineers has also whittled back bans on gun-carry on the 12 million acres of shoreline and trails that it manages in 43 states .
What ’ s more , the issue of whether to expand background checks to private sales remains largely stuck in neutral in Washington .
But Pew reports that 84 percent of all Americans , including a large majority of Republicans , support expanding background checks . And 89 percent of gun owners and non-gun owners alike want prohibitions on the mentally ill purchasing guns .
What the shift spurred by Las Vegas may augur , says Ms. Carlson , is a realization that the old gun debate is over . In its place , she says , there may be a more fundamental realization among policy-makers that most Americans support both some gun rights initiatives like expanded concealed carry as well as restrictions on gun rights , like expanded background checks .
Common ground , she says , may be found if the shifts that now appear to be unfolding in the wake of Las Vegas sustain themselves .
That kind of common ground is increasingly being found at the state level , says Adam Winkler , a constitutional law professor at the University of California , Los Angeles , and author of “ Gun Fight . ”
Since the Sandy Hook killings in 2012 , 138 new gun laws tightening restrictions on possession or purchase of firearms have been enacted in 42 states , according to the National Conference of State Legislatures . Many of them are related to prohibiting domestic abusers from possessing weapons , requiring mental health records to be added to background check databases , or expanding background checks themselves to cover more gun purchases .
States have been busy enshrining more gun rights as well , including Georgia ’ s decision to expand gun-carry to college campuses and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta , the world ’ s busiest .
At the same time , however , 19 states have strengthened mandatory background checks for gun purchases since 2013 . That includes red states .
In fact , Texas has some of the strongest protections against mentally ill people acquiring guns , mandating that anyone adjudicated by a mental health professional to be ill can not buy a gun . At the same time , Nevada is one of seven states that has approved mandatory background checks for gun purchases since 2013 , in the wake of Sandy Hook .
Nevada also recently enacted a law that prevents those convicted of domestic violence or who have a restraining order against them from being able to carry guns .
Winkler suggests that such laws are evidence that attitudes are , in fact , changing , in part because the NRA holds less sway at the state level than it does in Washington .
“ You ’ re going to see a real push to regulate the gun modifications that make these guns inordinately deadly , ” says Winkler . “ Courts have said we can ban dangerous and unusual weapons like machine guns – and these devices take ordinary guns and make them dangerous and unusual . ”
Instead of opposing guns on principle , the Harvard-based initiative is one of several groups collaborating with gun shop owners and employees to ease perhaps the biggest mental health issue : that two-thirds of all US gun deaths that are self-inflicted .
And profit-driven retailers , too , may be assuming a greater level of responsibility in the life-and-death debate over how lethal Americans are allowed to become .
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Cabela ’ s , the sporting goods outfit , scrubbed bump stocks from their online sales this week , and Walmart booted third-party sellers from offering the product on their website .
Staff writer Francine Kiefer contributed to this report from Washington . | KpDem4Wy0VlSgI3P | 1 | Gun Control And Gun Rights | -3.5372 | NRA | -1.2971 | Congress | 0 | null | null | null | null |
media_bias | The Daily Wire | https://www.dailywire.com/news/left-wing-journalists-misleadingly-quote-kayleigh-mcenany-on-opening-schools-science?%3Futm_source=twitter | Left-Wing Journalists Misleadingly Quote Kayleigh McEnany On Opening Schools, Science | media_bias | Several left-wing reporters misleadingly quoted White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Thursday , falsely asserting that McEnany indicated that the administration ’ s position on opening schools was that science regarding the COVID-19 pandemic should not be taken into consideration .
The journalists , along with a few left-wing media publications , wrote on Twitter that McEnany said that “ science should not stand in the way ” of children going back to school .
McEnany ’ s full remarks are below , with relevant portions appearing in bold :
The president has said unmistakably that he wants schools to open . And I was just in the Oval talking to him about that . And when he says open , he means open and full , kids being able to attend each and every day at their school . The science should not stand in the way of this . And as Dr. Scott Atlas said , I thought this was a good quote . Of course , we can do it . Everyone else in the Western world , our peer nations are doing it . We are the outlier here . The science is very clear on this , that for instance , you look at the JAMA Pediatric study of 46 pediatric hospitals in North America that said the risk of critical illness from COVID is far less for children than that of seasonal flu . The science is on our side here , and we encourage for localities and states to just simply follow the science , open our schools . It ’ s very damaging to our children . There ’ s a lack of reporting of abuse , there ’ s mental depressions that are not addressed , suicidal ideations that are not addressed when students are not in school . Our schools are extremely important . They ’ re essential and they must reopen . Yes .
McEnany directly responded to one of the misleading quotes , from The Washington Post , that appeared on social media , writing : “ Case Study in Media Bias : I said : ‘ The science is very clear on this…the science is on our side here . We encourage our localities & states to just simply follow the science . Open our schools. ’ But leave it to the media to deceptively suggest I was making the opposite point ! ”
Case Study in Media Bias : I said : “ The science is very clear on this…the science is on our side here . We encourage our localities & states to just simply follow the science . Open our schools. ” But leave it to the media to deceptively suggest I was making the opposite point ! https : //t.co/vlxk3zRsgh — Kayleigh McEnany ( @ PressSec ) July 16 , 2020
Even CNN ’ s Jake Tapper noted that many were taking McEnany ’ s comments on of context , writing : “ Folks , read the ENTIRE McEnany comment about ‘ the science should not stand in the way ’ of opening schools . She ’ s arguing that the science is on the side of those who want to open them , she cites a JAMA study . I ’ m not taking a position on the matter but be fair . ”
Folks read the ENTIRE McEnany comment about `` the science should not stand in the way '' of opening schools . She 's arguing that the science is on the side of those who want to open them , she cites a JAMA study . I 'm not taking a position on the matter but be fair . — Jake Tapper ( @ jaketapper ) July 16 , 2020
Among those who posted the misleading quote was CNN ’ s Jim Acosta and CBS News ’ Weijia Jiang .
The White House Press Secretary on Trump 's push to reopen schools : `` The science should not stand in the way of this . '' — Jim Acosta ( @ Acosta ) July 16 , 2020
“ Science should not stand in the way ” of reopening schools . https : //t.co/pE2AN6GtyM — Weijia Jiang ( @ weijia ) July 16 , 2020
After time passed and their initial tweets with the misleading quotes went viral , both Acosta and Jiang issued follow-ups to their initial tweets where they attempted to add additional context but did not delete the initial misleading tweet .
McEnany went on to say `` the science is on our side here . '' https : //t.co/IxRbVtESSF — Jim Acosta ( @ Acosta ) July 16 , 2020
Here is the exchange from the White House transcript in case you didn ’ t watch the clip above . While @ PressSec mentions a @ JAMA_current study later in her remarks , when she says “ Science should not stand in the way of this ” ,
“ this ” refers to Trump ’ s desire to reopen schools . pic.twitter.com/2J7pgKAyqS — Weijia Jiang ( @ weijia ) July 16 , 2020
Others notable figures that posted the misleading quote included Rep. Eric Swalwell ( D-CA ) and Bill Nye .
“ The science should not stand in the way of this. ” Yeah , God forbid we base our policies – and the safety of our kids , their teachers , and all our families – on facts & science.🤦🏻♂️https : //t.co/y7jDtTcmXq — Eric Swalwell ( @ ericswalwell ) July 16 , 2020
White House says , science should not stand in the way of reopening schools ? I guess it ’ s good to have it spelled out . The administration is generally not in favor of science . Might surprise a few of us . My O My… science out of the way ? ? pic.twitter.com/JzghxaQCZg — Bill Nye ( @ BillNye ) July 16 , 2020
███ is one of America ’ s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news , opinion , and entertainment . Get inside access to ███ by becoming a member . | 9B2wYBs57frOawVs | 2 | White House | 0.8 | Kayleigh McEnany | 0.5 | Education | -0.5 | Science | -0.3 | Coronavirus | 0.2 | |
banking_and_finance | Reason | https://reason.com/video/stossel-is-bitcoin-better-money/ | Is Bitcoin Better Money? | 2019-11-05 | Bitcoin, Banking And Finance | Facebook proposed a new digital currency called `` Libra . '' It would be backed by several different existing currencies .
The Libra might be better than the dollar , tech reporter Naomi Brockwell and investor Peter Schiff tell John Stossel . It 's easy to send online . If a government currency has a lot of inflation , Libra holders will be largely protected from that .
But politicians oppose Libra . `` Why , with all of your problems , should we trust you ? '' one congressman asked Mark Zuckerberg in a hearing .
Politicians may succeed in killing Libra . Paypal , Mastercard , and other companies were going to work with Facebook on the project , but they 've bailed because they 're scared of regulation .
That 's why it 's good that Bitcoin exists , says Brockwell . Bitcoin , unlike Libra , ca n't be stopped so easily .
`` It is the first currency we 've ever seen that is decentralized , '' Brockwell tells Stossel .
`` Exactly . That 's why it 's still around , because they have n't been able to have these hearings . They have n't been able to call on the CEO of Bitcoin and say , 'You 'd better cease and desist . '…There is no server to unplug . There is no company to shut down , no CEO to throw in jail , so it persists . That 's really exciting . ''
Bitcoin is mostly safe from government because it `` lives '' on thousands of individuals ' computers , so no government can stop it by pressuring any one company .
But investor Peter Schiff says Bitcoin is a `` bubble . '' He recommends investing in gold .
`` Gold has worked for thousands of years . Bitcoin 's only been around for ten , '' Schiff argues . `` Gold has actual value . There 's a huge industry that needs gold . Jewelry…you have it in consumer electronics and aerospace and medicine . ''
Stossel says : `` I do n't presume to know which way prices will move . But I do know that it 's good to have alternatives to dollars . ''
The views expressed in this video are solely those of John Stossel ; his independent production company , Stossel Productions ; and the people he interviews . The claims and opinions set forth in the video and accompanying text are not necessarily those of ███ . | e4a3993abecfa10e | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
supreme_court | George Will | https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/10/supreme-court-discrimination-case-sexual-orientation-civil-rights-act/ | Supreme Court to Decide Whether ‘Sex’ Includes Sexual Orientation | 2019-10-06 | supreme_court | It is depressing but clear that the Supreme Court needs to remind Congress -- and the Seventh Circuit -- that “ statutory updating ” is Congress ’ job .
The beginning of the Supreme Court ’ s term this week includes momentous oral arguments on Tuesday in two cases that illustrate clashing theories about how statutes should be construed . If properly decided , the cases will nudge Congress to act like a legislative body .
At issue is whether workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation is forbidden by the 1964 Civil Rights Act , which proscribed discrimination because of a person ’ s “ race , color , religion , sex , or national origin. ” The question is whether “ sex ” also proscribes discrimination based on sexual orientation . Tuesday ’ s arguments will reprise those made in 2017 in another case . Then the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held , in effect , that Congress can now be said to have proscribed such discrimination without intending to . Dissenting judges rejected this conclusion because it empowers courts to do what Congress clearly did not do but easily could do .
Kimberly Hively , a part-time adjunct professor at an Indiana community college , says she was repeatedly denied a full-time position , and then her part-time contract was not renewed , because she is a lesbian . The Seventh Circuit majority said the question is “ what it means to discriminate on the basis of sex ” — are “ actions taken on the basis of sexual orientation ” a “ subset of actions taken on the basis of sex ” ?
Citing “ the broader context of the statute , ” the majority acknowledged but disregarded the fact that Congress has “ frequently ” considered adding , but has declined to add , “ sexual orientation ” to the Act . The majority professed to have “ no idea what inference to draw from congressional inaction. ” Besides , “ The goalposts have been moving over the years , as the Supreme Court has shed more light on ” the phrase “ sex discrimination. ” So , the majority said , Congress in 1964 “ may not have realized or understood the full scope of the words it chose. ” Discrimination based on sexual orientation necessarily involves “ taking the victim ’ s biological sex . . . into account. ” Hence “ it would require considerable calisthenics to remove the ‘ sex ’ from ‘ sexual orientation. ’ “
“ Times have changed , ” said a judge concurring with the majority opinion . He continues : “ [ T ] he meaning of the statute has changed and the word ‘ sex ’ in it now connotes both gender and sexual orientation. ” The concurring judge said that “ it is well-nigh certain ” that homosexuality “ did not figure in the minds of the legislators ” in 1964 . Then “ homosexuality was almost invisible. ” Since then , however , “ nothing has changed more ” than attitudes toward sex , which now “ has a broader meaning than the genitalia you ’ re born with. ” Therefore — non sequitur alert — the “ passage of time and concomitant change in attitudes . . . can justify a fresh interpretation ” of the statute that is “ ripe for reinterpretation . ”
Ripeness means , for the concurring judge , “ taking advantage of what the last half century has taught ” in order to correct “ statutory obsolescence ” and “ to avoid placing the entire burden of updating old statutes on the legislative branch. ” When and where , one wonders , were courts authorized to share the “ burden ” of legislating ?
“ Our role , ” said the minority , “ is to give effect to the enacted text , interpreting the statutory language as a reasonable person would have understood it at the time of enactment . . . .We lack the discretion to ascribe to [ the Act ] a meaning it did not bear at its inception. ” The majority has engaged in “ judicial statutory updating ” that “ can not be reconciled with the constitutional design , ” which requires bicameralism ( both house of Congress to enact or amend a law ) and presentment ( of laws and amendments to the president ) .
The minority said that “ sexual orientation ” is not the same forbidden category of employment discrimination as sex is . This is an interpretation that “ has been stable for many decades. ” As proof that the terms “ sex ” and “ sexual orientation ” are not used interchangeably , the minority cited the Violence Against Women Act , which forbids discrimination on the basis of both “ sex ” and “ sexual orientation , ” and the Hate Crimes Act , which imposes heightened punishment for harms inflicted because of both “ gender ” or “ sexual orientation . ”
The minority acknowledged , and clearly welcomed , the “ striking cultural change ” since 1964 . It could have said 2004 , when electorates in eleven states voted on referenda to amend their constitutions to define marriage as exclusively heterosexual . All eleven measures passed , all by double-digit margins . Just 15 years later , that controversy has cooled .
The Seventh Circuit ’ s minority said that if Hively was denied a job because of her sexual orientation , she was treated unjustly , but not illegally under the 1964 Civil Rights Act . It is depressing but clear that the Supreme Court needs to remind Congress — and the Seventh Circuit — that “ statutory updating ” is Congress ’ job . | F2B7jB6wzipDaEFL | 2 | Supreme Court | 0.2 | Discrimination | 0 | Civil Rights Act | 0 | Conservatives | 0 | null | null |
gun_control_and_gun_rights | Reuters | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-guns-florida/florida-senate-rejects-ban-on-assault-weapons-votes-to-arm-teachers-idUSKBN1GG0QT | Florida Senate rejects ban on assault weapons, votes to arm teachers | 2018-03-06 | Gun Control And Gun Rights, Florida School Shooting | FORT LAUDERDALE , Fla. ( ███ ) - The Florida Senate rejected a proposal to ban assault weapons , and voted for a measure to arm some teachers , weeks after 17 people were killed in the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history .
An amendment that would have banned assault weapons attached to a wider bill failed on Saturday in a largely party-line vote , in response to the Feb. 14 killing of 14 students and three faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Parkland .
The vote was 20-17 against the assault weapon ban , with two Republicans joining all of the senate ’ s 15 Democrats in support of the proposal , the Miami Herald reported .
The full bill , the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act , is expected to pass the state Senate on Monday , then go to the Florida House .
After the Senate rejected the ban , Stoneman Douglas student Jaclyn Corin tweeted , “ This breaks my heart , but we will NOT let this ruin our movement . This is for the kids . ”
Fellow classmate David Hogg , who has become one of the school ’ s leading activists on gun safety , tweeted , “ Elections are going to be fun ! ”
Also , an amendment to remove a provision to train and arm some teachers failed .
The bill raises the minimum age to buy a rifle or a shotgun to 21 from 18 and bans the use , sale or possession of bump stocks , which were used in the Oct. 1 shooting deaths of 58 people in Las Vegas . The device effectively turns semi-automatic weapons into automatics .
The bill includes $ 400 million in funding for schools to address mental health issues , the Herald reported .
Nikolas Cruz , the accused 19-year-old killer who was expelled from Stoneman Douglas , had a history of run-ins with the law and school officials . The Broward County school system and sheriff ’ s department have been criticized for not acting on red flags on Cruz ’ s mental health problems and potentially violent behavior . | 5ed0917c328bfb76 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
fake_news | Townhall | https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2018/12/28/the-top-10-most-awesomely-fake-news-of-2018-n2538087 | Get Wrecked: The Top 10 Rake-Stepping Fake News Stories The Liberal Media Trafficked In 2018 | 2018-12-28 | fake_news | The liberal media was almost as bad as last year . Maybe marginally better , but I use that phrase VERY loosely . They were still total garbage in covering this White House . They still suck . They ’ re still sour that Hillary Clinton lost , and as they ’ re consumed with rage , they make mistakes , a great many mistakes . From sitting on information that undercut a serious sexual misconduct allegation against a federal judge to peddling old fake news about AR-15s to push gun control , 2018 was another banner year for the Democrat-media complex . We only have ten . We know there were a lot more . Tweet @ Townhallcom to send us some we might have missed . There were so many it was bound to happen .
The Daily Caller 's Amber Athey also compiled an even longer list of fake news screw-ups from the media . Enjoy going down memory lane .
1 . CNN Peddled An Embarrassing AR-15 Story…Which Wasn ’ t Even New .
The liberal media still can ’ t get it right when it comes to reporting on firearms . After the tragic Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting in February , CNN ’ s Cuomo peddled an old story about some kid who claimed to have bought an AR-15in Virginia in five minutes . The problem : he didn ’ t buy the rifle . He just took a photo with one . That ’ s not the same thing .
2 . ‘ The Awful Melania Trump Is Chained To A Radiator In Basement Because We Haven ’ t Seen Her And Trump Is Evil ’ Conspiracy Theory
It ’ s a fact that many people undergo surgery for a multitude of reasons . For major surgery , say , like a procedure on your kidneys , it requires a prolonged resting phase . First Lady Melania Trump underwent kidney surgery in June and was absent for a lengthy period of time . The media took that as she went “ missing. ” This is a prime example , and there are many more , of why the media is so hated . Katie had the story .
3 . CNN ’ s Cohen-Russia-Trump Tower Meeting Story Blows Up In Their Faces
Again , there is nothing as entertaining than watching CNN fail miserably to peddle its Russian collusion nonsense on a 24/7 basis . We love it when they fail . They suck . They ’ re anti-Trump , anti-GOP , and deserve all the blood the pours from their face when they step on a rake like this . In July of 2017 , sources alleged that ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen claimed then-candidate Donald Trump knew about the 2016 meeting that occurred in Trump Tower between his son and some Russians , which turned out to be nothing related to Hillary Clinton , the election , or collusion . It was a colossal waste of time . It ’ s not even a news story . But leave it to CNN to try and resurrect it , as it was some big bombshell and have it collapse in epic fashion . From the get-go there was zero evidence to corroborate Cohen ’ s account . There ’ s your first red flag . The second was the sourcing . It turned out to be Cohen ’ s attorney Lanny Davis , who pretty much took back everything he disclosed .
The best is that CNN stood by its trash reporting .
4 . The Russian Spy That Was In The Oval Office , Except That She Wasn ’ t
Emily Singer of the now defunct-Mic got the Russia collusion hopefuls frothing at the mouth when she alleged that Maria Butina was photographed inside the Oval Office . Butina , a Russian , was recently arrested and charged with espionage . The problem : it wasn ’ t her . It was some NSC staffer .
A fmr WH official tells me he thinks the person in this NYT photo is Cari Lutkins , the WH 's deputy director of events , who plans logistics for events like these pic.twitter.com/NZJ0z7IUqt — Lachlan Markay ( @ lachlan ) July 17 , 2018
This photo is going around : That is not alleged Russian spy Maria Butina in the Oval Office With Trump . It ’ s an NSC staffer , a NSC source tells BuzzFeed News . pic.twitter.com/k1pDeIBZiK — Tom Namako ( @ TomNamako ) July 17 , 2018
5 . NPR Is Taken To The Woodshed Over Fake Story About Donald Trump Jr .
So , CNN can ’ t read the dateson emails properly , and it looks like National Public Radio has an issue with reading public transcripts . The story is hinged on Michael Cohen supposedly contradicting what Donald Trump Jr. said about a Trump Tower Moscow deal ending in 2014 .
“ Donald Trump Jr. testified to Congress that the Trump organization ’ s negotiations ’ to develop Trump Tower Moscow ended at the end of 2014 , but that conflicts with Michael Cohen , who said in a guilty plea the negotiations continued well into 2016 , ” in a now-deleted NPR tweet .
“ This NPR story appears to be wrong . It notes that Trump Jr. told a Senate committee that a deal in Moscow died of `` deal fatigue '' by 2014 .
But that was a deal with the Agalarovs . He was also asked if a deal was in the works in 2015/2016 and said yes , ” tweeted Philip Bump of The Washington Post . In fact , a more than a few writers from left-leaning publications noted that this story was not accurate .
The article 's `` update '' is not good . Trump Jr. was clearly referring to * a particular deal * as having `` died of deal fatigue '' -- and it 's not the Cohen deal .
The fifth paragraph below is the important paragraph , which undercuts the existing headline . pic.twitter.com/Qt8Gkyx13g — Philip Bump ( @ pbump ) November 30 , 2018
This story went super-viral . The correction , walk-balk & retraction are barely being noted by those who hyped the original claim . This happens over & over , always in the same direction . Again : anti-media rhetoric can be dangerous , but media outlets often lay the groundwork for it https : //t.co/V8UcoMQovS — Glenn Greenwald ( @ ggreenwald ) November 30 , 2018
We all knew the overreach was coming . There were two stories of alleged sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh , both without corroborating evidence . There were not witnesses either . The one that was the strongest against the now-siting Supreme Court justice was Christine Blasey Ford , who couldn ’ t remember anything about her alleged encounter with a teenaged Kavanaugh , except that he supposedly attempted to sexually assault her . She doesn ’ t know how she got to this party , how she got there , who planned it , or how she got home , but she knows for sure that Kavanaugh was her alleged attacker . Yeah , not buying it . I still don ’ t . It was a classic politically orchestrated hit by the Democrat-Media Complex , and Julie Swetnick confirmed that . Her story was straight trash . She was a college-aged woman who hung out with…high school kids , saw some debauchery , alleged that Kavanaugh was part of some gang rape ring , though she never saw him attack anyone , but it obviously wasn ’ t so bad ( or that it never happened ) because she went to several more of these parties . Oh , and she pretty admitted she doesn ’ t know what Kavanaugh allegedly did , nor does she have evidence . Yeah , she was nuts . A gang rape ring ? Give me a break . There was also another woman who admitted to making up sexual assault allegation to get attention . Both Swetnick and her lawyer , Michael Avenatti , have been referred for criminal prosecution for making false claimsto the Senate Judiciary Committee .
7 . Wait–NBC News Knew Swetnick ’ s Story Was Garbage…And Sat On It .
In the NBC News interview that aired on Oct. 1 , Swetnick back-tracked on or contradicted parts of her sworn statement where she alleged she witnessed then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh `` cause girls to become inebriated and disoriented so they could then be 'gang raped ' in a side room or bedroom by a 'train ' of boys . '' NBC News also found other apparent inconsistencies in a second sworn statement from another woman whose statement Avenatti provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee in a bid to bolster Swetnick 's claims . In the second statement , the unidentified woman said she witnessed Kavanaugh `` spike '' the punch at high school parties in order to sexually take advantage of girls . But less than 48 hours before Avenatti released her sworn statement on Twitter , the same woman told NBC News a different story . Referring to Kavanaugh spiking the punch , `` I did n't ever think it was Brett , '' the woman said to reporters in a phone interview arranged by Avenatti on Sept. 30after repeated requests to speak with other witnesses who might corroborate Swetnick 's claims . As soon as the call began , the woman said she never met Swetnick in high school and never saw her at parties and had only become friends with her when they were both in their 30s . When asked in the phone interview if she ever witnessed Kavanaugh act inappropriately towards girls , the woman replied , `` no . '' She did describe a culture of heavy drinking in high school that she took part in , and said Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge were part of that group . [ … ] According to the second woman 's declaration that Avenatti provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee , she said : `` During the years 1981-82 , I witnessed firsthand Brett Kavanaugh , together with others , 'spike ' the 'punch ' at house parties I attended with Quaaludes and/or grain alcohol . I understood this was being done for the purpose of making girls more likely to engage in sexual acts and less likely to say 'No . ' '' The statement also said that Kavanaugh was `` overly aggressive and verbally abusive to girls . This conduct included inappropriate physical contact with girls of a sexual nature . '' But reached by phone independently from Avenatti on Oct. 3 , the woman said she only `` skimmed '' the declaration . After reviewing the statement , she wrote in a text on Oct. 4 to NBC News : `` It is incorrect that I saw Brett spike the punch . I did n't see anyone spike the punch ... I was very clear with Michael Avenatti from day one . '' When pressed about abusive behavior towards girls , she wrote in a text : `` I would not ever allow anyone to be abusive in my presence . Male or female . ''
Prior to the Christmas holiday , it was reported that and seven-year-old migrant girl had died in Border Patrol custody . Of course , the Trump administration , Republicans , and federal immigration authorities were to blame , except that they weren ’ t . Guy had the story :
…Politicians and members of the media expressed outrage over the tragic death of a seven-year-old girl who died shortly after illegally crossing the US border with her father . The details of her passing are heart-wrenching . Border hawks blamed her parent for putting her life at risk by bringing her on the dangerous journey , while critics of the president 's approach to immigration policy held up the incident as an example of the administration 's inhumanity and callousness . [ … ] Twitter 's 'AG Conservative ' ( who is worth a follow ) noted that in story after story , headline after headline , wrongdoing by US officials was at least implied . In truth , the young girl had been severely deprived of sustenance for days prior to being taken into custody in a remote area , at which point American border patrol officers and support staff attempted to save her life . After being manually revived twice , she was transported by air to a hospital , where she died .
The New York Times tried to slit the throat of then-U.S . Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley for a $ 53,000 curtain expenditure at the official residence . It came at a time when the State Department was undergoing some belt-tightening . Well , it wasn ’ t her fault . The Obama administration approved the purchases . Leah covered it for us :
Nikki Haley , U.S . Ambassador to the United Nations , has come under fire over expensive curtains that were installed in her official residence given the State Department ’ s deep budget cuts and hiring freeze . There ’ s just one problem—the nearly $ 53,000 furnishing was approved under the Obama administration in 2016 .
An earlier version of this article and headline created an unfair impression about who was responsible for the purchase in question . While Nikki R. Haley is the current ambassador to the United Nations , the decision on leasing the ambassador ’ s residence and purchasing the curtains was made during the Obama administration , according to current and former officials . The article should not have focused on Ms. Haley , nor should a picture of her have been used . The article and headline have now been edited to reflect those concerns , and the picture has been removed .
The 2018 Florida elections were another nightmare . Yes , Gov . Rick Scott booted incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson , and GOP Rep. Ron DeSantis won the gubernatorial race , but the vote tallying in Broward and Palm Beach Counties , both Democratic bastions , were a disaster . They weren ’ t keeping regular updates on the outstanding ballot total as required by law . Elections supervisor Brenda Snipeswas once again at the center on the controversy . Lawsuits were filed , with a judge ruling that the vote counting operation was in violation of public records laws . Allegations of election stealing flew like crazy , and MSNBC ’ s Andrea Mitchell had this bombshell : Snipes is a…Republican ? No , she ’ s not , but it was yet another fake news moment for the media for 2018 : | IPgntt9fG42XeY5R | 2 | Media Bias | -0.6 | Fake News | -0.6 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
white_house | Vox | https://www.vox.com/2019/3/21/18274382/kellyanne-conway-cnn-badass-women-puff-piece | CNN’s “Badass Woman” puff piece about Kellyanne Conway completely misses the point | 2019-03-21 | white_house | To hear CNN tell it , White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has outlasted many Trump administration officials because she ’ s loyal and “ relentlessly on message ” — positive qualities that warrant her inclusion in the network ’ s “ Badass Women of Washington ” series .
But for those of us who still care about facts , Conway is one of the world ’ s most shameless liars , distinguishing herself with a unique willingness to look into a camera and say anything to protect a president who traffics in misinformation .
It ’ s not really a matter of interpretation : Conway , who serves as one of the administration ’ s key spokespeople on television , is a liar and a gaslighter .
During the presidential transition , she falsely denied that anyone involved in the Trump campaign had contacts with Russia , then infamously coined the term “ alternative facts ” when defending Sean Spicer ’ s lies about Trump ’ s inauguration crowd size . Since then , she ’ s made up whole stories out of thin air — like a fake “ Bowling Green massacre ” to stoke fears about Muslims , or a fake scandal about Barack Obama bugging Trump using “ microwaves ” that she concocted in an attempt to justify the president ’ s baseless claims about wiretapping in Trump Tower . In a shocking moment earlier this week , Conway used a Fox & Friends interview to urge people to read the white nationalist manifesto written by the gunman who allegedly shot up mosques in New Zealand .
Yet next to none of this sordid history made it into CNN ’ s puff piece . Instead , Conway is portrayed as an almost heroic figure . The network even shared the story , bylined by Dana Bash and Bridget Nolan , on social media with the hashtag # BadassWomenDC .
Kellyanne Conway : How she became the ultimate Trump White House survivor https : //t.co/O895KoBgdw # BadassWomenDC pic.twitter.com/tslC3fPfqe — CNN Politics ( @ CNNPolitics ) March 20 , 2019
Later Wednesday , CNN shared an accompanying video from its main Twitter account in a tweet that by Thursday morning had 12,000 replies , compared to less than 400 retweets .
Kellyanne Conway ’ s humble New Jersey roots laid the foundation for a long career in a male-dominated world of politics . Now , she ’ s the one consistent figure in the otherwise revolving door of the Trump White House . # BadassWomenDC | @ DanaBashCNN https : //t.co/9KH5FyB3z6 pic.twitter.com/G6X271J2N0 — CNN ( @ CNN ) March 20 , 2019
The piece is part of a long-running series by CNN ’ s Dana Bash about “ Badass Women of Washington , ” an upbeat project that highlights women in positions of power . A CNN spokesman told ███ that the series , first launched in the summer of 2017 , “ highlights the energy , perspective , and determination of these women and the role they play in reshaping power centers in a man ’ s town .
“ The women featured come from a wide range of backgrounds , generations , and political affiliations , but each has shattered glass ceilings on her way up the ranks , ” added the CNN spokesperson . “ The series is nonpartisan and has featured women across the political spectrum . ”
Celebrating powerful women is certainly a worthy endeavor . But in the case of Conway , CNN ’ s coverage doesn ’ t grapple with the reason she ’ s been able to survive in Trumpworld as long as she has : She ’ s willing to lie , and she ’ s willing to lie a lot .
CNN ’ s piece begins by describing Conway as a “ survivor ” who is “ reliably defending her boss , no matter what the circumstances. ” It discusses the trials and tribulations she experienced growing up in New Jersey with a mother who raised her with help from Conway ’ s grandmother and great aunts .
What the story barely touches upon , however , is Conway ’ s well-earned reputation for telling flagrant and outrageous lies .
The part of the story that ’ s most critical of Conway euphemistically characterizes her this way :
[ S ] he is relentlessly on message . It is her calling card . But she is also heavily criticized for sometimes taking it too far — entering the realm of alternative facts , a term she now-infamously used on NBC ’ s “ Meet The Press ” in 2017 , days after Trump was sworn in . She was trying to defend and explain the President ’ s obsession with — and inaccurate claims about — his inauguration crowd size .
Even here , truth and lies are treated as two sides of the same coin .
Those moments have made Conway a polarizing figure . People love to love her , and they love to hate her .
The reality is that most of Conway ’ s critics do not “ hate her , ” but abhor the leading role she plays in poisoning public discourse — putting her in the same category as the aforementioned Spicer and his successor as press secretary , Sarah Sanders .
CNN , of all outlets , should understand why Conway is such a lightning rod for criticism . She has used her semi-regular appearances on the network to deflect from Trump ’ s lies with further obfuscation and take cheap shots at the network the president routinely demeans as “ fake news . ”
Her recent appearances on Chris Cuomo ’ s primetime show routinely devolve into WWE-style wrestling matches , as Cuomo tries to hold her accountable for misleading and false statements .
CONWAY : Trump was informed about the hush payments in April 2018 .
CUOMO : He knew about it from its inception . He came up with the plan .
CUOMO : I have a 2015 tape of him discussing what to do about the situation with Michael Cohen ! pic.twitter.com/HGkQWVWvox — Aaron Rupar ( @ atrupar ) December 14 , 2018
CNN has come under pressure to stop booking Conway for interviews , since she stands by false statements even when they ’ re aggressively fact-checked by hosts . And Conway ’ s boss routinely demeans and attacks CNN . In 2017 , Trump even tweeted a video of him clotheslining the network .
Last October , a deranged Trump fan sent package bombs to CNN ’ s New York City office . And yet the network gave Conway the puff piece treatment anyway .
Reached for comment by ███ , CNN stood by its story , citing Conway ’ s role as the first woman to run a successful presidential campaign and her long tenure as one of Trump ’ s top White House staffers .
But those things aren ’ t worth celebrating in a vacuum . What Conway does with her power matters . Instead of using her taxpayer-funded platform to inform and uplift , Conway defends a president who traffics in hate and misinformation with a willingness to say anything — even if it means insisting that doctored footage the White House spread to demonize a CNN reporter wasn ’ t really doctored .
Conway is an important figure and deserves to be taken seriously , but that doesn ’ t mean holding her up uncritically as a figure of adoration . She deserves skeptical and fair coverage , not puff pieces that twist lying into a virtue .
The news moves fast . To stay updated , follow Aaron Rupar on Twitter , and read more of ███ ’ s policy and politics coverage . | eyToEuiaTnkyI4Ym | 0 | White House | -3.2 | Kellyanne Conway | -1.7 | CNN | -0.6 | Politics | 0 | null | null |
economic_policy | Vox | https://www.vox.com/2019/1/2/18130630/american-capitalism-neoliberalism-steven-pearlstein | Is capitalism worth saving? | 2019-01-02 | economic_policy | A decade ago , 80 percent of Americans believed that a free market economy was the best economic system . Today , that number is 60 percent . Another recent poll shows that only 42 percent of millennials support capitalism .
So what happened ? Why have so many people , both in the US and abroad , lost faith in capitalism ?
Steven Pearlstein , a columnist for the Washington Post and public affairs professor at George Mason University , has a few answers . The primary reason is that the system has become too unstable : Wages are largely stagnant , and the income gap is so wide that the rich and the poor effectively live in different worlds . No surprise , then , that people are unhappy with the status quo .
Pearlstein ’ s new book , Can American Capitalism Survive ? , chronicles the excesses of capitalism and shows how its ethical foundations have been shattered by a radical free market ideology — often referred to as “ neoliberalism. ” Capitalism isn ’ t dead , Pearlstein argues , but it has to be saved from itself before it ’ s too late .
I spoke to him about how we might do that , whether capitalism is even worth salvaging at this point , and why he thinks America needs a new social contract between business and society .
The most obvious answer is that capitalism has left a lot of people behind in the last 30 years . Everyone can see that the top 1 percent , the top 10 percent , the top 20 percent , have captured most of the benefits of economic growth over the last 30 years , and the rest of the population has been marginalized .
Now , we all know this , but I wrote the book because I think there is a feeling even among those of us who didn ’ t get left behind that this system has become too unfair , too ruthless , and rewards too many of the things we think of as bad . The system offends the moral sensibilities even of people who are benefiting from it .
I ’ m not so sure that the people at the top are starting to see it that way , but we ’ ll come back to that . First , tell me what went wrong in the 1970s and ’ 80s , when you say capitalism really started to go sideways .
Two things happened during the ’ 70s and ’ 80s . First , the American industrial economy lost its competitiveness . Neoliberal policies of global free trade and unregulated markets were embraced , and the US was suddenly facing competition from all over the globe .
So American companies , which had been so dominant in our own market and in foreign markets , started to lose their dominance , and they had to get leaner and meaner . They started behaving in different ways . They started sharing less profits with their employees and with shareholders and customers .
Eventually , that produced a revolt from shareholders , and in the mid- ’ 80s we had the first of what were called “ hostile takeovers , ” in which people would come in and buy up large chunks of companies and threaten to take them over or out the executives if they didn ’ t put shareholders above all else .
The result of all this was that companies changed how they did business and completely embraced the idea that companies should be run to maximize shareholder value and nothing else . Obviously , that meant more money for executives and shareholders and less money for employees and customers .
This is the mentality that led us to the place we ’ re in now .
“ This is not a sustainable system , and if it keeps getting worse , we run the risk of a revolution ”
I want to push you on what I think is an excessively sanguine view of capitalism . In the book , you imply that capitalism has gone off the rails , but I disagree . I ’ d argue that capitalism has evolved in precisely the way we should have expected it to evolve . The culture of norms and values that were supposed to check the excesses of capitalism has ( predictably ) been eroded by capitalism itself , and now it ’ s propelled entirely by greed .
You seem to think that capitalism can be saved from itself . What do you say to people who think it ’ s not salvageable , not morally legitimate , and in any case not worth salvaging ?
The question is , is all of that endemic to capitalism ? I don ’ t think so , because we see different kinds of capitalism in countries in , say , Northern Europe and in Germany . Some of that has to do with the rules and laws under which they operate , but a lot of it has to do with the norms of behavior . So capitalism doesn ’ t have to reach the point of ruthlessness like it has here and other places .
And one of the good things about capitalism is that it has self-correcting mechanisms , just as democracy has self-correcting mechanisms . The truth is that the outcome we have now , all of this tremendous inequality , is bad morally and economically . This is not a sustainable system , and if it keeps getting worse , we run the risk of a revolution .
So I don ’ t think capitalism is an inherently moral system or an inherently self-defeating system , but we have to ensure that it adapts when it veers too far into corruption and inequality . And that ’ s basically what I ’ m calling for in this book .
Well , yes , capitalist systems are extremely adaptable ( that ’ s definitely one thing Karl Marx got really , really wrong ) , but the problem is that our system isn ’ t adapting , or not adapting fast enough . And we live in a media culture in which nearly half the population is fed propaganda that convinces them that immigrants and regulations are what are holding them back , not greedy corporations .
How do we course-correct in the face of all this confusion ?
We do it by changing norms , and by talking about it and discussing it . That ’ s how a democracy goes about it . Now one of the questions you might ask is , how do norms change ? And the answer is , I don ’ t know .
But in the # MeToo movement , we see a very good example of how norms can change very quickly . What was acceptable five years ago is really not acceptable anymore . And it ’ s because enough people got morally outraged and things changed . That ’ s how norms shift and the culture evolves .
I ’ ll circle back to the # MeToo comparison because I think it ’ s a bad one , but there are also legal and structural impediments here . We have a political system fueled by private money , which means that wealth translates to political influence , which in turn means the laws are increasingly rigged to benefit the people on top .
You make a very good point , and in the book I say the No . 1 thing we have to do is get money out of politics — and that will probably require a constitutional amendment . But you ’ re right : We can ’ t reform our economic system if we don ’ t reform our political financing system .
As it is now , we ’ re stuck in a vicious cycle in which concentration of wealth leads to concentration of political power , which leads to yet more concentration of wealth . And we know how this plays out in the long run — it leads to revolution . But we don ’ t have to get anywhere near that if we can make the changes we need to make now .
The Democratic Party will have to lead the way , and if they really want to do that , they need to put this at the top of their agenda and run on it . People out there are angry , and this will help them win . It ’ s a slam-dunk issue , really . People are as disgusted by what they ’ re seeing as you and I are .
I want to quote something interesting from your book : “ Liberal critics never miss an opportunity to complain about the level of inequality , but they ’ ve rarely been willing to say what level , or what kinds , of inequality would be morally acceptable. ” I have my own answer to this , but I ’ m curious what you think the acceptable level of inequality is .
My answer has to do with something called social capital , which is a social science term that generally refers to the amount of trust that we all have in each other and in our institutions . And when things get so unfair that that trust becomes eroded , that ’ s when you know you ’ ve gone too far . That ’ s when you know that things have become too unequal . Another way that you would know it is when you see class mobility , intergenerational class mobility , start to decline .
Now , we ’ ve only been in this neoliberal paradigm for 40 years , so it ’ s a little too early to know what the intergenerational data will look like , but we can already see the gross inequalities and the erosion of social capital . That , to me , is enough of a warning sign . We know enough to know we have to course-correct or risk disaster .
“ The system offends the moral sensibilities even of people who are benefiting from it ”
In the book , you catalogue all of these solutions to the problem — more income redistribution , better tax reform , something like a universal basic income , a new social contract between business and society , more access to higher education , etc . — and I agree with most of it . But I ’ m not confident we have the political will to get these things done .
If I ’ m right about that , what do you think is going to happen in the short to medium term ?
First , let me just say that it will be easier to do these sorts of things than it will be to go full socialist . If we lack the political will to fix the kind of capitalism we have , then there ’ s surely a higher political barrier to the full socialist model of national health insurance , free college for everybody , and guaranteed income for every individual , whether they work or not .
So if you ’ re saying that things have to get worse before they get better , you may be right . However , if you look at public opinion polls , if you look at the recent election , I think the will may be already there . Again , I see the success of the # MeToo movement as a great example of what ’ s possible .
The # MeToo movement is a misguided comparison . We ’ re talking about broad changes in our political and economic system , changes that directly threaten the most entrenched financial interests in this country . I think you ’ re right about public sentiment , but I ’ m not at all convinced that the financial class is prepared to relinquish anything .
In fact , we ’ ve seen the big banks essentially go right back to the sorts of behaviors that produced the financial crash in 2008 , and we just saw Republicans pass an egregious tax cut that will deepen the very inequalities we ’ re talking about here .
Well , it ’ s worth remembering that social norms change before policy changes , not the other way around . But yes , I agree that the GOP tax cut was enormously irresponsible and unfair . These are the sorts of things that can cause the public to say , “ Enough is enough . ”
My view is that we ’ re at a tipping point now and things are about to change . You and I may disagree about what , exactly , we need to do , or how far we need to go , but I think there are enough positive signs in public opinion that suggest we ’ re at a tipping point . | cypPMaz5v7XTu7Y3 | 0 | Capitalism | -0.1 | Economic Policy | 0 | Economy And Jobs | 0 | null | null | null | null |
economic_policy | Politico | http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/trump-infrastructure-plan-washington-reality-231649 | Trump's $1 trillion plan hits D.C. speed bumps | 2016-11-20 | economic_policy | It was supposed to be a big , beautiful infrastructure bill . But President-elect Donald Trump ’ s pitch for a $ 1 trillion upgrade of the nation ’ s roads , bridges , tunnels and airports is already running into potholes as it meets reality in Washington .
The overwhelming sticking point , as always , is how to pay for it .
Trump 's advisers are so far floating the same kinds of financing schemes that Congress has batted around for years with little success , including proposals to lure private investors or reap a revenue windfall through an overhaul of the tax code . Key lawmakers say they ’ re in the dark on how Trump ’ s plan would work — with some conservatives simply hoping that his call for massive tax breaks will provide an economic jolt that makes the hard spending decisions easier .
Democrats , meanwhile , are split on whether to cooperate with Trump on his plan . Hillary Clinton adviser Ron Klain denounced it Friday as a `` trap '' that would provide `` a massive corporate welfare plan for contractors '' without necessarily spurring any new infrastructure spending .
Even congressional Republicans who have long championed spending on transportation projects say they don ’ t yet know the details of Trump ’ s 10-year proposal , which the president-elect has vowed will “ put millions of our people to work ” while making U.S. infrastructure “ second to none . ”
`` Look , we do n't have the details , '' House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster ( R-Pa. ) told ███ . `` We 're working very closely with his transition team and hopefully with the new department head to figure out how we 're going to pay for it . It 's got to be fiscally responsible . ''
A trillion dollars is “ a big number , ” said Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune ( R-S.D . ) , adding that a tax overhaul could be one promising way to pay for it . “ I think it 's going to come down to figuring out just actually what 's achievable . ”
“ I think this is critical , something that could draw us together , ” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito ( R-W.Va. ) , who hoped that the infrastructure plan would also include an expansion of broadband internet service . But asked whether a Republican Congress would approve it , she said : “ Not if it ’ s not paid for . ”
“ To just add it to the national debt , I don ’ t think President-elect Trump or members of the Republican Conference would support that , ” said Rep. Mark Meadows ( R-N.C. ) , a member of the House Transportation Committee and the conservative Freedom Caucus .
Some Democratic lawmakers were more optimistic than others than any big infrastructure plan will get through Congress , even with a GOP president pushing it .
`` The country needs it , '' said New York Democratic Rep. José Serrano , who sits on the Appropriations Committee . But he said Trump “ should be telling us how he ’ s going to get it through a Congress that doesn ’ t want to spend $ 1.50 on anything . ”
Trump has touted his infrastructure plan as a top priority — even mentioning it in his election-night victory speech — raising expectations that it will have a prime place in the agenda for his first 100 days . His senior adviser Steve Bannon has portrayed it as a massive borrow-and-spending binge that would make conservatives `` go crazy , '' telling The Hollywood Reporter : `` With negative interest rates throughout the world , it 's the greatest opportunity to rebuild everything . ... We 're just going to throw it up against the wall and see if it sticks . ''
But despite its eye-popping $ 1 trillion price tag , it ’ s unclear to infrastructure finance experts whether his plan would involve much , or even any , additional federal spending on top of the five-year , $ 305 billion transportation bill that Congress approved last year .
Trump advisers walking in and out of Trump Tower in the past week have floated some ideas on how to pay for the plan , which has also seemed to morph day-by-day .
The Heritage Foundation 's Stephen Moore , one of Trump 's tax advisers , pitched GOP lawmakers Tuesday on a one-time 10 percent tax on offshore business income , the kind of tax break that Republicans maintain would encourage companies to bring their overseas earnings back to the U.S .
But by Wednesday morning , Steven Mnuchin , a leading contender for Treasury secretary , told reporters the transition team was “ looking at the creation of an infrastructure bank , ” a pot of money that would use federal money to attract state and private dollars to fund projects . It ’ s hardly a new idea in transportation circles — but Trump ’ s presidential campaign had blasted Clinton for proposing the same idea , saying such a bank would be “ controlled by politicians and bureaucrats in Washington D.C . ''
President Barack Obama has also repeatedly proposed an infrastructure bank , though that idea went nowhere in Congress .
Trump ’ s campaign also called for setting up “ public-private partnerships , ” another means of encouraging private investors to put their money into infrastructure . In one version , the investors would get tax credits to build a project and could recoup their money by charging fees for its use , such as tolls . But as New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote Saturday , that would be problematic for types of infrastructure that do n't generate revenue streams : `` Toll roads are not the main thing we need right now ; what about sewage systems , making up for deferred maintenance , and so on ? ''
Whatever the financing mechanism , some Republicans say Trump may be the one to sell it .
“ His business acumen is going to give him a better handle on the fiscal reality than we ’ ve had heretofore , ” said Rep. Trent Franks ( R-Ariz. ) .
In fact , policy experts from both sides of the aisle have faulted Trump ’ s broad tax and spending agenda for not even remotely adding up . They say the tax cuts he ’ s proposed would add $ 10 trillion to the national debt in the coming decade , while his pledge to trim the debt to zero would require savage cuts to federal spending .
But Meadows said he hopes Trump ’ s tax cuts would bring a surge in revenue .
“ That stimulus provides an economic boom that will get us back to a 4 , 4.5-percent GDP growth , ” he said . “ That will actually make some of these questions a lot easier to answer than at an anemic 2.2-to-maybe-2.8 GDP . ”
Rep. Lou Barletta ( R-Pa. ) echoed the kind of infrastructure-spending-equals-jobs argument that conservatives rejected when Obama was pushing his $ 832 billion stimulus through a Democratic Congress nearly eight years ago .
“ The federal government will get money back because , as I said , these are good-paying jobs , ” Barletta said . “ You ’ re going to be putting people to work . They ’ re going to be paying taxes . That money is going to come back to Washington . ”
But beyond wide support for the idea of infrastructure spending , Republicans ’ unanimity breaks down quickly — especially when it comes to using repatriated money from corporations ' overseas earnings . House Ways and Means Committee Republicans such as Chairman Kevin Brady of Texas and Dave Reichert of Washington state have indicated they 're lukewarm at best to that idea , saying repatriation revenues should go to lowering tax rates instead .
The difference this time , some lawmakers and lobbyists say , is the push infrastructure will be getting from an emboldened President Trump . In contrast , Obama has mostly chosen to stay out of the long-term funding debate in hopes Congress would come to a decision .
`` We 've had zero leadership coming from the current administration , '' said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart ( R-Fla. ) , who leads the Appropriations Subcommittee for Department of Transportation spending . `` No suggestions , no ideas — they 've just been kind of like pretending it 's not an issue . ”
Obama has proposed some funding ideas , but lawmakers dismissed them as either unrealistic or gimmicky , as in his proposal to use savings from a hoped-for drawdown of troops overseas . Republicans ridiculed the proposal for a $ 10.25-a-barrel oil tax that he included in his last budget .
Democrats find a variety of flaws in Trump ’ s proposal , especially the reliance on public-private partnerships .
Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon , the top Democrat on the Transportation Committee , said those partnerships wo n't do much for the 143,000 bridges that need work nationwide `` unless you 're going to toll 143,000 bridges . '' He said the same goes for the interstate highways `` unless you 're going to start massive tolling of already constructed infrastructure to reconstruct it . ''
`` So it 'll help with individual sorts of big projects , but it 's not any kind of cure-all , and it certainly is n't going to get the big bang that Trump has talked about in infrastructure , '' DeFazio said .
DeFazio said he would propose indexing the gasoline tax to inflation , so that the rate would rise over time , or implementing a wholesale barrel tax on oil . “ If they want to put people to work quickly and they want a big bang in infrastructure , they need real money , '' he said .
At least one House Republican agrees : Former Transportation Chairman Don Young of Alaska said he would also hike the gas tax to pay for transportation projects , and he faulted both his own party and Obama for blocking it in past years .
“ There ’ s no pie in the sky , no magic wand , ” Young said . “ We have to pay for it . ”
If Republicans settle on a plan , Democrats might be the key to passing it , Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse ( D-R.I. ) said in an interview .
“ There was partisan hostility to anything President Obama wanted from the Republican side , ” Whitehouse said . “ So with President Trump supporting it and with Democrats supporting it , I think there ’ s the prospect of a filibuster-proof majority emerging around that bill . ”
But Sen. Patrick Leahy ( D-Vt. ) said he ’ s not yet ready to sign onto Trump ’ s plan — whatever it turns out to be .
“ I haven ’ t seen it , and nobody ’ s seen it , ” Leahy said . “ A lot of his plans seem to change day by day . I ’ ll wait till I see it . ” | vazrAa2N8yNXlcus | 0 | Donald Trump | 0.9 | Economic Policy | -0.5 | Economy And Jobs | 0.1 | null | null | null | null |
politics | CNN (Web News) | http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/01/27/clintons-biggest-regret-at-state-benghazi/ | Clinton's biggest regret at State: Benghazi | 2014-01-27 | politics | ( CNN ) - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday that the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi , Libya was her biggest regret during the four years she served as America 's top diplomat .
In a speech to the National Automobile Dealers Association meeting in New Orleans , Louisiana , Clinton addressed a number of auto-related topics , including some of the more colorful cars former President Bill Clinton has owned and the fact that she has n't driven a car since 1996 .
`` My biggest regret is what happened in Benghazi , '' Clinton said in response to a question from David Westcott , the outgoing chairman of NADA . `` It was a terrible tragedy losing four Americans , two diplomats and now it is public so I can say two CIA operatives . ''
Clinton said that while at the State Department , some of the decisions she made were `` based on imperfect information , '' and that despite the right intentions came with `` unforeseen consequences , unpredictable twists and turns . ''
Benghazi , she said , `` illustrated one of the biggest problems that I faced as Secretary of State : We have a lot of dangerous locations where we send not our military , but our civilians . And they go in , they have language skills often , they try to assess what is going on in the area , but they are vulnerable . ''
This is not the first time she has said that she regretted the Benghazi attack , but she rarely addresses the incident , especially in this detail . In a global town hall in January 2013 , Clinton made similar comments , stating that `` We have to understand from the very beginning you ca n't control everything . ''
The remarks also come just days after the one year anniversary of Clinton 's testimony in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the Benghazi attack .
The U.S. consulate in Libya was attacked on September 11 , 2012 . Four Americans , including the U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens , were killed . Initially , the attack was thought to be perpetrated by an angry mob responding to a video made in the U.S. which mocked Islam and the Prophet Mohammed , but was later determined to be a terrorist attack .
Questions about Benghazi have dogged Clinton since the attack and some some have questioned whether the former first lady is to blame for Steven 's death – the first U.S. ambassador killed on duty in over thirty years .
In a Senate report put out earlier this month , the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound was deemed `` likely preventable '' based on known security shortfalls and prior warnings that the security situation there was deteriorating .
Benghazi is likely to continue to dog Clinton as she considers whether to run for president in 2016 . Since the attack , Republicans have held Clinton culpable and some have said the attack should disqualify her from holding future elected office .
The speech , like many other paid remarks she 's made , was due to be closed to the press . On Friday however , event organizers notified CNN that Clinton 's comments would be open to cameras at the request of her aides .
Like she has at past public appearances , Clinton was coy about whether she 's thinking about a 2016 run , despite the fact that the audience applauded at the prospect .
`` I am not thinking about it , '' Clinton said . `` I am trying to get other people not to think about it . I 'll think about it , you know , in the future sometime . ''
She added , `` We can worry about the next election later . I think we spend too much time looking over the horizon instead of looking straight ahead and saying , 'hey , we can do better . ' ''
Despite Clinton 's denials , a cadre of former aides and supporters have begun to build the groundwork for a possible run in 2016 . In addition to groups like Ready for Hillary and Emily 's List - two pro-Clinton fundraising machines - Priorities USA - which was the top super PAC supporting President Barack Obama 's 2012 re-election - moved last week to get behind Clinton and announced they will begin raising big money to help elect Clinton to the White House .
Since leaving the State Department in 2013 , the former Secretary of State has kept up an active schedule , collecting paychecks on the corporate speaking circuit and picking up hardware at award ceremonies across the country .
The auto sales group would not comment on how much they were paying Clinton to appear at the winter meeting .
Because the speech was to a group of people who own and operate auto dealerships across the country , much of Clinton 's remarks were centered around how the auto industry has helped build the American middle class and helped the country recover from the economic downturn .
Clinton also made an auto admission of her own , telling the audience that because of the security around her , she has not driven a car since 1996 .
`` One of the regrets I have about my public life is that I ca n't drive anymore , '' she said . `` My husband thinks that 's a blessing , but he is the one who should talk . Last time I actually drove a car myself was 1996 and I remember it very well and unfortunately so does the Secret Service which is why I have n't driven since then . ''
Other auto admissions made : Bill Clinton has owned both a 1970 burnt orange Opel station wagon – `` With all due respect , one of the ugliest cars ever built '' – and a Chevy El Camino Pickup truck with the bed in the back covered in astro turf .
Though National Automobile Dealers Association convention organizers said they were excited about welcoming Clinton as their keynote speaker , some members of the organization reportedly planned to boycott the event because Clinton was speaking .
`` I do n't have a problem with them meeting with her , '' Jon Lind , general manager of a Ford-Lincoln dealership in tiny Burlington , Colorado , told Auto News . `` But when I see the announcement that the 'Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton ' will be giving the keynote address , the hair on my back just sticks up . Why her ? ''
The group has long invited high profile politicians and policy makers to address the group . In 2007 , President George W. Bush spoke at the conference and the 2009 convention saw former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W . Bush address the audience . | fVz2H0NIfil3TJCn | 0 | Benghazi | -2.4 | Hillary Clinton | 0.8 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null |
middle_east | NPR Online News | http://www.npr.org/2015/12/19/459850716/fact-check-did-obama-withdraw-from-iraq-too-soon-allowing-isis-to-grow | Fact Check: Did Obama Withdraw From Iraq Too Soon, Allowing ISIS To Grow? | 2015-12-19 | middle_east | Fact Check : Did Obama Withdraw From Iraq Too Soon , Allowing ISIS To Grow ?
Like everyone else , the Republican candidates talk about ISIS a lot . And what they — at least Ben Carson , Carly Fiorina and former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush — charge is that ISIS is President Obama 's fault , because he withdrew troops from Iraq in 2011 — when he should have kept them there to keep a lid on the insurgency .
`` Barack Obama became president , and he abandoned Iraq . He left , and when he left al Qaida was done for . ISIS was created because of the void that we left , and that void now exists as a caliphate the size of Indiana . '' — former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush
Is Obama responsible for the timing of the troop withdrawal from Iraq ? Did that withdrawal cause the rise of ISIS ?
And there are answers for both , though not simple ones .
Many Democrats , and even a few Republicans , say we should look back to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq . That , and the dismantling of the entire security force , created an angry , mainly Sunni demographic , which fueled the insurgency that would later become ISIS .
Others go back further , pointing out the strong links between Saddam Hussein 's brutal Baathist regime , and the structure , methods and , indeed , commanders of ISIS .
But if we take the invasion as a given , and Saddam Hussein as history , we can begin the answer to the first question --
It was President George W. Bush who signed the Status of Forces agreement in 2008 , which planned for all American troops to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011 .
`` The agreement lays out a framework for the withdrawal of American forces in Iraq — a withdrawal that is possible because of the success of the surge , '' he said in a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki at the time .
Moments later , an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at the president . It is important to remember most Iraqis saw the Americans as occupiers and blame them for civilian deaths .
`` The incomplete sovereignty and the presence of foreign troops are the most dangerous , most complicated and most burdensome legacy we have faced since the time of dictatorship . Iraq should get rid of them to protect its young democratic experiment . ''
Thousands of American troops had died , and by the time Obama announced the withdrawal , fully three-quarters of Americans supported the withdrawal ( though a majority of Republicans did not ) .
Still , many had real concerns al Qaeda was n't done for . And there were some , including U.S. senators , saying the troops should stay just in case things went downhill . They say Obama should have sold the idea , hard , to Maliki .
`` This is one of the criticisms of Obama — that he sort of wanted the negotiations to fail , '' Sowell said , `` and , so , he did n't even talk to Maliki until it was basically all over . ''
The State Department 's lawyers said troops could n't stay in Iraq unless the Iraqi parliament authorized them to do so , including granting them immunity from Iraqi law . The Iraqi parliamentarians would never OK such a decision , with Iraqi popular opinion staunchly against U.S. troops staying .
`` It was a barrier that was very high , '' he said , `` and there was no way it was going to be jumped over . ''
But , does Obama bear responsibility for the timing of the troop withdrawal ? On balance , no .
He was following through on an agreement made by Bush and abiding by the will of the Iraqi and American people .
Did the withdrawal of troops lead to the rise of ISIS ?
Back then , in 2011 , there was no ISIS . The group did n't exist under that name yet . There was just their predecessor , al Qaeda in Iraq , which had been at the forefront of the terrible insurgency in Iraq . But many thought it was licked .
`` All of the intelligence that we had gathered , all of the results of the surge , all of the detainees we had in our detention system , all of the information we had coming to us from people on the ground , from the tribes indicated that al Qaeda in Iraq was defeated , '' said Ret . Col. Peter Mansoor , who served in Iraq .
That surge was the influx of American soldiers , and the way the U.S. military organized Sunni tribes to fight against insurgents . The Americans paid them , helped arm them and gave them air cover .
One of those tribal leaders , Sheikh Hamid Taees , told me : `` In May of 2006 , I worked closely with the American side to rid Anbar of terrorism and al Qaeda , and actually we killed a large number of al Qaeda fighters . ''
But by the time of that comment , early in 2014 , al Qaeda was beginning to get a grip on Sunni areas again , including that province of Anbar .
Many Sunni sheikhs say once the American soldiers left , the minority Sunni population of Iraq suffered under a government dominated by the Shiite majority . That government stopped paying most of them , and even arrested many .
( As an aside , we should note that there was a political , as well as a military , dimension to American influence in Iraq : Obama continued to support the government even as Sunni fear and anger grew . `` We were encouraged , '' he said in 2013 , `` by the work that Prime Minister Maliki has done in the past to ensure that all people inside of Iraq — Sunni , Shia and Kurd — feel that they have a voice in their government . ''
( But they did not feel that . Sheikh Zeidan al-Jabri led a series of Sunni protests and sit-ins in Anbar , which were eventually violently dispersed by security forces at the end of 2013 .
( `` For a year , we did not attack anyone ; we were an example of democracy on an international level , '' he told me from exile in Jordan . `` And what did the world do ? The world simply turned its face from us and gave Maliki the permission to attack the demonstrations and kill hundreds of innocent demonstrators . '' )
So some Sunnis were drawn back to the insurgency . ISIS found supporters and gained ground . And , yes , much of that could have been prevented by a big U.S. troop presence .
The other thing that happened after the American military left was that the Iraqi army deteriorated dramatically .
`` They really did become relatively complacent , and then flat out just did n't train , '' said Major-General Paul E. Funk II , speaking after abruptly returning to Iraq on a training mission 2014 . `` Just did n't spend the money to do it , did n't maintain the systems and therein lies the problem . ''
And corruption was running rampant . Supplies were stolen ; soldiers were paid , who never reported for duty . And , so , when ISIS came rushing into the city of Mosul last year , the military collapsed .
I met one of the defeated Iraqi troops , named Bahr Ibrahim , shortly afterward , sitting dejectedly next to an injured friend in a hospital not far from Mosul .
`` We fought , '' he said . But ISIS had more men and bigger weapons .
So , yes , the withdrawal of U.S. troops helped ISIS . If they 'd stayed , they could have bolstered Iraq 's security forces and tamped down Sunni anger .
But the Republicans ' claim that ISIS grew because Obama withdrew troops from Iraq still glosses over many other factors beyond America 's control — like the fact that the rift between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq has been going on for centuries . And that was n't going to be permanently solved by American troops .
Another crucial thing is Syria . For reasons completely beyond Obama 's control , after 2011 , Syria sank into civil war . Suddenly , just over Iraq 's borders were vast ungoverned spaces and lots of weapons . It became a safe haven for ISIS to grow in .
The Republican candidates have the benefit of hindsight now , but they could n't have predicted all the things that contributed to the growth of ISIS back then . And neither could Obama .
1 . No , Obama should n't shoulder the full burden for the timing of the withdrawal of troops ;
2 . Yes , a significant American troop presence would have helped slow the growth of ISIS
But with the significant caveat that there were many other factors that enabled ISIS to become strong — and they were n't all predictable in 2011 . | LwpNM8Zw39z3Ffk7 | 1 | Middle East | -0.1 | Iraq | -0.1 | Barack Obama | 0 | null | null | null | null |
technology | Townhall | https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2020/12/13/what-we-know-about-a-foreign-governments-hacking-of-the-treasury-department-n2581484 | What We Know About the Cyberattack on the U.S. Treasury | 2020-12-15 | Cybersecurity, Russia, Privacy, Hacking, DHS, National Security, US Military, Healthcare, Technology | The White House acknowledged reports on Sunday that the U.S. Department of Treasury was hacked by a foreign government. According to the reports, the cyberattack was also carried out on the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Informations Administration (NTIA) and prompted an emergency meeting of the National Security Council. "The United States government is aware of these reports and we are taking all necessary steps to identify and remedy any possible issues related to this situation," John Ullyot, a National Security Council spokesman said in a statement. For months, hackers working for a foreign government have been monitoring the internal email traffic of both the Treasury Department and NTIA, Reuters reported. Members of the intelligence community say there is concern within the community that other government agencies may have also been breached. The breach reportedly involved the use of Microsoft's Office 365. The hackers were reportedly able to trick Microsoft's authentication protocols, according to a person who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. "This is a nation state," a different person briefed on the matter told Reuters. "We just don’t know which one yet." In the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) first annual Threat Assessment, the agency identified Russia and China as "the most capable nation-state cyber adversaries." The assessment noted that "Iranian and North Korean actors also pose a threat to U.S. systems, networks, and information." A spokesperson for the FBI told Fox News the bureau can "neither confirm nor deny details related to any ongoing investigation," per the agency's standard practice. Joe & Mika Rage: Liberal Media Melts Down When Trump Takes Control! Parents Want Their Rights Back WILDCARD WEDNESDAY: DOGE, Bill Belichick, and Droves of Democrats CNN Hosts Humiliated: Mass Exodus Underway?! Is This the End of Margaret Brennan's Career? WILDCARD WEDNESDAY: Things You Should Hear About, but Aren’t Media's Panic Attack Over DOGE Sends Liberal Elites & Dems Packing RFK Jr. Confirmed! Big Pharma in Shambles Over MAHA Agenda?! Brave, Bold, and Bada**: Stacy Washington Dems' Humiliating Moment During Fiery DOGE Hearing The Circus and the Tidal Wave: WILDCARD WEDNESDAY Dems Plan Elon Musk Impeachment While Media Panics Over 'Constitutional Crisis' Donald Trump Rips Reporters During DC Plane Crash Briefing JD Vance's Knock-Out Punch To Margaret Brennan Trump's Victories Are Causing Mass Democrat Panic Brett Favre Talks Trump, Parkinson's, and Much More Tax Cuts on the Line: AFP’s Akash Chougule Optimistic About GOP’s ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ Something Remarkable Happened When Trump Saved Women's Sports From Gender Ideology Stephen Miller Ends CNN Host's Career! Trump Torches Critics! This Week on Capitol Hill: Trump's Last Call for Hamas Democrats Enraged at Trump Wins Threaten Impeachment and Revolution Something Remarkable Happened During Trump's First Oval Office Interview Speaker Johnson on DOGE, Israel, Reforming FBI & More | This Week on Capitol Hill Chaos? Congressman Wesley Hunt Is Loving It. Chaos In DC: RFK Jr Rips Democrats to Shreds Townhall.com is the leading source for conservative news and political commentary and analysis. Copyright © Townhall.com/Salem Media. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you | 24d76539b581317f | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | NPR Online News | http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/23/460790418/per-governors-order-kentucky-marriage-licenses-no-longer-need-clerks-name | Per Governor's Order, Kentucky Marriage Licenses No Longer Need Clerk's Name | 2015-12-23 | politics | Per Governor 's Order , Kentucky Marriage Licenses No Longer Need Clerk 's Name
Marriage licenses in Kentucky will no longer need to be printed with the name of the county clerk who issues them .
The state 's new governor , Matthew Bevin , issued a executive order yesterday saying he was changing protocol in order to `` ensure that the sincerely held religious beliefs of all Kentuckians are honored . ''
Of course this issue was brought to the national spotlight after Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples . That resulted in a legal standoff that worked its way to the Supreme Court and ended after Davis was jailed for a few days and same-sex couples were issued licenses bearing the name of a deputy clerk .
Lawyers for Davis and some of the couples have said the validity of those licenses is questionable .
`` Mr. Bevin staunchly supported Ms. Davis 's position and vowed during his campaign to take the action he announced Tuesday , on his 15th day in office . Some political analysts say the case helped motivate religious conservatives to turn out to vote for him . ''
The American Civil Liberties Union , whose lawyers represented some of the couples who successfully sued Davis , said Bevin 's move further complicates the legal landscape in Kentucky .
`` The requirement that the county clerk 's name appear on marriage licenses is prescribed by Kentucky law and is not subject to unilateral change by the governor , '' William Sharp , the legal director for the ACLU of Kentucky , said in a statement .
Sharp goes on to say that was the position of the previous administration .
He concludes : `` The ACLU continues to work with loving couples who hold marriage licenses of questionable validity and for those who are waiting to legalize their unions until this is resolved . And the ACLU will continue to challenge government officials who disregard the law in favor of promoting their own personal beliefs to the detriment of the rights of others . Government officials , from the highest to the lowest , have a duty and responsibility to impartially administer the laws that exist , not the laws as they wish them to be . '' | TxUqMcfUf3X4gdx3 | 1 | Same-Sex Marriage | -0.4 | Kentucky | 0.2 | Politics | 0.2 | null | null | null | null |
white_house | Christian Science Monitor | http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2013/0604/Obama-to-Republicans-Don-t-block-my-judges | Obama to Republicans: Don't block my judges | 2013-06-04 | white_house | A fiery President Obama laid down the gauntlet to Republicans Tuesday , nominating three top lawyers to fill all the vacancies on the second most important court in the country .
Mr. Obama has faced political pressure from both sides on the issue of vacant federal court seats , particularly those in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit , aka the D.C . Circuit . Democrats have wanted him to move more aggressively with nominations , while Republicans say the D.C . Circuit doesn ’ t even need more judges , and are promoting a plan to shift seats to other circuits .
In his Rose Garden announcement , Obama blamed Senate Republicans for blocking his judicial nominees , calling their motives political , and noting that when they do reach the floor of the Senate , they are confirmed with bipartisan support .
“ So this is not about principled opposition ; this is about political obstruction , ” Obama said .
In his remarks , Obama claimed that his judicial nominees have waited three times longer to receive confirmation votes than those of his Republican predecessor , and made that point twice for emphasis . Obama also acknowledged that Democrats , too , held up judicial nominations when he was in the Senate .
“ But what 's happening now is unprecedented , ” Obama said . “ For the good of the American people , it has to stop . Too much of the people 's business is at stake . Our legal framework depends on timely confirmations of judicial nominees . ”
Federal court nominations , which are made for life , represent an important part of a president ’ s legacy . And by moving three names at once , the president is signaling that he ’ s ready to use political capital on the matter . Critics of the president accused him of moving now to create a distraction from the troubles plaguing various federal agencies and departments , including the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department .
As expected , the president nominated a diverse trio of respected legal figures to the D.C . Circuit :
Patricia Ann Millett runs the Supreme Court practice at the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington , D.C. , and has argued 32 cases before the US Supreme Court – until recently , Obama said , a record for a female lawyer . She also served nine years , during both Democratic and Republican administrations , as an assistant to the solicitor general at the Justice Department .
Cornelia “ Nina ” T.L . Pillard is a law professor at Georgetown University in Washington . She has served twice in the Justice Department and was an attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund . Obama cited as “ landmark successes ” her defense before the Supreme Court of the Family and Medical Leave Act and the opening of the Virginia Military Institute to female students .
Robert Leon Wilkins , who is African-American , is a judge on the federal D.C. District Court , confirmed without opposition in 2010 . Before that , Judge Wilkins spent eight years in private practice , and a decade as a public defender in Washington , D.C .
One aspect of his nominees that shows no diversity is their common legal alma mater . Like Obama , they are all graduates of Harvard Law School .
Last month , Obama won the first confirmation of a judge to the D.C . Circuit of his presidency , when Sri Srinivasan was approved 97 to 0 by the Senate . In his remarks Tuesday , Obama pointed to “ mounting public pressure ” and “ vocal bipartisan support ” as helping Judge Srinivasan win confirmation . But he also noted the experience of another D.C . Circuit nominee , Caitlin Halligan , who faced multiple filibusters over 2-1/2 years and eventually withdrew in March .
The D.C . Circuit holds a special place in the pantheon of federal appellate courts , as it hears cases of national and international significance . The court considers the constitutionality of federal regulations and the actions of federal agencies , and is often the last word in cases , since most do not reach the US Supreme Court . The D.C . Circuit is also a steppingstone to the high court .
But Sen. Charles Grassley ( R ) of Iowa , the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee , wants to shrink the D.C . Circuit , saying its caseload does not justify 11 seats . He has introduced legislation that would shift two of the court ’ s seats to other circuits and eliminate one seat altogether .
Obama laughed with exasperation at the claim that he is trying to “ pack the court . ”
“ We 're not adding seats here , ” he said . “ We 're trying to fill seats that are already existing . ”
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With the addition of Srinivasan , the D.C . Circuit now has four Democratic appointees and four Republican appointees , but among the court ’ s six “ senior judges ” – formerly full-time judges who still hear cases – five are Republican appointees . So for both parties , the current vacancies have clear political import .
Senate majority leader Harry Reid ( D ) of Nevada has suggested he may move this summer to change the rules on filibusters – from a requirement of 60 votes to end debate to a simple majority – on judicial and executive branch nominations . Such a move , known as the “ nuclear option , ” would add an explosive new level of partisan angst to the Washington scene . | 8QRTKiSvih7XP8ck | 1 | White House | 0.5 | Politics | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
lgbtq_issues | Military Times | https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/01/25/biden-ends-trump-ban-on-transgender-service-members/ | Biden ends Trump ban on transgender service members | 2021-01-25 | LGBTQ Issues, US Military, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Executive Orders, Transgender Issues, Transgender Rights | Less than two years after then-President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender service members went into effect, President Joe Biden has reversed it. An executive order signed Monday requires both the Pentagon and the Homeland Security Department, which oversees the Coast Guard, to remove gender identity as a bar to service. “The all-volunteer force thrives when it is composed of diverse Americans who can meet the rigorous standards for military service, and an inclusive military strengthens our national security,” according to a release from the White House. The move puts to bed a controversy that began in July 2017, when Trump tweeted that “after consultation with my generals and military experts” he would no longer allow transgender Americans to serve in the military. That announcement, which took nearly two years to put into policy, came just over a year after then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter officially lifted the Defense Department’s long-standing ban on transgender service members, after which the services implemented policy that allowed currently serving troops to undergo transitions to their preferred gender and be recognized as such in DoD personnel systems. A transgender accessions policy had not yet been implemented, but experts at the time suggested requiring that an openly transgender recruit be several years post-transition in order to join up. A 2018 Palm Center study estimated that there are approximately 14,700 transgender troops currently serving, across the active-duty and reserve components. “This discriminatory ban was cruel and unnecessary from its inception, and we hope that its reversal sends a clear message to transgender and nonbinary youth everywhere that they should be proud of who they are, that they are deserving of our country’s respect, and that they have the right to serve with honor,” Amit Paley, executive director of The Trevor Project, said in a statement. Biden’s order immediately shuts down any involuntary separations or denials of continued service based on gender identity, according to the release. “Simply put, transgender service members will no longer be subject to the possibility of discharge or separation on the basis of gender identity; transgender service members can serve in their gender when transition is complete and the gender marker in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) is changed and transgender service members should know that they are accepted throughout the U.S. military,” the release said. Previously, Pentagon policy allowed troops to create individual transition plans with their military health care providers, hammering out the kinds of medical intervention they would prefer, from hormone therapy to surgeries. “Today, those who believe in fact-based public policy and a strong, smart national defense have reason to be proud,” Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, said in a statement. “The Biden administration has made good on its pledge to put military readiness above political expediency by restoring inclusive policy for transgender troops.” Multiple studies and surveys dating back to 2017 have found broad support for transgender service members among currently serving troops, as well as no evidence that transgender troops ― either through their medical needs or their presence in units ― have a detrimental effect on readiness. “These facts were confirmed by testimony in 2018 to Congress by the then-serving chief of staff of the Army, chief of naval operations, commandant of the Marine Corps, and chief of staff of the Air Force that they were not aware of any issues of unit cohesion, disciplinary problems, or issues of morale resulting from open transgender service,” according to the White House statement. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Pete Gaynor have 60 days to report to the White House their progress in overturning the ban, per the executive order. Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members. Military Times © 2024 | d8b17d32d46703e2 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | New York Times - News | http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/us/hillary-clinton-emails-take-long-path-to-controversy.html?ref=politics&_r=0 | Hillary Clinton Emails Take Long Path to Controversy | 2015-08-09 | politics | Republicans are eager to exploit the issue . House Speaker John A. Boehner has issued a stream of news releases on the emails and the questions he thinks they raise , while the House committee investigating the 2012 attacks on the United States mission in Benghazi , Libya , has expanded its inquiry to include the emails .
There are still unanswered questions : Who at the State Department advised Mrs. Clinton that she could send all her email communications from a private account ? What specific criteria did her lawyers use to decide which emails would be deleted on the grounds that they were personal ? And what exactly was the classified information that government inspectors say was improperly included in her emails ? Outside the political maelstrom , some security experts believe the ultimate judgment of her conduct will come not in a court or from Congress but at the ballot box .
“ I think the whole set of circumstances has been scrambled by political considerations surrounding the presidential campaign , ” said Steven Aftergood , director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists . He said the inadvertent “ spillage ” of classified information into an unclassified system is quite common .
“ If there ’ s a penalty , ” he said , “ it may cost her some votes . ”
Others say more than politics is at stake . “ I was stunned to see that she didn ’ t use the State Department system for State Department business , as we were always told we had to do , ” said William Johnson , a former Air Force officer who served at the department from 1999 to 2011 .
Mr. Johnson said his concerns were only compounded by the discovery of classified information in the emails . “ If I ’ d done that , I ’ d be out on bond right now , ” he said . He said he believed that someone should be punished — if not Mrs. Clinton , then career employees whose job was to safeguard secrets and preserve public records .
“ It ’ s not the end of the world ; she didn ’ t give away the crown jewels , ” Mr. Johnson said . “ But this is not how things are supposed to be done . ”
The email controversy breaks into three clear phases : Mrs. Clinton ’ s initial choices about how to set up her email ; her decision to destroy messages she judged to be personal ; and the discovery of classified information in an account where it is not allowed by law . | oZWUvzUl9iLpGiNb | 0 | Emails | -0.2 | Hillary Clinton | -0.1 | Politics | 0.1 | null | null | null | null |
race_and_racism | Associated Press | https://apnews.com/52ed0842bd17102560e5d896be79d38c | Poll: Black Americans most likely to know a COVID-19 victim | 2020-06-15 | race_and_racism | FILE - In this May 18 , 2020 , file photo , Belvin Jefferson White poses with a portrait of her father Saymon Jefferson at Saymon 's home in Baton Rouge , La . Belvin recently lost both her father and her uncle , Willie Lee Jefferson , to COVID-19 . African Americans are disproportionately likely to say a family member or close friend has died of COVID-19 or respiratory illness since March , according to a series of surveys conducted since April that lays bare how black Americans have borne the brunt of the pandemic . ( AP Photo/Gerald Herbert , File )
FILE - In this May 18 , 2020 , file photo , Belvin Jefferson White poses with a portrait of her father Saymon Jefferson at Saymon 's home in Baton Rouge , La . Belvin recently lost both her father and her uncle , Willie Lee Jefferson , to COVID-19 . African Americans are disproportionately likely to say a family member or close friend has died of COVID-19 or respiratory illness since March , according to a series of surveys conducted since April that lays bare how black Americans have borne the brunt of the pandemic . ( AP Photo/Gerald Herbert , File )
DETROIT ( AP ) — African Americans are disproportionately likely to say a family member or close friend has died of COVID-19 or respiratory illness since March , according to a series of surveys conducted since April that lays bare how black Americans have borne the brunt of the pandemic .
Eleven percent of African Americans say they were close with someone who has died from the coronavirus , compared with 5 % of Americans overall and 4 % of white Americans .
The findings are based on data from three COVID Impact surveys conducted between April and June by NORC at the University of Chicago for the Data Foundation about the pandemic ’ s effect on the physical , mental and social health of Americans .
While recent surveys conducted by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research have found that black Americans are especially likely to know someone who had the virus , the new data from the COVID Impact research further details the toll the pandemic has taken on black Americans .
Pre-existing conditions and limited access to health care have been identified as reasons black Americans have been particularly susceptible to the virus . Experts and medical professionals say the longstanding effects of structural racism and generational trauma exacted upon black Americans in the centuries following slavery also can not be ignored .
“ The health inequities that we ’ re seeing here are nothing new , because we ’ re starting in a place where during slavery , we had black women who were enslaved and were being experimented on by white male physicians , ” said New York-based Dr. Uché Blackstock , a former associate professor at the NYU School of Medicine and the founder of Advancing Health Equity . “ So our healthcare system is founded on racism , and our communities have been essentially made sick by racism . We carry the highest disease burden in almost every parameter . We were already in a crisis . ”
The COVID Impact surveys show the racial gap is equally striking in some cities and states hit especially hard by the virus . In Louisiana , 16 % of black adults , compared with 6 % of white adults , are close with someone who has died , according to the surveys . Black people represent about 33 % of the state ’ s population but account for 53 % of the state ’ s nearly 3,000 COVID-19 deaths , according to data from the state ’ s health department .
The differences are equally stark in several metropolitan areas : Among black adults in Atlanta , 14 % have a family member or close friend who has died , compared with 4 % of white adults . The comparison is 12 % vs. 4 % in Baltimore , 15 % vs. 2 % in Birmingham , Alabama , and 12 % vs. 4 % in Chicago .
Twenty-six percent of nonwhite New Yorkers say a family member or close friend has died from COVID-19 , compared with just 10 % of white adults in New York City .
Meanwhile , an ███ analysis of data from state and local health departments nationwide found that more than a quarter of all COVID-related deaths nationwide have been black victims — nearly double the share of the black population in the areas sampled . The data , from early June , included nearly 87,000 deaths in which the dead person ’ s race was known in 38 states and Washington , D.C .
In a number of states , the disparity was even more outsized — for instance , in Michigan , black deaths per 100,000 black residents were four times the rate of white deaths per 100,000 white residents .
“ I think we will have a national conversation , not only about those inequities , but about how we get to solutions , because it ’ s not just about what ’ s going on right now , it ’ s really what has gone on for decades regarding structural racism , implicit bias , discriminatory housing policies and the like , ” said Dr. Patrice Harris , the immediate past president of the American Medical Association and the first African-American woman elected president of the organization .
Harris said the AMA launched a Center for Health Equity a year and a half ago to address implicit bias at the physician and institutional level . During the pandemic , she said , many stories have emerged of black patients detailing how their needs were ignored or unmet by doctors , which some experts say is indicative of a historical mistrust of the medical system .
“ We heard with COVID-19 , the stories , or some of the data that says that black men in particular were more likely to take advice from another black physician or that there have been studies where our younger colleagues believe the myth that blacks did not feel pain in the same way as whites , ” Harris said . “ AMA is going to lead these conversations and make sure everyone has information so we can address issues around implicit bias and discriminatory practices . ”
The nation must also begin to grapple with the psychological trauma of the pandemic , coupled with the economic fallout , the civil unrest in the wake of several high profile killings of African Americans and witnessing black grief on a mass scale , said University of Michigan health behavior and health education professor Enrique Neblett .
Neblett , who studies the intersection of racism and health , said many African Americans could be dealing with depression , anxiety and other mental struggles .
“ It ’ s the confluence of all these factors where it ’ s not just one or two things and that is really weighing hard and heavily on the psyche of black people , ” Neblett said . “ We do know that when you experience loss at unexpected times , there is scientific evidence showing that that ’ s related to worse health outcomes later on in life . I think these impacts may be generational . ”
The three COVID Impact surveys were conducted between April and June . The national survey uses a sample drawn from NORC ’ s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel , which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population . State and metropolitan area surveys were conducted using address-based sampling . | eiLfeNS8dMQpaiEr | 1 | Healthcare | -0.6 | Coronavirus | -0.3 | Race And Racism | -0.2 | Public Health | -0.1 | Black Americans | 0 |
media_bias | Townhall | https://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2020/05/20/msnbc-correspondent-admires-chinas-diplomacy-n2569131 | NBC Correspondent Disappointed in Trump, But Admires China's 'Diplomacy' | 2020-05-20 | media_bias | I enjoy NBC 's Keir Simmons 's coverage of the royals as much as any anglophile , but he really missed the mark in his reporting on the World Health Organization . Trump recently decided to halt funding to the WHO because the body has not only turned a blind eye to China 's role in the coronavirus pandemic , but they took the CCP at their word and may have even engaged in a cover-up of the outbreak .
`` They had a lot of information early and they did n't want to ... they seem to be very China-centric , so we 're going to look into it , '' Trump said at the White House in April . `` We pay for the majority of the money that we get . ''
Simmons was more interested in President Trump 's shortcomings . Trump `` could have '' made an address at the WHO Assembly this week and made his case for why he is cutting funding to the organization , but he chose not to , Simmons regretted to his colleague Nicole Wallace .
`` Another example really - we talked about this yesterday Nicole - of China really seeming to do the diplomacy better than America at this stage where President Xi steps up and gives an address , '' Simmons said . `` We did n't know he was going to do that until hours before and kind of steals the limelight . ''
MSNBC ’ s @ KeirSimmons on the WHO : “ China really seemed to do the diplomacy better than America , at this stage , where President XI steps up and gives an address — we didn ’ t know he was going to do that , until hours before . And kind of steals the limelight . '' pic.twitter.com/uUWPmYVov2 — Tom Elliott ( @ tomselliott ) May 19 , 2020
The White House , Simmons added , has not provided a proposal as to how they 're going to move forward with a fractured relationship with WHO .
That sentiment had Sen. Ted Cruz ( R-TX ) asking himself a question .
Is NBC in fact a wholly-owned subsidiary of the CCP ? https : //t.co/9n2eUxkugd — Ted Cruz ( @ tedcruz ) May 19 , 2020
Of course , Cruz is used to the media taking China 's side . But he sees China 's role in the coronavirus outbreak as clear as day . In fact , he said they are guilty on three counts . He 's introduced legislation to sanction Chinese officials involved in the cover-up that led to a global pandemic . | cdJE8uO74SgtzY1Y | 2 | China | -1.7 | Donald Trump | -0.7 | NBC | 0.2 | Media Watch | 0.1 | Media Bias | 0 |
politics | Fox News Opinion | http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/04/17/tammy-bruce-turning-california-into-three-states-won-t-solve-its-problems.html | OPINION: Tammy Bruce: Turning California into three states won’t solve its problems | 2018-04-17 | politics | For former Californians like me , our days consist of at least two head shakes whenever news of our former home state crawls across the transom . Almost every day , there ’ s a report out of that beautiful state that generates pity and bemusement at the latest outlandish event .
Last week we learned a billionaire venture capitalist finally accomplished a dream by getting enough signatures to put a measure on the ballot asking voters if they want to divide California into three states .
Tim Draper , the iconoclast behind the plan , understands the state is a disaster , but only Californians would think that the solution lies in making more Californias .
After all , that ’ s like thinking you ’ ll help your crazy uncle , who keeps trying to set the house on fire , by cloning him instead of getting him to the doctor .
We all love California , and want it to be saved . Yes , to rescue our own memories but also to bring back the freedom and possibilities a state like California offers to the American people .
Draper explained to Fox News ’ Tucker Carlson that the current California government is “ failing our kids , it ’ s not safe here , a lot of homeless people , a lot of big problems , the education system is just about the worst in all 50 states … so it needs a revamp and a restart . ”
He ’ s right , but his litany of problems was brought on by liberal policies , not because the state is too big .
“ California is n't circling the drain because it ’ s too big to govern . The state is a basket case because ruling Democrats have an unquenchable thirst for emptying the prisons , enabling an exploding homeless population and jacking up every imaginable tax , ” said Johnny Phillips , a columnist with the Orange County Register and host at KABC Radio in Southern California .
“ Since the 1990s the state and its voters have drifted far to the left , ” Phillips added . “ I fear that splitting the state into three would just give Democrats two more states to wreck and four more U.S. Senate seats that they would use to inflict more damage on the rest of the country . ”
In his interview with Tucker Carlson , Draper confirmed Phillips ’ concern . When asked why the rest of the country would allow the creation of a bunch more Californias , Draper explained : “ The rest of the country will want to do what ’ s right for California . It takes up the same landmass as 15 states on the east coast , the population is the equivalent , an average of six or seven states . It ’ s appropriate to have California represented by at least three states . ”
There ’ s the confession – California should have six senators because it ’ s big . And that is exactly the argument the Founders knew to thwart if our union was to survive .
Equal representation matters – especially when there is a disparity in size and power . You know , just in case a state got big , went crazy , and became a volcano of horrible ideas that could ruin paradise while banishing people with opposing viewpoints .
More people might be persuaded if we could name the new states “ California , ” “ Bride of California , ” and “ Califormageddon. ” All in the name of transparency , of course .
Draper is clearly more of an idealist than a realist . He told Carlson : “ I think these three new states are going to empower people , to realize what ’ s possible in government , and then all these governments will realize they can do a better job . Then they could compete with one another down the road for citizens . ”
To be a venture capitalist one needs to be a visionary but also an optimist . Draper is a registered Republican , a supporter of school vouchers and was an early investor in Skype and Tesla . He , like your humble columnist , was also involved in the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger during his first run for governor of California . That , too , was a visionary leap of faith , ultimately betrayed by someone who was thinking more of his housekeeper than he was of his responsibilities to his family and constituents .
We all love California , and want it to be saved . Yes , to rescue our own memories but also to bring back the freedom and possibilities a state like California offers to the American people . The only way that ’ s going to happen is when her people decide they deserve better and kick the bums out of Sacramento who are ruining that great state with awful policies . But they ’ ll need a champion like Draper to help them do it .
Instead of trying to divide California into three states , Draper should be working to unite the state and improve the lives of its people . He can do that by working to elect officials at the state and federal level who will replace far-left Big Government policies with sensible government that respects individual freedom , reduces the huge tax burden on Californians , and -- if I may borrow a phrase -- will Make California Great Again . | vjtVpv3o8evpc9Sx | 2 | California | -0.3 | Politics | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_military | Fox Online News | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pence-visit-iraq-troops | Pence makes surprise stop in Iraq to reassure Kurds, visit troops | us_military | Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Saturday in the highest-level American trip since President Donald Trump ordered a pullback of U.S. forces in Syria two months ago .
Flying in a C-17 military cargo jet to preserve the secrecy of the visit to the conflict zone , Pence landed in Erbil to meet with Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani . The visit was meant to reassure the U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State after Syrian Kurds suffered under a bloody Turkish assault last month following the Trump-ordered withdrawal .
Earlier Pence received a classified briefing at Iraq ’ s Al-Asad Air Base , from which U.S. forces launched the operation in Syria last month that resulted in the death of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi , and spoke by phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi .
IRAQI PROTESTERS BLOCK MAJOR PORT , HALT COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY AMID ONGOING DEMONSTRATIONS
It was Pence ’ s second trip to the region in five weeks after Trump deployed him on whirling trip to Ankara , Turkey , last month to negotiate a cease-fire after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seized on the U.S. withdrawal to launch an assault on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria . Trump ’ s move had sparked some of the most unified criticism of his administration to date , as lawmakers in both parties accused Trump of forsaking longtime Kurdish allies and inviting Russia and Iran to hold even greater sway in the volatile region .
Pence said he welcomes “ the opportunity on behalf of President Donald Trump to reiterate the strong bonds forged in the fires of war between the people of the United States and the Kurdish people across this region . ”
A senior U.S. official said Pence ’ s visit was meant both to reassure Iraqi Kurds who remain allied with the U.S. in the fight against IS , as well as Americans who have long supported the Kurdish cause , that the Trump administration remained committed to the alliance . The visit was also designed to show Pence ’ s focus on foreign policy as Washington is gripped by the drama of impeachment .
When the U.S. forces withdrew , Syria ’ s Kurds — seeking protection from their No . 1 enemy Turkey — invited Syrian government and Russian forces into parts of northeastern Syria where they had not set foot in years . More are now deploying along large parts of the border region under a Russian-Turkish deal , including to at least one former U.S. garrison in northern Syria .
The Ankara agreement required the Kurds to vacate a swath of territory in Syria along the Turkish border in an arrangement that largely solidified Turkey 's position and aimst .
VETERAN WHO SERVED IN FOUR MILITARY BRANCHES REFLECTS ON HIS CAREER : 'IM A LUCKY GUY '
Pence hailed the cease-fire as the way to end the bloodshed caused by Turkey 's invasion , though he remained silent on whether it amounted to a second abandonment of America 's former Kurdish allies , many of whom are branded as terrorists by Ankara . The deal includes a halt to American economic sanctions and no apparent long-term consequences for Turkey for its actions .
On Nov. 13 , Trump feted Erdogan with a White House visit over the objection of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who argued Erdogan should be denied the honor of a West Wing visit in the aftermath of the invasion and because of his decision to purchase Russian-made surface-to-air missiles over the objection of NATO allies .
Barzani thanked Pence for the U.S. military support in the fight against ISIS , adding that his “ visit at this particular time is an important indication of your continued support to Kurdistan and Iraq . ”
Weeks after declaring the near-complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria , Trump decided that roughly 800 would stay to keep eastern Syria 's oil fields from falling back into the hands of the Islamic State .
Just years ago , the militant group seized control of vast stretches of Syria and Iraq , with its extremist ideology spreading from its self-declared “ caliphate ” across the globe . In March , American troops and Kurdish forces routed the last IS territorial holdings . But the militant group , which arose from the remnants of al-Qaida in Iraq after that group 's defeat by U.S.-led forces in 2008 , has ambitions to regenerate again . And it remains a dangerous threat in Iraq , Afghanistan and beyond .
Trump also agreed to keep about 150 U.S. troops at a base in southern Syria as a check on Iranian influence in the region .
IRAN CONTINUING CONSTRUCTION ON ARMY BASE ALONG IRAQ-SYRIA BORDER , IMAGES SHOW
While Trump has claimed that the U.S. was now “ keeping ” the oil , Pentagon officials indicated the U.S. presence is not intended to improve the oil infrastructure but to keep it in the hands of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces .
Pence said the U.S. and Kurdish alliance was meant to ensure that IS or another extremist group “ will not be able to gain a foothold in this region again . ”
Pence , joined on the trip by his wife , Karen Pence , also greeted U.S. troops ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday , serving turkey and accompaniments to hundreds of troops at the two locations .
“ While you come from the rest of us , you ’ re the best of us , ” Pence told service members in a dusty hangar at Al-Asad . He said the Trump administration is working to secure another pay increase for the armed services and suggested the ongoing impeachment inquiry in Washington was slowing the way .
“ Partisan politics and endless investigations have slowed things down in D.C. , ” Pence said .
Pence ’ s visit to Iraq comes as the country has been plagued by widespread anti-corruption protests . At least 320 protesters have been killed and thousands have been wounded since the unrest began on Oct. 1 , when demonstrators took to the streets in Baghdad and across Iraq ’ s mainly Shiite south to decry rampant government malfeasance and a lack of basic services despite Iraq ’ s oil wealth . The protests have exposed long-simmering resentment at Iran ’ s influence in the country , with protesters targeting Shiite political parties and militias with close ties to Tehran .
Pence spoke by phone with Mahdi after the Iraqi leader declined an invitation to meet with Pence at the airbase after security concerns prevented Pence from traveling into Baghdad . U.S . Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller said Pence expressed support for a free , sovereign and independent Iraq — a subtle warning against Iranian influence in the country , which has weakened cooperation between the U.S. and Iraq .
BAGHDADI 'S COMPOUND IN SYRIA HAD INTERNET UNTIL DAY OF DEADLY US RAID , REPORT SAYS
Pence also encouraged the Iraqi government to show restraint with the protesters . According to one official , Mahdi expressed regret for the violence and cast it as growing pains for the country and its security services , more used to war than democratic protest .
Iraq ’ s government has struggled to respond to the protests , and recent efforts by Parliament to pass reform bills fell short of calming the unrest . Parliament convened on Tuesday and voted on a bill to cancel the financial privileges of officials and conducted a first reading of a much-anticipated electoral reform bill , but these did not appease protesters .
The leaderless , mass protests aim to sweep aside Iraq ’ s sectarian system imposed after the 2003 U.S. invasion and its political elite , including Mahdi , blamed for massive corruption .
U.S. officials assess that the protests won ’ t subside unless Mahdi ’ s government makes substantial concessions , potentially up to the resignation of the government and the calling of early elections .
Pence ’ s visit comes days after the release of hundreds of pages of purported Iranian intelligence documents detailing Iran ’ s extensive influence in Iraq .
The unprecedented leak of 700 pages of what appears to be Iranian intelligence cables shows Tehran ’ s efforts to embed itself in Iraq and co-opt the country ’ s leaders , including paying Iraqi agents working for the United States to switch sides and infiltrate every aspect of Iraq ’ s political , economic and religious life , according to a joint report by The New York Times and The Intercept .
The revelation came after dozens of demonstrators attacked the Iranian consulate in Karbala earlier in November , scaling concrete barriers and saying they rejected the influence of the neighboring country in Iraqi affairs .
The cables , written mainly in 2014-2015 at the height of the war against the Islamic State group after it seized large swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria , show heavy interference by Tehran to keep Baghdad a pliant client state . | TIoRwbaBSprYG7DJ | 2 | Mike Pence | -0.2 | Iraq | -0.2 | Turkey | -0.2 | Vice President | -0.2 | Military | 0.1 | |
sports | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/sep/28/nfl-players-protests-risk-stadium-funding/ | NFL risks billions in publicly funded stadiums as millionaire players stage kneeling protests | 2017-09-28 | sports | American taxpayers shelled out billions of dollars to build the stadiums that National Football League players are now using to stage their kneel-down protests of the national anthem .
The players say they have a right to express their displeasure with racism in the U.S. with their protests , but lawmakers say the NFL could be risking its access to the public trough if the team owners don ’ t get a grip on the situation .
“ These protests are spitting in the face of the people who paid for that stadium , ” said state Rep. Steve Drazkowski , a Republican in Minnesota , where the NFL ’ s Vikings team just opened a stadium built with more than $ 500 million in local and state financial assistance . “ It will create buyer ’ s remorse among the taxpayers . ”
With figures adjusted for inflation , Minnesotans will pay out nearly $ 1.3 billion over the next 30 years for the stadium .
It ’ s one part of the more than $ 6.7 billion in public funds taxpayers have shelled out to build 19 NFL stadiums and renovate three others since 1997 .
Some of that assistance comes in the form of municipal bonds , which are exempt from federal taxes . All told , federal taxpayers have helped underwrite some $ 13 billion in bonds to build or renovate stadiums — spanning all sports — since 2000 , according to a Brookings Institution study .
SEE ALSO : LOVERRO : NFL owners , players manage , against all odds , to alienate everyone
Brookings estimated that the federal government has lost as much as $ 3.7 billion in tax revenue on the bonds , exceeding the $ 3.2 billion in savings they created for stadium owners .
Those taxpayer costs are always controversial , but the issue has been elevated by the NFL players ’ protests .
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sparked the issue last year when he took a knee during the anthem to protest police brutality against blacks .
The protests really took off this month , though , after President Trump said owners should fire the kneelers .
An estimated 200 NFL players participated in leaguewide protests this past weekend . Some teams — including the Seahawks and Steelers — refused to take the field while the anthem played .
Republican state-level politicians responded by calling for an end to taxpayer-subsidized arenas . Kenneth Havard , a Republican legislator in Louisiana , proposed cutting tax breaks for his local team , the New Orleans Saints . Mr. Havard said Louisiana spent $ 85 million to repair the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina amid threats that the team would relocate to San Antonio .
“ Most Louisiana residents can ’ t afford to even walk in the Superdome , and these players are protesting a system that is giving them the opportunity to make millions of dollars playing football , ” Mr. Havard said .
NFL players earn an average of $ 1.9 million per year , according to league data . The median salary in the United States is about $ 44,000 , the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported .
“ These players are earning millions , and the average soldier who is keeping the Superdome from being blown up is only earning about $ 40,000 , ” Mr. Havard said . “ That is a huge slap in the face to them . ”
Spokeswomen for the NFL and its Players Association did not respond to email and phone call requests for comments .
The league ran into problems with Congress over public financing after Sens . John McCain and Jeff Flake , both Arizona Republicans , revealed that the NFL often charged the Pentagon for moving tributes to U.S. troops during games .
The lawmakers dubbed the practice “ paid patriotism ” and said 18 NFL teams charged the military , as did 10 Major League Baseball clubs , eight National Basketball Association teams , eight Major League Soccer clubs and six National Hockey League teams .
Congress rushed to adopt legislation prohibiting the military from paying for tributes , and the NFL scrambled to change its policies . After an internal review , the league returned more than $ 700,000 to the government .
Likewise , the federal tax exemption for municipal bonds used to build stadiums has been a target for years . President Obama sought to end the practice in 2015 , but Congress never considered his plan .
Sens . Cory A. Booker , New Jersey Democrat , and James Lankford , Oklahoma Republican , picked up the issue this year , introducing legislation to end the use of bonds to finance stadiums .
A spokesman for Mr. Lankford said interest in the bill was increasing even before the kneel-down protests became widespread .
Proponents of using taxpayer dollars for stadiums insist the projects fuel economic growth . However , Brookings researchers and others who have studied the issue say the investment isn ’ t worth the return .
“ I tend to be skeptical that the benefits are worth all the outrageous subsidies , ” said Ted Gayer , one of the Brookings study ’ s co-authors .
Some politicians have called on Congress to punish the NFL for the kneel-down controversy by stripping it of its limited antitrust exemption . The last time that was threatened was in 2014 , when the NFL was dealing with accusations of rampant domestic violence among players .
Mr. Trump hasn ’ t threatened any federal action but has said he expects NFL owners to deal with the situation . He initially called for players who protested to be fired . On Wednesday , he said the league is “ in a very bad box . ”
“ In my opinion , the NFL has to change or you know what ’ s going to happen ? Their business is going to go to hell , ” he said .
At the state level , lawmakers are expressing displeasure with the anthem protests .
Pennsylvania state Sen. Chuck McIlhinney , a Republican , sponsored a resolution condemning the protests . Another Republican , Tennessee Sen. Paul Bailey , issued a statement calling the protests disrespectful .
“ I won ’ t witness the hijacking of pregame ceremonies that disrespect our flag and challenge the honor of any of the men or women who have sacrificed to preserve our freedoms to enjoy these leisure-time activities , ” Mr. Bailey said . | IClBKwtrTcAEr4wq | 2 | NFL | -0.6 | National Anthem | -0.5 | Sports | -0.3 | null | null | null | null |
justice | CNN Digital | https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/05/politics/trump-special-master-mar-a-lago-ruling/index.html | Judge grants Trump's request for a 'special master' to review materials seized from Mar-a-Lago | 2022-09-06 | Justice, FBI, Donald Trump, Mar-A-Lago Raid, Justice Department | CNN —A federal judge has granted former President Donald Trump’s request to appoint a “special master” to review materials that the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago last month.The decision, from Trump-appointed District Judge Aileen Cannon, is a significant victory for the former President, who has railed against the Biden administration and Justice Department since the search was executed four weeks ago.“As a function of Plaintiff’s former position as President of the United States, the stigma associated with the subject seizure is in a league of its own,” Cannon wrote. “A future indictment, based to any degree on property that ought to be returned, would result in reputational harm of a decidedly different order of magnitude.”Cannon ordered that a third-party attorney, from outside the government, be brought in to review the materials that were taken from Trump’s home and resort in Florida. The order also halts the Justice Department from continuing its review of the materials seized from Mar-a-Lago “pending completion of the special master’s review or further Court order.”The classification review and intelligence assessments being conducted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, however, will be allowed to continue.Both sides have until Friday to nominate special master candidates and their specific duties.Trump’s lawyers argued that a special master was needed because they don’t trust the Justice Department to fairly identify privileged materials that would need to be excluded from the ongoing criminal probe.Trump blasted the Justice Department and the seizure at his rally in Pennsylvania this weekend.“This egregious abuse of the law is going to produce a backlash the likes of which nobody has ever seen before,” he said. “… these same exact people at Justice and the FBI, these same exact people, along with outside scum, are at it again with the horrific raid of my home. They just go on and on and they have to be stopped.”However, Cannon wrote that Trump had not proven that his constitutional rights were disregarded.“(T)he Court agrees with the Government that, at least based on the record to date, there has not been a compelling showing of callous disregard for Plaintiff’s constitutional rights,” she wrote.But Cannon cited several reasons for bringing in the special master, among them “the interest in ensuring the integrity of an orderly process amidst swirling allegations of bias and media leaks.” She also cited the historic nature of the case.The judge said the special master will be tasked with reviewing “seized property for personal items and documents and potentially privileged material subject to claims of attorney-client and/or executive privilege.”She added: “The Court is mindful that restraints on criminal prosecutions are disfavored but finds that these unprecedented circumstances call for a brief pause to allow for neutral, third-party review to ensure a just process with adequate safeguards.”FBI obtained Trump medical and tax information in search, judge saysThe Justice Department has said that its own “filter team” already finished its review of the Mar-a-Lago documents – and found a small set of attorney-client privileged records.In court documents, DOJ said a “limited” number of records potentially covering attorney-client privilege were filtered out, and that the department was following the procedures it laid out to a magistrate judge when it sought the warrant, but Cannon had questions about its results.The Justice Department also obtained “correspondent related to taxes,” and medical documents during the search, according to the privilege team report that remains sealed but Cannon described Monday.Cannon noted that Justice Department lawyers had acknowledged it seized some “[p]ersonal effects without evidentiary value,” as well as 500 pages of material potentially subject to attorney-client privilege.“To appoint a special master to make privilege determinations while simultaneously allowing the Government, in the interim, to continue using potentially privileged material for investigative purposes would be to ignore the pressing concerns and hope for the best,” the judge said.She wrote that Trump’s “individual interest in and need for the seized property” was one reason to rule in favor of Trump’s requests for a special master.Cannon also said that the privilege review team’s report outlined “at least two instances in which members of the Investigative Team were exposed to material that was then delivered to the Privilege Review Team.”“Those instances alone, even if entirely inadvertent, yield questions about the adequacy of the filter,” she wrote.“The United States is examining the opinion and will consider appropriate next steps in the ongoing litigation,” said Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley.Cannon set a Friday deadline for Trump’s lawyers and Justice Department prosecutors to negotiate the special master’s “duties and limitations” and to submit a list of potential candidates to serve in the role.She also wants both sides to propose a schedule for the special master’s review and to spell out how the person will be compensated for their work.“The exact details and mechanics of this review process will be decided expeditiously following receipt of the parties’ proposals,” Cannon wrote.Because the lawsuit demanding the special master was filed by Trump two weeks after the search, it has raised questions among legal observers what role a special master could even play, given that by that time the Justice Department was likely well on its way to finishing its review of the evidence.The scope of a special mater will be key.The DOJ had asked for the review, if it was granted, to focus on materials potentially covered by attorney-client privilege. Trump has been asking for the special master on the basis of there being executive privilege concerns with the seizure of the records.At the hearing, according to reports, the judge said that Trump’s ability to assert executive privilege as a former president was unsettled law. But she also had pointed questions for the Trump team about what the review they were seeking would look like.If the two sides don’t agree on the parameters for the soon-to-be appointed special master, they should explain their differences in a court filing, Cannon ruled Monday.Cites Kavanaugh’s recent Supreme Court rulingExplaining why she was ordering a special master review for material potentially covered by executive privilege, Cannon said that the Justice Department had not convinced the court that those concerns should be “disregarded,” as she went on quote from how the Supreme Court described its move in a dispute this year over Trump January 6 documents, including a statement from Justice Brett Kavanaugh.The DOJ had “arguably overstate[d] the law,” Cannon wrote, when asserting that executive privilege had no “role to play here because Plaintiff – a former head of the Executive Branch – is entirely foreclosed from successfully asserting executive privilege against the current Executive Branch.”“The Supreme Court did not rule out the possibility of a former President overcoming an incumbent President on executive privilege matters,” Cannon wrote.She quoted from both the 1977 decision Nixon v. Administrator of General Services and from the order released this year by the Supreme Court when it refused to block the Archives’ release to House January 6 investigators Trump White House documents.“Further, just this year, the Supreme Court noted that, at least in connection with a congressional investigation, ‘[t]he questions whether and in what circumstances a former President may obtain a court order preventing disclosure of privileged records from his tenure in office, in the face of a determination by the incumbent President to waive the privilege, are unprecedented and raise serious and substantial concerns,’” Cannon wrote, quoting from the Supreme Court order.Cannon added a line from a statement Kavanaugh wrote with that Supreme Court order: “A former President must be able to successfully invoke the Presidential communications privilege for communications that occurred during his Presidency, even if the current President does not support the privilege claim. Concluding otherwise would eviscerate the executive privilege for Presidential communications.”Jumping off of those quotes from the Supreme Court, Cannon wrote Monday that “even if any assertion of executive privilege by Plaintiff ultimately fails in this context, that possibility, even if likely, does not negate a former President’s ability to raise the privilege as an initial matter.”Judge was confirmed after presidential electionCannon of the Southern District of Florida, was nominated by Trump to the bench in May 2020 and confirmed by the Senate in a 56-21 just days after the presidential election in November 2020.She previously served as an assistant US attorney in Florida in the Major Crimes Division and as an appellate attorney, according to written answers she gave to the Senate during her confirmation process.A University of Michigan Law School graduate, Cannon clerked for a federal judge and later practiced law at a firm in Washington, DC, where she handled a range of cases, including some related to “government investigations,” she told the Senate.At her 2020 nomination hearing, Cannon thanked members of her family and shared the impact of their experience on her own life.“To my loving mother … who, at the age of 7, had to flee the repressive Castro regime in search of freedom and security, thank you for teaching me about the blessing that is this country and the importance of securing the rule of law for generations to come,” she said.This story has been updated with additional details. | 2a85ac2be2df340d | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
impeachment | BBC News | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49860079 | Trump impeachment inquiry: Pompeo subpoenaed by House Democrats | 2019-09-28 | Mike Pompeo, Democratic Party, Impeachment, Donald Trump, Ukraine, US House, Politics | US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been ordered by Democrats to turn over documents relating to the Trump administration 's dealings with Ukraine .
In a letter , the heads of three House committees subpoenaed Mr Pompeo to produce the documents within a week .
It is the latest move in rapidly escalating impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump .
He is being scrutinised for pushing Ukraine 's president to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden .
In a separate development on Friday , the US special envoy for Ukraine negotiations , Kurt Volker , resigned , according to US media reports .
Washington has been rocked by a complaint from an intelligence whistleblower that Mr Trump was `` using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 US election '' .
Mr Trump had denied putting any pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call in July , when Mr Biden was leading polls to win the Democratic nomination for the White House race .
But a transcript of the call released by the White House showed that the president did press Mr Zelensky to investigate Mr Biden .
Mr Trump has alleged that Mr Biden pressed for the sacking of Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin in 2016 to protect a business that employed his son , Hunter Biden .
Mr Biden did call for the sacking of Mr Shokin , even threatening to withhold $ 1bn ( £813m ) in aid to Ukraine . But so did a number of other Western officials who saw Mr Shokin as a hindrance to anti-corruption investigations .
Impeachment is a rarely exercised two-stage political process by which a US president can be removed from office for wrongdoing .
Even if President Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives , he is unlikely to be forced out of the White House because Republicans control the Senate .
The US president has dismissed the impeachment proceedings as a `` hoax '' and `` another witch-hunt '' .
The subpoena was issued in a joint letter by the House 's Foreign Affairs , Intelligence and Oversight committees .
The committees are headed by Elliot Engel , Adam Schiff and Elijah Cummings , respectively .
In the letter , the committees said they were investigating `` the extent to which President Trump jeopardized national security by pressing Ukraine to interfere with our 2020 election and by withholding security assistance provided by Congress to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression '' .
They added that the subpoena was issued because Mr Pompeo had failed to comply with demands to provide relevant documents .
They said his refusal `` impairs Congress ' ability to fulfil its constitutional responsibilities to protect our national security and the integrity of our democracy '' .
The three committees also scheduled testimony from five other State Department officials - including Mr Volker and the former US ambassador to Ukraine , Marie Yovanovitch .
Mr Pompeo is yet to publicly comment on the subpoena .
Democrats began a formal impeachment inquiry earlier this week amid allegations that the president had abused the power of his office to help with his re-election .
The whistleblower 's complaint , which was released on Thursday , characterises the president 's conduct as a `` serious or flagrant problem , abuse , or violation of law '' .
The whistleblower said they had learned from several sources that senior White House officials had intervened to `` lock down '' all details of the call with the Ukrainian president , particularly an official word-for-word transcript .
`` This set of actions underscored to me that White House officials understood the gravity of what had transpired in the call , '' the whistleblower wrote .
The whistleblower 's identity remains unknown , but several media outlets have identified them as a CIA officer .
On 25 July , Mr Trump raised Mr Shokin 's removal during a phone call with Ukraine 's newly-elected president - details of which were released by the White House following the whistleblower 's complaint .
Mr Trump went on to discuss Hunter Biden and the unsubstantiated allegation that his father - then the US vice-president - stopped an investigation into his son 's employer by lobbying Ukraine to fire Mr Shokin .
The chief prosecutor 's office had an open inquiry into Burisma , a natural gas company on which Hunter Biden was a board member .
There is no evidence of any wrongdoing by the Bidens .
In a BBC interview , former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Mr Shokin was sacked for corruption , denying Mr Trump 's claims .
Appointed in 2017 in a volunteer capacity , Mr Volker was a key player in US efforts to help resolve an ongoing crisis in Ukraine that started with the annexation of Crimea by Russia and Moscow 's support for separatists in the east .
Mr Volker was mentioned in the whistleblower 's complaint on 12 August .
It says that Mr Volker and the US ambassador to the EU , Gordon Sondland , met President Zelensky and other Ukrainian politicians on 26 July .
The complaint says Mr Volker and Mr Sondland `` reportedly provided advice to the Ukrainian leadership about how to 'navigate ' the demands that [ President Trump ] had made of Mr Zelensky '' .
Mr Volker and Mr Sondland are also said to have spoken with Rudy Giuliani , Mr Trump 's lawyer , to try to `` contain the damage '' to US national security .
Democrats accuse Mr Trump of illegally seeking foreign help in the hope of smearing Mr Biden .
Mr Trump has acknowledged that he personally blocked nearly $ 400m ( £324m ) in military aid to Ukraine days before the call , but denied that it was to pressure the Ukrainian leader into investigating Mr Biden .
According to the transcript , the US president called on the Ukrainian leader to talk to US Attorney General William Barr and Mr Trump 's lawyer Rudy Giuliani about investigating Hunter Biden 's past business dealings . | f652171849313e6d | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
coronavirus | The Dispatch | https://factcheck.thedispatch.com/p/was-joe-biden-warning-about-coronavirus | Was Joe Biden Warning About Coronavirus Back in January? | 2020-06-03 | Public Health, Joe Biden, Campaign Rhetoric, Elections, 2020 Election, 2020 Election Fact Checking, Coronavirus | During a meeting with black community leaders on Monday , presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden stated : “ Whether we like it or not this COVID epidemic has basically shut down the country the last three months . And by the way , if we 'd shut it down a month earlier we 'd have probably another 45,000 to 60,000 people be alive instead of dead because he did n't listen to—and I 'm going to say something outrageous—he didn ’ t listen to guys like me back in January saying , ‘ We have a problem , a pandemic is on the way . ’ ”
While a Biden campaign adviser wrote “ We are past the ‘ if ’ question and squarely facing the ‘ how bad will it be ’ phase of the response ” about coronavirus on January 22 , Biden himself didn ’ t publicly mention the novel virus until an op-ed for USA Today published on January 27 . In it , Biden said : “ The outbreak of a new coronavirus , which has already infected more than 2,700 people and killed over 80 in China , will get worse before it gets better . Cases have been confirmed in a dozen countries , with at least five in the United States . There will likely be more. ” Later in the article , Biden stated , “ To be blunt , I am concerned that the Trump administration ’ s shortsighted policies have left us unprepared for a dangerous epidemic that will come sooner or later . ”
His second , and final , mention of coronavirus in January came at a campaign rally on January 31 , during which Biden referred to “ a crisis with the coronavirus ” in America ( see the 10:34 mark of this video ) and echoed the arguments made in his USA Today op-ed about Trump ’ s response to coronavirus . By coincidence , that happens to be the day that Trump restricted travel from China to only American citizens and their family members .
Even after that , though , Trump did make statements downplaying the virus during February , as this Washington Post timeline lays out . He suggested that it would disappear by April and saying as late as February 25 that “ the virus was very well under control . ”
However , while Biden was clearly concerned about the virus based on those early remarks , there ’ s little to indicate he anticipated the need for the country to shut down before others—after all , his campaign didn ’ t start to cancel events until March 10 , just one day before President Trump ’ s address from the Oval Office warning about the virus ; six days before the White House issued guidelines encouraging remote working and schooling , avoiding large groups of people , and not going out to crowded public places ; and only nine days before California became the first state to issue a mandatory stay-at-home order .
The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment . | 21d7bdfdc529841b | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
coronavirus | CNBC | https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/13/supreme-court-ruling-biden-covid-vaccine-mandates.html | Supreme Court blocks Biden Covid vaccine mandate for businesses, allows health-care worker rule | 2022-01-13 | Coronavirus, Coronavirus Vaccine, Vaccine Mandates, Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, John Roberts, Business, Role Of Government, Joe Biden | "Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category," the court wrote."Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly," the court wrote in an unsigned opinion.The mandate required that workers at businesses with 100 or more employees get vaccinated or submit a negative Covid test weekly to enter the workplace. It also required unvaccinated workers to wear masks indoors at work.The rulings came three days after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's emergency measure for businesses started to take effect.The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Biden administration from enforcing its sweeping vaccine-or-test requirements for large private companies, but allowed a vaccine mandate to stand for medical facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid payments.A demonstrator holds a "Freedoms & Mandates Don't Mix" sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court during arguments on two federal coronavirus vaccine mandate measures in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022.Liberal Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented, writing that the majority has usurped the power of Congress, the president and OSHA without legal basis."In the face of a still-raging pandemic, this Court tells the agency charged with protecting worker safety that it may not do so in all the workplaces needed," they said in their dissent."As disease and death continue to mount, this Court tells the agency that it cannot respond in the most effective way possible. Without legal basis, the Court usurps a decision that rightfully belongs to others. It undercuts the capacity of the responsible federal officials, acting well within the scope of their authority, to protect American workers from grave danger," they wrote.President Joe Biden, in a statement, said the Supreme Court chose to block requirements that are life-saving for workers. Biden called on states and businesses to step up and voluntarily institute vaccination requirements to protect workers, customers and the broader community."The Court has ruled that my administration cannot use the authority granted to it by Congress to require this measure, but that does not stop me from using my voice as President to advocate for employers to do the right thing to protect Americans' health and economy," Biden said.Labor Secretary Marty Walsh called the court's decision a major setback for the health and safety of workers, vowing OSHA would use its existing authority to make sure businesses are protecting employees. The American Medical Association, one of the largest doctors' groups in the nation, said it was "deeply disappointed.""In the face of a continually evolving COVID-19 pandemic that poses a serious danger to the health of our nation, the Supreme Court today halted one of the most effective tools in the fight against further transmission and death from this aggressive virus," AMA President Gerald Harmon said.In a separate, simultaneously released ruling on the administration's vaccination rules for health-care workers, a 5-4 majority sided with the Biden administration."We agree with the Government that the [Health and Human Services] Secretary's rule falls within the authorities that Congress has conferred upon him," said the majority, writing that the rule "fits neatly within the language of the statute.""After all, ensuring that providers take steps to avoid transmitting a dangerous virus to their patients is consistent with the fundamental principle of the medical profession: first, do no harm," the majority opinion read.Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, four of the six conservatives on the nine-seat bench, dissented."I do not think that the Federal Government is likely to be able to show that Congress has authorized the unprecedented step of compelling over 10,000,000 healthcare workers to be vaccinated on pain of being fired," Alito wrote in his dissent.Biden, in a statement, said the vaccine requirement for health-care workers will save the lives of patients, doctors and nurses. "We will enforce it," the president said of the mandate.OSHA, which polices workplace safety for the Labor Department, issued the business mandate under its emergency power established by Congress. OSHA can shortcut the normal rulemaking process, which can take years, if the Labor secretary determines a new workplace safety standard is necessary to protect workers from a grave danger. | c0c76e395d85a16c | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
healthcare | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/27/democrats-push-obamacare-public-option-after-two-t/ | Democrats push Obamacare ‘public option’ after two thirds of health co-ops fail | 2016-07-27 | healthcare | More than two thirds of Obamacare ’ s health co-op ’ s have failed , yet Democrats who pushed the experiment during the 2010 health care debate are refusing to cede ground to corporate plans , saying the best Plan B is the “ public option ” that many of them wanted in the first place .
Sixteen of the original 23 co-ops have withdrawn from the Affordable Care Act ’ s web-based exchanges , mostly recently in Oregon , Connecticut and Illinois , despite $ 1.7 billion in taxpayer loans to the failed plans .
Democrats pushed the co-ops , or Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans , during the Obamacare debate of 2009 as a fallback to attempts to win passage of the public option — a government-run plan to compete with private companies in the new marketplace . Yet many of the co-ops had a hard time competing for market share , and in some cases the nonprofit plans appeared to underprice their products and then drown in medical claims .
Yet the 2016 Democratic Party Platform says health care is a “ right , not a privilege , ” so the party is doubling down instead of retreating from taxpayer-funded alternatives , highlighting the influence of primary challenger Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont , who pulled presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton to the left before backing her .
“ This campaign is about moving the United States toward universal health care and reducing the number of people who are uninsured or underinsured , ” Mr. Sanders told the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia late Monday . “ Hillary Clinton wants to see that all Americans have the right to choose a public option in their health care exchange . ”
While the public option stops far short of the Medicare-for-all system that Mr. Sanders envisioned , it goes further than what Mrs. Clinton supported earlier in the primary .
Congressional Republicans , meanwhile , are heading in the opposite direction . They say it is time to scale back the government ’ s role in health care and recoup whatever money they can on the failed co-ops , underscoring how far apart the parties remain as President Obama hands his signature law over to his successor .
“ I see virtually no room for bipartisan compromise on the basic question of health care coverage at this point , ” said Timothy Jost , a law professor at Washington and Lee University in Virginia who closely tracks the health care debate .
The groundswell of Democratic support for the public option reflects a party that ’ s taking its cues from progressive voices such as Mr. Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren , Massachusetts Democrat , rather than former Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota and other Democratic centrists who rebuffed the public option during the Obamacare debate of 2009-10 but no longer serve on Capitol Hill .
Mr. Conrad had pushed to allow states to start the co-ops , which are nonprofits designed to be responsive to residents ’ needs rather than to investors ’ demands .
But the dominolike fall of the plans has dented early hopes the program would create competition and slash prices . The plans lost hundreds of millions of dollars in their first year and didn ’ t attract anywhere near as many customers as they had hoped , leading to the swift collapse of nearly half of them in the run-up to Obamacare ’ s third round of sign-ups .
Three more toppled in recent weeks , with Oregon Health Co-op ceasing coverage on July 31 , Land of Lincoln in Illinois on Sept. 30 and Healthy CT in Connecticut on Dec. 30 , raising doubts about the future of the program and whether consumers in some parts of the country will have enough choices on the exchanges .
President Obama acknowledged this lack of choice in throwing his weight behind a “ Medicare-like public plan ” in a July 8 article for the Journal of the American Medical Association .
“ Now , based on experience with the ACA , I think Congress should revisit a public plan to compete alongside private insurers in areas of the country where competition is limited , ” he wrote .
Caroline Pearson , a senior vice president at Avalere Health , a D.C.-based consultancy , said she could see it as a “ fallback option ” in areas where private plans have pulled out or declined to participate , though Democrats haven ’ t outlined how the public option would work or how they ’ d deal with pushback from private insurers who might view it as a rate-setting entity in America ’ s free market .
Even if it is doable , the public option would face considerable political opposition from Republicans who control both chambers heading into November ’ s election .
Speaker Paul D. Ryan recently posted a long-awaited Obamacare replacement plan that would rein in federal spending on health care and scrap government mandates and public health exchanges in favor of incentives designed to entice customers into private market plans .
For now , Republicans say the co-ops ’ demise is exhibit A in their argument that a D.C.-centered approach to health care is doomed to fail , so Democrats pursue the public option at their own peril .
“ When its big programs fail , the left ’ s answer is always bigger programs , ” Sen. Ben Sasse , Nebraska Republican , said . “ With co-op failures and crummy choices and costs , the Affordable Care Act ’ s central planning has been a disaster . It makes no sense for politicians to double down , especially when they ’ re gambling with the livelihoods of American families . ” | mQW8OxwwZPsJu47a | 2 | Healthcare | 0.4 | Obamacare | 0.3 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
education | New York Post (News) | https://nypost.com/2022/02/16/san-francisco-recalls-gabriela-lopez-faauuga-moliga-alison-collins-off-citys-school-board/ | San Francisco recalls 3 members of city’s school board | 2022-02-16 | Education, San Francisco, Coronavirus, Progressives, School Boards, 2022 Elections, Culture War | Three members of San Francisco’s school board were ousted Tuesday in the wake of widespread backlash over the slow reopening of schools shut down by COVID-19 and a controversial plan to rename dozens of school sites.School board president Gabriela López, vice president Faauuga Moliga and commissioner Alison Collins were all stripped of their positions during a special election, according to tallies by the San Francisco Department of Elections.Furious parents launched the recall effort in January 2021 after arguing the school board was pushing progressive politics instead of acting in the best interests of children amid the pandemic.“The city of San Francisco has risen up and said this is not acceptable to put our kids last,” said Siva Raj, a father of two who helped launch the recall effort.“Talk is not going to educate our children, it’s action. It’s not about symbolic action, it’s not about changing the name on a school, it is about helping kids inside the school building read and learn math.”6 Siva Raj, right, and David Thompson, center, parents that led the fight to recall members of the San Francisco Unified School District board members, celebrate the vote Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022.6 Sarah Stettler, Jennie Lucas, and Elisa Smith cheer as they celebrate at the pro-recall party at Manny’s restaurant on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco Chronicle via GettSan Francisco Mayor London Breed, who backed the recall effort, said the parents “were fighting for what matters most — their children.”“The voters of this city have delivered a clear message that the school board must focus on the essentials of delivering a well-run school system above all else,” Breed said in a statement.“San Francisco is a city that believes in the value of big ideas, but those ideas must be built on the foundation of a government that does the essentials well.”The recall effort was launched as the school board was trying to rename 44 school sites that it said honored public figures linked to racism, sexism and other injustices — including Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and trailblazing US Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).6 Residents have recalled three members of San Francisco’s school board, including Alison Collins (pictured), for misguided priorities and putting politics above kids during COVID-19. Liz Hafalia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP6 The three members, including Faauuga Moliga, defended their record, saying they prioritized racial equity because that was what they were elected to do. Jill Tucker/San Francisco Chronicle via APCritics argued the push made a mockery of the country’s racial reckoning — as parents demanded to know why the board would waste time renaming schools when the priority needed to be reopening classrooms. The board eventually scrapped the plan after widespread uproar.Opponents had called the recall a waste of time and money given the district is facing a number of challenges, including a $125 million budget deficit and the need to replace retiring Superintendent Vincent Matthews.Board of Supervisors president Shamann Walton had slammed the recall effort as being pushed by “closet Republicans and most certainly folks with conservative values in San Francisco, even if they weren’t registered Republicans,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.But parents among the around 100 supporters gathered in the Mission District on Tuesday insisted that support came from all walks of life.“We wanted to show the diversity of the community behind this recall. I knew they were going to say, ‘Oh, isn’t it just a bunch of Republicans?’ and I’m like, do I look like a Republican?” David Thompson, a parent dressed in head-to-toe rainbow drag who called his persona “Gaybraham Lincoln,” told the outlet.The school board has seven members, all Democrats, but those three were the only ones eligible to be recalled. The replacements for the three ousted members will be named by Breed.Collins, Lopez and Moliga defended their records, saying they prioritized racial equity because that was what they were elected to do.Both sides of the recall debate agreed the board — and the city itself — became the focus of an embarrassing national spotlight during the saga.Collins also came under fire last year for tweets she penned in 2016 that were widely criticized as racist.6 Gabriela Lopez served as the school board’s vice president. Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via APCollins, who is black, had written that Asian Americans used “white supremacist” thinking to get ahead and were racist toward black students.She said the tweets were taken out of context and posted before she held her school board position. Collins refused to take them down or apologize for the wording and ignored calls to resign from parents, Breed and other public officials.In response, Collins sued the district and her colleagues for $87 million, sparking yet another pandemic sideshow. The suit was dismissed.Many Asian parents were already angered by the board’s efforts to end merit-based admissions at the elite Lowell High School, where Asian students are the majority, prior to Collins’ tweetstorm.The ordeal sparked 560 new Asian American voters to register to vote ahead of the election, according to the Chinese/API Voter Outreach Task Force.Ann Hsu, a mother of two who helped found the task force, said many Chinese voters saw the effort to change the Lowell admissions system as a direct attack.“It is so blatantly discriminatory against Asians,” she said.With Post wires | c81fb758d823dc6e | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_senate | USA TODAY | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/22/government-shutdown-2019-congress-bills/2645108002/ | Government shutdown, Day 32: Senate to vote Thursday in first sign of congressional movement | 2019-01-22 | us_senate | WASHINGTON – The Senate will vote Thursday on a pair of bills to fund the federal government , the first sign of movement in weeks toward ending a budget standoff that has triggered the longest government shutdown in history .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky. , and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y. , announced Tuesday the chamber will vote to begin debate on a bill that would provide $ 5.7 billion for a border wall and make other concessions that President Donald Trump offered to Democrats over the weekend .
If that bill fails to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster , senators will then vote to begin debate on a short-term measure that would reopen the government until Feb. 8 . The House approved that proposal last week .
But that bill also will require 60 votes , a threshold that will be hard to reach and will require bipartisan support . And even if the measure passes , Trump has threatened to veto it .
Regardless , the votes will mark the first time since just before Christmas that the Senate has voted on legislation to end the shutdown , now in its 32nd day .
“ The opportunity to end all this is staring us right in the face , ” McConnell said . “ All that needs to happen is for our Democratic friends to put the country ahead of politics , take yes for an answer and vote to put this standoff behind us . ”
Sen. Lindsey Graham , R-S.C. , said he also will present a proposal to Trump Wednesday morning to end the shutdown . Graham told reporters in South Carolina he would urge Trump to sign a measure reopening the entire federal government if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif. , agrees to take up a bipartisan Senate bill dealing with a border wall and other immigration issues .
Pelosi said in a statement there 's no reason for senators not to pass the House-backed measure since the funding proposal it contains has previously cleared the Senate .
“ Senate Republicans need to re-open government , not continue their complicity in the Trump Shutdown with a vote for the president ’ s unacceptable border and immigration schemes that only increase the chaos and suffering at the border , '' she said . “ The Senate GOP and President Trump must stop holding the American people hostage , and re-open government immediately . ”
House Democrats , meanwhile , are pushing their own spending bill that will offer roughly $ 1 billion for construction at ports of entry and for hiring new immigration judges – but no money for a border wall . That bill is certain to die in the GOP-led Senate .
There was also a growing push in the House from centrist Democrats looking for a way out of the shutdown . A draft letter to Pelosi encouraged Democratic leadership to offer the president and Republicans a vote for a wall along the southern border next month if they voted to open the government up before that happened . The draft was first reported by Politico .
Rep. Elaine Luria , D-Va. , who represents a congressional district Trump won by 3 points , has taken the lead on the letter . Rep. Ben McAdams , D-Utah , another freshman who flipped a red district ( the president won his Utah district by 7 percentage points ) , intends to sign onto the final draft .
McAdams dismissed questions about whether the letter was a pointed message to leadership and said centrists were just trying to outline a way out of the shutdown .
“ I don ’ t think this attitude is anything new , ” he said . “ We shouldn ’ t be putting the American people in the place of a bargaining chip so let ’ s reopen the government and continue to have these conversations . ''
On Tuesday , Trump accused Democrats of playing politics and indicated he has no intention of backing down in his demand of border wall funding .
“ Without a Wall our Country can never have Border or National Security , ” he wrote on Twitter . “ With a powerful Wall or Steel Barrier , Crime Rates ( and Drugs ) will go substantially down all over the U.S . The Dems know this but want to play political games . Must finally be done correctly . No Cave ! ”
Trump struck a less-confrontational tone on Saturday when he used a White House speech to outline what he called “ a common-sense compromise both parties can embrace ” to fund the government and end the shutdown .
Late Monday , the Senate released draft legislation including Trump ’ s proposals . The bill is one of two the Senate will consider Thursday .
The 1,301-page bill would provide $ 5.7 billion to build Trump ’ s long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border . It also would include three years of protection for young immigrants brought into the country illegally and for people granted Temporary Protected Status because of a crisis in their home countries .
In addition , the bill includes $ 12.7 billion in aid for victims of last year ’ s hurricanes , wildfires and other natural disasters .
One part of the bill that is already drawing criticism from immigration groups would change how minors from Central America seek asylum .
The proposal would require them to apply for asylum in their home country instead of at the southwest border , as many have done in recent years . The number who could apply would be limited to 50,000 a year , and only 15,000 could be approved every year . To win approval , asylum would have to be determined to be in “ the national interest . ”
Kerri Talbot , director of federal advocacy for the Immigration Hub , a group that advocates on behalf of immigrants , scoffed at the idea that the bill represented any kind of compromise , labeling it a “ Trojan Horse ” instead .
“ This is a Stephen Miller special , ” Talbot said , referring to the White House adviser who has led Trump ’ s efforts to attack legal and illegal immigration .
Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association said the bill would destroy the very concept of asylum in the U.S .
“ This is a major change , a historic change that would be ushered in by this bill , closing down so many for asylum protections that we have , ” Chen said .
In the House , meanwhile , the legislation that Democrats will put forward for a vote this week includes $ 563 million to hire more immigration judges and $ 524 million for construction at ports of entry , though none of the money can be used for Trump ’ s demand for a border wall , said Evan Hollander , spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee .
The bill would reopen the government and fund most government agencies through the end of September .
The House already passed a bill that would temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security through Feb 8 . That department is not included in the latest bill .
Contributing : Alan Gomez and David Jackson of ███ ; Kirk Brown of The Greenville News
More : Government shutdown at one month : Where things stand for the average American
More : Trump lauds federal employees as 'great patriots , ' promises to 'win big ' on border wall | PqzNPQdl0QyT27ZX | 1 | Immigration | -0.5 | Politics | 0.2 | Mitch McConnell | 0.1 | US Senate | 0 | Government Shutdown | 0 |
immigration | Politico | https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/18/mike-pence-immigration-trump-1331565 | Immigration activists stew over Pence’s role on immigration plan | 2019-05-18 | immigration | As a member of Congress more than a decade ago , Mike Pence unveiled an immigration proposal offering a chance for legal status to people who had come to the country illegally .
Tom Tancredo , then a firebrand Republican congressman from Colorado , called the vice president ’ s proposal both “ amnesty ” and “ an atrocity ” : A political action committee he co-founded set up a running “ Pence Watch ” online . The populist pundit Pat Buchanan likened Pence ’ s call for “ a principled consensus on immigration reform ” to a betrayal from “ The Godfather ” and said it could mean “ the end of Mike Pence as a rising star of the GOP . ”
Pence ’ s 2006 plan , which he insisted did not amount to amnesty for immigrants in the country illegally , died quietly and has been mostly forgotten in Washington .
But not by those hawkish advocates , who suspect that Pence is quietly seeking to have a moderating influence over President Donald Trump ’ s immigration policies , including what the president introduced as his new “ pro-immigrant ” plan on Thursday .
Although Pence largely echoes Trump ’ s talking points and has given few public hints that he sees things any differently , his critics have noticed with growing alarm that he is playing a greater behind-the-scenes role in Trump ’ s immigration policy than has been previously understood , a fact confirmed by people close to Pence .
Immigration hawks say Pence ’ s involvement is a warning sign that “ establishment Republicans who are interested in more workers — and not more relief for American workers ” — are making inroads into Trump ’ s policymaking , said Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies , who attended a meeting with Jared Kushner , the president ’ s senior adviser and son-in-law .
Vaughan and her influential allies are in constant battle with what they see as Chamber of Commerce-style establishment Republicans , who are far more interested in ensuring an ample labor supply than in Trump ’ s themes of secure borders and national identity . That approach is at odds with the plan Trump released Thursday , which does not aim to reduce the overall number of immigrants allowed in the U.S. legally or address the illegal immigration population — issues he had rallied against for years .
Though the latest immigration proposal was crafted by Kushner , the vice president and his staff attended discussions at the White House over the past several months as it was being shaped . Those meetings included at least two meetings between Kushner and various advocacy groups , including business and agriculture organizations , according to four people who attended the meetings . He has held at least one call with activists on immigration . More recently , he has spoken at a series of immigration events focused on securing the U.S.-Mexico border .
Pence was primarily observing when he sat in one of Kushner ’ s meetings earlier this year , according to an immigration activist , who supports more enforcement , though he did mention several times the plan he proposed while in the House .
A person close to the vice president said that some themes of Pence ’ s old bill had been discussed as part of the new effort , while the activist also said Pence had been involved in the developmental phase of the plan and had attended other meetings more recently .
“ He ’ s been an active participant in the discussions that Jared has led , trying to find a good balance between , for example , guest worker programs for agriculture workers , things like that , ” the person close to Pence said . That same person said that some themes of Pence ’ s old bill , including providing skilled labor in critical industries such as agriculture and retaining talent trained in American universities , particularly in STEM , were discussed as part of the new effort .
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A White House official said that Pence has attended meetings for months about immigration , primarily about border security , but also about the issue broadly as well as Kushner ’ s developing plan . Some of his staff , too , have attended meetings , the official said . But the official said that while Pence and his team had been involved in some discussions , they had not played a leading role in Kushner ’ s plan .
Instead , Pence was tasked with helping solve the impasse over border wall funding that led to the longest federal government shutdown in history and ended with a bill that funded new barriers on the border , more detention space , surveillance equipment and immigration judges . Since then , Pence has traveled to nearly a dozen states thanking homeland security employees for their work .
Still , other people who are either close to Pence or involved in the negotiations see it differently .
Pence brings a more pragmatic approach to a subject that Trump sees in uncompromising , almost good-and-evil terms , according to one former White House official familiar with the situation .
“ There ’ s a solid respect for what the VP brings to the table , ” the former official said , adding that Pence had been “ figuring out how to do this legally , figure out how to do it in a way that makes sense . ”
House members and governors often air their private feelings on a range of issues with Pence , according to someone close to him .
In some ways , Pence is an unlikely understudy to an extreme immigration hardliner like Trump . Associates say his views on immigration in large part stem from a grandfather who immigrated from Ireland , whom he was very close to , and the large agricultural community in his home state of Indiana .
“ As the grandson of an Irish immigrant , I believe in the ideals enshrined on the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor , ” Pence wrote in a June 2006 Wall Street Journal op-ed . “ America always has been , and always will be , a welcoming nation , welcoming under the law any and all with courage enough to come here . ”
The new White House proposal doesn ’ t quite invoke that sort of language . But it would move the U.S. toward a process that welcomes immigrants through a merit-based system , as well as boosts border security .
Pence “ recognizes the crisis on the southern border but also understands that there are people who add to our economy and are doing this because they ’ re seeking employment and , frankly , in jobs that Americans aren ’ t willing to do at this point , so there is a need , ” the person close to Pence said .
The new White House plan would increase the number of migrant workers while reducing the number of family members whom U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents can sponsor to come to the country under the current system — a zero-sum plan that would leave overall immigration levels unchanged .
“ If anything … I think the vice president is more invested in the outcome than Jared is , ” said one of the people who attended a meeting with Pence . “ He ’ s a regular old-style Republican . He ’ s a regular Chamber of Commerce Republican . ”
While Pence hasn ’ t advocated for a specific plan , he offered specific thoughts — including support for J-1 visas , a program that allows for short-term work experience in the U.S. — according to a person familiar with the situation . Trump officials have argued that the visas can reduce summer job opportunities . The White House official said there had been no direct vice presidential involvement in advocating for or against J-1 visas .
Pence ’ s 2006 House bill would have allowed immigrants who were in the country illegally to apply for legal status by leaving the U.S. and returning briefly to their home country .
When Trump tapped him to be his running mate , some immigration groups pushing for enforcement were worried .
“ Pence was very much a part of the Republican establishment that paid lip service to the public ’ s concerns about immigration enforcement , while promoting the agenda of the Chamber of Commerce , ” the Federation for American Immigration Reform said in a statement at the time .
The White House official said Pence had made no effort as vice president to revive his 2006 House plan .
During the first two years of Trump ’ s presidency , Pence has served as a point person on legislative issues . He helped build the White House legislative affairs office , held weekly calls with select Republican members of Congress during the transition , and visits regularly with Senate Republicans for lunch .
“ If it ’ s a legislative issue , Pence is going to be involved , ” said a former Trump adviser who remains close to the White House .
The vice president has a vested interest in the final White House immigration proposal because , like other major policy plans , including healthcare and tax cuts , he will be expected to try to sell it on Capitol Hill .
“ We are calling on the Congress to act , ” Pence said recently at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore . “ We have a broken border . We have a broken immigration system . ” | snWwiB7hrNeL4QLu | 0 | Immigration | -0.2 | Mike Pence | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
banking_and_finance | Vox | https://www.vox.com/2020/4/12/21218336/coronavirus-trump-economy-reopen-social-distancing-end-soon | Trump says he’ll reopen the economy “based on a lot of facts and a lot of instincts” | 2020-04-12 | banking_and_finance | President Donald Trump and two of his top public health advisers have taken different stances on the issue of when — and how — the decision to ease social distancing will be made .
Trump has advocated for aggressive goals in recent days , and said Saturday on Fox News that he plans to base his decision on when to adjust federal social distancing guidelines and ask businesses to reopen “ on a lot of facts and a lot of instincts . ”
But two of his health advisers , director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci and Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn , argued Sunday for a decision based only on the former . In separate appearances on CNN ’ s State of the Union and ABC ’ s Meet the Press , both officials emphasized that their recommendations would be based solely on constantly changing data , hesitated to make firm or sweeping predictions , and challenged the notion that there is a single , set time when the entire country will be “ ready ” to resume life as it once was .
“ It is not going to be a light switch that we say , ‘ Okay it ’ s now June , July whatever ’ — click , the light switch goes back on , ” Fauci said on CNN . “ It ’ s going to be depending where you are in the country , the nature of the outbreak that you already experienced , and the threat of an outbreak that you may not have experienced . ”
Trump has made it clear that he would like to see relaxed social distancing and businesses reopened soon as possible . Less than three weeks ago , he said he hoped to have the economy “ opened up and raring to go by Easter , ” a goal that both health officials and economists warned would backfire because it would accelerate the spread of the coronavirus and likely lead to the rapid reshuttering of the economy . Recent reports suggest the president now hopes to begin a return to normal by May 1 , and there is growing pressure from some of his non-scientific advisers — as well as some Fox News personalities — to do so .
On Fox News ’ s Justice with Judge Jeanine Saturday , Trump twice emphasized that conditions would allow the economy to begin returning to normal “ soon , ” and when asked how he will decide when is the right time to advise businesses to reopen , the president gave a less measured answer than Fauci .
“ I will be basing it on a lot of very smart people , a lot of professionals , doctors , and business leaders , ” he said . “ There are a lot of things that go into a decision like that . And it ’ s going to be based on a lot of facts and a lot of instincts also . Whether we like it or not , there is a certain instinct to it . But we have to get our country back . ”
This is not the first time the president ’ s stance on his administration ’ s coronavirus response hasn ’ t exactly aligned with the stance of his experts . But the contrast between Trump ’ s eagerness to reopen the country based on his gut feelings and the cautious rhetoric of top health officials does help underscore how Trump ’ s decision-making process on the coronavirus is detached from expert counsel and haphazard in its execution .
Trump ’ s health officials have been far more cautious and hesitant to offer gut-level appraisals about the future of the economy or when it will be safe to end social distancing .
ABC ’ s Martha Raddatz asked Hahn on Sunday if May 1 was “ a good target ” for reopening the economy . He responded by declining to set a date for the decision .
“ It is a target , and obviously we ’ re hopeful about that target , but I think it ’ s just too early to be able to tell that we see light at the end of the tunnel , ” Hahn said . “ I think it ’ s just too early for us to say whether May 1 is that date . ”
And Hahn was also careful to temper the optimism some have felt in seeing the confirmed case rate begin to decrease in a number of coronavirus hotspots , like New York . When asked if the worst has passed with coronavirus infections , Hahn said that the models show that “ we ’ re very close to the peak , ” but emphasized that it ’ s important to “ take this day by day as the data come in , because this has to be a data-driven approach . ”
Fauci , too , during his CNN appearance on Sunday , was emphatic about how difficult it is to prognosticate in such a complex situation .
“ You ’ re trying to balance two things : You want to make sure you don ’ t do something prematurely and precipitously ; at the same time you pay attention to the need to try and get back to normal , ” he told Tapper .
When Tapper repeatedly asked when exactly the economy might be restarted , Fauci replied , “ I think it could probably start at least in some ways maybe next month — and again , Jake , it ’ s so difficult to make those kinds of predictions . ”
“ We are hoping that at the end of the month we can look around and say , ‘ Okay , is there any element here that we can safely and cautiously start pulling back on ? ’ If so , do it , if not , then just continue to hunker down , ” Fauci added .
Whether the president takes these words to heart remains to be seen . But he has signaled recently he intends to create a concrete plan to see the economy functioning as normal again . Friday , he said he ’ ll announce the members of a new “ ‘ opening our country task force ’ or ‘ opening our country council ’ ” full of “ great business leaders , great doctors ” and “ some governors ” this week .
Every day at ███ , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives . Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding . ███ ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn . Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires . Please consider making a contribution to ███ today . | TKgZ0OXRCTNjRV3S | 0 | Public Health | 1.1 | Coronavirus | 0.5 | Economic Policy | 0 | Banking And Finance | 0 | Economy And Jobs | 0 |
nsa | Newsmax | http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/rand-paul-nsa-senate-filibuster/2015/05/20/id/645844/ | Rand Paul Goes on Senate Floor to Protest NSA Spying Measure | 2015-05-20 | NSA, Rand Paul, Senate, Filibuster, Defense And Security | Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul commandeered the Senate floor Wednesday to deliver a nearly 11-hour protest against renewal of the Patriot Act , calling the post-Sept. 11 law government intrusion on Americans ' privacy .
Congress faces a June 1 deadline for the law 's expiration , and Paul 's speech underscored the deep divisions over the National Security Agency 's ( NSA 's ) bulk collection of Americans ' phone records , which was revealed by former contractor Edward Snowden .
`` There comes a time in the history of nations when fear and complacency allow power to accumulate and liberty and privacy to suffer , '' the Kentucky senator said at 1:18 p.m. EDT when he took to the Senate floor . `` That time is now , and I will not let the Patriot Act , the most unpatriotic of acts , go unchallenged . ''
He finished at 11:49 p.m. , having not sat for more than 10 hours .
The House overwhelmingly passed a bill to end the bulk collection and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Kentucky , has said the Senate will act on the issue before beginning a Memorial Day recess scheduled for week 's end .
But McConnell , along with presidential hopefuls Sens . Marco Rubio , R-Florida , and Lindsey Graham , R-South Carolina , favors extending the law . Final congressional approval of the bill before the deadline is no certainty .
Paul plunged into a lengthy speech declaring the Patriot Act unconstitutional and opposing renewal of the program . With a hefty binder at his desk , he spelled out his objections , occasionally allowing Republican and Democratic senators to pose questions and getting support from a handful of House members seated at the back of the chamber .
`` I do n't think we 're any safer looking at every American 's records , '' Paul said .
Paul 's campaign sent out a fundraising appeal while his longstanding opposition to bulk collection , a pillar of his campaign , stirred social media .
Throughout the night , several Democratic senators and a few Republicans gave his voice occasional breaks by speaking several minutes to ostensibly ask him questions . Paul kept control by yielding for questions without `` yielding the floor , '' and by not sitting .
The surveillance issue has divided Republicans and Democrats , cutting across party lines and pitting civil libertarians concerned about privacy against more hawkish lawmakers fearful about losing tools to combat terrorism .
As Paul made his case , a Justice Department memo circulated on Capitol Hill warning lawmakers that the NSA will have to begin winding down its bulk collection of Americans ' phone records by the end of the week if Congress fails to reauthorize the Patriot Act .
`` After May 22 , 2015 , the National Security Agency will need to begin taking steps to wind down the bulk telephone metadata program in anticipation of a possible sunset in order to ensure that it does not engage in any unauthorized collection or use of the metadata , '' the department said .
If Congress fails to act , several key provisions of the law would expire , including the bulk collection ; a provision allowing so-called roving wiretaps , which the FBI uses for criminals who frequently switch cellphones ; and a third that makes it easier to obtain a warrant to target a `` lone wolf '' terror suspect who has no provable links to a terrorist organization .
Last week , the House backed the USA Freedom Act , which would replace bulk collection with a system to search the data held by telephone companies on a case-by-case basis . The vote was 338-88 , and House Republican and Democratic leaders have insisted the Senate act on their bill .
But McConnell and several other top Republicans prefer to simply reauthorize the post-Sept. 11 law . McConnell has agreed to allow a vote on the House bill , but has indicated there may not be enough votes to pass it in the Senate .
The Justice Department also said that if Congress allows the law to expire and then passes legislation to reauthorize it when lawmakers return to Washington the week of June 1 , it would `` be effective in making the authorities operative again , but may expose the government to some litigation risk in the event of legal challenge . ''
The White House backs the House bill and has pressed for the Senate to approve the legislation and send it to President Barack Obama for his signature .
The House bill is the result of outrage among Republicans and Democrats after Snowden 's revelations about the NSA program .
Although Paul called his action a filibuster , it technically fell short of Senate rules since the bill the Senate was considering was trade , not the Patriot Act . | abe9063ecf7b1288 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Politico | http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77001.html | Congress sets its sights on conventions | 2012-06-03 | elections | The festivities in Charlotte and Tampa are slated to cost taxpayers more than $ 36 million . | AP Photos | AP Photos Congress sets sights on conventions
They railed against government bureaucrats for throwing a lavish conference , and now members of Congress are grappling with their own election year extravaganzas : The Republican and Democratic national conventions .
In the aftermath of Congress ’ s public shaming of the General Services Administration for throwing an $ 800,000-plus conference in Las Vegas , lawmakers find themselves squeezed between their rhetoric on fiscal responsibility and the festivities celebrating their presidential nominees — which is costing taxpayers more than $ 36 million .
The combative Oklahoma Republican plans to unveil bipartisan legislation this week that would prohibit future conventions from receiving federal dollars and would call on the committees running the parties ’ conventions this year to return the money to the Treasury in order to pay down the national debt . The move is certain to force the leadership in both parties to make an uncomfortable decision : Side with party convention officials using taxpayer money for the presidential coronations or join a growing number of rank-and-file members from both parties backing the populist effort .
Sen. Mark Udall ( D-Colo. ) has already signed up as a co-sponsor of Coburn ’ s bill , and interviews with lawmakers from both sides reveal that many more are ready to buck their national parties so they can proclaim the high ground on fiscal concerns .
“ I don ’ t think the parties should get any federal dollars from either side , ” said Sen. Kelly Ayotte ( R-N.H. ) . “ To me , that just strikes me as not necessary . ”
“ It ’ s the kind of thing that ought to be eliminated , ” said Sen. Jeff Sessions ( R-Ala. ) , the ranking member on the Budget Committee who recently accused federal judges of wasting taxpayer money on a conference in Maui , Hawaii .
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad ( D-N.D. ) said : “ I don ’ t really see why they should get federal money ” if it ’ s not earmarked for security costs . | NihVZisXWX8GQ3Sq | 0 | Presidential Elections | 0 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
environment | BBC News | http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190829-bangladesh-the-country-disappearing-under-rising-tides | The country disappearing under rising tides | 2019-08-29 | Environment, Climate Change, Bangladesh, Asia, Poverty | Bangladesh has been a vulnerable state for much of its short existence . People in this flood-prone country have coped with rising water levels with a combination of innovation , flexibility and resilience – but the extremes the environment is now throwing at them might be beyond anyone ’ s endurance .
As climate change accelerates , the pressures on rural Bangladeshis mount . Where previously people might have been able to move away for the worst of seasonal flooding , the regularity of waterlogging is making it impossible to farm . Crop varieties can not cope with the saltwater , and career alternatives are limited .
What , then , can be done for the most vulnerable people ; the rural rice farmers of Bangladesh ?
Historically , people in Bangladesh had worked around seasonal flooding ; farming for part of the year and retreating when water levels rose , or seeking work in the cities as land became unusable .
By the end of the century , however , sea levels are expected to rise along the Bangladesh coastline by up to 1.5m . And that will come with more extreme seasonal fluctuations in sea levels . Disastrous storms and unusually high tides currently occur once each decade , but could become as regular as three to 15 times each year by 2100 .
As a result , rural Bangladeshis face a stark choice ; change their way or life or seek employment and a home elsewhere .
“ The climate is becoming more volatile so we are seeing higher frequency of migration , ” says Joyce Chen , an economist at The Ohio State University . “ Where in the past we see migration due to annual flooding , or river bank erosion , now we see saltwater intrusion more commonly which affects the environment long term . It makes it harder to grow crops because the land is permanently altered by the saline water. ” In the past , he says , people could go to work in the city for a few months while the land was flooded and return when the flood had retreated . Now that is no longer possible . “ People realise it is not viable to stay . ”
For some , the saltwater offers an opportunity . Where rice might have once grown , shrimp farms are taking over – the saltwater providing the right environment to switch to aquaculture .
“ When we look at people converting from agricultural production , households seem to maintain their production pretty well by switching to aquaculture , ” says Chen . “ They seem pretty resilient . But , the ways they are being resilient now need to be sustainable into the future . How sustainable will aquaculture be ? If enough people convert and there is too much saline intrusion that could create new problems and distort the economy in ways people can not predict . ”
The art of re-routing water using earth walls to create artificial islands for farming is perhaps best-known as a Dutch initiative . People in Bangladesh have also taken to building polders , as they are known , to protect their farm land . However , tensions arise when some farmers want to protect their agricultural land , on which they are growing rice , from saltwater intrusion while neighbouring farmers might inundate their land with saltwater in order to start farming shrimp .
“ Anecdotes suggest that building sea walls and structures to keep the seawater out may be creating problems more than helping in that it creates conflict , ” says Chen . “ There are groups that want to allow more saltwater in to convert from agriculture to aquaculture . It benefits those that want to convert but not everyone is doing so . The seawater and levees allow more control which in some cases worsens the salinity problem . ”
Chen says there may now be 100,000 people migrating each year due to saltwater flooding , but it is hard to estimate accurately because the changing wider economy is also affecting migration . A strong economy in India attracts workers , too , who often seek construction or agricultural work .
Mobile phones are one way to keep track of where people are moving , Chen has found . There are around 145m Sim card connections in Bangladesh , accounting for 87 % of the population , although people change sim cards often and some people keep multiple phones . The high penetration of mobiles in Bangladesh is due to much of the population being reliant on them for banking . Mobile banking allows one person to work in a city as a migrant sending money home . Previously you might have had to wait several months for them to return with cash .
“ We see both types of migration going on in Bangladesh – better opportunities in cities attracting workers or , in the case of climate change , they are moving because changes in the environment are making it hard to make ends meet , ” says Chen .
As a low-lying country , Bangladesh has always been a vulnerable area to changing sea levels , so adapting and migrating are not unusual demands . Chen says people in Bangladesh are on a good path of economic growth at the moment , but the volatile climate makes it hard to predict whether this growth will continue .
Some Bangladeshis have tried to adapt their crops to the new conditions , but with limited success . “ We have heard a little about switching to types of crops that are more saline-tolerant but I do n't think there are that many varieties that exist , ” says Chen .
Researchers in China have suggested that they have developed saltwater-resistant strains of rice , but there is little peer-reviewed evidence that these strains are viable , and the water in which the crops were tested contained only 10 % the concentration of salt found in seawater .
Migrants moving within Bangladesh are attracted to the larger cities which for the most part are on the coast . Chen warns that this still leaves many people vulnerable to the effects of rising sea levels . Those cities might become uninhabitable with rising tides and could result in many thousands of people needing to find homes elsewhere all at the same time .
Alternatively , some rural Bangladeshis are adapting their homes . “ I have heard stories of a lot more people building their houses on stilts , or having retention ponds around farms , ” says Chen . “ I have heard some stories of schools moving onto boats so they can continue operating after flooding . ”
Some migrants seeking work in Bangladesh ’ s cities find themselves picking through other people ’ s waste . Children and families can earn money by picking out recyclables . Large quantities of plastic waste , for example , wash into cities in flood water . The labour is hard , and the returns are small , but many workers might be faced with few alternatives .
With few opportunities facing unskilled labourers , finding work when reaching a new city can be hard . One problem facing those responsible for protecting migrant workers in Bangladesh is that those who are most vulnerable are the least able to relocate , Chen warns .
“ The most vulnerable people might be stuck in place , says Chen . “ People with greater means will be able to move out of vulnerable areas , but those worst affected might be stuck . ”
“ It will be hard to address the needs of those folks . ”
For Chen , the next project involves looking at how migration is affecting the lives of the most vulnerable people in society – children . “ There is some evidence that migration due to saline water inundation affects educational outcomes , food insecurity affects health , too , ” says Chen .
For many , food insecurities result in a trade-off between personal health and the welfare of their livestock – some of the most valuable assets rural families own . “ People talk constantly about how hard it is to get fresh water in Bangladesh – they call it sweet water , ” says Chen . “ And they have to save the sweet water for their livestock . ”
While scientists might develop saltwater-resistant crops in time , and some Bangladeshis will find work in aquaculture , the more immediate concerns of health and safety – of survival – are a big motivator for migrants in Bangladesh . People will go where the water tastes sweetest .
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energy | Vox | https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/4/28/15465348/obama-trump-regulations-coal | Once and for all: Obama didn’t crush US coal, and Trump can’t save it | 2017-04-28 | energy | In his first State of the Union address , President Donald Trump flicked at a lie about the US coal industry that he began telling early on the campaign trail : that there was a “ war on coal , ” that coal ’ s jobs will return , that regulations by the Obama administration are responsible for its ills , and that the measures he has taken in office can reverse its fortunes .
So it is worth repeating , yet again that Trump is wrong on all counts . Job declines in the US coal industry will likely continue , Obama regulations are not responsible for its ills , and nothing the federal government can do , short of declaring martial law and forbidding the closure of coal-fired power plants , can save it .
Coal has always had strong cultural resonance in the US .
In his campaign , Trump seized on that resonance with an odd kind of fervor , using miners as props in political rallies and promising , again and again , to put them back to work . He has managed to make the fate of coal miners a synecdoche for the fate of the white working class writ large .
What ’ s distasteful is that Trump has won the allegiance of coal communities by reinforcing and amplifying the lie they have been told by right-wing media and politicians for years : that Obama is responsible for the coal industry ’ s ( and their ) recent woes .
It ’ s not true . Easily available information shows its not true . But it is a convenient lie , one that riles up a reliable political constituency and serves as a bludgeon in the culture war .
It is not , however , a benign lie . The struggles facing Appalachian coal country are very real . Unemployment , ill health , drug addiction , stress , and depression have ravaged the region . Now thousands of retired coal miners are in danger of losing their pensions and health care benefits .
( Guess who has refused to schedule a vote on a bill that would address that crisis ? One Addison Mitchell McConnell , Republican leader of the Senate . Guess who had a plan to funnel $ 30 billion to suffering Appalachian communities ? One Hillary Rodham Clinton , the competent , boring president America might have had , if not for her emails . )
It does people in the region no good to believe that coal jobs will come roaring back once pesky pollution regulations are overturned . It sets them up for more disappointment and wastes time and energy they could be devoting to finding a new and better future for their communities .
So let ’ s put this story to rest once and for all , with numbers . Let ’ s look at what has happened to US coal , its future prospects , and what Trump can and can ’ t do for it .
Helpfully , the Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy released a superb report on this subject back in April 2016 , authored by Trevor Houser , Jason Bordoff , and Peter Marsters . It is a close empirical analysis of coal ’ s history , what has happened to it recently , and what is responsible . Also : great graphs . It ’ s really worth reading if you have 50 pages ’ worth of curiosity about this stuff , but if you don ’ t , I ’ ll cover the highlights .
In 2011 , US coal was riding high , recovering from the recession and planning enormous expansion . Then between 2011 and 2016 , it absolutely cratered . US coal production dropped by 27 percent . Domestic demand fell 30 percent . Demand for exports dried up .
The combined market value of the country ’ s four big coal companies dropped from $ 33 billion to $ 150 million ( yes , you read that right ) . Three of the four declared bankruptcy , in the process shedding hundreds of millions in retiree pension and health care obligations . Some 120,000 retired miners and dependents are now at risk of losing what they have left .
And more than 58,000 coal miners and contractors lost their jobs , the latest chapter in the long decline in US coal mining employment .
Nationally , the loss of 58,000 jobs is not a big deal . ( The US economy creates more than 100,000 jobs a month . ) But the losses were highly concentrated in mining communities . In Mingo County , West Virginia , for example , overall employment fell from 8,513 to 4,878 . Imagine : Half the people in your community lose their jobs in the space of five years , in what is effectively the only local industry .
Exactly what has waged war on coal , and how much
So what ’ s responsible for this wreckage ? Houser et al . set out to put some numbers on it .
They did so by comparing coal ’ s actual performance with 2006 Energy Information Administration projections , corrected for the decline in overall demand ( which the EIA , like everyone else , completely failed to anticipate ) . Then they did the same for natural gas and renewables . Finally , they “ explored how each fuel ’ s share of total interconnect-level generation varied in 2016 from what the EIA had projected . ”
Comparing projections with actual performance , they were able to quantify how much of coal ’ s projected market share was eaten up by competitors ( and other forces ) . Here are the culprits , the leading brigades in the “ war on coal , ” listed by size :
Natural gas : 49 percent Lower-than-expected demand : 26 percent Renewable energy : 18 percent Obama regulations : 3 to 5 percent
The impact of regulations was calculated somewhat differently , based on the Environmental Protection Agency ’ s projected costs , which historically have tended to be much lower than industry ’ s projections but much higher than actual after-the-fact costs . And the researchers modeled what would happen if Obama ’ s most significant regulations simply vanished . In reality , they won ’ t vanish ; they will probably just be weakened after months or years of rulemaking and legal challenge .
So 5 percent should be considered an unrealistically high upper bound for the impact of Obama ’ s regs . ( There ’ s much discussion of methodological challenges in the report . )
What ’ s clear is that the “ war on coal ” was led by cheap , fracked natural gas . Renewables and efficiency played vital supporting roles . Obama ’ s regulations were , in comparison , a peashooter .
The secret weapon in the war on coal : collapsing Chinese demand
Most discussion of declining demand for US coal focuses on the US electricity sector ( which is responsible for 93 percent of domestic coal consumption ) , specifically the twin booms in natural gas and renewables . And those are indeed significant ( if oft-told ) stories .
But the most important — and most overlooked — story on coal demand is international .
I wrote a longer post on the subject here , but the TL ; DR version is : In the first decade of the 21st century , Chinese demand for coal went through the roof .
For a while , China was able to keep up with demand with domestic coal . But eventually its internal supply lines grew strained , and it started importing more , increasing the price of coal on international markets — particularly metallurgical coal , which is used to make steel ( and which Appalachia provides ) . US exports boomed .
“ While only 12 percent of this growth was actually shipped to China , ” Houser et al . write , “ it was China-driven growth in global coal prices that made US exports to closer markets in Europe and Latin America commercially viable . ”
It was exports that were driving the US coal boom in 2011 — and it was exports that account for more than half the decline in demand through 2016 .
China ’ s demand for coal plateaued and recently began declining . Even if it rallies a little here and there ( as it did this year ) , it is never going back to gangbusters growth . ( And no , as the report discusses at length , growth in India won ’ t be enough to make up the difference . )
Coal executives did not see the China pivot coming . At all . They made huge bets on the premise that Chinese demand would grow forever . They screwed themselves .
Well , actually , they ’ ll be fine — they ’ re even getting bonuses ! ( Seriously . ) They screwed their workers , the landscapes they operate in , and , as it turned out , US politics .
To find out what Trump could possibly do for US coal demand , the researchers modeled scenarios in which the following Obama rules were simply canceled :
EPA ’ s CO2 standards for existing power plants ( the “ Clean Power Plan ” )
The Bureau of Land Management ’ s methane regulations for both new and existing oil and gas production on federal lands
The Department of Interior ’ s coal leasing moratorium on federal lands
As I said — and Brad Plumer described in detail — permanently getting rid of those rules will be enormously difficult in practice . It will take years , and the result won ’ t be no rules but , at best , weakened rules . So this is a theoretical upper bound on what Trump can accomplish with his attack on Obama ’ s rules .
There ’ s tons of interesting discussion in the report , but it ’ s all captured in this graph :
This shows historical US coal consumption and projections of coal consumption in the face of Obama ’ s rules ( or their absence ) . Those are the red and blue lines .
So the shaded red area shows the range of Trump projections , based on scenarios in which natural gas and renewables turn out cheaper ( or more expensive ) than the EIA expects .
The most notable feature of this result is that the range of uncertainty around the Trump scenario is greater than the difference between the Trump scenario and the Obama scenario . In other words , over coming decades , market trends promise to be more consequential for US coal consumption than all Obama ’ s rules combined .
And it ’ s worth remembering that natural gas and renewables have both tended to prove cheaper than EIA projections . Here , for instance , are recent natural gas prices compared with forecasts ( “ AEO ” stands for the EIA ’ s Annual Energy Outlook ) :
Projections keep showing prices plateauing or rising ; real prices keep falling . The same is true for EIA projections on solar and wind .
If EIA is still underestimating natural gas and renewables — as seems likely — then it is entirely possible that US coal consumption could decline so much that it completely swamps the effect of Trump ’ s executive order . Just as market developments were primarily responsible for coal ’ s decline , it is market developments that will primarily determine its future . Trump , like Obama , is wielding a peashooter .
At the very best , Trump ’ s regulatory assault , if it is coupled with unexpectedly high natural gas and renewable energy prices , could boost US coal consumption back up to 2015 levels .
“ The problem , ” Plumer wrote in a previous post on this , “ is that in 2015 , mining employment was still at near-historically low levels . There were only about 63,000 miners in America that year — somewhat higher than today ’ s levels of 50,000 — but still lower than at any point since the 1980s . ”
In reality , Trump ’ s regulatory assault is likely to have as many failures as successes . Natural gas prices , renewable energy prices , and overall demand are likely to be beneath projections ( again ) . US coal consumption and coal mining jobs are likely to continue declining . The market ’ s war on coal will continue .
That is a far cry from Trump ’ s promises to coal miners .
`` Basically , you know what this is ? '' Trump says to miners as he signs exec order . `` You know what it says , right ? You ’ re going back to work . '' — Juliet Eilperin ( @ eilperin ) March 28 , 2017
The report concludes with a short discussion of the kinds of things that might actually help suffering coal mining communities . It touches on a few of the local efforts underway and notes that the federal government can help :
There is a lot the federal government can do to help accelerate locally driven economic diversification efforts . Infrastructure investment , tax credits , and repurposing of abandoned mine land that has other economic use can attract new investment and job creation . Expanded broadband access is particularly important as it can overcome the geographic barriers that limit coal communities ’ physical access to both suppliers and markets and enable new types of economic activity . Competitive grants can help get nascent economic diversification initiatives off the ground . And the federal government can help provide retirement and healthcare security by passing the Miners ’ Protection Act .
( More on the Miners Protection Act — sponsored by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and a bipartisan list of 25 other senators — here . )
Trump ’ s budget proposed to slash funding for many of the existing federal programs that help Appalachia , most notably the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Economic Development Administration . Those are just a few of the cuts he favored that would hurt coal communities and workers . Spending has to be cut , after all , to make way for Congress ’ s enormous tax cut for corporations and the wealthy .
And thus far , Trump has been publicly silent about the threat to miner pensions , though he ’ s assured Manchin in private that he intends to speak up about it , and he usually keeps his promises , so that ’ s all good .
The GOP ’ s loyalty to coal communities seems to extend exactly as far as rolling back pollution regulations , and no further . Coincidentally , rolling back pollution regulations also enriches fossil fuel executives ( and disproportionately impacts the health of working-class families ) . Certainly helping coal communities is never prioritized over , say , high-end tax cuts . At least miners get to appear as props in political rallies , though .
And all the while , Trump just keeps lying to them . The whole GOP does . More than a few Democrats , too .
Whatever solutions might benefit coal communities , surely it must begin with telling them the truth : US coal is not coming back . Coal jobs are not coming back . Imposing more pollution on already-suffering communities won ’ t change that .
Out of the dinosaur power age into the new : Former coal mine to become largest solar farm in Kentucky https : //t.co/ERARTqZtrJ pic.twitter.com/GoEyvZRYnO — TreeHugger.com ( @ TreeHugger ) April 24 , 2017
The only way forward is through investment in regional economic diversification and development . It will be a hard road — new industries and opportunities will not grow as fast as coal fell — but it is the only road . Waiting for coal to come back is about as fruitful as waiting for the South to rise again .
It ’ s time for these communities to hear the truth from those they trust . And if they don ’ t , it might be time for them to start trusting different people . | kr8ZCV2L4Gmb0XPF | 0 | Coal | -0.6 | Energy | 0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
justice | National Review | http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/440370/why-did-obama-justice-department-grant-cheryl-mills-immunity | Why Did the Obama Justice Department Grant Cheryl Mills Immunity? | 2016-09-24 | justice | Well , what would Friday be without the latest document dump from the Clinton email investigation ? Yesterday afternoon , with the public in distracted anticipation of the coming weekend and Monday ’ s Clinton-Trump debate showdown , the FBI released another 189 pages of interview reports .
Along with this document dump comes remarkable news : The Obama Justice Department reportedly gave top Clinton aide and confidant Cheryl Mills immunity from prosecution for any incriminating information located on her personal computer .
According to House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz ( R. , Utah ) , the limited immunity was granted in order to persuade Ms. Mills to surrender her laptop computer so the FBI could check whether classified information was stored on it .
This is very strange . There was no need to grant concessions to Mills . The Justice Department could have required the production of the computer by simply issuing a grand jury subpoena . And had there been any concern that Mills would not cooperate , would destroy the computer , or would “ misplace ” it ( as Team Clinton claims to have misplaced so many Hillary devices ) , investigators could have applied for a search warrant and seized the computer .
In normal cases , the Justice Department does not grant immunity in exchange for evidence when it has lawful power to compel production of that evidence .
Mills is not alone . Apparently her subordinate , longtime Clinton aide Heather Samuelson , was given the same deal .
Unbelievably , Mills and Samuelson , who are lawyers , were also permitted to represent Hillary Clinton in the very same investigation in which , we now learn , they were personally granted immunity from prosecution . That ’ s apart from the fact that both of them were involved as government officials at the time they engaged in some of the conduct under investigation – a circumstance that , by itself , should have disqualified them from later serving as lawyers for other subjects in the same the investigation .
As readers may recall , I have been trying to draw attention to questions about immunity in the Clinton emails investigation since last spring ( see here and here ) . That was when we first learned that some form of immunity had been given to Brian Pagliano . He is the Clinton family employee who serviced then-Secretary Clinton ’ s unauthorized private server and , astonishingly , later drew a large State Department salary while continuing to be paid on the side by the Clintons .
As I explained at the time , it seemed highly likely that Ms. Mills , too , had been granted some form of immunity before agreeing to speak with the FBI . After all , she was a key player in events regarding which the FBI was conducting a criminal investigation , and she had previously declined to be interviewed by the State Department ’ s inspector general . In addition , we now know that , on advice of counsel , she refused to answer many questions when deposed by Judicial Watch regarding the email scandal . We can thus surmise that Mills had concerns about criminal jeopardy . We also know that her lawyer , Beth Wilkinson , aggressively – and successfully – lobbied the Justice Department to prevent the FBI from questioning Mills about topics of great significance to the investigation . Based on all this , it would be very surprising to me if Mills had not been given a “ proffer agreement ” form of immunity before agreeing to an FBI interview . ( As I ’ ve outlined in columns linked above , in a proffer agreement , known in prosecutor jargon as the “ queen for a day ” arrangement , the Justice Department agrees – with some caveats – not to use against the person any statements made during the interview ) .
To this point , we still do not have a clear picture of whether Mills was given any kind of immunity in exchange for agreeing to an FBI interview . We have now learned , however , that she did not surrender her private laptop computer until she received assurance – in the form of immunity – that she would not be prosecuted if the FBI found any incriminating information on it . ( Ms. Wilkinson , told the Associated Press that Mills got immunity only for the computer , not for the FBI interview … but Wilkinson refused to show the immunity agreement to the AP . )
Mills ’ subordinate , Heather Samuelson , who is also represented by Wilkinson , reportedly got the same immunity deal as Mills .
The FBI had abundant reason to suspect that there was classified information improperly stored – i.e. , potentially illegally stored – on Mills and Samuelson ’ s computers . These devices had been used in 2014 ( i.e. , about two years after Mills and Clinton had left the State Department ) in the process of reviewing the 62,000 emails stored on Clinton ’ s homebrew server . It was by this process that Clinton determined which emails related to government business and would be surrendered to the State Department , and which were ( purportedly ) private and would be retained by Clinton . ( We now know that thousands of what Clinton claimed were “ private ” emails were actually government-related , that some even contained classified information , and that Clinton and her minions attempted to destroy all of them – notwithstanding that destroying even one government file is a felony . )
Because thousands of emails containing classified information were included among the 62,000 reviewed on the Mills and Samuelson computers , and because data usually remain stored in the memory of a computer even if a deletion attempt has been made , it was a good bet that the Mills and Samuelson computers contained classified information .
It can be a felony to mishandle classified information by transmitting it to , or storing it on , an unclassified system . Moreover , it constitutes a threat to national security ( and to informants who risk their lives to acquire intelligence for the United States ) to leave classified information on a non-secure private computer that can easily be hacked or otherwise infiltrated . Consequently , the Justice Department had the power and the duty to take custody of the Mills and Samuelson computers .
It does not matter whether Mills and Samuelson were concerned that their computers might contain incriminating information . The Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination only protects a person from being forced to provide the government with self-incriminating information of a testimonial nature ; it does not cover physical evidence .
Thus , when law-enforcement has reason to believe physical evidence could be relevant to a criminal or national-security investigation , it demands the production of that evidence . There is no need to bargain with the person in possession of such evidence by offering immunity from prosecution . Instead , the Justice Department simply issues a grand jury subpoena compelling the possessor to surrender the evidence , on pain of being jailed for contempt if she fails to comply . Further , if investigators fear that the possessor might destroy or tamper with the evidence rather than honor a subpoena , the prosecutor simply obtains a judicial search warrant , enabling the FBI to seize the evidence forcibly .
In a normal case , immunity-from-prosecution never enters into this equation . Immunity is a valuable concession that the Justice Department is only supposed to grant if there is no other way to get the evidence in question . Investigators are not supposed to “ pay ” for evidence the law empowers them to obtain cost-free . If , for example , a prosecutor surmised that a suspect ’ s hair might match hair recovered at the scene of a robbery , the prosecutor would not offer the suspect immunity from prosecution for the robbery in exchange for the suspect ’ s provision of a hair sample . The prosecutor would issue a subpoena requiring the suspect to provide the grand jury with a hair sample ; if there was a match , the grand jury would then indict the suspect for the robbery .
As the Associated Press puts it : “ By including the emails recovered from the laptops in the immunity agreements , the Justice Department exempted key physical evidence from any potential criminal case against [ Hillary Clinton ’ s ] aides. ” It makes no sense to have done this … unless the Justice Department had already decided it would not prosecute Mills and Samuelson , no matter what the proof showed .
Add this to an already long list of startling concessions made to Mrs. Clinton and her confederates . The latest revelations raise other new questions that I will deal with in subsequent posts . For now , suffice it to say , yet again : It appears the Obama Justice Department ’ s goal was not to make a prosecutable case , but to make it appear that Hillary Clinton was “ exonerated ” after a thorough FBI investigation . | Uk2DLWTOzwgl0JyP | 2 | Barack Obama | -1.9 | Justice | -0.7 | Justice Department | 0 | null | null | null | null |
republican_party | Townhall | http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2016/07/20/no-donald-trump-jr-didnt-plagiarize-his-rnc-speech-n2195110 | No, Donald Trump, Jr. Didn't Plagiarize His RNC Speech | 2016-07-20 | republican_party | We were pretty unsparing in response to the Melania plagiarism saga on Monday night -- coming down hard on the Trump campaign for its inept malpractice , and skewering its incoherent spin the following day . So it 's only fair to knock down some unfair criticism along similar lines . After his breakout performance on behalf of his father , allegations quickly arose that Donald Trump , Jr. had also stolen bits of his speech from another source .
Those sentences and formulations are , indeed , almost identical . There 's a reason for that . Here 's the man who penned the essay on the right ... and who helped write the speech Donald Jr. delivered in Cleveland :
Except it was n't stealing ... — Frank Buckley ( @ fbuckley ) July 20 , 2016
So the speechwriter repurposed one of his previous insights for the Trump campaign , by definition with permission . Once that was cleared up , some critics persisted , insisting that self-plagiarism is still technically unethical in an academic setting . But context is everything . There 's no harm , no foul here -- especially in light of the defense mounted by the Obama camp when these videos surfaced during the 2008 cycle :
No big deal , we were told ; the two men were friends , and Patrick was cool with Obama cribbing his lines . At the time , Obama was under fire from -- ta da ! -- Hillary Clinton for using unoriginal passages without attribution . `` If your whole candidacy is about words , they should be your words , '' she said . So if the political standard of acceptability for this sort of thing is the granting of permission ( and whoever inserted those lines into Melania 's speech on Monday clearly did not receive any go-ahead from Mrs. Obama ) , Don Junior is in the clear . One of Obama 's former speechwriters echoed this point on Twitter last night :
If the Donald Trump Jr. lines were n't plagiarism because the author gave permission , neither was the Obama riff from Deval , who also did . — Jon Favreau ( @ jonfavs ) July 20 , 2016
Non-issue . I 'll leave you with a reminder that the sitting Vice President is an actual plagiarist , as well as some early morning analysis from yours truly : | k935LTL28SReJqyc | 2 | Donald Trump Jr. | -0.1 | Republican Party | 0 | RNC | 0 | Politics | 0 | null | null |
treasury | Christian Science Monitor | http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Wire/2013/0602/Smoking-gun-in-IRS-scandal-Rep.-Darrell-Issa-says-he-s-close.-video?nav=89-csm_category-topStories | Smoking gun in IRS scandal? Rep. Darrell Issa says he's close. (+video) | 2013-06-02 | treasury | For all intents and purposes , the only politically relevant fact in the IRS scandal is the still-unanswered question of who , ultimately , decided to harangue tea party groups with reams of extra paperwork during the 2012 election season .
The Obama administration has suggested that a few `` rogue agents '' in one Cincinnati office were to blame . And the evidence , so far , has appeared to at least partly support that claim . Media reports have painted a picture of an office overwhelmed by the task of sorting through which tax-exempt groups were actually playing according to the arcane rules of US tax law and which were not . Disproportionately , it seems , conservative groups got the runaround .
Yet what has been lacking from the Republican viewpoint is — if not a smoking gun , precisely — then at least a steaming teacup . Where was the evidence that `` rogue agents '' were , in fact , dutiful subordinates , carrying out a clear plan of political recrimination that had its origins all the way back in Washington ?
On Sunday , the House Republican tasked with carrying out that chamber 's investigations offered his strongest claim yet that the IRS scandal was part of a broader Obama administration conspiracy .
`` As late as last week , the administration 's still trying to say there 's a few rogue agents in Cincinnati , when in fact the indication is they were directly being ordered from Washington , '' said Rep. Darrell Issa ( R ) of California on CNN 's `` State of the Union . ''
His evidence ? Partial transcripts of the closed-door testimony to Congress of IRS employees in the Cincinnati office .
According to one transcript , an employee was asked if the scandal could be the work of a few local rogue agents . `` It 's impossible , '' the employee said . `` As an agent we are controlled by many , many people . We have to submit many , many reports . So the chance of two agents being rogue and doing things like that could never happen . ''
The interrogator then asked : `` With respect to the particular scrutiny that was given to tea party applications , those directions emanated from Washington , is that right ? ''
Yet Issa and fellow Republicans were careful not to go too far Sunday . Scandals are Washington 's political potboilers , after all , and the authors try to leave every Sunday morning chapter on a cliffhanger .
When Candy Crowley , the host of `` State of the Union , '' pushed Representative Issa for a clearer link — evidence of a direct order from Washington — he said his committee was following a paper trial to try to establish facts , but the White House had not yet supplied subpoenaed documents .
It is part of an established Washington tradition . Congressional investigators from one party ask presidents for reams of documents in the name of transparency , presidents of the other party tell Congress to buzz off , saying Congress is on a political witch hunt , and the scandal survives for another week .
In the meantime , Issa was careful not to specifically accuse anyone of anything — while making it clear that he does n't trust the Obama administration .
He cited Lois Lerner , the head of the IRS division on tax-exempt organizations , who last month refused to answer questions posed by Issa 's committee , invoking her constitutional right not to incriminate herself .
`` The reason that Lois Lerner tried to take the fifth is not because there is a rogue in Cincinnati , it 's because this is a problem that was coordinated in all likelihood right out of Washington headquarters and we 're getting to proving it , '' he added .
At one point , he even called White House spokesman Jay Carney a `` paid liar . ''
`` My gut tells me that too many people knew that this wrongdoing was going on before the election , '' he said . `` And at least by some sort of convenient benign neglect , allowed it to go on through the election — allowed these groups , these conservative groups , these , if you will , not friends of the president , to be disenfranchised through an election . ''
The idea that the Obama administration has played the part of an enabler , allowing a vindictive partisan culture to flourish in the American bureaucracy , was echoed by other Republicans Sunday morning .
`` The culture of the president calling tea party groups terrorists and tea-baggers , and that entire culture has been cultivated by the president and his people , and everyone has been following , '' said Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus on `` Fox News Sunday . ''
Added Republican strategist Karl Rove on ABC 's `` This Week '' : `` People sitting in Cincinnati , Laguna Niguel , Baltimore , and Washington , D.C. , listen to people like Sen. Max Baucus , Sen. Chuck Schumer , President Obama . When President Obama goes out in 2010 and calls these groups ‘ a threat to democracy , ’ he ’ s blowing a dog whistle . ”
“ We ’ re going to find that the IRS targeted conservative political groups , not liberal groups , and that they targeted specific individuals , ” he said .
Democratic strategist David Plouffe , also on `` This Week , '' rebutted the charges .
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“ There ’ s been no suggestion — the [ IRS ] inspector general said there was no politics involved in this , ” he said . “ This was not an effort driven by the White House . It would be the dumbest political effort of all time . ”
At least on that point , perhaps , both sides can agree . | 3Chwt5OdMZuR5bGm | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | The Week - News | http://theweek.com/article/index/271084/democrats-will-probably-lose-the-2014-elections-but-it-wont-be-a-victory-for-conservatism | Democrats will probably lose the 2014 elections. But it won't be a victory for conservatism. | 2014-11-03 | elections | The chances are that Democrats will lose the Senate tomorrow . As when Republicans took control of the House in 2010 , this will be spun by conservatives as a world-historical victory , a vindication of the conservative agenda , and an incontrovertible sign that President Obama 's brand of liberalism will be forever consigned to the dustbin of history .
But if we take a closer look at the polls , we find quite a different story than that of 2010 . Democrats are running behind in some states Obama won in 2012 , like Colorado . But they are running very far ahead of his 2012 showing in other places , most surprisingly in red states . As Brian Beutler demonstrates :
In 2012 , Obama lost Alaska , Arkansas , Louisiana , and North Carolina by 13 , 24 , 17 , and 3 points respectively . Right now in the states ' Senate races , also respectively , polling aggregators show Mark Begich trailing challenger Dan Sullivan by one to four points ; Mark Pryor trailing challenger Tom Cotton by four to eight points ; Mary Landrieu trailing Bill Cassidy by four to seven points ; and Kay Hagan beating Thom Tillis by one to three points .
These Democrats are all outperforming Obama by significant margins , in states where Republicans have natural advantages , and in a year in which those advantages should magnify Democratic weaknesses . [ The New Republic ]
Even though Democrats are structurally disadvantaged , they are giving Republicans a serious run for their money . Republicans have translated their advantages into only a modest lead , indicating that we are not seeing flocks of voters eagerly embracing the conservative agenda .
This holds at the state level as well . In 2010 , the GOP took more than 600 state legislative seats from the Democrats . This year , they 're running only a bit ahead :
All told , the GOP is poised to pick up two or three chambers this fall , though outcomes could range from a Democratic gain of two to a Republican gain of seven or eight . [ Governing ]
So what does this mean for the future ? Democrats and activists laying the groundwork for 2016 need to ask themselves just why President Obama is unpopular . There are many answers — general fatigue , a consistently unpopular health care law , a string of foreign policy crises — but the one that puts all these in the shade is the economy . Put simply , for all but the very rich , the economy sucks .
Given the scale of the 2008 economic collapse , job growth has been weak and the jobs that have opened up have been lousy . Median income is down 4 percent from the very bottom of the recession , when the so-called recovery started .
This should be the guiding star of the left 's 2016 agenda . The Obama stimulus was too small and the turn to austerity in 2010 far too premature . Thus , the Democratic Party 's policies ought to focus on getting money , jobs , and benefits to those who do n't have them .
Here are some ideas : beefing up Social Security ; a big new infrastructure package ( ideally with a big anti-climate change component ) ; a universal child credit and/or basic income ; introducing a public option to finish what ObamaCare started ; immigration reform ; and facilitating per capita cash payments through the Federal Reserve .
In short , direct money and benefits down the socioeconomic ladder .
The contrast with the GOP could n't be greater . When you look at the state level , conservatives have been trying their favored policies in earnest , and the results are abysmal . Sam Brownback , the Republican governor of Kansas , is in the fight of his political life because his huge package of tax and spending cuts has been an epic disaster . It turns out that conservative economic policy is garbage , which should give the left confidence that their ideas are the right ones .
Many centrists and D.C. pundit types argue that this kind of old-time lefty agenda is n't widely supported . But on the contrary , populist economic policy is generally popular . Americans think the distribution of wealth should be more equal , by 59 percent to 33 percent . Seventy-one percent support Social Security and would pay higher taxes to increase benefits . An identical number support raising the minimum wage .
Average Americans have a pretty clear idea of what 's wrong with the nation 's economy : ordinary people are n't getting a cut of economic growth anymore .
So if the left can have the courage of its ostensible convictions , and run on an unabashedly lefty policy in the FDR tradition , political dividends will follow . | lFHiEksmdITfkwON | 1 | Election2014 | 0 | Elections | 0 | Conservatives | 0 | null | null | null | null |
free_speech | USA TODAY | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/01/04/iraq-iran-tensions-protests-condemn-u-s-actions-middle-east/2807176001/ | Protests planned across US to condemn Trump administration actions in Iraq, Iran | 2020-01-04 | free_speech | Demonstrators took to the streets across the U.S. on Saturday to protest the Trump administration 's killing of a top Iranian general and decision to send about 3,000 more soldiers to the Middle East .
“ No justice , no peace . U.S. out of the Middle East , ” about 200 protesters chanted near the Trump Tower in Chicago . Protesters held signs that read “ Stop bombing Iraq ” and “ U.S . troops out of Iraq . ”
More than 70 planned protests were being spearheaded by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism , a U.S.-based anti-war coalition , in conjunction with other organizations . They seek withdrawal of U.S.troops from Iraq and end to what it says is a war on Iran , according to spokesperson Walter Smolarek .
In Philadelphia , he said about 500 protesters took part . Demonstrations also took place outside the White House and in New York City 's Times Square .
Cincinnati protesters chanted , `` Trump says more war . We say no war , '' and `` No more U.S. attacks . Iraq , we got your back . ''
`` Both Democrats and Republicans have coordinated efforts and combined to wreak havoc on this entire region , '' said Mike Jasko of the Party for Socialism and Liberation , who was at the Cincinnati protest . `` What we 're seeing with the airstrikes of the assassination of an Iranian general is that we 're seeing tensions escalate , and they want another war . ''
Timeline : How tensions escalated with Iran since Trump withdrew US from nuclear deal
Several from among the about 60 people who gathered in Phoenix , expressed concern about the possibility of another long-term conflict .
`` Every time we go into the Middle East it 's like going into a tar pit , '' said Sue Baird , holding a sign that said `` No War With Iran . '' Another protester , Amy Picone , went further , saying she is `` 100 % scared for another world war . ''
The Pentagon launched an airstrike Thursday night that killed a powerful Iranian military leader , Gen. Qasem Soleimani , at Baghdad ’ s international airport . The Defense Department said it conducted the attack as a `` defensive action '' against Soleimani , who it said was planning further attacks on American diplomats and service members .
President Donald Trump has denied accusations that the killed was designed to start a war with Iran . `` We took action last night to stop a war . We did not take action to start a war , '' he said Friday .
“ I ’ m outraged at the fact that Trump is trying to force a foreign policy on the rest of us that makes absolutely no sense , ” said Janice Misurell-Mitchell , a composer and professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago , who attended Saturday ’ s protest . “ Getting out of the Iran nuclear deal was ridiculous and stupid . ''
Another academic , Benjamin Balthaser , an associate professor of English at Indiana University , said years of war in the Middle East had only destabilized the region .
“ This kind of reckless , outrageous behavior by this president is only going to kill more people , spend more money , and make the world far more unsafe . We have serious problems that we need to come together to solve . This is only going to make us more divided , ” Balthaser said .
After holding one rally Friday , protesters in Memphis held another demonstration Saturday in which they implored motorists to show their support . “ Honk for no more war , ” protesters chanted .
The latest : Selective Service System clarifies draft process amid escalation in Iran tensions
' I want to have peace . ' How Trump went from a vow to avoid conflict to an order to kill Iran general
The protests come after several days of escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran that started with the killing of an American contractor .
It 's also the latest in a broader dispute between the two nations , including Trump 's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear pact in 2018 and subsequent sanctions he imposed on Iran in order to make them come to a new deal .
Thousands of Iranians protested Friday against the U.S. airstrike in the capital of Tehran , shouting `` death to America . '' Meanwhile , dozens of people in Iraq and Syria sang and danced to celebrate the general 's death . Protests were n't confined to the U.S .
In Berlin , Germany , about 50 people demonstrated against U.S. actions , according to the Coalition Berlin , which co-organized the protest .
Iran ambassador to UN : 'The response for a military action is military action '
Democrats warn against 'march ' to war : Trump orders killing of Qasem Soleimani
Contributing : Nicholas Wu in Washington , D.C ; Laura Testino and Madeline Mitchell , Cincinnati Enquirer ; BrieAnna Frank , Arizona Republic ; Katherine Burgess , The ( Memphis ) Commercial Appeal . | 85ejB0V5s8v5V1MS | 1 | Donald Trump | -1.4 | Qasem Soleimani | -0.8 | Protests | 0.6 | Free Speech | 0 | null | null |
race_and_racism | Mark Whitaker | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/31/desantis-ap-black-history-american-identity/ | DeSantis is wrong about Black studies | 2023-02-03 | Race And Racism, History, African American Studies, The College Board, Education, Ron DeSantis, Woke, Critical Race Theory | clockThis article was published more than 2 years ago Mark Whitaker is a journalist and the author of “Saying It Loud: 1966 — The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement,” which will be published on Feb. 7. In the latest salvo in his war on “wokeness,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced support for a statewide ban on a new Advanced Placement class on African American studies that will be officially unveiled this week at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. In defending the ban, DeSantis (R) and his allies at Florida’s Department of Education relied on a draft framework for the curriculum, and cherry-picked from roughly a hundred proposed topics to object to a handful of buzzwords, including “reparations” and “intersectionality,” as well as Black feminism and Black queer activism. “We want education, not indoctrination,” DeSantis declared. | 5f50a66324d87bc5 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
middle_east | New York Post (News) | https://nypost.com/2024/05/01/us-news/ucla-protests-turn-violent-as-fights-break-out-and-firecrackers-explode/ | UCLA protests turn violent as fights break out and firecrackers explode in ‘tent city’ | 2024-05-01 | Middle East, Israel Hamas Violence, Pro-Palestine Protests | An anti-Israel protest at the University of California, Los Angeles, turned violent late Tuesday as fights broke out and firecrackers were thrown at the makeshift tent encampments.The commotion broke out at UCLA in Westwood after several agitators attempted to break down a barricade set up on campus.One agitator blasted pepper spray into multiple people’s faces, leading to a brawl, according to video captured by Fox 11.Firecrackers were then thrown toward a barrier set up by campus police, sending multiple people running for cover.6 A firecracker explodes alongside a makeshift barricade set up at UCLA on April 30, 2024. FOX 11It took law enforcement nearly three hours to respond to the massive clash between protesters, as UC schools’ police force didn’t formally request the LAPD’s help until midnight.The late-night disorder came hours after UCLA declared the campus encampment illegal and warned the protesters they could be punished if they didn’t leave, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned the protesters before announcing the LAPD had been called in to help quell the chaos.6 A firework is set off during the chaos at UCLA. @dailybruin/X6 An anti-Israel protester is beaten up by counter-protesters at UCLA on May 1, 2024. AFP via Getty Images“The violence unfolding this evening at UCLA is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable,” Bass, who was in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, wrote on X. “LAPD has arrived on campus.”California Gov. Gavin Newsom remained stunningly silent after the protests at UCLA and UC Berkeley took a violent turn overnight.“We want to maintain the right to protest without any hate,” Newsom said earlier Tuesday when asked about the demonstrations during a news conference, according to Fox News.The LAPD confirmed its presence on campus, saying the department was working with other agencies to restore order on the campus.6 UC schools’ police department didn’t formally ask the Los Angeles Police Department for help until midnight. @QudsNen/X6 Counter-protesters clash at UCLA over an anti-Israel encampment on campus. Reuters6 The LAPD confirmed its presence on campus, saying the department was working with other agencies to restore order. Reuters“We can confirm that LAPD officers have been deployed, and are currently on the UCLA campus, to assist in restoring order. We are working in partnership with UCLA PD and other law enforcement agencies.”“Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support,” UCLA’s Strategic Communications Office said in a release, according to KTTV.“The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene. We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end.” | 8895b50739fdd577 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
middle_east | New York Times (News) | https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/07/world/middleeast/trump-iran.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage | Live Updates: Deadly Stampede at Funeral Procession for Iranian General | 2020-01-07 | Iran, Qasem Soleimani, National Security, Middle East | Trump Administration Advertisement Supported by Iran does not seek “seek escalation or war,” the minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said in a tweet hours after Iran launched missile strikes against Americans in Iraq. Iran has “concluded” its attacks on American forces and does “not seek escalation or war,” the country’s foreign minister said in a tweet on Wednesday. Moments later, President Trump said in a tweet that he would make a statement on Wednesday morning about the conflict, and suggested that damages and casualties sustained by American forces were minimal. But he also said the assessment of the attacks was ongoing. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s tweet followed two missile attacks on bases in Iraq housing American forces in response to the killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, a leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Advertisement “Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched,” Mr. Zarif said. “We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression,” he added. Here’s how the situation developed over the last two weeks. Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like. Advertisement Subscribe now ©2025 The New York Times Company | 76ecb5d5beb212d3 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
immigration | Reuters | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump/trump-pushes-hardline-immigration-policies-even-as-he-urges-unity-idUSKBN1FJ1DV | Trump pushes hardline immigration policies even as he urges unity | 2018-01-31 | State Of The Union, Immigration | WASHINGTON ( ███ ) - U.S. President Donald Trump urged lawmakers on Tuesday to work toward bipartisan compromises , but pushed a hard line on immigration , insisting on a border wall and other concessions from Democrats as part of any deal to protect the children of illegal immigrants .
Trump , in his first State of the Union speech , gave no ground on the contentious issue of whether to shield young immigrants known as “ Dreamers ” from deportation .
Aiming to keep conservative supporters happy as he looks to November congressional elections , Trump stood by a set of principles opposed by Democrats , including the border wall with Mexico and new restrictions on how many family members that legal immigrants can bring into the United States .
“ Tonight , I call upon all of us to set aside our differences , to seek out common ground , and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve , ” Trump said in his address .
Trump used the hour-and-20-minute speech , given annually by presidents to Congress , to try to overcome doubts about his presidency at a time when he is battling a probe into his campaign ’ s alleged ties with Russia and suffering low job approval ratings .
Trump made no mention of the federal probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential election , a controversy that is dogging his presidency . Trump has denied collusion and has called the probe a “ witch hunt . ”
The speech was short on details about Trump ’ s policy proposals .
But his sober , measured approach was welcomed by the public . A CNN/SSRS snap poll said 48 percent of those surveyed had a “ very positive ” response to the speech and 22 percent “ somewhat positive . ”
There was little sign of unity inside the House of Representatives chamber where Trump spoke . Republican lawmakers cheered wildly at the president ’ s applause lines . Democrats often sat in their seats silently and many booed when he laid out his immigration proposals .
Turning to foreign policy late in the speech , Trump denounced the “ depraved character ” of North Korea ’ s leadership and said Pyongyang ’ s “ reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland . ”
“ We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from happening , ” he said . In a surprise moment , he singled out a North Korea defector in the crowd , Ji Seong-ho , as an example of what he called the reclusive country ’ s brutal nature .
Trump also said he had signed an order to keep open the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , for foreign terrorism suspects . Former Democratic President Barack Obama had vowed to close the prison , which has been condemned by human rights groups , but was unable to shut it down completely .
Whether Trump would follow through on his appeal for bipartisan harmony was far from clear . Trump ’ s past attempts at a unifying message have been undermined by his later rancorous tweets and divisive statements that angered Democrats and frequently annoyed lawmakers in his own Republican Party .
The unity plea will first be put to the test in his drive for a compromise on protecting 1.8 million Dreamers - people brought illegally to the country as children - who face a March 5 deadline on whether they can begin to be deported .
Republicans welcomed Trump ’ s immigration proposals , with U.S . Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma saying Trump tried to strike a middle ground .
“ My Democratic colleagues can say he didn ’ t move enough , but you can ’ t deny he moved a lot . There are people in his core base who think he has moved way too far . ”
But Senator Patrick Leahy , a Vermont Democrat and the longest-serving senator , said Trump ’ s words about unity , after a year of “ divisive actions , petty insults and disgraceful race-baiting ... ring hollow . ”
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington , U.S. January 30 , 2018 . ███/Joshua Roberts
Trump said he was “ extending an open hand ” for an immigration deal and that he would provide Dreamers a pathway to citizenship over 10 to 12 years in exchange for funding the border wall , which he promised during his campaign , and restrictions on legal immigration .
He called his plan a “ down-the-middle compromise , ” but some Democrats hissed when he said he wanted to rein in “ chain migration , ” the ability of legal immigrants to bring a wide-ranging number of family members into the country .
“ Let ’ s come together , set politics aside and finally get the job done , ” Trump said .
Trump took credit for U.S. economic gains including a soaring stock market and a low jobless rate . He boasted about the economic growth he believes will result from tax cuts Republicans pushed through Congress late last year .
“ This is our new American moment . There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream , ” he said .
Trump said he would like a compromise over a plan to rebuild aging roads , bridges and other infrastructure . He said he wanted legislation to generate at least $ 1.5 trillion through a combination of federal , state and local spending as well as private-sector contributions .
Market reaction was muted , with S & P 500 futures drifting higher , but investors saying there was little new for Wall Street in the speech .
“ Futures lifted a bit because it was not a negative speech . He was calm . He celebrated America . He avoided his own failures , ” said Tim Ghriskey , chief investment officer at Cresset Wealth Advisors in Chicago .
While Trump spoke of compromise , his speech provided some reminders of partisan battles over the past year .
He singled out a speech guest , 12-year-old Preston Sharp , for leading an effort to put American flags on the graves of 40,000 veterans , saying the initiative was “ why we proudly stand for the national anthem . ”
His criticism of National Football League players who refused to stand for the anthem in protest against police shootings of minorities and racial disparities in the justice system , dominated headlines last autumn . | acf810a40b62a701 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/31/politics/sandy-election-day-postponement/index.html?hpt=po_t1 | Why Election Day won't be postponed | 2012-10-31 | elections | Story highlights Presidential Election Day is set by Congress under its authority in the Constitution
Election Day can only be changed if a new federal law is passed
But a state will probably be allowed to postpone voting only in disaster-affected areas
Statewide postponement of the presidential vote is an open legal question
With Superstorm Sandy leaving communities under water , stranding millions without power and consuming public resources in several states , could next Tuesday 's vote for president be moved to a later date ?
No , it ca n't . Without passage of a new federal law , voting for president is required to take place on Tuesday , November 6 , as planned .
But , partial postponements of voting in some affected areas are possible , consistent with the laws governing the election of the president and vice president .
When people go to the polls on Election Day , they are n't voting directly for their choice for president or vice president . Instead , they are voting to select representatives -- or `` electors '' -- to the Electoral College , the body that actually determines who will be president and vice president .
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The Constitution gives Congress the authority to determine `` time '' of choosing those electors . In 1845 , Congress passed a law that set the Tuesday immediately following the first Monday in November of every election year as Election Day across the country .
The same law also gives states some leeway in picking electors to the Electoral College . But to exercise that leeway , a state must have `` held an election for the purpose of choosing electors , '' and `` failed to make a choice on the day prescribed by law . '' When that happens , the law says `` the electors may be appointed on a subsequent day in such manner as the legislature of such state may direct . ''
Based on this , the Congressional Research Service , a federal agency that provides legislative research support to Congress , concluded in a 2004 report that a state could probably hold presidential voting on Election Day in places unaffected by a natural disaster but postpone it until a later date in affected areas without violating federal law so long as the state met other legal requirements relating to electing the president and vice president .
But the law passed by Congress setting Election Day only allows a state to pick its electors on a later date if it has already held an election on Election Day and `` failed to make a choice '' on that day .
So a complete statewide postponement would arguably violate the 1845 law , the 2004 report suggested . But the report also pointed out that the Supreme Court has emphasized the role states play in selecting the presidential electors , so a state might be allowed to postpone an entire statewide vote for president in emergency circumstances like a hurricane or other natural disaster . | SJmlINu0XGMZUvkY | 0 | Presidential Elections | -0.2 | Election2012 | -0.1 | Elections | -0.1 | null | null | null | null |
politics | Washington Post | http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/former-aide-accuses-christie-of-lying-about-bridge-scandal/2014/01/31/bc2f8324-8abb-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html | Former aide accuses Christie of lying about bridge scandal | 2014-02-01 | Politics | clockThis article was published more than 11 years ago One of the key players in a scandal surrounding Chris Christie accused the New Jersey governor on Friday of lying about his role. David Wildstein, a former Christie appointee who presided over the George Washington Bridge lane closures at the center of the controversy, said through a letter from his attorney that "evidence exists . . . tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the Governor stated publicly." | 7452f47abd3971cb | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | The Flip Side | https://www.theflipside.io/archives/clintons-comments-on-gabbard | Clinton’s Comments on Gabbard | elections | The left criticizes both Clinton ’ s accusations and Gabbard ’ s candidacy for President .
“ Clinton is right that there is plenty to worry about with Gabbard . Indeed , debate moderators and other Democratic candidates should have never let her escape the first debates without direct questions about her unnatural fluency with both Syrian and Russian talking points . Gabbard even emulates the stiff , unnatural cadences of Russian rhetoric , as when she referred to Clinton on Twitter as the ‘ queen of the warmongers ’ —the Russians used to refer to the close Clinton ally Madeleine Albright as ‘ Madam War. ’ She repeatedly echoes pro–Bashar al-Assad propaganda in using the phrase regime-change warto describe the U.S. presence in Syria…
“ [ But ] Clinton ’ s accusation that Gabbard is a tool of the Russians was so blunt and clumsy that it has added new life to a primary bid that should never have existed in the first place . Within a day , Gabbard was already fundraising off of it , a development as predictable as a sunrise… Far from exposing or thwarting Gabbard… the former secretary of state overshot the mark by making an accusation without proof . ”
“ No evidence was offered to support this assertion , nor have frequent allegations that Russia is helping Gabbard ’ s campaign been proven… Obama administration official and current CNN commentator Van Jones called Clinton ’ s comments ‘ disinformation ’ on that network Friday . ‘ I do not want someone of her stature to legitimate these attacks against anybody , ’ Jones said . ‘ If you ’ ve got real evidence , come forward with it . But if you ’ re just going to smear people casually on podcasts , you are playing right into the Russians ’ hands ’ … As [ the acting director of national intelligence ] notes , the very fact that a Russia misinformation campaign is in the public discourse hampers the democratic process by damaging public trust . ”
“ Alt-right internet stars , white nationalists , libertarian activists and some of the biggest boosters of Mr. Trump heap praise on Ms. Gabbard . They like the Hawaiian congresswoman ’ s isolationist foreign policy views . They like her support for drug decriminalization . They like what she sees as censorship by big technology platforms . Then there is 4chan , the notoriously toxic online message board , where some right-wing trolls and anti-Semites fawn over Ms. Gabbard , calling her ‘ Mommy ’ and praising her willingness to criticize Israel…
“ Some of those who have worked with Ms. Gabbard say that , as an Iraq war veteran whose chief message is that America should stop trying to police the world , she is representing viewpoints that draw support from an array of people in the United States as well as abroad… Still , Democrats are on high alert about foreign interference in the next election and the D.N.C . is well aware of the frequent mentions of Ms. Gabbard in the Russian state news media . An independent analysis of the Russian news media found that RT , the Kremlin-backed news agency , mentioned Ms. Gabbard frequently for a candidate polling in single digits . ”
Dated but relevant : “ The fact is that a foreign policy that elevates America 's narrow national interest above any broader concerns will inevitably lead to unsavory realpolitik alliances , regardless of whether it is pro- or anti-war . If ‘ The Blob ’ — as the bipartisan interventionist foreign policy establishment is sarcastically called — has a tendency to exaggerate the threat posed to the international order by regimes that do n't play by America 's rules in order to justify overthrowing them , Gabbard-style anti-interventionist nationalists have a tendency to downplay the threat that odious regimes who play ball with America pose for their own people in order to enlist them…
“ It is not a coincidence that Gabbard has questioned whether Assad actually deployed chemical weapons against innocent Syrians at all . Or that she has praised [ Egyptian dictator ] Sisi for his ‘ great courage and leadership. ’ Or that she refused to support a House resolution that offered the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom — which occurred on [ Indian Prime Minister ] Modi 's watch — as an example of India 's persecution of its religious minorities… The very politicos who are anti-war often become pro-dictator . Unfortunately , Democratic presidential contender Tulsi Gabbard , the congresswoman from Hawaii , is no different . ”
“ The summary , released this morning , is a wild look into the president ’ s mind-set and approach to his job . It shows a commander in chief consumed by conspiracy theories , strong-arming a foreign government to help him politically , and marshaling the federal government in his schemes… The call is bizarre on several levels . First , the United States has legitimate interests in Ukraine , but Trump is using his conversation with that country ’ s president to pursue his pet , unsubstantiated conspiracy theories . Second , Trump appears—as has been alleged—to be engaging in a quid pro quo , asking Zelensky to assist him in pursuing those conspiracy theories , in exchange for help to Ukraine . Trump never puts it in plain terms—he ’ s too smart , and too experienced in shady business , to do that—but it requires willful blindness to miss what Trump is asking… Third , the call shows how Trump enlists the might of the U.S. government in his weird , personal , political schemes . ”
“ Trump ’ s defenders will say this evidence is all circumstantial . But circumstantial evidence is not weak evidence : it ’ s simply evidence based on the circumstances in which an act of wrongdoing is committed — such as the license plate of a car that speeds away from a bank just after that bank is robbed . Criminals are convicted on such evidence all the time . They will also say that there ’ s no explicit quid pro quo proposal here . But… ‘ even when a corrupt deal is struck implicitly , the government can still prosecute extortion on a quid pro quo basis . Circumstantial evidence can be enough to prove a criminal exchange. ’ … “ In the absence of an explicit quid pro quo over restarting aid , the context and circumstances are what will become the focus of the investigation . There is enough here to support impeachment . Whether it is also enough to convince Republicans and lead to removal is another matter . ” | oSFtw6ToH909RiqK | 1 | Presidential Elections | -0.7 | Elections | -0.7 | Hillary Clinton | -0.2 | Tulsi Gabbard | -0.1 | null | null | |
elections | BBC News | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45340275 | Trump warns of 'left-wing violence' if Democrats win mid-term elections | 2018-08-29 | Midterm Elections, Donald Trump, Democratic Party, Violence, Elections | US President Donald Trump has warned that his policies will be `` violently '' overturned if the Democrats win November 's mid-term elections .
He told Evangelical leaders that the vote was a `` referendum '' on freedom of speech and religion , and that these were threatened by `` violent people '' .
He appealed to conservative Christian groups for help , saying they were one vote away from `` losing everything '' .
Mid-term elections are widely seen as a test of the president 's popularity .
Mr Trump has been battling negative publicity after his ex-lawyer and former campaign chief were convicted earlier this month .
An audio recording of Mr Trump 's closed-door meeting with Evangelical leaders at the White House was leaked to US media .
During the meeting , Mr Trump said the mid-term elections were not just a referendum on him but also `` on your religion , it 's a referendum on free speech and the First Amendment [ guaranteeing basic freedoms ] '' .
`` It 's not a question of like or dislike , it 's a question that they will overturn everything that we 've done and they will do it quickly and violently . And violently . There is violence . When you look at Antifa - these are violent people , '' he said .
Antifa - short for anti-fascist - refers to groups of far-left protesters who fight far-right ideology and regularly clash with far-right demonstrators .
The US president has previously criticised left-wing groups , infamously saying that there had been violence on `` many sides '' after a white nationalist killed a left-wing demonstrator at a white nationalist protest in Charlottesville last year .
Urging the Evangelical leaders to use their influence to swing voters , Mr Trump told them they had `` tremendous power '' .
`` In this room , you have people who preach to almost 200 million people . Depending on which Sunday we 're talking about , '' he said .
`` Little thing : Merry Christmas , right ? You could n't say 'Merry Christmas ' , '' he added , according to US media reports .
Two of those who heard Mr Trump speak downplayed the remarks , according to a series of tweets by Sarah McCammon , a reporter from National Public Radio ( NPR ) .
`` Nobody walked out of there thinking that the Democrats were going to shoot us all , '' she quoted Jerry Falwell Jr as saying .
President Donald Trump himself is not up for re-election , but his ability to govern in the final two years of his term will hinge upon the 6 November outcome .
All 435 members of the House of Representatives , 35 seats in the 100-member Senate and 36 out of 50 state governors , along with many state and local offices , are up for election .
Republicans currently hold sway in both chambers of Congress and the White House . But some Democrats have been predicting a `` blue wave '' .
On Tuesday a left-wing Democratic candidate beat better-funded centrist challengers to win his party 's primary contest and will stand against Mr Trump 's favoured candidate .
Andrew Gillum , who is currently mayor of Tallahassee , will oppose Ron DeSantis . If elected , Mr Gillum would be Florida 's first black governor . | c3a1ca7c5a6cd935 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
republican_party | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/23/politics/republicans-attitudes-christie/index.html?hpt=po_c1 | Taking the GOP's temperature on Christie | 2014-01-23 | republican_party | Story highlights RNC members support and sympathize with Gov . Chris Christie with some caution
One member says of New Jersey governor , `` If he 's lying , he 's dead ''
Another describes him as `` a prizefighter in the middle rounds ''
RNC is meeting to plot midterm strategy , vote on nominating process
Members of the Republican National Committee have a busy agenda this week as they gather in Washington to plot midterm election strategy and vote on a series of changes to the presidential nominating process in 2016 .
Chris Christie , the under-siege New Jersey governor and possible White House candidate , was far from a central topic of discussion as Republicans began arriving to the meeting on Wednesday . His name , uttered here and there in a few hushed hallway conversations , usually surfaced only when reporters brought it up . And when asked about the still-unfolding political and legal drama in the New Jersey capital of Trenton , some Republicans here declined to talk about Christie at all .
Still , the RNC gathering was as good a place as any to take the Republican Party 's temperature on Christie . After all , the assembled group of state party chairs , conservative activists and professional operatives from around the country represent the very people Christie must court to win the GOP nomination .
The collective takeaway ? A wide-ranging sense of support and sympathy for the governor , laced with a heavy dose of wait-and-see caution .
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Saul Anuzis , Republican consultant : `` If he is really involved , when all the facts come out , it will be the nail in his coffin . If he was n't , it could be a rallying cry , because people thought he was being unfairly treated by the media . That 's the gut reaction right now by many activists . But if he 's lying , he 's dead . ''
Ron Kaufman , Massachusetts national committeeman : `` It 's New Jersey . It 's not Connecticut , it 's not Wyoming , it 's not Colorado . Politics in New Jersey is tougher than most places . But on the other hand , he did exactly what he should have done . He took responsibility for it , apologized for it , and fired the guys .
`` In this day of overanalyzing and 24-hour news cycles , it 's being blown out of proportion . The media needs to fill time , especially on stations like MSNBC . It 's overdone . But this too shall pass . There is nobody I know -- nobody -- that would n't take Christie tomorrow for a fundraiser in their state .
`` To call this the same kind of crisis as Benghazi where people were killed . ... It 's just so interesting that so many networks spent so much more time on this , at the same time a bipartisan report form the Senate comes out saying they should have stopped Benghazi . It takes your breath away a little bit . It 's bad for the process . ''
Matt Moore , South Carolina Republican Party chairman : `` Unique politicians have an extraordinary ability to recover . Gov . Christie fits that bill . Right now he is the prizefighter in the middle rounds . He has got to get back up . These next few months will tell the tale . Its possible he comes out stronger on the other side .
`` People from South Carolina like people who are tough-talking with a big personality . Always have , always will . We disagree on certain policy positions , but once they meet the Chris Christie that I 've met , I think a lot of people will like him . He is a real person who makes tough decisions and sticks with them . ''
Fredi Simpson , Washington national committeewoman : `` There are a lot of people who like that he is strong and against the unions . He puts people in their place . You have to perform , you have to work hard , etc .
`` Then there are people who say there is just no way that they 'll support him . They do n't think he is conservative enough . People are all over the place . But the bridge scandal is not going to be a factor . The bigger question for Republicans is whether he is conservative enough . ''
Lenny Curry , Florida Republican Party chairman : `` Chris Christie did what few folks do it seems in politics , and he took responsibility for the situation . He addressed the public . He addressed the press . People got fired . It 's a New Jersey problem . It 's not a national problem . And he is the head of the RGA . His job is to raise money to get Republican governors elected . So he is doing his job . ''
Dennis Lennox , Republican activist : `` I think Chris Christie is still the odds-on favorite for the Republican Party in 2016 . The reality is Democrats failed to find a credible candidate to run against him for re-election last year , and as a result they are throwing everything against the wall and hoping it sticks . ''
Shawn Steel , California national committeeman : `` Gov . Christie is going through a major political experience that will either make him or break him . And at this point , he is showing genuine mea culpa , taking complete responsibility . He is not evading . He 's a different kind of politician . He is not afraid to call it like he sees it . But he 's getting hammered by the most liberal part of the country .
`` If he survives , he will come out a stronger person . Most voters understand that politicians make mistakes . The question is how they deal with it . He is making lemonade out of lemons . He 's had a whole bunch of lemons thrown at him , and he 's putting up a lemonade stand , and I think it sells . ''
Veteran RNC member who declined to be identified : `` The truth is , his personality is such that you are bound to have a time when people are going to take a swipe back at you , because that 's the way you are . That 's the nature of the beast . He has a persnickety personality , which he kind of cultivated . ''
Chad Connelly , RNC director of faith outreach : `` They think he really handled that whole bridge thing pretty well . What I am hearing is that he is taking it head-on , as opposed to what Obama has done with all these issues like Benghazi . I get a lot of pastors e-mailing me about that . I do n't hear a lot of haters out there .
`` I think people are going to wait and see how he handles it all as it plays out . But the biggest thing I have heard from pastors , in e-mails and phone calls , is ' I wish Obama would take stuff head-on . ' Benghazi , IRS , Obamacare . He wo n't event talk about it . And here you got a guy on our side who actually answers hard questions . ''
Susan Hutchison , Washington Republican Party chair : `` Bridgegate is interesting . I have to look at it from a big-picture point of view to see whether it 's going to stick in a few months . We 'll have to wait and see . Are there more shoes to drop ? If there are , then they will have to contend with it .
`` But I think people find him refreshing just in general , because the President is so untrustworthy when it comes to giving his word . Countless times , whatever he says is exactly the opposite of what he does . With Christie , what he says is what he does . I think people really like that . It 's a sign of leadership , and I think we would all agree that the leadership qualities in the president have been sorely lacking . '' | QnzlJsUmNF6XniiF | 0 | Republican Party | 0.8 | Chris Christie | 0.6 | Politics | 0.4 | null | null | null | null |
economy_and_jobs | CNN (Web News) | http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/22/news/economy/bernanke-premature-tightening/index.html | Bernanke warns against hitting the brakes too soon | 2013-05-22 | economy_and_jobs | The U.S. economy is on stronger footing than a year ago , but Ben Bernanke wants to be careful not to squelch the recovery now .
`` A premature tightening of monetary policy could lead interest rates to rise temporarily , but would also carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery and causing inflation to fall further , '' the Federal Reserve Chairman told the U.S. congressional Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday .
The Federal Reserve has kept its key short-term interest rate near zero since December 2008 , and expects it to stay there for a `` considerable time '' as the recovery strengthens , Bernanke said .
The central bank is also engaged in a controversial stimulus policy known as quantitative easing , in which it buys $ 85 billion a month in mortgage-backed securities and Treasury bonds . The policy is intended to reduce long-term interest rates , and thereby stimulate the economy through various channels .
Low mortgage rates , for instance , have played a key role in the housing recovery , allowing some homeowners to refinance and giving buyers an incentive to purchase a home , Bernanke said .
The housing recovery has also boosted construction and real estate jobs , he noted . Since 2011 , those two industries have added about 416,000 jobs , according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics .
It 's unclear , though , how effective the policy has been in healing the job market overall . The economy lost 8.7 million jobs in the aftermath of the financial crisis , and has since gained only about 6.2 million jobs back .
As of April , the unemployment rate was 7.5 % -- an improvement from its high of 10 % during the financial crisis , but still well above its pre-recession level . Just six years ago , the unemployment rate was at 4.5 % .
Bernanke cited his concerns about not just unemployment , but also underemployment . About 8 million people are working part-time even though they would prefer full-time work .
`` High rates of unemployment and underemployment are extraordinarily costly , '' Bernanke said .
Meanwhile , quantitative easing is credited for stoking stocks to record highs . Some critics , including hawkish members of the Fed , also blame it for fueling bubbles in other assets , including junk bonds and farmland .
Related : Fed 's Dudley says new plan needed to end stimulus
Bernanke reiterated Wednesday that the Fed is closely watching for indications of financial instability , including signs that low interest rates may spur investors to `` reach for yield '' and turn to riskier assets .
The Fed is aiming to keep short-term interest rates near zero until the unemployment rate falls to 6.5 % or inflation exceeds 2.5 % a year . By the Fed 's own forecasts , that scenario is not likely to happen until at least 2015 .
The Fed expects to wind down quantitative easing before then , but the timing is not yet clear . Fed watchers have recently been parsing every word out of officials ' mouths for hints . Bernanke offered few clues in his testimony Wednesday , but Fed minutes released later in the afternoon mentioned that some members would like to start tapering QE as soon as next month .
`` A number of participants expressed willingness to adjust the flow of purchases downward as early as the June meeting , '' the minutes from the April 30-May 1 meeting said .
The minutes also showed that central bank officials are re-evaluating their strategy to eventually wind down the entire stimulus program , just as Bernanke and New York Fed President William Dudley have suggested . That time still appears to `` be well into the future , '' the minutes said . | HT7dYCmnW7x9FY08 | 0 | Economy And Jobs | 0.5 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
marijuana_legalization | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/28/health/federal-marijuana-bill/index.html?hpt=po_c2 | Federal marijuana bill would legalize some cannabis strains | 2014-07-28 | marijuana_legalization | ( CNN ) Doctors in Macon , Georgia , told Janea Cox that her daughter , Haleigh , might not live another three months .
That was the middle of March , when Haleigh 's brain was being short-circuited by hundreds of seizures a day , overrunning the array of five potent drugs meant to control them . Worse , the drugs were damaging Haleigh 's organs .
`` She was maxed out , '' Cox said . `` She 'd quit breathing several times a day , and the doctors blamed it on the seizure medications . ''
Cox had heard that a form of medical marijuana might help , but it was n't available in central Georgia . So a week after hearing the ominous diagnosis , she and Haleigh packed up and moved to Colorado Springs , Colorado . There , Haleigh began a regimen of cannabis oil : four times a day and once at night .
By summer , she was down to just a handful of seizures a day . In less than three months , doctors were able to wean her off Depakote , a powerful medication that had been damaging her liver .
Janea Cox and her daughter Haleigh fly to Colorado Springs , Colorado .
Haleigh had never been able to walk or talk . But freed from seizures in Colorado , `` She said 'Mama ' for the first time , '' Cox said . `` She 's playing with puzzles ; she 's walking . She 's almost being a normal child . ''
Despite all the good news , Cox is living in limbo . Her husband , a paramedic , could n't afford to leave his job and pension ; he still lives and works in Forsyth , Georgia . The family is relying on charity to keep their Colorado apartment for the next few months ; beyond that , the future is uncertain .
A bill being introduced Monday in the U.S. House of Representatives could be Cox 's ticket home . The three-page bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act -- the federal law that criminalizes marijuana -- to exempt plants with an extremely low percentage of THC , the chemical that makes users high .
If passed , it would be the first time that federal law allows any medical marijuana use .
`` No one should face a choice of having their child suffer or moving to Colorado and splitting up their family , '' said Rep. Scott Perry , R-Pennsylvania , the bill 's sponsor . `` We live in America , and if there 's something that would make my child better , and they ca n't get it because of the government , that 's not right . ''
The bill will land in a Congress that may be open to change . Across the country , highly sympathetic patients and a nonintoxicating product have proved a popular mix . This year alone , 11 states have passed legislation loosening regulation of cannabis strains with high cannabidiol and/or minimal THC content .
In this atmosphere , Perry says that once members and their staffs are brought up to speed , he expects the bill to attract `` overwhelming '' support .
`` It would n't be surprising if we see broad support for this proposal , '' agreed Mason Tvert , communications director at the Marijuana Policy Project , which advocates for marijuana and medical marijuana legalization . `` If this bill gets support , it will demonstrate that there is recognition of marijuana 's medical benefits . ''
Dubbed the Charlotte 's Web Medical Hemp Act of 2014 , the bill is named after Charlotte Figi , a young Colorado girl whose parents have campaigned nationwide for easier access to medical marijuana after successfully controlling their daughter 's seizures with cannabis oil . Since her story became known , a growing number of parents have flocked to Colorado , hoping for similar success .
The Charlotte 's Web cannabis strain , developed by the Realm of Caring nonprofit organization in Colorado Springs , is in high demand , in part because of the attention it 's received in the media . Many families wait months for a batch to be grown and processed into cannabis oil . Perry 's bill , however , would apply to any cannabis strain with a THC content of less than 0.3 % .
Charlotte 's Web and similar strains not only have minimal THC , they have high levels of cannabidiol , another chemical . A growing body of anecdotal evidence suggests that cannabidiol can effectively control seizures , though there are no published studies to support its use .
It 's easy to find critics who say parents should follow a more traditional route .
`` There is no evidence for marijuana as a treatment for seizures , '' Rep. John Fleming , R-Louisiana , a physician , claimed during a congressional hearing last month . `` We hear anecdotal stories , and that 's how myths come about . ''
Fleming and others point out that a pharmaceutical version of cannabidiol oil , called Epidiolex , is being tested in clinical trials . But many children are n't able to get into the trials . Haleigh Cox is disqualified because she has type-1 diabetes . Others are n't willing to wait several months to be enrolled .
`` With Epidiolex , there just are n't enough seats at the table , '' said Mark Knecht , a father from Mechanicsburg , Pennsylvania , whose story helped inspire Perry 's bill .
His daughter Anna , 11 , has epilepsy and suffers anywhere from a handful of seizures a day to more than 100 , despite her four anti-convulsant medications . Knecht , the chief financial officer of a large Christian medical nonprofit , says Anna has been evaluated at several top hospitals but could n't land a spot in the Epidiolex trial .
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Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have laws on the books allowing medical marijuana for a variety of conditions . But even as states rewrite their regulations , federal law remains the same : Marijuana is illegal to grow , sell or use for any purpose . Under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act , marijuana is listed on Schedule 1 , meaning it has `` no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse . '' To backers of reform , the Catch-22 is familiar : Marijuana is restricted in large part because there is little research to support medical uses ; research is difficult to conduct because of tight restrictions .
A series of memos from the Justice Department has said that arresting individual medical marijuana users is not a priority , and a 2013 memo added that federal prosecutors should not target large commercial operations except on a case-by-case basis . But most observers say that shipping or transporting the drug across state lines ups the ante .
`` For families like us , the biggest issue is the federal issue . You ca n't take it across state lines , '' Knecht explained .
His family still lives in Mechanicsburg . But after seeing CNN 's medical marijuana documentary last year , Anna and her mother , Deb , established residency in Colorado , where they obtained a medical marijuana card that let them place an order for a batch cannabis oil , in hopes it will control Anna 's seizures . If Perry 's bill becomes law , Knecht says , `` Realm of Caring could just put it in a FedEx package . ''
The Food and Drug Administration is conducting a review of scientific evidence to determine whether marijuana warrants looser treatment , but a spokeswoman says there 's no set date to complete the analysis . A review in 2011 ended with the Drug Enforcement Administration leaving marijuana 's status unaltered .
But certain actions in Congress give Perry and his supporters hope .
This month , the House passed a bill allowing banks to handle cash proceeds from dispensaries and other legal marijuana businesses .
The most recent Farm Bill allows industrial hemp -- a strain of cannabis without THC -- to be grown for academic or research purposes . That did n't stop the Drug Enforcement Administration from seizing a shipment of hemp seeds bound for the University of Kentucky this spring . In response , the Senate Appropriations Committee , with support from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky , passed an amendment blocking DEA funds for anti-hemp enforcement .
In May , the House passed a measure blocking money for DEA raids on marijuana dispensaries that are legal under state law .
And just last week , Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky took it a step further , introducing an amendment to the Jobs Bill that would forbid federal prosecution of doctors and patients whose actions are legal under state medical marijuana laws .
`` If states allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana , and people are in good faith prescribing medical marijuana , we want to make sure it 's OK and that the federal government does n't come in and prosecute somebody , '' said Brian Darling , Paul 's communications director .
The amendment seems likely to die amidst wrangling over the Jobs Bill , but Darling says his boss plans to move forward on a standalone measure .
Too many people have been sentenced to long prison terms for possession of marijuana , Darling says . `` The War on Drugs has gone overboard . ''
Knecht does n't want to uproot his family to move to Colorado . But he says his hand may be forced . `` We 're taking this situation one day at a time . ''
That 's where Janea Cox was a few months ago . She had n't heard about Perry 's bill until she got a call from a reporter but says she understands where the Pennsylvania families are coming from . She 's angry at home-state lawmakers who failed to push through Georgia 's cannabidiol oil bill this spring .
`` I lived in Georgia for 17 years , '' she said , `` but here in Colorado , I met my child for the first time , at the age of 5 . '' | dXIqKmgzpAz91IA5 | 0 | Marijuana | -0.8 | Marijuana Legalization | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
trade | The Atlantic | https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/steel-tariffs-consequences/554690/ | Trump Repeats Nixon's Folly | 2018-03-02 | trade | The president as so often relied on junk information . The advice of the economic populist Peter Navarro ( previously best known for blood-curdling anti-China documentaries ) was heeded over that of actual trade experts . Industries seeking protection reportedly bought commercials on Fox & Friends . Apparently a decisive event in the debate was the firing of staff secretary Rob Porter , after revelations that he had engaged in spousal abuse . Porter had also chaired the weekly trade debate , forcing the president to confront the costs and harms of protectionism . His removal also empowered Trump ’ s worst instincts .
The usual rules of trade policy were ignored . For authority , Trump invoked a trade law premised on protecting war-essential industries . Yet this authority is plainly a pretext . The Department of Defense intervention in the debate shredded the logic of protectionists like Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross , himself a former steel man .
U.S. military requirements for steel and aluminum each only represent about 3 percent of U.S. production . Therefore , DoD does not believe that the findings in the reports [ of harm to domestic steel and aluminum producers from foreign competition ] impact the ability of DoD programs to acquire the steel or aluminum necessary to meet national defense requirements .
What did alarm the Department of Defense about proposed steel and aluminum tariffs was potential harm to vital U.S. alliances . China does not rank among the top 10 steel exporters to the United States . That list is topped by Canada , followed by Brazil . In third place is South Korea , an indispensable ally in the preemptive war the Trump administration is now contemplating against North Korea .
Canada also heads the list of aluminum exporters . For that reason , DoD pleaded for even more caution with regard to aluminum tariffs than steel . “ [ If ] the Administration takes action on steel , DoD recommends waiting before taking further steps on aluminum . ”
Trump announced simultaneous action on both—without itemizing which countries would be subject to the tariffs , and which exempt . Trump ’ s unpredictability and threatening language have not only jolted U.S. financial markets , but have done further damage to the U.S.-led alliance system . European Union trade ministers agreed earlier this week to retaliate if the U.S. imposes steel tariffs , further degrading a U.S.-EU relationship already badly damaged by Trump ’ s hostility to NATO and deference to Russia .
Donald Trump is often compared to Richard Nixon in his disdain for law and ethics . The parallel applies to economics too . Nixon in 1971 quit the Bretton Woods agreement and imposed a surtax on all imports . The “ shock ” disrupted the world economy and profoundly angered formerly trusting friends already uneasy over the war in Vietnam . But Nixon , who knew little and cared less about economics , had his eye fixed on one concern only : the 1972 election . His emergency economic measures—joined to a loosening of monetary policy and a big increase in Social Security payouts the next year—were selected with an eye to one concern only . In the words of Allen Matusow , the shrewdest student of Nixon ’ s economic policy , “ Somehow he had to make the economy hum by 1972 or face likely defeat in his quest for reelection. ” What that meant in practice , Matsuow wrote , was that Nixon governed not according to what would work in the long term , but according to “ the prevailing mood of the two-thirds of the country he called the ‘ constituency of uneducated people . ’ ”
Nixon did indeed win in 1972 . He also bequeathed his country not only the worst political scandal in its history to date , but a decade of stagflation that bore most heavily upon the very people Nixon claimed to champion . We ’ ve been there before ; it looks like we ’ re returning there again . | gzbtSIxuH6C3Ubp1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_constitution | Black Enterprise | https://www.blackenterprise.com/senate-democrats-pushing-for-aid-for-black-americans-in-next-coronavirus-bill/ | Senate Democrats Pushing for Aid for Black Americans in Next Coronavirus Bill | 2020-07-17 | US Congress, US Constitution, US Senate, Inequality | Sen. Chuck Schumer ( D-NY ) wants to shift $ 350 billion from an untapped Treasury Department virus relief program to help Black Americans during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond .
According to The Grio , Schumer said moving some of the $ 500 billion previously approved for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would lead to immediate and long-term changes to address systemic racism .
“ Long before the pandemic , long before this recession , long before this year ’ s protests , structural inequalities have persisted in health care and housing , the economy , and education , ” Schumer said in a statement . “ COVID-19 has only magnified these injustices . ”
Schumer ’ s proposal would shift $ 135 billion from the Treasury ’ s fund to child care and health care needs of people of color during the pandemic . The plan would also move $ 215 billion over five years into longer-term investments , including a housing down payment program , Medicaid expansion , and other services .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) is preparing to release its $ 1 trillion coronavirus relief package as soon as next week . The plan is a counteroffer to the $ 3 trillion proposal that House Democrats approved in May .
For months , McConnell has pushed aside requests for more money , saying the government should wait to see how the first infusion of money helps . However , the coronavirus pandemic has only gotten worse , and now red states such as Texas , Florida , and Kentucky are being overwhelmed .
“ There were some that hoped this would go away sooner than it has , ” McConnell said Wednesday during a hospital visit in Kentucky , where he urged people to wear masks and social distance . “ The straight talk here that everyone needs to understand : This is not going away . ”
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to get worse in the U.S. , McConnell is trying to keep costs down . Both the House and Senate want to help schools reopen , provide unemployment benefits , and ramp up coronavirus testing , treatments , and a vaccine . However , they differ on how much money it will cost .
In their bill , the House provided $ 100 billion for school reopenings in an education stabilization fund they say could swell to $ 430 billion to include more money for child care , colleges , and other needs . Republicans are trying to spend significantly less , $ 50 to $ 75 billion , on education .
The White House has promised to open up more money for education as it continues to urge for schools across the country to open . White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Thursday that reopening schools remains a priority , even if the science says otherwise .
“ The science should not stand in the way of this , ” McEnany said , adding it is “ perfectly safe ” to fully reopen all classrooms . | defb5c2a33a0d50d | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
race_and_racism | The Hill | https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/502105-kudlow-i-dont-believe-theres-systemic-racism-in-the-us | Kudlow: 'I don't believe there's systemic racism in the US' | 2020-06-10 | race_and_racism | Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow Lawrence ( Larry ) Alan KudlowMORE said Wednesday he does not believe there is systemic racism in the United States .
`` I don ’ t believe there 's systemic racism in the U.S. I ’ m not going to go into a long riff on it , '' Kudlow told reporters when asked if the disparity between the black unemployment rate and other groups was evidence of systemic racism .
Pressed again on whether he believes systemic racism against African Americans is a problem in the country , Kudlow rejected the premise .
`` I will say it again , I do not , '' he said . `` I think the harm comes when you have some very bad apples on the law enforcement side . What was done to Mr. [ George ] Floyd was abysmal . Abysmal . But I believe everyone in this country agrees with that . ''
Kudlow , the director of the National Economic Council , noted that black employment increased by 300,000 in the month of May , when the country added 2.5 million jobs total . He also cited the administration 's work on criminal justice reform , opportunity zones to encourage development in distressed communities and funding for historically black colleges and universities .
He added that he believes the administration will pursue policing reforms amid outcry following Floyd 's death but expressed support for President Trump Donald John TrumpTrump reschedules Tulsa rally after criticism of overlap with Juneteenth New York Times endorses Engel primary challenger Trump campaign manager says 300,000 tickets registered for upcoming rally MORE 's overall message of `` law and order . ''
`` Law and order is good for growth , '' he said . `` Law and order is good for families . Law and order is good for people of all colors . It ’ s a unifying message . ''
Kudlow is the latest Trump administration official to dispute the existence of systemic racism in the U.S. in the aftermath of Floyd 's death . Floyd died in Minneapolis late last month after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes . Since then , demonstrations have persisted nationwide to protest police brutality and racial injustice .
Attorney General William Barr Bill BarrAnonymous police threaten people 's freedom to assemble Milley discussed resigning from post after Trump photo-op : report OVERNIGHT DEFENSE : Joint Chiefs chairman says he regrets participating in Trump photo-op | GOP senators back Joint Chiefs chairman who voiced regret over Trump photo-op | Senate panel approves 0B defense policy bill MORE and national security adviser Robert O'Brien have both in the past two weeks denied that there is a problem with systemic bias in law enforcement in the country .
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany would not say whether Trump believes there is systemic racism in law enforcement , only that the president believes there are individual cases of injustice .
Trump is expected to support some type of policing reform as Republicans and Democrats in Congress both pursue legislation to address the issue . However , he has yet to signal support for specific changes .
Asked last week what his plan is for addressing systemic racism , Trump suggested it would be to revive the economy that was decimated by the coronavirus pandemic .
`` And , by the way , what 's happened to our country and what you now see ... is the greatest thing that can happen for race relations , for the African American community , for the Asian American , for the Hispanic American community , for women , for everything , '' he said . | o2kSl6MtJuNLcSFv | 1 | Race And Racism | -0.7 | Violence In America | -0.4 | White House | -0.1 | null | null | null | null |
voting_rights_and_voter_fraud | The Atlantic | https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/looming-threat-voting-person/613552/ | The Looming Threat to Voting in Person | 2020-06-27 | voting_rights_and_voter_fraud | President Donald Trump ’ s tweets opposing mail-in voting have helped open up a partisan divide on the issue at the national level . Most local election officials of both parties , however , recognize that greater use of the mail is necessary , despite the associated challenges . According to recent surveys , most voters agree . Every effort should be made to reduce the density of voters on Election Day and during early voting , and an expansion of mail balloting is essential to doing so .
Still , Americans desperately need safe polling places in November as well . Voter behavior is highly resistant to change . Many Americans have voted in person their entire adult lives , and some view it as an expression of civic pride and duty . Still others do not trust the postal system to deliver their ballot or have absorbed the criticism by Trump and others and , on principle , will not vote by mail . People with certain disabilities may vote more easily in person , as may those who need language assistance .
In a survey we recently conducted of registered voters in Pennsylvania , roughly half said they would vote in person in the fall . Even among primary voters who cast a mail ballot , 20 percent said they were likely to vote in person in the general election . Most of those who failed to vote in the primary but plan to vote in November said they will do so in person .
Especially for new or infrequent voters , certain aspects of absentee voting may seem strange . They may have difficulty navigating the websites to request a ballot . They might be surprised to learn that , when mailing back their ballot , they must sign the outside envelope so that election officials can verify their signature . In recent New Jersey elections , for example , as many as 10 percent of the ballots were not counted because they arrived late or had technical deficiencies . Mail-in voting procedures trip up some groups more than others . When we analyzed data from Florida , we found that African Americans , young people , and first-time voters were less likely to have their mail ballots counted because of lateness or noncompliance with these technical requirements .
Finally , Election Day polling places represent an indispensable fail-safe for voters who do not receive their mail ballots on time . During the primary season , jurisdictions with little experience in voting by mail have been overwhelmed by the number of mail ballots that need to be processed . In Wisconsin earlier this year , for example , more than 10,000 voters requested absentee ballots that they never received . A local federal judge thought that merited an extension of the deadline for casting them . But his decision was quickly overruled the day before the election by a narrow majority of the United States Supreme Court . This left voters literally out in the cold , as those who never received mail ballots now had to wait in long lines in places such as Milwaukee , which opened only five polling locations . | kBaPocvI8k6t9uxa | 0 | Voting Rights And Voter Fraud | -0.5 | Mail-In Voting | -0.5 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null |
middle_east | CNBC | https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/26/saudi-arabias-first-alcohol-store-aims-to-tackle-booze-smuggling.html | Saudi Arabia’s first alcohol store is a big step, but also aims to tackle a longstanding problem: Booze smuggling | 2024-01-28 | Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Alcohol, Mohammed Bin Salman, Black Market, Diplomacy | Saudi Arabia's first alcohol store has opened in the diplomatic quarter of its capital Riyadh, accessible to non-Muslim diplomats.While it only affects a select group, it's a big change for the highly conservative Muslim kingdom, where alcohol has been banned since 1952 after a Saudi prince murdered a British diplomat in a drunken rage. Drinking is also forbidden under Islam, and most of Saudi Arabia's local population is religiously observant.That hasn't stopped alcohol from flowing into the kingdom over the years — it just happened behind closed doors.Foreign embassies are able to import alcohol under specified agreements with the Saudi government, while some have snuck booze into the kingdom in secure "diplomatic pouches" that can't be inspected.From there, bottles are often sold on the black market at huge markups, according to expat and local residents of the country. All those who spoke to CNBC did so on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic."Everyone knows which embassies sell booze … some of them have made a whole side business out of it, selling on the black market at four, five, even ten times the normal price. It's gotten ridiculous. The government had to do something," one Saudi investor based between Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Riyadh told CNBC.A one-liter bottle of vodka, for instance, typically costs between $500 and $600 on the black market, sources said, while they described a single bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label going for between $1,000 and $2,000. At-home booze making has also taken place in the kingdom for decades, according to expats who've previously lived there. | cff8aca34f2d632e | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Newsmax (News) | http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/mccain-arpaio-pardon-above/2017/08/26/id/809918/ | McCain on Arpaio Pardon: 'No One Is Above the Law' | 2017-08-26 | White House, Politics | Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., blasted President Donald Trump's decision to pardon a former Arizona sheriff who was accused of racially profiling Latinos.McCain's office released a statement early Saturday morning that explained the lawmaker's views on Trump's full pardon of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio."No one is above the law and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold," McCain said."Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge's orders."McCain said Trump had the power to grant the pardon, "but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions."The White House announced Trump's pardon of Arpaio late Friday, which prompted lawmakers to criticize the move."Regarding the Arpaio pardon, I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course," said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. | 2dda08cd7983a4fb | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | New York Times (News) | http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/us/ben-carson-grew-up-in-public-housing-but-critics-worry-over-how-he-will-lead-it.html?ribbon-ad-idx=12&rref=homepage&module=Ribbon&version=origin®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Home%20Page&pgtype=article | Ben Carson Lived in Public Housing, but Critics Worry Over How He Will Lead It | 2016-12-05 | Politics | Advertisement Supported by By Sheryl Gay Stolberg WASHINGTON — Big-city mayors and housing experts are nervous about the idea of a billionaire real estate developer in the White House. Now President-elect Donald J. Trump has picked Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon with no housing experience, as his nominee for secretary of Housing and Urban Development — and high anxiety has set in. As The Times’s Mid-Atlantic bureau chief, I have spent a lot of time in Baltimore, Cleveland and Philadelphia, which are all run by Democrats. In those cities, and many others across the country, housing concerns are deeply intertwined with other poverty-related issues, including racial tensions with the police. To explore how a Trump-Carson housing agenda might play out, I reached out to two Philadelphia mayors — Jim Kenney, the incumbent, and Michael Nutter, his predecessor — and two housing experts, one in Philadelphia and one here in Washington. Here are some of their thoughts: Broadly speaking, HUD devotes itself to ensuring that families of low-income and modest means have access to safe homes and neighborhoods. It runs the Federal Housing Administration, which helps people get home loans. It distributes money through the Community Development Block Grant program, a flexible source of funding used by cities for redevelopment and for rebuilding communities after natural disasters like floods and hurricanes. Advertisement HUD runs the Section 8 housing choice voucher program, which cities rely on to help house the poor. And it enforces the Fair Housing Act, part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which makes housing discrimination illegal. Even in a time of economic expansion, dealing with poverty will be the biggest challenge the next HUD secretary faces, conservative and liberal housing experts agree. The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative research organization, cited housing assistance programs as among those “ripe for reform’’ under Mr. Trump. Since 2000, the number of high-poverty neighborhoods in America has doubled, rising faster in the suburbs, like Ferguson, Mo., than in cities, said Amy Liu, the director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the left-leaning Brookings Institution in Washington. A list of appointees and nominees for top posts in the new administration. Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like. An earlier version of this article, relying on information from Armstrong Williams, a close friend of Ben Carson, misstated a part of Mr. Carson’s childhood. Mr. Williams said Monday that Mr. Carson had never lived in government housing. When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at nytnews@nytimes.com.Learn more Follow Sheryl Gay Stolberg on Twitter @SherylNYT. Get politics and Washington news updates via Facebook, Twitter and in the Morning Briefing newsletter. Advertisement Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Times. See subscription options | 80b7afdb56f43f61 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
violence_in_america | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/17/us/navy-yard-shooting-military-contractors/index.html?hpt=po_c1 | Vetting military contractors: How did Navy Yard gunman get in? | 2013-09-17 | violence_in_america | Story highlights The Navy was aware of Aaron Alexis ' 2004 arrest and granted him clearance anyway
Expert : Alexis `` should have been screened out early on in his enlistment ''
Alexis had at least eight incidents of misconduct in the Navy , a defense official says
Lawmakers ask why the alleged gunman 's past did n't prevent his security clearance
Navy officers knew that Aaron Alexis had been arrested in 2004 for shooting out the tires of a car -- in a blackout fueled by anger -- and yet they admitted him into the Navy and granted him security clearance anyway , a senior Naval officer told CNN .
`` It appears as if investigators were aware of the incident , interviewed him and were satisfied that it did not preclude granting the clearance , '' the officer said .
Alexis , who killed 12 people Monday at the Washington Navy Yard , was a military contractor who used a valid identification to gain access to the secured facility , law enforcement officials said Tuesday .
But experts , lawmakers and many in the media are now asking how Alexis was able to obtain that clearance , given his previous run-ins with the law -- some involving guns -- as well his checkered past in the Navy and a history of mental illness .
Did government background investigations dig up the things about Alexis that news agencies managed to find out within hours ?
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Alexis `` should have been screened out early on in his enlistment , '' said one expert on Navy processes , who asked not to be identified . `` The Navy and the various entities responsible for his adjudication were either unwilling or worse unable to determine he was unfit for service in the United States Navy . ''
The incidents in Alexis ' past `` should have been a red flag that maybe we need to delve a little deeper into this individual , '' said retired Navy Cmdr . Kirk Lippold .
And private experts told CNN Alexis should n't have kept his clearance .
`` In all of my experience with this , he absolutely should not have gotten a clearance . Anybody that I 've encountered with any kind -- even half of this record -- does not get a clearance , '' said private attorney Sheldon Cohen , who specializes in clearance cases .
The gun arrests alone should have disqualified him , Cohen said .
The shooter at the Washington Navy Yard had a `` pattern of misconduct '' as a Navy reservist and sporadic run-ins with the law , and had contacted two Veterans Affairs hospitals for apparent psychological issues , sources have told CNN .
At around 8 in the morning on May 6 , 2004 , Alexis used his Glock to shoot out two of the tires of a 1986 Honda Accord near a Seattle , Washington , home where Alexis was residing . He was ultimately arrested and charged with `` malicious mischief . '' Alexis said that the owners of the car `` had disrespected him '' and that , he claimed , led `` to what Alexis described as a 'black-out ' fueled by anger , '' according to the police report .
Alexis also was arrested on a gun-related offense in 2010 as well as on a disorderly charge in 2008 , but he was never prosecuted . Also , although he was honorably discharged as a Navy reservist , he had at least eight instances of misconduct while on duty , according to a US defense official .
`` The way it happens is a poor background check , '' says Tim Clemente , a former FBI counterterrorism agent .
Navy officials are going back to see if his clearance should have been pulled .
`` We 're looking at his entire service record , '' Navy spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told CNN 's The Situation Room . `` See what red flags , if any , were missed , and if there 's an accounting to be done . ''
Contractors can receive three levels of clearance : confidential , secret and top secret . Alexis had secret clearance , the middle category .
A Defense Department office oversees clearance . Applicants fill out a very long form , which asks about any contact with police , charges and convictions . The form also asks about mental instability . Interviews with applicants follow .
Before obtaining clearance as a contractor , Alexis would have theoretically been investigated by the Office of Personnel Management and ultimately granted clearance by `` DONCAF '' -- the Department of the Navy 's Central Adjudication Facility , in Fort Meade , Maryland .
An official at DONCAF refused to comment , referring CNN to the Pentagon .
Kirby told CNN he could n't speak for DONCAF or its process , but Alexis `` passed a routine security clearance back in 2007 when he enlisted . It was good for 10 years . ''
As a reservist Alexis was exempted from the periodic reinvestigation of clearance that active duty officers go through every 4½ years , or the polygraphs they go through every 2½ years .
`` We 're doing the forensics now to better understand if and how that clearance was reviewed , '' Kirby said . `` If we need to account for missed flags , we will . While not a stellar sailor , nothing Alexis did gave us an indication that he was capable of this brutal level of violence against people . ''
Alexis was given a `` secret '' security clearance in March 2008 , shortly after he joined the Navy in 2007 .
He carried that clearance with him when he was honorably discharged in 2011 , Kirby said , and could use it in another position so long as he is hired within two years .
Alexis was hired by a company called The Experts in September 2012 to work on a HP contract in Japan refreshing computer systems .
`` Because he was n't out of work very long before this next job the security clearance went with him , '' Kirby said . `` We 're taking a look at all the run-ins with the law if anything should have been done differently . ''
The initial background investigation on Alexis was done by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service , Kirby said .
A Defense Department statement issued Tuesday night said `` according to applicable federal investigative standards , an individual with Mr. Alexis ' non-critical level of eligibility would only need to be reinvestigated once every 10 years . ''
The Experts issued a statement saying Alexis was properly screened .
`` We enlisted a service to perform two background checks , and we confirmed twice through the Department of Defense his Secret government clearance , '' the statement said . `` The latest background check and security clearance confirmation were in late June of 2013 and revealed no issues other than one minor traffic violation . ''
With security clearance , Alexis worked from September 2012 through January in Japan . His clearance was renewed in July , and he worked at facilities in Rhode Island , North Carolina and Virginia for weeks at a time upgrading computer systems , according to Thomas E. Hoshko , CEO of The Experts . No one reported having any problems with him , Hoshko said .
Alexis began working at the Navy Yard last week , though it was unclear whether he had actually begun doing work or was still securing his base clearance , Hoshko said .
The possible red flags that went unnoticed have members of Congress outraged -- with promises to fix what they say could be gaping holes in the system .
`` We are so reliant on military contractors '' that the vetting is key to our national security , Sen. Susan Collins told CNN .
Collins , a Republican who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee , said she now questions `` the kind of vetting contractors do . ''
Washington needs a lot more answers , '' Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton , D-District of Columbia , told CNN Tuesday .
Sen. Kelly Ayotte , R-New Hampshire , is asking for a hearing to examine problems the shooting at the Navy Yard highlighted .
`` In the wake of this tragedy , we must thoroughly review and fix deficiencies within existing federal contracting hiring practices that the alleged Washington Navy Yard gunman exposed and exploited to ensure the safety of the rest of our service family—servicemembers , civilian workers , and contractors , alike , '' Ayotte said .
In the 12 years since the September 11 attacks , the United States has ramped up contracting to support new defense and intelligence efforts .
And contractors are a major reason the federal government can operate today as its workforce shrinks .
According to statistics , last year it spent more than $ 500 billion -- or roughly 14 % of the federal budget -- on private-sector contracts .
That does n't include many contracts awarded by the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies , which keep their spending classified .
There are already moves in Congress to tighten the security clearance system .
Sen. Bill Nelson , D-Florida is a co-sponsor of a bill to force government agencies asking for the background checks of potential clearance holders to increase oversight and to fire investigators who falsify those investigations .
Because of the rise in number of contractors , federal agencies often farm out background check investigations before deciding whether to grant security clearance . While the process is supposed to be the same whether it is done by a government or private sector employee , some experts question whether that is the case .
One of the largest private firms that specializes in these investigations , USIS , which did former NSA contractor Edward Snowden 's background check , is under investigation , according to an official from the Office of Personnel Management who testified before Congress in June .
Sen. Claire McCaskill , D-Missouri , said at the hearing her staff had been informed of the company 's `` systemic failure to adequately conduct investments under its contract '' with OPM . USIS has not commented on the investigation .
The issue of contractors also has the attention of the Obama administration .
Because of the leaks from Snowden , the Director of National Intelligence was already examining who should have access to classified materials . Now officials say there will be a broader review of contractors and employees across all federal agencies . This review will look at the oversight , nature and implementation of security protections as well as looking at whether these employees and contractors are suited to work for the federal government , an administration official told CNN .
`` I can tell you at the President 's direction ( the Office of Management and Budget ) is examining standards for contractors and employees across federal agencies . So this is obviously a matter the President believes and has believed merits review , '' White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday .
Stan Soloway , president and CEO of the Professional Services Council -- the trade association for contractors -- told CNN that `` contract employees and government employees go through the same process . ''
He argues that the focus now should not be on how Alexis got his security clearance , but `` what are the procedures for access to facilities . ... How do you get into the building with a gun ? '' | VFE3aJsZKKxFm4JP | 0 | Violence In America | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
economy_and_jobs | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/30/politics/senate-wage/index.html?hpt=po_c1 | Senate GOP expected to block minimum wage bill | 2014-04-30 | economy_and_jobs | Story highlights President Obama blasts Republicans over minimum wage vote
The issue is a priority for Democrats trying to keep control of the Senate in November
Republicans cite various reasons for opposing the $ 10.10 per-hour proposal
An election-year showdown over a Democratic priority -- raising the federal minimum wage to $ 10.10 an hour -- saw Senate Republicans block the measure on Wednesday , unleashing a torrent of criticism from President Barack Obama and his party .
The measure failed to get the 60 votes needed to open debate in the 100-seat Senate , with only one Republican joining majority Democrats in an unsuccessful effort to overcome the GOP filibuster .
While another vote on the proposal is possible , Obama and Democrats quickly sought to exploit the measure 's initial stumble into political capital for November 's congressional elections .
`` If your member of Congress does n't support raising the minimum wage , you have to let them know they are out of step and if they keep putting politics ahead of working Americans , you will put them out of office , '' the President told a White House event that focused on the matter .
Republicans argue raising the minimum wage to $ 10.10 per hour would damage the nation 's fragile economic recovery . Several GOP lawmakers took note of fresh data released Wednesday indicating the economy grew at a sluggish 0.1 % in the first quarter of 2014 .
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`` They seem to think they can coast on talking points and stale ideas — and that the American people have n't been paying attention to their recent dismal record at actually helping the people they claim to care about , '' said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky .
However , Senate Democrats argued the GOP position hurt American workers struggling to make ends meet .
`` Their vote today defines their priorities , '' Sen. Patty Murray of Washington said of Republicans . `` It is the equivalent of looking American women in the eye and telling them they do n't deserve a living wage . It is telling our middle-class families they do n't deserve a fair shot . ''
Even if the Senate moved ahead with the legislation , there was little chance the House , which is led by Republicans , would take it up .
Obama and Democrats noted that polls show a strong majority of Americans support raising the minimum wage , which currently stands at $ 7.25 .
At the same time , polls indicate Democrats have little chance of winning back control of the House in November and could lose their majority in the Senate .
After Wednesday 's vote , Democratic senators sought to use the defeat as a rallying cry for November .
`` Low-income people tend not to vote , but on this , this would be one that they come out on because it 's a pocketbook issue for them , '' said liberal Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa .
Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York noted that traditionally conservative states like Arkansas and Alaska have put a minimum-wage increase on their ballots `` to help bring out the vote . ''
Republican senators this week telegraphed their opposition to the minimum wage proposal , with some saying the Democratic plan was too expensive and would lead to significant job losses if businesses were forced to adopt it .
`` It 's too high , too fast , '' said Sen . Rob Portman of Ohio , who favors a smaller increase like the one adopted in his state . Sen. Susan Collins , a Maine Republican , also said she supports a reasonable increase and complained that Democrats sought to force the higher figure through without compromise or debate .
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`` I think it speaks to what 's wrong with Washington today -- that we 're placed in a situation where it was 'take it or leave it ' rather than trying to come together and offer amendments and offer a level that might be acceptable , '' Collins said after the vote .
Harkin , however , said the $ 10.10 figure sought by Democrats was needed to lift people out of poverty .
`` We will not compromise on $ 10.10 . That just gets us above the poverty level , '' he said . `` Anyone who wants to go below that is saying that a hard-working American who works full-time all year long still will live in poverty . It 's time to get beyond that . ''
In February , Obama signed an executive order raising the minimum wage to $ 10.10 per hour for federal contractors beginning in 2015 . The measure voted on Wednesday sought to make that figure the federal minimum wage .
The lone Republican to vote with Democrats was Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee , who said he wants changes in the measure even though he supported bringing it up for debate . Meanwhile , Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor , who is facing a challenging re-election in conservative Arkansas , supports a smaller increase that is under consideration in his state . Pryor missed Wednesday 's vote because he was back in Arkansas dealing with this week 's storm damage .
Republicans argued the liberal agenda pushed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada could hurt centrist Democrats this fall .
`` For the Democrats here in the Senate , particularly the vulnerable ones who are in tough competitive races , they 've got to be particularly sensitive to the agenda the Democrats are driving , '' Sen. John Thune of South Dakota , a GOP leader , said this week . `` I think there are a lot of Democrats , on minimum wage even , that are concerned about its impact on the economy . ''
Recent national polls indicated that a strong majority of Americans support raising the minimum wage to $ 10.10 per hour . The most recent survey , conducted early last month by Bloomberg , put that support at 69 % . An ABC News/Washington Post poll released Tuesday indicated that by a 49 % -33 % margin , Americans say that the Democratic Party is closer to their views on the issue than the GOP .
And by a two-to-one margin , voters nationwide questioned earlier this month in a Quinnipiac University poll said they would be more likely than less likely to vote for a candidate who supports raising the minimum wage .
According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday , 45 % of registered voters say they want the November elections to result in a Republican-controlled Congress , with an equal amount saying they 'd like to see Democrats in control on Capitol Hill .
But among voters with the highest interest in the midterms , the GOP holds a 15-percentage point lead ( 53 % -38 % ) over the Democrats on the question of which party should control Congress .
A CBS News poll conducted late last month showed that 75 % of registered Republican voters questioned said they were very or somewhat excited about voting in November , compared to 58 % of Democrats . Also , 81 % of registered Republicans said they 'll definitely vote in November , compared to 68 % of registered Democrats .
The surveys seem to back up the conventional wisdom that the GOP has an advantage over the Democrats in midterm contests . White voters and older voters , key to the Republican base , tend to cast ballots in bigger percentages in midterms than younger voters and minorities , who are an important part of the Democrats ' base .
Democrats hold a 55-45 majority in the Senate , including two independents who caucus with the party , but are defending 21 of the 36 seats contested in November . Half of those Democratic-held seats are in traditionally conservative states or those considered purple -- leaning neither right or left .
In the House , Democrats need to pick up 17 GOP-held seats to win back control of the Republican-led chamber , a feat political handicappers say is unlikely considering the shrinking number of competitive congressional districts . | 9tXui591ITB4xFsW | 0 | Minimum Wage | -0.7 | Economy And Jobs | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
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