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elections | Reason | https://reason.com/blog/2016/08/19/why-libertarians-and-other-3rd-parties-s | Why Libertarians (and Other 3rd Parties) Should Thank Donald Trump | 2016-08-19 | Libertarian, Donald Trump, Presidential Elections, Elections | With just three months to go before the long national nightmare that is Election 2016 transmogrifies into a either a Hillary Clinton or a Donald Trump presidency ( ! ) , let 's take a late-summer moment to squeeze some lemonade from lemons . Whatever happens in November , all of us who have political perspectives that are routinely discounted or dismissed by the Republican-Democratic duopoly should thank Donald Trump for creating a blueprint to power for us .
Pull yourself out of the news cycle that he has been so expert in dominating with a daily—sometimes hourly—spew of sensational utterings , proclamations , and half-baked policy plans : Extreme vetting ! Mexican rapists ! Crooked Hillary ! When he 's not creating outrage himself , he brings it in other people , such as when his supporters get egged at rallies or unflattering naked statues of the billionaire crop up in cities around the country .
The simple fact is , as conservative commentator and Finding Mr. Righteous author Lisa De Pasquale , writes ,
There has been much hand-wringing among the right on where Republicans go now that Trump has `` destroyed '' the party . They complain that the Republican Party has left them , while millions of Trump voters and libertarians believe party leaders and professional pundits left them decades ago . Regardless of whether the # NeverTrump crowd has valid points , it is clear that Trump has done libertarians a favor in busting the Old Guard of Republican kingmakers . The Old Guard is n't mad that Trump does n't represent their principles , but that they no longer hold any power in picking the top of the ticket . The proof is that rather than get behind Gary Johnson , they 'd rather trot out a candidate with zero name recognition or campaign infrastructure .
Beyond revealing the emptiness of the power bases in the existing Republican Party ( and party members ' absolute lack of interest in moving toward their ostensible principles of limited , smaller government ) , De Pasquale argues that Trump is the shape of better things to come :
The Trump campaign has been a battering ram for libertarians . In just over a year , Trump has succeeded in what the Libertarian Party has n't been able to do in the 35 years since it was conceived . Not only has he upset traditional party politics , but he 's also paved the way for non-traditional candidates . Who needs stuffy party leaders and pundits when you have social media and 100 % name recognition ? … In the current political climate , personality , authenticity , and even celebrity reign . Trump has shown that at least in the primaries , the absence of a traditional ground game and campaign budget can be overcome . Libertarians have an advantage because we already know they 're authentic by going against the dominant parties… . Libertarians also have a good celebrity bench that could help them replicate the Trump campaign . I would n't necessarily endorse famous libertarian Vince Vaughn for president ( though I would endorse myself as First Lady ) , but I would enthusiastically get on the Peter Thiel Train . Set aside policy disagreements libertarians have with Trump . They should be thankful that Trump has created a new path for national office . He built libertarian candidates a path to success and he paid for it .
Read the whole piece and start thinking : Who are the agents of libertarian influence that can either transform the existing major parties and bring a bold new `` free minds and free markets '' sensibility to independent runs at all levels of government ? Better yet , who are the crossover figures that might do for the Libertarian Party what athletes such as Joe Namath did for the old AFL by legitimizing an upstart league as a major force ?
It 's a given that Americans know nothing and care even less about history . That 's certainly true when it comes to journalism generally and political journalism specifically . Did you ever wonder just why every election is the most important one in our lives ? The answer is only mysterious to dead-enders within those group and to journalists , both of whom have no sense of history and really think that everything is on the line every four years and that whatever happened 10 , 20 , or 30 years ago is irrelevant to understanding the current moment . For the most part , we have simply been repeating the same play over and over again , but to less-and-less-engaged audiences .
As Matt Welch and I wrote in The Declaration of Independents : How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What 's Wrong With America , all the trends of the past 40 to 50 years show that Americans have weaker and weaker ties to the Republican and Democratic Parties , just as we do with all consumer brands . Whatever post-war coalitions those parties once represented no longer exist . Everything in American life is vastly different than it was in , say 1964 , when the current identities of the GOP and Democrats were being formed . These parties are designed to groups of people that either no longer exist in the same numbers as they once did ( private-sector union members and socially conservative Christians , say ) or who do n't link issues the way they used to ( what 's the necessary connection between before for marriage equality and higer marginal tax rates ? ) .
Yet most party leaders and media ignore the at-or-near-historic lows in voter identification with the Democrats and Republicans . They also act as if the ideologies and policy platforms of parties ca n't or do n't change over time . The result is a conversation about politics that is less and less moored to basic reality . We need a new operating system for politics in the 21st century , but the people most invested in the current one do n't want to migrate or upgrade to anything different . We need Windows 10 , but they 're fine sticking with 3.1 , thank you very much .
Trump 's rise—and the semi-successful insurgency of Bernie Sanders , too—puts the lie to the idea that the power structure is capable of maintaining a status quo that serves fewer and fewer people . Given his absolute lack of consistent , coherent policies and his radically backward-looking agenda ( anti-trade and migration in an increasingly globalized world ? ! ? ) , he is not the future of anything , but the last gasp of a 20th-century politics that , in one final push , was able to reduce at least one of the major parties to rubble . It 's up to those of us who actually want a new operating system for American governance to determine what comes next . | 69ba39ee8237514f | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_senate | Reuters | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-internet/senate-approves-bill-in-bid-to-retain-u-s-net-neutrality-idUSKCN1IH2DS | Senate approves bill in bid to retain U.S. net neutrality | 2018-05-16 | Net Neutrality, US Senate, Politics | WASHINGTON ( ███ ) - The U.S. Senate voted on Wednesday in favor of keeping open-internet rules in a bid to overturn the Federal Communications Commission decision to repeal net neutrality rules , but the measure is unlikely to be approved by the House of Representatives or the White House .
The 52 to 47 vote margin in the Senate was larger than expected with three Republicans — John Kennedy , Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins — voting with 47 Democrats and two independents to reverse the Trump administration ’ s action .
Democrats used a law that allows Congress to reverse regulatory actions by a simple majority vote but it is not clear if the U.S. House of Representatives will vote at all on the measure , while the White House has said it opposed repealing the December FCC order .
But many politicians are convinced the issue will help motivate younger people to vote in the 2018 congressional elections and numerous polls show overwhelming public support for retaining the Obama-era net neutrality rules .
The FCC in December repealed rules set under Democratic President Barack Obama that barred internet service providers from blocking or slowing access to content or charging consumers more for certain content .
Representative Mike Doyle , a Democrat , said he would launch an effort on Thursday to try to force a House vote and needs the backing of at least two dozen Republicans . He said Democrats would try to make it a campaign issue if Republicans will not allow a vote .
“ Let ’ s treat the internet like the public good that it is . We don ’ t let water companies or phone companies discriminate against customers ; we don ’ t restrict access to interstate highways , saying you can ride on the highway , and you can ’ t , ” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said . “ We shouldn ’ t do that with the internet either . ”
The 2015 rules were intended to ensure a free and open internet , give consumers equal access to Web content and bar broadband service providers from favoring their own material or others ’ .
The new December 2017 rules require internet providers to tell consumers whether they will block or slow content or offer paid “ fast lanes . ”
Republican Senator John Thune , who chairs the Commerce Committee , said “ the fact of the matter is nothing is going to change ” after the new rules take effect - and will not prod people to vote . “ I don ’ t know how that animates people to vote if their Netflix is working , ” he told ███ .
The vote was a rare , and likely only symbolic , win for Democrats in the Republican-controlled Senate and a rebuke to regulators that approved a sweeping repeal of the Obama rules .
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called the vote disappointing but added that “ ultimately , I ’ m confident that their effort to reinstate heavy-handed government regulation of the Internet will fail. ” Pai said the his approach “ will deliver better , faster , and cheaper Internet access and more broadband competition to the American people . ”
Last week , the FCC said the net neutrality rules would expire on June 11 and that the new regulations approved in December , handing providers broad new power over how consumers can access the internet , would take effect .
The revised rules were a win for internet service providers , whose practices faced significant government oversight and FCC investigations under the 2015 order . But the new rules are opposed by internet firms like Facebook Inc ( FB.O ) and Alphabet Inc ( GOOGL.O ) .
Comcast Corp ( CMCSA.O ) , Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ) and AT & T Inc ( T.N ) have pledged to not block or discriminate against legal content after the net neutrality rules expire . A group of 22 states have sued the FCC over the repeal .
AT & T said Wednesday it backs an open internet and “ actual bipartisan legislation that applies to all internet companies and guarantees neutrality , transparency , openness , non-discrimination and privacy protections for all internet users . ”
The FCC decided in 2015 to reclassify internet service providers as common carriers under a 1996 law . But unlike how utilities are treated , the FCC decided not to impose rate regulations or require broadband providers to file notice of pricing plans . | 905ba17f80060fc3 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | NPR Online News | http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/10/15/162932416/the-not-so-great-communicator-is-obama-overrated-as-a-speaker | The Not-So-Great Communicator: Is Obama Overrated As A Speaker? | 2012-10-15 | elections | For a man who was elected president partly on his ability to give a great speech , Barack Obama has been at times a surprisingly poor communicator in office and on the campaign trail .
That may have been most evident earlier this month during the first presidential debate . But Obama generally has n't been as impressive at getting his message across in his four years in the White House as he was during the campaign that put him there .
His relatively few press briefings have drawn mediocre reviews , and it 's hard to think of a single speech he 's delivered as president that was as powerful as several he gave when originally running for the office .
`` He has had trouble rhetorically in selling his vision , '' says Martin Medhurst , a professor of rhetoric and political science at Baylor University . `` In the last couple of years , he has not really given any memorable addresses and seems to have been on the defensive a great deal . ''
Republicans have frequently sought to denigrate Obama by suggesting he 's nothing without a Teleprompter . Some accuse him of only making speeches and not doing the spadework of schmoozing members of Congress or convincing the public through concerted effort .
Obama 's Greatest Hits Prior to taking office , Barack Obama was like a living greatest-hits record , delivering one high-impact speech after another . The Keynote Speech : His remarks at the 2004 Democratic National Convention put him on the national map . The Iowa Speech : He set the stage for his crucial 2008 victory in the state 's caucuses with a brilliant political address there . The Race Speech : When his 2008 candidacy seemed headed into a tailspin following incendiary snippets of sermons by his pastor , Obama delivered a speech titled `` A More Perfect Union '' that is considered one of the greatest political speeches of contemporary times . The Iraq Speech : Even before becoming a presidential candidate , Obama 's credibility and stature had been enhanced by a prescient address in 2002 decrying the Iraq war . — Alan Greenblatt
`` I do n't think any speech he gave as president ever moved the dime in Congress or the country , '' says David Carney , a GOP consultant . `` Maybe we do n't remember his speeches because they had no effect . ''
Even some Obama supporters fret that the president has n't been able to make a persuasive presentation about his own successes in office , such as the 2010 health care overhaul .
`` He 's a terrible salesman for his own stuff , '' says Paul Glastris , a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and editor-in-chief of The Washington Monthly .
There 's no question that Obama as president can still deliver a great speech . Glastris and other political speech experts cite several notable examples , including his simple , direct tribute to the four Americans killed last month in Benghazi , Libya ; his remarks in accepting the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ; and his speech last year paying tribute to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others shot in Tucson , Ariz .
Powerful though they may have been , those speeches were all either ceremonial or an explication of general principles . They were n't attempts to move public opinion on a specific issue .
`` He 's not found a way to create the conditions with his speechwriters so that he achieves greatness with the speeches that often matter the most , where he 's trying to move some policy , '' Glastris says .
Obama may have been more comfortable speaking as a candidate than as the top national leader , suggests Rajan Menon , a City College of New York political scientist .
He compares Obama to Lech Walesa of Poland and Boris Yeltsin of Russia — opposition figures who were able to rally people by pointing out the bankruptcy of the status quo , but who failed to inspire once in power .
`` Obama 's magnificent as an oppositional orator — creating hope , laying out a vision , energizing people , '' Menon says . `` But those skills do n't necessarily translate into managerial oratory , by which I mean mobilizing support to take on the opposition and get through the blueprint you laid out . ''
Any president will necessarily have to address more mundane topics than a mere candidate . And it 's hard to craft soaring rhetoric for , say , an announcement of an increase in the federal budget for mammograms .
Such stylistic challenges , however , may be less important than what Obama actually wants to talk about . Or not talk about .
Obama has not mounted much of a defense during the current campaign for his health care law . The fact that one-third of the cost of his 2009 stimulus law was the result of tax cuts has remained seemingly one of the best-kept secrets in Washington .
Taking credit for killing Osama bin Laden has become a campaign staple . But Menon says that for about a year Obama trumpeted that accomplishment much less than any other president would have .
Glastris argues that the president has done a poor job not only of touting his individual policy successes , but of stitching them together into a coherent narrative — explaining how health care , banking regulation , green energy and education policy all buttress each other as part of a plan to help the economy and the average person .
Obama tried something like this at the outset of his presidency , speaking of a `` new foundation for growth '' in his inaugural address , but wrapping his disparate policies into a single package is not an approach he 's generally stuck with .
Obama 's failure to weave the various threads he has pursued into one fabric explains why his acceptance speech last month at the Democratic National Convention fell a little flat , Glastris says .
`` There 's no sense of an overarching program at all , '' says Geoffrey Nunberg , a linguist at the University of California , Berkeley .
Obama derided Republican rival Mitt Romney 's performance during their first debate , saying it `` was n't leadership '' but `` salesmanship . '' But it 's Obama who has failed to make the sale , says Glastris , the Washington Monthly editor .
In an article earlier this year , Glastris argued that Obama has moved more in terms of `` sheer legislative tonnage '' than any president since Lyndon Johnson , but has been `` surprisingly inept '' at explaining to the country what he 's up to and what he 's achieved .
`` It 's like he does n't want to brag about his own accomplishments — that 's for others to do , '' Glastris says in an interview . `` Dude , whose job is it to sell your stuff ? Your job . ''
Following his party 's historic losses in the 2010 midterm elections , Obama told CBS News that `` leadership is n't just legislation ... it 's a matter of persuading people . '' Tuesday 's debate and the results of next month 's election will be the final tests of how well the president has learned that lesson . | 72YAwV19wgSubDMt | 1 | Election2012 | -0.3 | Presidential Elections | -0.1 | Elections | -0.1 | Barack Obama | 0 | null | null |
politics | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/20/politics/new-jersey-hoboken-real-estate/index.html?hpt=po_c1 | Hot piece of land in Hoboken at center of Christie-Zimmer dispute | 2014-01-20 | politics | Story highlights Real estate in densely populated Hoboken , New Jersey , is big business
A development is at the center of dispute between mayor , Gov . Chris Christie 's office
Mayor Dawn Zimmer says the administration tied Sandy relief money to land deal
Most issues in Hoboken , New Jersey , ultimately boil down to real estate .
So it 's no surprise to the residents of the small city that the dustup between their mayor and Gov . Chris Christie 's administration centers around three square blocks in the north end of Hoboken .
The Rockefeller Group , a major real estate holding company in the United States , wants to add to that landscape with a mixed-use development . Among the proposed apartment buildings and commercial spaces is a 40-story tower . It would be the city 's tallest structure .
The company best known for building Rockefeller Center in New York has been in talks with city officials since 2008 to develop the three blocks it owns in a mostly industrial section of Hoboken , but the economic recession slowed the project .
JUST WATCHED Pallone : Christie could face impeachment Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Pallone : Christie could face impeachment 02:39
JUST WATCHED Lt. Gov : Hoboken mayor claims are false Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Lt. Gov : Hoboken mayor claims are false 03:57
Then , flooding from Superstorm Sandy left 80 % of Hoboken under water . The approval process for the project slowed even more as city leaders explored ways to mitigate flooding in the future .
Mayor Dawn Zimmer favors a plan that would divert water from the Hudson River into a new green belt around the city . The plans for that green belt skirt the Rockefeller Group 's coveted development site .
Zimmer said she is n't opposed to developing those three blocks . But she has concerns about congestion and a strain on public services in the fourth most densely packed city in the United States .
`` My No . 1 priority is to do what 's right for Hoboken , '' Zimmer said CNN 's State of the Union with Candy Crowley . `` We have severe needs and we have to look at this comprehensively . ''
At the center of the controversy is Zimmer 's claim that two members of Christie 's administration made it clear to her that Sandy recovery funds distributed by his office would be contingent on her approval of the Rockefeller Group 's development project .
Christie 's office , Lt. Gov . Kim Guadagno and New Jersey Commissioner of Community Affairs Richard Constable have said that the allegations are categorically false . They called them a total fabrication .
The real estate company denied any knowledge of a quid pro quo relating to its project . A statement from the Rockefeller Group said : `` We have no knowledge of any information pertaining to this allegation . If it turns out to be true , it would be deplorable . '' | iwdGbHkGjFJP1Zue | 0 | Politics | -0.6 | Chris Christie | -0.5 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_military | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/2/dc-navy-yard-lockdown-possible-active-shooter-repo/ | Washington Navy Yard on lockdown; possible active shooter: reports | 2015-07-02 | us_military | Authorities found no evidence that a shooting occurred at the Washington Navy Yard Thursday morning after a report of the sound of gunfire inside one of the buildings led to a lockdown of the installation , the site of a 2013 massacre .
D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said the massive police response was prompted when an employee inside Building 197 , the scene of the 2013 mass shooting , called authorities at 7:29 a.m. to report hearing gunfire . The chief said the call did not appear to be a hoax and praised the unidentified woman for her vigilance .
“ There was no criminal act here . We don ’ t believe it was a malicious hoax or anything like that , ” Chief Lanier said . “ An employee thought they heard something of concern . They made a call . That ’ s what we tell people to do . ”
The alarm and lockdown around 7:30 a.m. drew a massive police response , with hundreds of law-enforcement officers from local and federal agencies converging on the installation in Southeast Washington that was the scene of a shooting in September 2013 that left 13 dead .
Officials noted that the communications and command structure problems that hampered the 2013 incident response all appeared to have been addressed and that Thursday ’ s response went smoothly .
News that the incident may have been a false alarm began to trickle out by 9 a.m. , when D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services department officials reported all Navy employees had been accounted for and no one was injured .
By 10 a.m. , the Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that officers had completed a search of the building where the report was made and that there was “ no evidence of a shooting or injured personnel . ”
The Navy also confirmed that that all personnel were safe and had been accounted for , issuing a statement more than three hours after the initial call saying : “ There are no signs of a shooting , a shooter or victims . ”
It wasn ’ t clear what sound the employee who called police mistook for gunfire .
Mark Woods , a Navy Yard employee , told WUSA that an alarm went off in the building where he was working shortly after 7:30 a.m. Thursday . Employees were told to shelter in place , and then police entered and evacuated the workers . He said he hadn ’ t heard any shots and didn ’ t know what was happening .
Police vehicles formed a security perimeter and shut down roads around the Navy Yard as a U.S. Park Police helicopter circled overhead . The incident also prompted increased security measures at the U.S. Capitol and around the White House .
Chief Lanier declined to say whether the woman who called police had been present during the 2013 incident .
The incident unfolded in the same Building 197 , the headquarters of Naval Sea Systems Command , where gunman Aaron Alexis murdered 12 and wounded three others before he was killed by police two years ago .
Following the 2013 mass shooting , Building 197 was closed for renovations . The more than 2,700 employees who worked in the building were relocated during renovations and returned to the site — renamed the Joshua Humphreys Building — in February .
Communication problems and confusion regarding who was in charge among federal and local authorities hindered the 2013 response . Chief Lanier said Thursday that within 20 minutes MPD officers were able to reach the central control booth , where they could access the system of surveillance cameras that showed what was going on inside the massive facility .
Police were unable to access that same surveillance system during the 2013 attack , preventing officers from tracking the movements of Alexis as he stalked victims through offices and hallways and opened fire with a sawed-off shotgun .
“ All the things that we tried to correct from the last incident went very , very well , ” Chief Lanier said .
Vice Admiral Dixon Smith , head of the Navy Installations Command , said officials expected to finish a final sweep of the building Thursday morning and would reopen the building for access .
He said counselors would be available to talk to individuals rattled by the incident . | 3KG6PQOPtlJHjVFQ | 2 | US Military | 0.2 | Defense And Security | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
white_house | Guest Writer - Right | http://www.nationalreview.com/g-file/449516/donald-trump-russia-benefit-doubt-now-gone | The Benefit of the Doubt Is Gone | 2017-07-14 | white_house | Invoking the Clintonian precedent as a moral justification for Team Trump ’ s actions is ludicrous .
On Tuesday morning , I posted this mini-screed about how nobody knows anything about the Russia-collusion story , so the best course of action is to just wait for the facts to come in .
( I wanted to turn this into a Latin slogan , but when I typed “ Trust Nothing , Defend Nothing ” into Google ’ s Latin translation thingamabob I got “ Nihil confido , nihil pupillo defendite viduam. ” This looked fishy to me so I translated that back into English and got : “ I trust there is nothing , there is nothing , for the fatherless , plead for the widow. ” This seems either like World War II code for “ We ’ re invading Belgium on Wednesday ” or the sign-language subtitles from Charlie Rose ’ s interview of Paco , the chain-smoking existentialist gorilla ) .
This was bipartisan advice . On the one hand , the media get lots of stuff wrong and get way ahead of the facts . So , we should give Donald Trump some benefit of the doubt . On the other hand , the Trump White House lies like a randy sailor with eight hours of shore leave and not enough money for a professional “ date . ”
But the lying really isn ’ t the problem . Sometimes the Trump team tells the truth . Sometimes it buries the kernels of truth in the larger nougat of B.S . The problem is that Trump and his people can ’ t stay on message , whether it ’ s true or false . President Trump just doesn ’ t care if he makes his surrogates , including members of his cabinet and family , look like chumps . Allow myself to repeat myself :
If there is one thing we ’ ve learned from this president , it ’ s that going too far out on a limb brings out the saw . Poor Steve Mnuchin . He went out on Sunday and heaped praise on this joint US-Russia Cyber Fox Force Five idea that the president blurted out on Twitter . Within a few hours , Trump left Mnuchin out to dry . It happens again and again .
Shortly after I said , “ wait and see because we don ’ t know anything yet , ” we suddenly got some new information . Donald Trump Jr. released his e-mail chain about a meeting with a Russian lawyer . In this exchange , Rob Goldstone , who looks like he could land a great role in a Guy Ritchie remake of Boogie Nights , says :
The Crown prosecutor of Russia met with his father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father . This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government ’ s support for Mr. Trump — helped along by Aras and Emin .
I know everyone knows this stuff already . But I really want to make a few interrelated points .
First , according to Team Trump , this was a bold and laudable act of “ transparency . ”
Um . No . This transparency “ argument ” is like a dye-marker to see who is intellectually serious and who is part of the great Trump Aqueduct , carrying water for the president wherever and whenever he needs it . Junior released his e-mail chain minutes before the New York Times could publish it . This is like “ bravely ” admitting to your wife that you cheated on her seconds before she opens the blackmailer ’ s envelope containing the 8×10 glossies of you at the Motel 6 with a troupe of dwarf “ acrobats ” using you like a pommel horse .
Heading off the Times was smarter than the alternative , just as telling your wife about your time with the cast of Le Petite Cirque du Soleil before the blackmailers get to her is better than the alternative . But after spending the better part of a year denying any contact whatsoever with the Russians and lying so baldly about this meeting , it takes a Costco pallet full of chutzpah to claim the mantle of transparency .
This , of course , is all the more true now that it ’ s being reported that Junior wasn ’ t being transparent while he was bragging about his transparency . This morning , news came out that some sketchy former Soviet counter-intelligence officer was also in the room . ( What are the odds he recorded the conversation , by the way ? I ’ d say they ’ re pretty high . )
Second , this underscores a point I ’ ve been shouting at the TV all week : Why the Hell are people taking the word of anyone in that meeting as proof of anything ? Before this morning ’ s revelation , even members of the Trump-hostile press repeated that “ nothing came of the meeting ” or that “ no information was given. ” On the Trump Aqueduct , this was translated into the whole story being a “ nothingburger . ”
Where did the proof of this come from ? From the people in the room ! Jiminy Cricket , that ’ s stupid .
Who in that room do you think is above lying about what transpired there ?
It may be true that nothing came of the meeting . Heck , I think it probably is true ( more on that in a moment ) . Junior seems plausible when he says as much . But every single person who was in that room has a very strong incentive to say nothing nefarious happened in the room . Well , when the Soprano crew is jointing a corpse in the backroom of Satriale ’ s , everyone there has a vested interest in sticking to the story that they were just playing cards .
Who in that room do you think is above lying about what transpired there ? Paul Manafort ? Forget his deep Russian connections . The guy was a lobbyist for Mobutu Seske Seko . When he worked for the Pakistani intelligence service , he pretended to be a CNN reporter for a propaganda documentary he was making for them . The only way you could say “ that man ’ s word is oak ” is if Jell-O came out with a new oak-flavored pudding . ( “ Now with real bark ! ” )
Jared ? The guy who initially “ forgot ” that meeting happened at all ?
Don Jr. ? We already know he ’ s capable of lying about the meeting because he ’ s already lied about the meeting .
Oh , maybe you ’ re taking the word of the sketchy Russian lawyer . That ’ s a great idea . It ’ s also kind of hilarious . Many of the people pushing back on this story are doing so by questioning Natalia Veselnitskaya ’ s credibility . But we should take her word that nothing happened ? Cults of personality are a helluva drug .
[ While I was editing the galley of this “ news ” letter , the Associated Press reported that the sketchy former Soviet counter-intelligence guy , Rinat Akhmetshin , who was in the room claims that Veselnitskaya did indeed hand over a file of incriminating info . I guess this is just a smudge on the window of Junior ’ s transparency . ]
Which brings me to point No . 3 . It doesn ’ t frick ’ n matter if — note the “ if ” — nothing came of the meeting . Junior can ’ t claim he , Manafort , and Kushner never sought to collude with the Russian government when he admits that he , Manafort , and Kushner eagerly took a meeting for the express purpose of colluding with Russia . This is like one of those episodes of Dateline ’ s “ To Catch a Predator ” where some sleazebag is catfished into having a “ date ” with a 13-year-old girl only to show up and find Chris Hansen waiting in the kitchen with a transcript of their conversations . At least those scumbags had the “ integrity ” to lie and say it was all a misunderstanding and that they were just there because they really like hanging out and watching MTV and eating ice cream . “ We had a lot in common ! I thought we could be friends ! ”
I don ’ t recall any of them saying , “ Hey , I didn ’ t do anything wrong because I didn ’ t actually get a chance to rape her . ”
If you break into a bank , you can ’ t claim you did nothing wrong if the safe turns out to be empty any more than a terrorist can plead innocence if his bomb didn ’ t go off .
Which brings me back to my first point of the week . Why on God ’ s good Earth would you defend any of this ? Since I ’ ve been having this ridiculous argument all week , let me skip ahead . Yes , “ Crooked Hillary , ” Ted Kennedy , and a host of other liberals did bad things . Whether those bad things were analogous to this is highly debatable . But let ’ s just concede the point for argument ’ s sake . Let ’ s also accept the president ’ s grotesquely cynical and false claim that pretty much anyone in politics would have done the same thing and taken the meeting . ( I for one am perfectly happy to concede that Sidney Blumenthal would happily have done equally sleazy things for his Queen-master . But I have every confidence that if some shady Russian cutouts approached , say , James Baker with a similar scheme to “ incriminate ” Michael Dukakis , he would become a helicopter of fists . )
Why on God ’ s good Earth would you defend any of this ?
But here ’ s the thing : Who gives a dirty rat ’ s ass ? If you spent years — like I did , by the way — insisting that the Clintons were a corrupt affront to political decency , invoking their venal actions as a moral justification for Team Trump ’ s actions is the rhetorical equivalent of a remake of Waterworld set entirely in the main vat of a sewage-treatment plant , i.e. , the intellectual Mother of Sh * t Shows . This is a point Ben Shapiro made well earlier this week ( and which I ’ ve been writing about for two years now ) . If you want to make the case that Democrats or the media are hypocrites , whataboutism is perfectly valid ( and quite fun ) . But if you want to say that it ’ s fine for Trump to do things you considered legally and morally outrageous when Hillary Clinton did them , you should either concede that you believe two wrongs make a right or you should apologize for being angry about what Clinton did . And you should be prepared to have no right to complain when the next Democrat gets into power and does the same thing .
All of this said , I don ’ t think we are anywhere near impeachment . The cries of “ treason ” are ridiculous . But I for one no longer believe that the collusion thing is mostly hype . We already know that Trump openly implored the Russians to dig up Clinton ’ s e-mails . We now know that Junior , Kushner , and then–campaign manager Manafort had no problem meeting with a person they believed to be an emissary of the Russian government . Moreover , not only am I unconvinced nothing damning happened in that room , I think there ’ s merit to Chris Hayes ’ s analysis that there was an important phone call before the meeting .
… does don jr ’ s email thread reveal he might have had a phone conversation before the meeting ? @ chrislhayes walks us through it . # inners pic.twitter.com/ppluP5Vtp3 — fake nick ramsey ( @ nick_ramsey ) July 13 , 2017
I also think there are many shoes to drop with regard to Cambridge Analytica and the Mercers .
Erick Erickson may be right that this meeting was a setup . Trump ’ s more-credible defenders certainly may be right that this is all the result of ineptitude and amateurishness . These guys are like a mix between Ron Jeremy and a yoga master in their ability to step on their own johnsons .
But my wait-and-see approach was grounded in the fact that other than Trump ’ s public obsession with the Russia story — including his firing of James Comey — there was no concrete evidence that the Trump campaign had any dealings with the Russians . That benefit of the doubt is gone .
Canine Update : Despite all the promises that the swamp would be drained , D.C. is swampier than ever . Of course , I mean that meteorologically . D.C. is a miserable place right now . It ’ s like a giant overheated St. Bernard has sauntered to the nation ’ s capital and is panting on it . The air is akin to what it would be like if the University of Alabama football team finished a double practice in the hot sun and then put their wet socks and jock straps in a pizza oven .
The dogs do not like it and neither do I. That ’ s why we ’ ve been going out earlier than usual , when the air is only as sticky as the joystick on a Ms. Pacman machine at Chuck E. Cheese ’ s . But just as firemen still must do their heroic duty regardless of the weather , the Dingo is still determined to punish the rabbits for their maddening hoppiness . The Spaniel remains undaunted in her dedication to her beloved tennis balls . Although she did have a very scary run-in with a turtle of undetermined Ninjaness .
Last week ’ s G-File : a defense of Western Civilization — and Donald Trump ( sort of ) !
Re : Donald Trump Jr. and Russiagate , let ’ s wait and see .
The latest Ricochet GLoP Culture podcast , with a special focus on New York movies .
The stones that move but whose movement no one has ever seen
Is this summer your best bet to see a solar eclipse ?
Saucy Aussie checks a single beer as luggage when airline doesn ’ t let it on the plane
Couple tries lift from Dirty Dancing , knock each other out | qRUgfwiSbtLjat5Z | 2 | White House | 0.1 | Russia | 0 | Donald Trump Jr. | 0 | Politics | 0 | null | null |
healthcare | The Daily Caller | https://dailycaller.com/2021/03/23/astrazeneca-coronavirus-vaccine-national-institutes-of-health/ | AstraZeneca Cherry-Picked Data, Misrepresented Vaccine’s Efficacy, Independent Medical Board Alleges | 2021-03-23 | Healthcare, Coronavirus, Coronavirus Vaccine, AstraZeneca, Safety And Sanity During COVID-19 | The owner of this website (dailycaller.com) has banned the autonomous system number (ASN) your IP address is in (45102) from accessing this website. Cloudflare Ray ID: 915117d85cc31703 • Your IP: Click to reveal 47.251.50.5 • Performance & security by Cloudflare | ca6dd0a219d233bd | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/17/politics/romney-vp-pick/index.html | Romney risks playing running mate hand too early | 2012-07-17 | Presidential Elections, Elections | Story highlights If Romney makes his pick this week , he will break with conventional wisdom
Rarely has a presidential candidate announced his veep pick more than a week before the convention
`` There is no decision on V.P. , '' a Romney adviser says
Mitt Romney has a reputation for pragmatism , deliberation and playing it safe .
But if Romney reveals his vice presidential pick this week , as the latest round of campaign chatter suggests , he 'll be throwing out the traditional campaign playbook that says a running mate should be announced around a national party convention for maximum impact , just as voters are starting to pay attention to the campaign .
Rarely has a presidential hopeful gone public with his running mate selection more than a week before his party 's convention .
As the Washington Post noted on Monday , John Kerry became the lone exception to that rule when he announced John Edwards as his running mate on July 6 , 2004 -- at the height of summer vacation season and almost three weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Boston . The move did little to boost Kerry 's standing in the polls .
Both Barack Obama and John McCain announced their running mates just days before their conventions in 2008 in order to maximize media attention on the campaigns and their messages .
Still , speculation has swirled for months that Romney might break with tradition and play the vice presidential card early , as Republicans wondered if the nominee might need a sidekick to assist with a robust campaign and fundraising schedule in the wake of the divisive GOP primary fight .
The imperative to do so faded , though , as polls showed the general election race essentially tied , both nationally and in several battleground states . Romney also showed off some surprising fundraising muscle in May and June . It seemed like he could afford to wait .
JUST WATCHED Condi Rice possible Romney pick for VP Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Condi Rice possible Romney pick for VP 03:12
JUST WATCHED Romney : 'Nothing to say ' on VP process Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Romney : 'Nothing to say ' on VP process 01:38
But the early V.P . chatter was renewed on Monday when the New York Times reported that Romney has already settled on a choice , and that he could make the announcement as soon as this week .
`` There is no decision on V.P. , '' Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom told reporters on Monday in Baton Rouge , Louisiana .
And yet the rumor mill keeps turning . Romney has now added a campaign appearance for Friday in New Hampshire , where he owns a home and announced his presidential bid last year , feeding speculation that he may announce the pick before the weekend .
More importantly , Romney is facing withering offensive from the Obama campaign over his refusal to release more than two years of tax returns and his record at the private equity firm Bain Capital .
Announcing a V.P . pick now might give the Romney team a chance to change the subject . It tried on Monday by rolling out fresh criticisms of President Obama as a `` crony capitalist , '' but the effort did little to move the needle .
The only thing that did seem to draw the media glare away from the Bain free-for-all was last week 's trial balloon on the Drudge Report that Romney is seriously pondering former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as his No . 2 .
So should Romney announce his pick this week to stir up some much-needed positive news coverage before the London Olympic Games and beach vacations consume the attention of voters ?
The main reason is this : Announcing a running mate offers a campaign the rare opportunity to drive a message on its own terms , so why waste that opportunity in the summer when voters are not yet fully tuned in to the campaign ?
`` You do n't run one of your best secret plays to win the second quarter , '' said Republican strategist Alex Castellanos , who advised Romney 's 2008 presidential bid . `` It 's silly season . Summer . Makes no sense . Everything will be 100 times more important later . Patience , Obi Wan . ''
Veteran GOP operative Jim Dyke voiced similar concerns . While picking a running mate early would instantly double Romney 's ability to make news and raise money , the Olympics might quickly `` drown out '' any vice presidential bump .
Revealing the pick this week instead of next month would `` take away the ability to extend convention by building announcement out from there , '' Dyke said .
Another Republican , who declined to be named because he is close to some of Romney 's potential running mates , said the prospect of an announcement this week is not far-fetched . But he also said time is running out if that 's going to happen .
`` If they want to pop it at the end of this week , I think it 's possible , '' the Republican said . `` You are going to run three solid days of news on it through the weekend , so I do n't know if that 's the best strategy or not . But in the 24/7 news cycle , breaking news on Friday may not be as bad an idea as it has traditionally been perceived to be for news you want to make ... The only plausible opportunity this week is probably to do it in New Hampshire on Friday , or over the weekend , but the telltale signs have to start emerging soon if it 's a large public event . ''
What is certain is that only a few Romney hands know the details of the vice presidential selection process , making this year 's iteration of the `` veepstakes '' -- a quadrennial feeding-frenzy of gossip and often ill-informed speculation -- one of the most secretive and leak-free endeavors in recent memory .
Asked about the timing of the running mate announcement on Tuesday , one Romney confidante responded with a cheeky email : `` Some time before the convention . '' | 42b8738cf9c276c2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
homeland_security | Cato Institute (blog) | http://www.cato.org/blog/refugee-program-admits-more-christians-muslims | Refugee Program Admits More Christians Than Muslims | 2016-07-29 | Muslim Refugees, DHS, Defense And Security | When Secretary of State John Kerry promised to respond more vigorously to the worldwide refugee crisis last year , more than 85 members of Congress signed onto a bill to shut down the entire refugee program . Texas Congressman Brian Babin , the bill ’ s sponsor , explained their view : “ The most persecuted religious minority in the world have been Christians , and of these 70,000 , soon to be 100,000 per year coming in from the Middle East , less than four percent are Christian . ”
Rep. Babin is right to be concerned for Christian refugees , but his facts about the refugee program are quite wrong . A majority of the 70,000 refugees that the United States accepted last year were from areas other than the Middle East . The U.S. refugee program has not only accepted a higher percentage of Christians than he stated , it has actually accepted more Christians than Muslims , even after President Obama ’ s changes at the beginning of this year .
A shutdown of the refugee program would injure refugees of all faiths .
Because most Syrian refugees are Muslim , and Syria has received the bulk of the attention recently , many people have come to associate the refugee program exclusively with the Middle East and Muslims . But the reality is that the majority of refugees come from outside the Middle East . More than 60 percent of refugees come from areas that are not the “ Near East ” or “ South Asia , ” according to data from the State Department . As can be seen below , this share is down from 2014 .
Figure 1 : Refugees in U.S . Refugee Program by Region ( FY 2014-2016 )
It ’ s also incorrect to associate the refugee program primarily with Muslims . The State Department data show that the majority of the refugees admitted under the U.S. refugee program so far this year subscribe to religions other than Islam . The share of Muslims has steadily risen as the refugee crisis in Iraq and Syria has worsened , but not at the expense of Christians , whose share has remained level since 2014 .
Figure 2 : Refugees in the U.S . Refugee Program by Religion ( FY 2012-2014 )
President Obama has also not overseen any dramatic changes to the religious makeup of the refugee program compared to his predecessor . In the years available , the Bush administration admitted a slightly higher share of Christians and slightly lower share of Muslims . * Other religions saw the largest percentage increase during the Obama years ( 5.6 percent ) , but overall the makeup is still similarly divided .
Figure 3 : Refugees in the U.S . Refugee Program by Religion Under the Last Two Administrations *
The lower share of Christian refugees , though still larger than for other religions , could create the misleading impression that Christians have done somewhat worse in recent years . This is decidedly not the case . In absolute terms , significantly more refugees of all faiths , including Christians , were accepted during President Obama ’ s final seven years than during his predecessor ’ s final seven years ( data is unavailable before January 2003 ) . * In fact , 27,000 more Christians escaped persecution under the current administration .
Figure 4 : Refugees in U.S . Refugee Program By Religion Under the Last Two Administrations
Adherents of religions other than Islam compose a substantial portion of the refugee flows even from majority Muslim countries . While most of the refugees admitted from these nations are Muslim , about a third are not . The refugee program admits large numbers of non-Muslims from areas in which they are the minority , far in excess to their proportion of the populations ( Figure 5 ) . More than 80,000 Christians escaped persecution in Muslim majority countries since January 2003 .
Figure 5 : Muslim and Non-Muslim Refugees in the U.S . Refugee Program from Majority Muslim Countries
Banning refugees—from any area in the world—would hurt members of many faiths . The question for congressmen like Rep. Babin is whether they should allow their fears over Muslims to trump their compassion for Christians . Considering no Muslim refugee has carried out a deadly attack in the United States in the history of the modern refugee program , we should overcome those fears . The United States should do more to provide safety for Christian refugees but that does not require—nor should it prompt—doing less to help Muslim and other non-Christian refugees . | ae955c487898d169 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
fiscal_cliff | Wall Street Journal - News | http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323717004578157340086892614.html?mod=WSJ_Election_MIDDLETopStories | Boehner's Test: Keep GOP Ranks Behind Him | fiscal_cliff | WASHINGTON—Republican House Speaker John Boehner once again is locked in contentious budget talks , which in the past have ended badly . This time , he is leading negotiations after months spent quietly winning the backing of his own party .
The unruly freshman class of 2010 has thwarted Mr. Boehner numerous times during his two years as speaker . To bolster his position , Mr. Boehner has been slowly bringing Republican freshmen to his side by introducing them to the realities of legislating and congressional leadership .
Mr. Boehner 's strategy , and his future as speaker , will get tested between now and year-end as Washington wrestles with negotiations designed to avert tax increases and spending cuts due to begin in early January . Mr. Boehner and President Barack Obama met privately Sunday to discuss a budget deal , their first face-to-face meeting in weeks . On Monday , people close to the talks said negotiations were getting more `` serious . '' They said big divisions remained but did n't give details . Mr. Boehner declined to comment for this article .
Mr. Boehner has used both carrot and stick to unify his ranks , lawmakers said . Rep. Steve Southerland , a voluble freshman , got a job managing a transportation bill . Three freshmen who continued to defy the House leadership on key votes got booted from plum committees . Others learned the limits of their power by watching bills the House passed disappear in the Senate .
`` There 's a lot more cohesiveness between our class and leadership , '' said Rep. Dennis Ross ( R. , Fla. ) , a member of the class of 2010 who voted against legislation pushed through by Mr. Boehner to raise the U.S. 's borrowing limit last year .
Mr. Boehner has to get any deal cut with Mr. Obama through the GOP-controlled House , without relying too heavily on Democratic votes . Mr. Boehner may still be forced to endure defections on any final deal , but his work thus far appears to have stopped his more conservative members from undermining his negotiating position .
`` If you lose your conference—if you lose a majority of your people on an issue—then you 're vulnerable , you 're vulnerable as a leader , '' said former House Speaker Dennis Hastert , an Illinois Republican . `` This is a big issue . ''
Unlike 2011 , when he negotiated with Mr. Obama in secret , Mr. Boehner is doing all he can this time to bring both his allies and adversaries along for the ride—either toward a deal or over the fiscal cliff , lawmakers and aides said .
Mr. Boehner mended fences with his No . 2 , Majority Leader Eric Cantor ( R. , Va. ) , after the two repeatedly clashed over various budget negotiations , aides to both men said . He has made an overt effort to cultivate Rep. Paul Ryan , chairman of the House budget committee and Mitt Romney 's running mate . Mr. Ryan did n't embrace Mr. Boehner 's efforts to negotiate a deficit deal in 2011 . This year , he is sitting in on Mr. Boehner 's daily strategy session and has endorsed the speaker 's plan to raise fresh tax revenue .
The speaker was swept into power by the 2010 Republican wave . Many of the 87 Republican freshman first elected to Congress came to town determined to change how things were done .
Within weeks , lawmakers forced party leaders to pull legislation extending parts of the Patriot Act reauthorizing certain surveillance methods under the homeland security law . They made stinks about spending bills , tax bills and most notably whether or how to raise the debt ceiling , leading to a downgrade of the U.S. 's debt rating .
On the fiscal cliff , Mr. Boehner already has conceded that any deal must include new tax revenue , an idea long anathema to many Republicans . When the speaker proposed raising $ 800 billion through capping or eliminating tax deductions , it provoked a negative response from the president—who called it inadequate—but also from conservative members of Congress . Mr. Boehner still opposes the increase in top tax rates that the president has demanded .
In Mr. Boehner 's corner are some Republicans who say the election results have forced them to revisit their stance on taxes . Rep. Jack Kingston ( R. , Ga. ) , a 20-year veteran of the House , said , `` The election was a sober reminder that not every other person in America shares our views . ''
Rep. Southerland , the third-generation owner of funeral homes in the Florida Panhandle , had never served in elected office until he arrived in Washington two years ago , and was n't shy about expressing his displeasure with party leaders .
In early 2011 , when Republican leaders in the House were using stopgap spending bills to cut $ 1 billion a week from the federal budget , Mr. Southerland led a revolt of first-year lawmakers , arguing the piecemeal approach would n't win the sweeping cuts they wanted .
This spring , the speaker recruited Mr. Southerland to serve on a negotiating panel with Senate Democrats over a bill to finance highway construction and other transportation projects . Mr. Boehner told him , `` We 're going to fight on this one . And God knows , I know you love to fight , '' Mr. Southerland recalled .
Party leaders then leaned on Mr. Southerland to sell the resulting package to colleagues , helping Mr. Boehner pass legislation that faced conservative resistance . `` We came in wanting to change the world and realized it does n't move quite as fast as we would like , '' Mr. Southerland said .
Mr. Southerland said he is reserving judgment on any fiscal-cliff deal . `` I will give them their best shot , '' Mr. Southerland said . `` If there is something I ca n't believe in , I feel like I have the freedom and the ability to reject what they offer . ''
Rep. Ross of Florida , a 2010 freshman , was one of 66 House Republicans to vote against an increase in the country 's borrowing limit last year . Today , he thinks the class has evolved after being forced to repeatedly confront the limits of its power , especially after the `` brow beating '' many received for opposing the debt-ceiling increase .
The Florida Republican signed a pledge not to raise taxes but said he is open to Mr. Boehner 's call to raise revenue as part of a deal , provided that package also includes structural changes to entitlement programs , including Medicare and Social Security .
`` We have to go into this with the understanding that we 're going to get criticism for what we do , regardless , '' he said .
The class also learned to pick its battles . Last December , the House refused to pass a two-month extension of a popular payroll tax cut approved in a deal by their colleagues in the Senate . That caused an uproar , and the House eventually passed the extension .
`` It was a reality check for us , '' said Rep. James Lankford ( R. , Okla. ) , a member of the class of 2010 who was recently elected to the leadership .
The speaker showed a harder edge last week when he and other party leaders removed three freshmen from prime committee slots for consistently bucking the party line , evidence to some that while party leaders want their troops to cooperate , they are willing to punish those who do n't .
`` This is clearly a vindictive move and a sure sign that the GOP establishment can not handle disagreement , '' said Rep. Tim Huelskamp ( R. , Kan. ) , who lost his seat on the House Budget Committee .
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel cautioned against reading too much into the removals , saying the panel that assigns lawmakers to committees `` makes such decisions for a variety of reasons . '' | XKt2ZeriY4OXrbbq | 1 | Fiscal Cliff | -0.4 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | |
media_bias | USA TODAY | http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/05/09/facebook-accused-of-censoring-conservative-news-articles/84151894/ | Facebook denies censoring conservative news | 2016-05-09 | media_bias | CLOSE Several conservative-leaning news outlets were reportedly overlooked — on purpose.Video provided by Newsy Newslook
SAN FRANCISCO — Is Facebook , one of the world 's most powerful distributors of news on the Internet , censoring politically conservative articles ?
Facebook denies it , but that 's the allegation in a published report that set off a firestorm among conservative media on Monday .
According to tech news outlet Gizmodo , a former Facebook news curator says popular articles from politically conservative outlets on conservative subjects were deliberately left off of the `` trending news '' sidebar . Among the allegedly verboten topics : Wisconsin Gov . Scott Walker and former Fox News contributor Steven Crowder .
“ I ’ d come on shift and I ’ d discover that CPAC [ Conservative Political Action Conference ] or Mitt Romney or Glenn Beck or popular conservative topics wouldn ’ t be trending because either the curator didn ’ t recognize the news topic or it was like they had a bias against Ted Cruz , ” the former news curator told Gizmodo .
Facebook denied the report , saying it has `` rigorous guidelines '' to ensure political neutrality in the distribution of news to its 1.6 billion users around the globe .
`` We take allegations of bias very seriously . Facebook is a platform for people and perspectives from across the political spectrum . Trending Topics shows you the popular topics and hashtags that are being talked about on Facebook , '' the company said in an emailed statement .
`` These guidelines do not permit the suppression of political perspectives . Nor do they permit the prioritization of one viewpoint over another or one news outlet over another . These guidelines do not prohibit any news outlet from appearing in Trending Topics . ''
The Gizmodo report underscored rising alarm about Facebook 's growing influence in what news gets read . At issue : the small box in the upper right of a Facebook page that lists news topics that are popular on Facebook . Facebook relies on automated systems to identify what 's popular . A team of curators then refine the list .
Breitbart News editor in chief Alex Marlow told the Guardian the Gizmodo report confirmed `` what conservatives have long suspected : Facebook ’ s trending news artificially mutes conservatives and amplifies progressives . '' The Drudge Report ran a photograph of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg : `` Not Leaning In ... Leaning Left ! ''
Gizmodo says the former news curator , who is politically conservative , asked for anonymity , citing fear of retribution from Facebook .
One former Facebook news curator , also unnamed , challenged the Gizmodo report , telling the Guardian that newsworthiness was judged by how often an article appeared in trusted news outlets such as the New York Times and the BBC . This person did not see any evidence of conservative news being suppressed .
`` What we have from the report is anecdotal and it ’ s tough to know what ’ s going on , '' wrote TechCrunch 's Josh Constine . `` Facebook ’ s biggest problem may have been not realizing humans have biases – including political ones . '' | M14yAxfoSvdZLemn | 1 | Media Bias | -0.8 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Townhall | https://townhall.com/tipsheet/juliorosas/2019/10/04/volkers-testimony-was-a-huge-flop-n2554180 | 'Volker’s Testimony Was a Huge Flop': Dems Release Diplomats' Texts After Ex-Ukraine Envoy's Testimony | 2019-10-04 | politics | The Democratic chairmen of the House Intelligence , Oversight and Reform , and Foreign Affairs Committees released a 25-page document late Thursday night following former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker 's testimony to Congress .
Volker 's closed-door testimony is part of the House 's impeachment probe into President Trump 's actions with Ukraine and his push to have the country investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son , Hunter .
In their letter to the members of the three committees , Reps. Adam Schiff , Elliot Engel , and Elijah Cummings wrote they wanted to relay their `` grave concerns with the unprecedented actions '' of Trump .
Their letter includes more text messages between Volker and other American diplomats , where they debated if Trump was engaged in a `` quid pro quo '' when he asked Ukraine to look into allegations of wrongdoing by Biden 's family , as he held back U.S. aid , according to Fox News .
In one exchange , Chargé d ’ Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine Bill Taylor wrote , `` As I said on the phone , I think it 's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign . ''
`` Bill , I believe you are incorrect about President Trump 's intentions , '' U.S . Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland replied .
`` The President has been crystal clear : no quid pro quo 's of any kind . The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign , '' he added .
`` These text messages reflect serious concerns raised by a State Department official about the detrimental effects of withholding crucial military assistance from Ukraine , and the importance of setting up a meeting between President Trump and the Ukrainian President without further delay , '' the chairmen wrote .
In the newly-released text messages , Volker wrote how he had repeatedly talked with Trump 's personal lawyer , Rudy Giuliani , about Ukraine . Giuliani has been subpoenaed by the three House committees to turn over documents relating to his actions regarding Ukraine .
Volker also texted Andriy Yermak , an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky , prior to their July 25 call that , `` assuming [ Zelensky ] convinces trump he will investigate/'get to the bottom ' of what happened in 2016 , we will nail down a date for visit to Washington . ''
`` What do you do when you realize you ’ ve lost the day ? Release a bunch of picked-over documents at 10:30 p.m. and hope that something sticks , '' a congressional aide with direct knowledge of Volker 's testimony told ███ . `` This is an act of desperation by the Democrats . They know that Volker ’ s testimony was a huge flop . They 're running scared . '' | 4m3Ei7l3ru2oWuBH | 2 | Ukraine | -0.7 | Politics | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
immigration | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/08/politics/immigration-delay-blame/index.html?hpt=po_c1 | Democrats blame GOP for Obama immigration delay | 2014-09-08 | immigration | Story highlights Immigration reform advocates initially criticize President Obama for delaying action
Now Democrats are spreading the blame to Republicans for failing to legislate on issue
Democrats are likely trying to placate anger in immigrant communities
President Barack Obama postponed executive action on immigration , but Democrats want voters to know the delay is n't his fault .
Blame Republicans instead , according to the latest Democratic latest talking points .
Obama had weighed action on immigration -- including moves that could allow a path to legal status for millions of undocumented workers -- after congressional action on the issue stalled .
The President took the brunt of criticism immediately after the White House announced Saturday he is delaying any unitary action on immigration until after November 's midterm elections .
And those are from the President 's allies -- Democrats and immigration reform proponents who lead communities that voted overwhelmingly for Obama in 2008 and 2012 .
JUST WATCHED President delays immigration action Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH President delays immigration action 01:13
JUST WATCHED Latinos 'really pissed off ' with the GOP Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Latinos 'really pissed off ' with the GOP 02:43
JUST WATCHED Obama delays action on immigration Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Obama delays action on immigration 03:14
Rep. Loretta Sanchez , D-California , said Monday on CNN 's `` New Day '' that she is frustrated with the President but added : `` The real reality is that these House Republicans have refused to work with us , to move a bill that would solve this issue . ''
Last year , the Senate passed a comprehensive bill that would provide a path to legal status for millions of long-term undocumented immigrants while also strengthening border security .
House Republicans refused to consider the Senate bill , which Obama and Democrats claim would pass if put to a vote .
Rep. Tony Cardenas , also a California Democrat , said the `` first blame '' should lie with Congress for not doing taking up immigration legislation .
`` Now the President is forced to have to take a measure like executive actions , '' Cardenas said Sunday on CNN 's `` State of the Union . ''
The President 's delayed action could protect Democrats in competitive Senate races in conservative states like Louisiana , Arkansas , Georgia , Kentucky and North Carolina . By focusing blame on Republicans , Democrats likely are trying to placate anger in immigrant communities .
But the relationship between those communities and the administration is strained . Immigration advocates are pointing to the 60,000 family members that could be deported before the end of the year as an unfortunate outcome of the President 's political calculation .
`` Republicans killed the best chance in a generation to enact landmark immigration reform legislation , '' Frank Sharry , executive director of immigration reform group America 's Voice , told CNN in a statement .
`` President Obama , however , has deported more than 2 million people and failed to deliver on promises of reform , including most recently when he publicly promised to take executive action by the end of the summer . '' | JSQKbfLz58B1WgNO | 0 | Republican Party | -1.6 | Immigration | -0.4 | Barack Obama | -0.4 | Democratic Party | 0.3 | null | null |
fbi | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/04/14/comey-reportedly-wishes-hed-found-better-way-to-describe-clintons-email-use.html | Comey reportedly wishes he'd found 'better way' to describe Clinton's email use | 2018-04-14 | fbi | Former FBI Director James Comey reportedly says in his upcoming book that , given another chance , he would try to avoid calling Hillary Clinton ’ s handling of classified information as secretary of state “ extremely careless . ”
According to Axios , Comey writes in `` A Higher Loyalty : Truth , Lies and Leadership '' that there are things he wishes he had done differently in announcing that the FBI was not recommending charges in its probe of Clinton ’ s use of a private email server .
At the July 5 , 2016 , press conference , with a presidential election just months away , Comey gave a lengthy statement criticizing Clinton but ultimately explaining the FBI ’ s reasoning for not recommending charges .
“ Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information , there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive , highly classified information , ” he said at the time .
But in “ A Higher Loyalty , ” Comey says the wording -- which clung to Clinton throughout her doomed campaign -- is one of the things he would change , along with waiting until the end of his remarks to say he was not recommending charges .
`` [ I ] f I had it to do over again , I would do some things differently . I would avoid the 'Seacresting ' mistake by saying at the beginning of my statement that we weren ’ t recommending charges , ” he said according to Axios . “ More important , I would have tried to find a better way to describe Secretary Clinton ’ s conduct than 'extremely careless . ' ''
It is not clear from the extract whether he would use softer or stronger language to describe Clinton ’ s behavior .
In the extracts , Comey also says he intentionally wore a gold tie so he wasn ’ t displaying the red or blue colors of the respective political parties . He also says that he wouldn ’ t have changed his broader conduct , “ but I can imagine good and principled people in my shows making different choices about some things . ”
COMEY HINTS AT DAMAGING MATERIAL INVOLVING EX-AG LYNCH 'STILL UNKNOWN TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC '
On Friday , ABC News reported that Comey says he became the public face of the investigation partly because of a “ development still unknown to the American public ” which he felt could raise questions about then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch 's independence .
“ Had it become public , the unverified material would undoubtedly have been used by political opponents to cast serious doubt on the attorney general ’ s independence in connection with the Clinton investigation , ” Comey writes , according to ABC .
He calls the material a “ development still unknown to the American public to this day . ”
`` A Higher Loyalty : Truth , Lies and Leadership ” is due to be released on Tuesday . | 6iEjA95bVJK3DeSm | 2 | FBI | 0.3 | James Comey | 0.3 | Hillary Clinton | -0.3 | Defense And Security | 0 | null | null |
terrorism | New York Times - News | http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/17/us/politics/appeals-court-overturns-terrorism-conviction-of-salim-ahmed-hamdan-bin-ladens-driver.html?_r=0 | Appeals Court Overturns Terrorism Conviction of Bin Laden’s Driver | 2012-10-17 | terrorism | Mr. Hamdan traveled from Yemen to Pakistan and then Afghanistan in 1996 , attended a Qaeda training camp , met Bin Laden , and became a driver carrying jihadis and their weapons . Eventually he began driving Bin Laden personally , and even was told by Bin Laden several days before Sept. 11 , 2001 , that they would have to evacuate their compound because of an impending operation that might provoke retaliation .
His legal journey began in 2001 , after his capture in Afghanistan . He was sent to Guantánamo Bay soon after it opened in early 2002 , but his case proceeded slowly , in part because of legal challenges to the Bush administration ’ s new system of military commissions for terrorism suspects . He was granted few rights , and has claimed he was beaten and kept in isolation for months .
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In 2008 , charged with conspiracy as well as eight counts of material support , he was acquitted of the conspiracy charge , which might have produced a longer sentence . He was sentenced to 66 months of confinement and credited for having already served most of that time since being charged . The verdict was a setback for the military prosecutors , who had contended that they could detain him indefinitely .
Even after his release , he continued to challenge his conviction . It was upheld in 2011 by the Court of Military Commission Review , which the Appeals Court has now reversed .
The ruling called into question whether other Guantanamo detainees accused of being part of Al Qaeda but not of plotting any specific terrorist attack can receive military trials .
The opinion was written by Judge Brett Kavanaugh , who worked as a lawyer in the White House for President George W. Bush before he was appointed to the bench . His opinion was largely joined by Chief Judge David Sentelle and Judge Douglas Ginsburg , appointees of Ronald Reagan .
Zachary Katznelson , senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union , said the decision “ strikes the biggest blow yet against the legitimacy of the Guantánamo military commissions , which have for years now been trying people for a supposed war crime that in fact is not a war crime at all. ” He said the government should prosecute in civilian courts any Guantánamo prisoners against whom it has enough admissible evidence . | i6QiXhUTkzdVlEY5 | 0 | Terrorism | -1.8 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
disaster | USA TODAY | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/09/11/hurricane-irma-continues-path-destruction-florida-eyes-cleanup/652434001/ | Irma, still battering Florida, weakens to tropical storm | 2017-09-11 | disaster | MIAMI — Mighty , massive Irma finally weakened , chainsaws buzzed and 30,000 utility workers scrambled to restore power to battered Florida on Monday as the state slowly came back to life amid the devastation of the historic storm .
Irma , which smashed onto the state Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane with 130-mph winds , weakened to a tropical storm Monday after hammering the state with roof-ripping winds and driving rain .
The sun peeked out over much of the state , but Irma was n't finished . Gushing floodwaters paralyzed wide areas . Downed trees , power lines and other storm debris blocked roads across the state .
Florida 's Emergency Response Team said 65 % of utility customers were without power early Monday . Every county from Key West to the Georgia line was affected . White House national security adviser Tom Bossert , speaking in Washington , urged evacuees not to go home until they are told it is safe to do so .
`` We can have power down in homes for ... weeks , '' Bossert said . `` This is n't over yet . ''
More : Hurricane Irma : Where it is now and what we know
Gov . Rick Scott visited storm-ravaged parts of the state Monday , telling reporters that what he saw was `` horrible . ''
Scott warned that storm surge was causing record flooding in Jacksonville and other cities in northeastern Florida . Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry asked residents who are safe to let friends and family members know .
`` We are getting calls asking about loved ones , '' Curry tweeted .
The Florida Keys took a severe beating . Irma ripped through the island chain hours before its second landfall Sunday on Marco Island . The storm roared north , wide enough to lash both coasts with wind , rain and ominous floodwaters . Millions evacuated ahead of the storm , and more than 585 shelters across the state were housing more than 200,000 people Monday .
Four “ last resort ” shelters set up in the Keys will become more permanent , with services such as food and supply distribution . Scott flew over the area and said flood damage was extensive . Water and sewer systems were n't working and there was no power .
`` My heart goes out to the people in the Keys , '' Scott said . `` I just hope everybody survived . It 's horrible what we saw . ''
In Everglades City , on the Gulf Coast 30 miles east of Marco Island , trees were toppled and storm fronts blown out . Parts of the city were underwater after a storm surge as high as 8 feet .
`` I 've never seen it this bad , '' said Lee Kidder , manager of the Captain 's Table hotel and restaurant , where water swamped his downstairs apartments and trees smashed the pool patio . `` But it could have been way worse . ''
Naples , 15 miles north of Marco Island , fared a bit better . Crews saw no major structural damage and only minimal flooding in their initial post-storm tours , Mayor Bill Barnett said .
“ Everything is preliminary , but the real bright side — if there is one — is that we didn ’ t get 15 feet of storm surge , ” Barnett said . “ That would have been catastrophic . ”
One Naples man died as an indirect result of the storm , however . Evacuee Richard Koff , 91 , was walking through an Interstate 75 rest area in Georgia when he was the victim of a fatal hit-and-run crash Sunday .
Utilities warned that it could take weeks to fully restore electricity to the state 's 21 million people . The Florida HIghway Patrol was escorting utility convoys around the state , and more than 30,000 workers were laboring to restore power .
At 11 p.m . ET Monday , the storm was centered about 95 miles south by southwest of Atlanta , driving maximum sustained winds of 35 mph , the National Hurricane Center said . Irma was forecast to continue to weaken as it rolled through Georgia and beyond Tuesday .
Georgia was reporting power outages for almost 600,000 homes and businesses Monday ; South Carolina had almost 100,000 outages .
The Tampa-St. Petersburg metro area had braced for a direct hit that never quite came . Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn , saying the local storm surge apparently will not be as bad as feared , lifted the city curfew Monday .
Miami-Dade County , spared a direct hit when Irma spun west , still was staggered . About 80 % of homes lost power and many roads remained impassable , but lifelong residents who know what hurricanes can do knew they 'd been spared .
`` This is great for us , but bad for the west coast , '' said Alex Silva , 41 , who was using a machete and a rake to clear the street outside his Coral Gables home Monday morning .
`` I would feel like a jerk if I did n't get out and do something to help , '' Silva said .
Miami International Airport hoped to reopen for limited passenger service Tuesday . Irma 's high winds pushed water through window seals and roof joints , causing minor flooding through the sprawling complex . Even the war room where airport managers met Monday morning was damaged by water .
`` Nobody wants to get planes in and out more than me , '' CEO Emilio Gonzalez said . `` But we ca n't just flip a switch . ''
In Palm Bay , 175 miles north of MIami , Irma 's howling winds punched a hole in the roof of The Shack Seafood Restaurant , tossing the screened porch atop the building like a folded pancake . Jean Zemkoski , who has owned the restaurant for 46 years , was concerned that employees might be without work for weeks .
`` When we left , everything was secure , '' said . `` I came back this morning and this is what I see . ''
In Western North Carolina , almost 13,000 residents were without power Monday night as a result of the storm . The residents represented more than half of the 22,000 Duke Energy customers who did not have power as of 7:30 p.m . ET Sunday , according to Duke Energy .
Gomez reported from Miami , Bacon from McLean , Va . Contributing : Trevor Hughes , ███ ; Arek L. Sarkissian , Tallahassee Democrat ; Joseph Cranney , Brett Murphy , and Tim Aten , Naples Daily News ; Rick Neale and Dave Berman , Florida Today ; Nicole Rodriguez , The Stuart ( Fla. ) News ; Jennifer Bowman , Asheville Citizen-Times | ECyxFwp3Xym1kFqv | 1 | Hurricane Irma | -1.6 | General News | -0.4 | Disaster | 0 | null | null | null | null |
supreme_court | The Hill | http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/375575-supreme-court-refuses-to-hear-trump-challenge-on-daca | Supreme Court refuses to hear Trump challenge on DACA | 2018-02-26 | supreme_court | The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the Trump administration 's challenge to a lower court ruling temporarily blocking it from winding down the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ( DACA ) program .
The decision delivers a blow to the Trump administration , which argues that DACA is unconstitutional . It also could ease some pressure on Congress to quickly come up with a legislative solution , however , since it means the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will continue to review the case .
The decision comes just a week before a March 5 deadline set by 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 for Congress to enact legislation to replace the program established by former President Obama . It allows immigrants who entered the country illegally as children to work and go to school in the United States .
The court denied the government 's request that it hear the case without prejudice .
`` It is assumed that the court of appeals will proceed expeditiously to decide this case , '' the court said .
The Supreme Court could still agree to hear the case after it is heard by the lower appeals court .
The justices provided no further explanation for their decision . It takes four justices to agree to hear a case .
A White House spokesman said in a statement after the court ’ s decision that the “ clearly unlawful ” DACA program benefits “ illegal immigrants en masse . ”
“ The district judge ’ s decision unilaterally to re-impose a program that Congress had explicitly and repeatedly rejected is a usurpation of legislative authority , ” deputy press secretary Raj Shah said .
“ The fact that this occurs at a time when elected representatives in Congress are actively debating this policy only underscores that the district judge has unwisely intervened in the legislative process , ” he added .
“ We look forward to having this case expeditiously heard by the appeals court and , if necessary , the Supreme Court , where we fully expect to prevail . ”
Congress has been unable to reach an agreement on a measure to replace Obama 's executive action and has just one full legislative day scheduled before the March 5 deadline .
In exchange for language allowing DACA recipients and other `` Dreamers '' to remain in the United States and get a path to citizenship , Trump has demanded money for his proposed wall on the Mexican border and changes to two legal immigration programs .
The House remains at an impasse , with leadership officially only considering a bill proposed by Rep. Bob Goodlatte Robert ( Bob ) William GoodlatteUSCIS chief Cuccinelli blames Paul Ryan for immigration inaction Immigrant advocacy groups should n't be opposing Trump 's raids Top Republican releases full transcript of Bruce Ohr interview MORE ( R-Va. ) that is widely believed to be unable to pass in the Senate .
The Senate is looking for short-term solutions that would extend DACA for two or three years while a new immigration deal is worked out .
Had the California court — and later a New York court — not enjoined Trump 's order , DACA beneficiaries would have begun to lose their benefits after the deadline .
Nearly 20,000 DACA recipients lost their benefits following the September announcement as they failed to apply for renewal in the month granted to them by the Trump administration .
Under the injunction , beneficiaries who were covered by DACA in September — including those who did n't renew — are allowed to apply for a two-year renewal of their permit .
The injunction does not protect people who would have aged into DACA , leaving the youngest `` Dreamers '' subject to deportation and without documentation to allow them to work or go to school .
The nearly 800,000 people who did get DACA status at some point will be allowed to apply for renewal , although the glut of applications is expected to create lapses in coverage for certain beneficiaries . For some , that will mean losing their work permits — and if employed , their jobs — at least temporarily .
Of those 800,000 , more than 100,000 left the program by leaving the country , receiving different immigration status or being expelled from the program . Former DACA beneficiaries will be allowed to reapply while the injunction lasts as long as they were n't removed from the program for criminal or gang behavior .
Since the program 's inception , about 2,000 beneficiaries were expelled from DACA for criminal acts .
The Justice Department 's request to challenge the lower court ruling was rare in that it asked the Supreme Court to jump ahead of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in reviewing the case .
The court typically will only bypass an appellate court when there ’ s an emergency involving foreign affairs , a serious separation of powers concerns or when it has already agreed to hear another case dealing with the same question .
Andrew Pincus , a Supreme Court litigator and partner at Mayer Brown , a Washington , D.C.-based law firm , said the earliest a decision could be expected from the appeals courts would be in June or July .
`` We ’ re certainly looking at a matter of a significant number of months , '' said Pincus .
And lawsuits similar to the ones in California and New York are under review in the District of Columbia and Maryland , meaning more similar injunctions could surface in coming months .
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra Xavier BecerraMicrosoft to follow landmark California privacy law nationwide Hillicon Valley : California AG reveals Facebook investigation | McConnell criticizes Twitter 's political ad ban | Lawmakers raise concerns over Google takeover of Fitbit | Dem pushes FCC to secure 5G networks California acknowledges Facebook investigation , asks court to order compliance MORE ( D ) said the Trump administration 's attempts to circumvent the appeals process have actually slowed down the process .
`` You could let the Trump administration know the court would run its course faster if the Trump administration would stop appealing every decision , '' said Becerra .
`` They should look no further than the mirror if they have concerns about why they don ’ t have success , '' he added .
Theodore Boutrous Jr. , a partner at Gibson Dunn who ’ s representing the six DACA recipients in the challenge with Becerra and the board of regents of California 's universities , praised the court for allowing the normal appellate process to play out .
“ DACA is a lawful and important program that protects young people who came to this country as children and who know this country as their only home , ” he said in a statement .
“ The Dreamers have relied on DACA to make decisions about their education , jobs , and families and to make valuable contributions to society as doctors , lawyers , teachers , and members of the military . ”
Boutrous added that he ’ s confident the court of appeals will affirm the district court ’ s injunction . His office said the appellate court is not likely to hear arguments in the case before May . | RAVHKvCGJ4m8aVuy | 1 | Supreme Court | 0.3 | DACA | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_military | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/10/22/bowe-bergdahl-deal-compromised-us-national-security-and-president-obama-should-be-held-accountable.html | Bowe Bergdahl deal compromised US national security and President Obama should be held accountable | 2017-10-22 | us_military | The admission is in ; the sentence awaits us . Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl admitted deserting his Afghan post and endangering fellow troops . By all accounts this is the most serious betrayal of presidential authority in my life time .
In 2014 President Obama attempted to cover Bergdahl with the achievement of a war hero , even inviting his Idaho based parents to the Rose Garden to celebrate news of his release . President Obama pointed out at the time that five Taliban leaders were freed from Guantanamo so that Bergdahl could be released from captivity . To gild the lily , National Security Adviser , Susan Rice , said Bergdahl served “ the United States with honor and distinction . ”
Yet everyone in the White House and the Pentagon knew this was a lie with monumental implications . In fact , Army officials refused to list Bergdahl as a POW . An internal 2009 Army report found that he walked off his post on more than one occasion and even said he wanted to join the ranks of the enemy . This report also noted he shipped his laptop back to Idaho with a note expressing his disillusionment with the American position in the war .
President Obama had all of this information at his disposal before he made a deal releasing Bergdahl . Why then did he mislead the American people ? The answer can be found in the president ’ s desire to satisfy antiwar liberals keen on emptying Gitmo . At the Rose Garden event the president admitted as much when he said , “ We ’ re committed to winding down the war in Afghanistan and closing Gitmo. ” It is instructive that the CIA has evidence at least three of the released Taliban leaders have returned to the battlefield .
One intelligence official argued : “ It ’ s probably a tie as to who is the bigger traitor ” – Bergdahl or Obama .
With this exchange and the elevation of Bergdahl ’ s rank , the president compromised national security knowingly and willfully . Although Bergdahl will not receive capital punishment when his sentence is determined , he probably should be tried as a traitor whose actions led directly to three soldiers seriously injured during search and rescue missions to find him . But if this fiasco is linked to American injuries and , perhaps deaths , one might well ask if the commander in chief should be held accountable as well .
The president ’ s dissimulation clearly violated the military code and has had a profound effect on morale . Those I know in the military invariably ask how a president could honor a deserter when he was fully aware of his prior actions . This , of course , wasn ’ t the first time President Obama allowed politics to determine a course of ethical behavior , but it may be among the most egregious examples . One intelligence official argued : “ It ’ s probably a tie as to who is the bigger traitor ” – Bergdahl or Obama . With a political ecology in which standards have been debased , many have attempted to rationalize President Obama ’ s decision . In my judgment , however , his actions that jeopardized national security should be fully investigated and , where blame exists , the full weight of public opinion should be employed to condemn the president and his assistants . | 2xQuaUT5VnjfKEM5 | 2 | Defense And Security | -0.3 | US Military | -0.2 | Bowe Bergdahl | -0.1 | Barack Obama | -0.1 | null | null |
defense | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/26/politics/hagel-battle/index.html | Hagel bruised but still standing | 2013-02-26 | defense | Story highlights Senate votes 58-41 to confirm former Nebraska senator , a Republican
Fight for Cabinet post was deeply partisan , uphill battle for Hagel
Obama says he will rely on Hagel 's counsel on national security issues
Hagel pledges to work with Congress ; Will be sworn in on Wednesday
Chuck Hagel 's rocky and inauspicious path to leadership of the Pentagon could haunt him if he does n't watch his step .
`` If people feel Hagel makes a mistake in the future , they will come after him even harder than if this ugly process of recent weeks had n't happened , '' said Michael O'Hanlon , a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a co-author of `` Bending History : Barack Obama 's Foreign Policy . ''
The former Nebraska senator 's nomination as defense secretary was subject to harsh criticism from some fellow Republicans over past statements on sensitive political and national security matters .
His shaky performance at his confirmation hearing and the subsequent fierce political wrangling over his selection and on unrelated matters did not help his case .
But efforts to further delay his nomination were swept away on Tuesday as the Senate confirmed him , 58-41 , with a handful of Republican votes in his corner . Hagel will be sworn in on Wednesday , succeeding Leon Panetta .
President Barack Obama , a former Senate colleague , called Hagel a patriot who `` fought and bled for our country . ''
JUST WATCHED Hagel and the new balance of power Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Hagel and the new balance of power 00:59
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Obama said he will count on Hagel 's `` counsel and judgment '' as the United States ends combat operations in Afghanistan and stays `` ready to meet the threats of our time . ''
The task for Hagel , 66 , going forward is to swiftly move past the protracted nomination battle , prove himself a strong and capable Pentagon chief , and repair relationships on Capitol Hill , said Fran Townsend , a former homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush .
`` Of course , when he walks through the door he is bruised and battered . But I think we should n't overestimate the impact of that , '' Townsend said . `` Frankly , once he is confirmed as secretary of defense and once he sits in the seat and takes on the mantle of responsibility , everyone in the Pentagon is going to stand up and salute smartly , as well they should . ''
Hagel , a decorated Vietnam veteran , said in a statement that he was honored to have been nominated and confirmed , and pledged to work closely with Congress to `` ensure that we maintain the strongest military in the world . ''
With Hagel 's confirmation , Obama has put in place another crucial piece of his second-term national security team . John Kerry has been installed as secretary of state and John Brennan is awaiting Senate action on his nomination to be CIA director . Thomas Donilon is already serving as national security adviser .
O'Hanlon said Hagel would not `` be damaged goods '' and the political outcry over his nomination would quickly be overshadowed by the latest budget drama engulfing Washington over spending cuts , which would hit the Pentagon hard , if enacted .
Bad feelings about Hagel stem , in part , from his 2007 comments that the `` Jewish lobby intimidated lawmakers . '' Republicans who are already uncomfortable with Obama 's policies toward Israel are uneasy about a defense secretary holding such views .
Israel 's ambassador to the United States , Michael Oren , said in a statement that Israel `` looks forward to working closely '' with Hagel .
Hagel 's criticism of the Iraq War , the Patriot Act , and his past positions on Iran and on U.S. military intervention also raised red flags with his opponents .
Moreover , he spoke about an ambassadorial nominee in the late 1990s as being `` openly , ggressively gay , '' remarks for which he has since apologized . Obama ended the prohibition on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military .
And Hagel has n't been sparing in his criticism of conservative and GOP figures , saying radio show hosts like Rush Limbaugh `` try to rip everybody down '' but `` do n't have any answers , '' and labeling George W. Bush as callous on Iraq when he was president .
Last week , 15 GOP senators sent a letter to Obama calling on him to withdraw Hagel 's nomination .
Arizona Sen. John McCain , the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a fierce Hagel critic , did not sign the letter . But he led the charge against him in the Senate , stalling the nomination at one point in exchange for more information from the White House on the deadly September terror attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi , Libya .
`` There is simply no way to sugar coat it . Senator Hagel 's performance before the Senate Armed Services Committee was remarkably inept and we should not be installing a defense secretary who is obviously not qualified for the job and who holds dangerously misguided views on some of the most important issues facing national security policy for our country , '' said Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas .
There was a healthy serving of politics behind the Hagel pushback , some experts say . He is n't the only potential member of Obama 's first or second-term Cabinet to be grilled during the nomination process .
At the start of his first term , Obama 's pick to lead the Treasury Department , Timothy Geithner , emerged from a tough confirmation fight in the wake of recession to help push through Wall Street reform as well as the banking and auto industry rescues . His successor , Jack Lew , is expected to be confirmed .
Some Republicans also believed that Hagel , like Susan Rice , was vulnerable in a divided political climate in Washington made more sharply partisan by Obama 's re-election , according to experts .
Rice , the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations , withdrew her name from consideration for secretary of state after drawing heavy criticism from McCain and other Republicans over her public statements about the Benghazi attack .
Democratic supporters of Hagel came to his defense this week as the vote drew near .
`` The president wants him in the room as he 's making important decisions . There 's no question about his integrity of character . I think the president deserves to have the Cabinet he wants as long as the person is qualified , '' Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill said on `` Fox News Sunday . ''
The consternation over Hagel 's confirmation has been `` kabuki theater , '' said David Rothkopf , editor of Foreign Policy magazine .
`` The political divisions that dictated the pace and twists of his confirmation process pre-date him and will post-date his confirmation , '' Rothkopf said . `` The reality is that Hagel wo n't drive ( defense ) policy , the president and Hill politics will . ''
And time will heal even these political wounds , Rothkopf said . | 069dedec76be7539 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
economy_and_jobs | Christian Science Monitor | http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2014/0217/Obama-stimulus-On-5th-anniversary-White-House-touts-millions-of-jobs-created | Obama stimulus: On 5th anniversary, White House touts millions of jobs created | 2014-02-17 | economy_and_jobs | Monday is Presidents Day , but to President Obama , it ’ s a red-letter day of another sort : the fifth anniversary of his signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , a.k.a . the stimulus .
In its final report on the impacts of the stimulus , the White House ’ s Council of Economic Advisers ( CEA ) is touting some numbers . On its own , the stimulus saved 6 million jobs , and when combined with additional fiscal measures that followed , 9 million jobs were saved through the end of 2012 , the CEA reports .
“ The investments made through the Recovery Act will have a positive impact on long-run growth , raising the economy ’ s potential output and ultimately offsetting much of the Act ’ s initial cost , ” CEA chairman Jason Furman said in a blog post Monday .
The stimulus was initially priced at $ 787 billion , but later revised upward to $ 830 billion . According to the CEA report , the Recovery Act alone raised the level of gross domestic product by between 2 and 3 percent from late 2009 through mid-2011 .
Addition fiscal measures signed by the president that also contributed to the recovery , the CEA says , include a temporary payroll tax cut , extensions of emergency unemployment compensation , and expanded business tax incentives .
According to the CEA , when the stimulus and subsequent fiscal measures are combined , half of the total fiscal support for the economy , or $ 689 billion , came in the form of tax cuts , mostly directed at families . The remainder went to rebuilding roads and bridges , funding teacher jobs , and emergency unemployment assistance .
Mr. Obama signed the Recovery Act less than a month after taking office , amid the nation ’ s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression . Four million private-sector jobs had been lost , as had trillions of dollars in household wealth . No House Republicans voted for the Recovery Act , and in the Senate , only three Republicans voted yes . The stimulus – as well as the bailouts of Wall Street , housing , and the auto industry – is seen as a driving force behind the launch of the tea party movement .
“ If you recall five years ago , the notion was that if the government spent all this money – that , by the way , was borrowed – that somehow the economy would begin to grow and create jobs . Well , of course , it clearly failed , ” Sen. Marco Rubio ( R ) of Florida said Monday in a video statement .
Obama often notes that the economy is still not where it needs to be , with January unemployment at 6.6 percent and job creation still weak . But his administration argues that the strides made would not have been possible without the Recovery Act .
“ While far more work remains to ensure that the economy provides opportunity for every American , there can be no question that President Obama ’ s actions to date have laid the groundwork for stronger , more sustainable economic growth in the years ahead , ” Mr. Furman writes , adding that the economy has grown for 11 straight quarters and businesses have added 8.5 million jobs since early 2010 .
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On Tuesday , Obama will travel to Upper Marlboro , Md. , for remarks on the economy at a Safeway distribution center .
On Wednesday , Vice President Biden will mark the fifth anniversary of the stimulus by traveling to America ’ s Central Port in Granite City , Ill. , where he will call for continued investment in infrastructure . | oOLXt1H8cRyQIEvG | 1 | Stimulus | 1 | Economy And Jobs | 0.4 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_house | Washington Times | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/feb/20/nancy-pelosi-vows-quick-action-resolution-counter-/ | Pelosi vows quick action on resolution to counter Trump emergency declaration | 2019-02-20 | us_house | House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday encouraged members to support a joint resolution to try to block President Trump ’ s recent move to declare a national emergency on the southern border and vowed that the House will move “ swiftly ” to pass it .
“ All Members take an oath of office to support and defend the Constitution , ” Mrs. Pelosi wrote in a letter to colleagues . “ The President ’ s decision to go outside the bounds of the law to try to get what he failed to achieve in the constitutional legislative process violates the Constitution and must be terminated . ”
The office of Rep. Joaquin Castro , Texas Democrat , has been circulating the resolution for signatures . Mrs. Pelosi said it will be formally introduced on Friday , and that the deadline to sign on as an original cosponsor is Thursday at 3 p.m .
Under the National Emergencies Act , which Mr. Trump invoked in order to unlock about $ 3.6 billion in military construction accounts for a border barrier , the House and Senate can take up and pass a resolution disapproving of an emergency declaration on simple majority votes in both chambers .
That shouldn ’ t be too big of a lift in the Democratic-controlled House , but at least four GOP senators would have to take a vote on the floor against the president in order for it to pass the Senate , where Republicans hold an effective 53-47 majority .
In her letter , Mrs. Pelosi flatly declared that the resolution “ will be referred to the Senate and then sent to the President ’ s desk ” after the House passes it .
“ We have a solemn responsibility to uphold the Constitution , and defend our system of checks and balances against the President ’ s assault , ” she wrote .
Even if the resolution passes both chambers , Republicans have been skeptical that there would be enough support to override a presidential veto , which takes a two-thirds majority in the House and the Senate .
The White House has identified a total of about $ 8 billion to go toward barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border , with the rest coming from a combination of the recently-passed spending package , counter-narcotics money , and treasury forfeiture funds . | tjGn2EQI2GOjSARm | 2 | National Emergency | -0.8 | Nancy Pelosi | 0.6 | US House | 0.6 | Politics | 0 | null | null |
justice | Washington Times | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/jul/21/hunter-biden-probe-reaching-critical-stage-report/ | Hunter Biden probe is reaching critical stage: Report | 2022-07-22 | Justice, Hunter Biden, Hunter Biden Laptop, Joe Biden, Corruption | DOJ, Delaware prosecutors wrestling with possible tax charges, making false statement A federal investigation into President Biden’s son Hunter is reportedly reaching a critical stage as prosecutors weigh whether to bring charges ahead of the midterm elections. The Department of Justice is discussing the case with Delaware-based prosecutors and consulting guidelines around politically sensitive cases, according to CNN, which cited people familiar with the talks. Talks about charges have centered on potential tax violations and making a false statement regarding Hunter Biden’s purchase of a firearm when he would have been prevented from doing so because of his struggles with drug addiction, the report said. The probe, which began in 2018, is being led by David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, who was appointed by President Trump. A spokesperson for Mr. Weiss and the lawyer representing Hunter Biden in the probe did not respond to requests for comment. It’s another headache for President Biden, who faces the prospect of Republican investigations into his family’s business ties if they win control of the House in November. Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the ranking member on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, vowed last month that his committee will investigate Hunter Biden if Republicans take control of the House. “I believe that his son is corrupt,” Mr. Comer said of the president. It’s also a fraught situation for Attorney General Merrick Garland, given that the probe hits close to home for the White House. Mr. Garland has fiercely defended the investigation’s independence and pledged that there will be no political or other improper interference. Republicans have called for a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, though it’s not clear whether the public has the appetite for another high-profile special counsel investigation. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings are still being debated in Washington more than three years after his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election wrapped up. John Durham, a special prosecutor appointed by then-Attorney General William Barr, is continuing his probe into the FBI’s handling of reported links between Mr. Trump and Russia. Hunter Biden has denied wrongdoing, and the president is not being investigated despite claims that his son leveraged his stature in foreign business dealings. SEE ALSO: Treasury Dept. blocking probe into Hunter Biden’s business dealings, says top GOP lawmaker Sources familiar with the investigation confirmed the authenticity this year of Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop, which became a source of contention during the 2020 presidential election. The laptop’s existence, first reported by the New York Post in October 2020, was initially dismissed by the Bidens and mainstream media as Russian disinformation. The laptop’s hard drive contained emails, text messages, photos and other material detailing how Hunter Biden used his political connections to boost his overseas business dealings. Sens. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, respectively the top Republicans on the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, have presented bank records showing Hunter Biden and the president’s brother, James Biden, receiving millions of dollars from companies connected to the communist Chinese regime. The Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC and its executives paid $4.8 million to firms owned and managed by Hunter Biden and his uncle for 14 months, according to government records, court documents, bank statements and documents from the laptop, Mr. Grassley said. The White House has insisted that the president has never talked to his son about his far-flung foreign business dealings, despite the revelations depicting more complex and intertwined family financial relationships. SEE ALSO: Kevin McCarthy pledges to investigate Hunter Biden if GOP wins House A Rasmussen Reports poll this week found that 69% of likely U.S. voters believed it was likely the president was aware of at least some of Hunter Biden’s major foreign business dealings, including 49% who thought it was very likely. Only 22% did not think it was likely that Mr. Biden was aware of his son’s foreign deals, while 10% were not sure. More notably, the majority (62%) of voters said the president personally profited from deals with Chinese-government-connected companies, including 44% who thought it was very likely. Thirty percent said they did not believe it was likely that the president profited from his son’s Chinese deals. The CNN report said investigators have narrowed their focus to tax- and gun-related charges instead of Hunter Biden’s financial dealings. Hunter Biden told associates this year that he paid off his more than $1 million tax bill, a move that didn’t eliminate the criminal probe but could be an attempt to lessen any penalties. The Justice Department typically doesn’t bring charges within 60 days of an election, but there is debate about whether that would apply in this case because the president is not on the ballot in the midterm elections. In August 2018, during the last midterm cycle, prosecutors in New York charged Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former attorney, and then-Rep. Chris Collins, a New York Republican who was running for reelection. • Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com. • Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com. Copyright © 2025 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. SEE MORE VIDEOS DOJ’s bribery of New York City Mayor Eric Adams Carville says Trump playing 4D chess while Democrats still looking for board Border czar Homan’s attack on the pope reveals deeper truths about moral certainty | 3b1adb6ee8a56b42 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
europe | NPR Online News | http://www.npr.org/2012/10/25/163629203/while-spain-struggles-the-basque-region-shines | While Spain Struggles, The Basque Region Shines | 2012-10-25 | europe | For decades , most of the news out of Basque country was horrible . Since the late 1960s , this region in northern Spain has been infamous as home to the ETA separatist group , which killed more than 800 people while fighting for Basque independence from Madrid .
But two years ago , the separatist group declared a final cease-fire and the attacks have stopped . Now the country is becoming known for something else : its booming economy .
Machines meld molten steel into train cars at one of the region 's most successful companies , CAF , which makes trains for Amtrak ; the Washington D.C. , metro system ; and light rails in Sacramento , Pittsburgh and Houston .
While the rest of Spain 's economy is forecast to shrink nearly 2 percent next year , CAF is growing by 10 percent a year . Companies like this keep the Basque unemployment rate down around 12 percent — less than half of what it is in the rest of Spain .
`` We are disconnected from the Spanish economy , I would say , almost totally , '' says Aitor Galarza , an engineer and spokesman for CAF .
Basque country has a unique tax system with fiscal autonomy from Madrid . CAF exports 77 percent of the trains it makes . That 's typical for Basque country . People here make up about 4.5 percent of Spain 's population , but they contribute nearly 10 percent of Spanish exports .
Economist Fernando Fernandez at Madrid 's IE Business School says the Basque region is rich in natural resources . For centuries , it was easier for Basque traders to sail north to England , rather than ride horses over the nearly 10,000-foot mountains that separate the Basque country from the Spanish capital .
`` They had mines there . There was steel , and there was coal . And they were very close to England . So they were exposed to the industrial revolution much earlier than other regions of Spain — much earlier , '' Fernandez says .
On top of strong exports , the region also has a vocational education system more like Germany 's than Spain 's .
`` You had a company , a factory , and nearby the factory was a school — a vocational school — to train workers . And that was from the 19th century on . And the companies had always relied on the workers they were training nearby , '' says Jose Luis Curbelo , who manages the Basque Institute for Competitiveness .
So in Basque country , training to become a mechanic , for example , is just as prestigious as going to university . It pays well , too . For companies like CAF , that means there 's a large pool of qualified workers , says Galarza .
`` All the time , you can find somebody to come into the company and to start working the next day . It does n't happen that easily with our factories in the south of Spain , '' he says .
In southern Spain , vocational training was phased out in part because it was associated with the dictatorship of Francisco Franco , which ended in the 1970s . Spaniards started going to university instead . But unemployment among young grads is around 50 percent now .
The rest of Spain is also littered with empty buildings left over from the housing crash . But Basque country does n't have any . The violence meant no one wanted to build here , Curbelo says .
`` Housing was an activity to house people , rather than to speculate . So the real estate sector here was a normal activity . It was not totally overgrown like in the rest of the country , '' he says .
Back at the CAF railway factory , Galarza has another theory about Basque productivity : The region gets more than 200 days of rain a year .
`` So when you 're working at your factory , you never think of going to the beach in the afternoon or just having fun . That also moves your mind to the work you are doing , '' he says .
Leaving Basque country , the train home to Madrid winds through soggy valleys dotted with smokestacks and factories before emerging onto Spain 's central plateau , where empty houses start appearing once again . | NvCA52YIW8SvQTm1 | 1 | European Union | -0.2 | Economy And Jobs | 0.2 | Europe | -0.2 | Spain | -0 | World | 0 |
politics | Washington Times | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/2/james-comey-investigation-start-trump-supporters-s/ | Trump legal team makes case to prosecute Comey, others for lying after Cohen guilty plea | 2018-12-02 | politics | Former and current members of President Trump ’ s legal team have compiled research to make the case that former FBI Director James B. Comey misled Congress in his testimony and is not a reliable witness for special counsel Robert Mueller .
The lawyers last year tried to persuade Mr. Mueller to investigate Mr. Comey , his former colleague , to no avail .
The Trump-Comey war took on new dimensions last week as Mr. Mueller won a guilty plea from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen , who admitted to lying to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about a proposed election-year Trump Organization Moscow hotel deal .
“ The Cohen plea of lying to Congress by the special counsel raises the very serious question as to why the special counsel has refused to investigate and prosecute the false statements and testimony of James Comey , the main accuser of the president , before the Senate Judiciary and intel committees , ” former Trump attorney John Dowd told The ███ .
Mr. Dowd and his colleagues filed a complaint with the Justice Department and Mr. Mueller last year . It says , in part , that Mr. Comey was dishonest in May 2017 when he said he never took steps for FBI surrogates to leak stories about Mr. Trump to the news media .
The ███ showed the complaints to Mr. Comey ’ s legal team , which didn ’ t respond .
In a court filing to quash a Republican congressional subpoena , Mr. Comey rejected as untrue a charge from Mr. Trump that he had leaked classified information .
Trump supporters say that if Mr. Mueller can target Mr. Cohen for lying , then why doesn ’ t the Justice Department go after others ? They mention not only Mr. Comey but also James R. Clapper , former head of national intelligence ; Democratic attorney Michael Avenatti ; dossier creator Christopher Steele ; and his handler , Fusion GPS founder Glenn R. Simpson .
Of the four in addition to Mr. Comey , three involve public charges from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley , Iowa Republican . They are :
⦁ Mr. Clapper . The Barack Obama appointee testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in 2013 that the National Security Agency doesn ’ t “ wittingly ” spy on Americans in the United States .
The testimony was “ clearly erroneous , ” as he admitted later in a letter . The NSA collects bulk domestic phone records and some internet communications .
“ I really question his ability to — his fitness to be — in this office , ” he said on CNN . “ I worry about , frankly , access to the nuclear codes . ”
⦁ Mr. Avenatti . A fierce Trump critic , the lawyer presented sworn statements to the Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of Julie Swetnick , who made a series of sensational gang rape charges against then-U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh . She later retracted some of the charges .
Mr. Grassley sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department accusing Mr. Avenatti of a conspiracy to submit false statements .
Mr. Avenatti , who also represents porn actress Stormy Daniels in her claim of having had an affair with Mr. Trump , dismissed Mr. Grassley as “ incompetent ” and welcomed an investigation .
⦁ Mr. Steele . The former British spy was paid by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee to dig up dirt on Mr. Trump . He relied on a number of Kremlin sources to level charges for a dossier in his effort to destroy the Trump campaign .
Mr. Grassley sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department , saying Mr. Steele lied to the FBI during the election campaign by telling agents he had not spoken to the news media when in fact he had . Based on his word , the FBI relied on a Yahoo news story to bolster a wiretap warrant only to learn later that Mr. Steele was its source .
⦁ Mr. Simpson . Mr. Grassley sent a letter to a Democratic senator saying Mr. Simpson ’ s committee testimony conflicted with an FBI report . Mr. Simpson testified that he had no anti-Trump clients after the November 2016 election .
But former Senate Democratic aide Daniel Jones , who , like Mr. Simpson , is an opposition research specialist , told the FBI last year that he had raised $ 50 million from donors to investigate Mr. Trump and hired Mr. Simpson ’ s firm .
Trump supporters save their most intense wrath for Mr. Comey , who has emerged as a chief Trump accuser in a memoir and in testimony since the president fired him in May 2017 .
As FBI director , Mr. Comey testified that he had never leaked information to the press or arranged for surrogates to leak .
After his firing , he orchestrated an elaborate leak of his memos for the record to The New York Times , using a middleman . They represented his same-day notes of his one-on-one meetings with the president . Among the charges , he accused Mr. Trump of trying to stifle an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn .
Mr. Comey said he leaked the memos to force the appointment of a special counsel , which happened days later . Mr. Comey then became a witness against Mr. Trump for Mr. Mueller , his predecessor as FBI director . As deputy attorney general , Mr. Comey worked closely with Mr. Mueller during the George W. Bush administration .
In June 2017 , Marc E. Kasowitz of New York , then a Trump attorney , sent a hand-delivered , 15-page letter to Mr. Mueller listing a number of complaints against Mr. Comey and asking for an investigation . The letter ’ s purpose was to disparage Mr. Comey as a credible witness .
One letter topic was “ Comey ’ s Pattern of Inaccurate and Incomplete Testimony . ”
“ Mr . Comey has exhibited a pattern of exaggerated , embellished and materially incomplete and self-serving testimony that cripples the credibility of his accounts on matters large and small , ” Mr. Kasowitz wrote .
Mr. Kasowitz said Mr. Comey recounted his Trump meetings with “ surrogates ” at the FBI in March 2017 . Two days after he was fired , surrogates “ as he and they have previously planned to do ” leaked details to The New York Times about a private dinner Mr. Comey had with the president the previous January , Mr. Kasowitz said . The story matched Mr. Comey ’ s later description in congressional testimony .
As to Mr. Comey ’ s May 2017 Senate testimony that he never facilitated Trump leaks while director , Mr. Kasowitz wrote : “ While Mr. Comey ’ s testimony might have been technically correct , it was plainly incomplete and misleading to not have disclosed that he had , in fact , leaked this information to surrogates for the obvious purpose of leaking it in the future in the event he were removed as FBI director . ”
Mr. Kasowitz surmised that Mr. Comey ’ s surrogates must have leaked details of the Trump Tower meeting with the president-elect since the only participants were Mr. Comey and Mr. Trump .
Mr. Dowd told The ███ that Mr. Mueller informed him in August 2017 that there would be no investigation of Mr. Comey .
Mr. Dowd then sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein , who appointed Mr. Mueller . The letter ’ s subject line was “ Request for Federal Grand Jury Investigation of Former Director James B. Comey . ”
“ It is particularly troubling that it was Mr. Comey ’ s plainly deliberate , unlawful conduct and false congressional testimony which precipitated your appointment of Special Counsel Mueller , ” Mr. Dowd wrote . “ Indeed , Mr. Comey publicly bragged about it . ”
Mr. Rosenstein replied via an aide that the Justice Department doesn ’ t confirm or deny investigations .
It is not only Mr. Trump ’ s legal team complaining about Mr. Comey ’ s conduct .
Corey R. Lewandowski , former Trump campaign manager , tweeted Friday : “ U.S . judge delays ruling on ex-FBI director ’ s request to quash Republican subpoena . Why doesn ’ t Lyon ’ Jim want to testify ? He has lied repeatedly to Congress . When will he be prosecuted ? ”
Mr. Comey last week lashed out at House Republicans in a motion filed in U.S. District Court to quash their subpoena .
A Republican-led House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform task force wanted him to testify behind closed doors on how the FBI launched and conducted its Trump-Russia investigation . Mr. Comey said Sunday that he will testify as requested on Tuesday . Republicans said a private session is appropriate so he can answer questions dealing with classified matters .
In their court filing , Mr. Comey ’ s attorneys referred to “ a poisonous combination of presidential tweets and the selective leaking that has become standard practice for the joint committees . ”
“ The public record shows members of the Joint Committee leaking what suits them and maintaining the secrecy only of what does not , ” they said . Republicans “ plan to make him the next victim of their unauthorized and abusive tactics , ” the filing said .
In the ongoing investigation into Russia election interference , the FBI relied on the Democrat-financed dossier written by Mr. Steele .
Republicans say Mr. Steele unleashed a number of bogus charges against Mr. Trump and his aides based on disinformation from the Kremlin .
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is investigating the FBI ’ s Russia probe and particularly the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act wiretap on Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page . The FBI ’ s warrant applications to a judge were based largely on the unverified dossier .
The Horowitz report on the FBI ’ s investigation into Mrs. Clinton ’ s emails found Mr. Comey guilty of insubordination for hiding from Justice officials his plans to unilaterally clear the Democratic presidential candidate .
Mr. Comey also committed “ a serious error in judgment ” by sending a letter to Congress without Justice approval , Mr. Horowitz said . The inspector general also said Mr. Comey violated Justice guidelines by using his personal email account to conduct FBI business .
Cohen , Mr. Trump ’ s personal attorney for more than a decade and now a main adversary , pleaded guilty last week to providing the wrong date for when talks between the Trump Organization and Russians ended on building a hotel in Moscow .
He told a Senate committee that the talks ended in January 2016 . In fact , talks continued until June as Mr. Trump was about to secure the Republican nomination . Cohen lied to avoid the narrative that Mr. Trump was negotiating with the Russians deep into the campaign . At the same time , Russia had hacked Democratic computers and was preparing to release stolen emails via WikiLeaks .
Participants have said the idea for a Moscow hotel was started by Cohen ’ s longtime friend , Russia-born real estate developer Felix Sater . Mr. Trump has said the hotel talks were legal but that he took part only sparingly .
Mr. Trump and his chief aides have denied Mr. Steele ’ s allegations that they engaged in an “ extensive conspiracy ” to hack computers and troll on social media . No Trump associate has been charged with that offense . | gVjCr0n4T9NDVxHu | 2 | James Comey | -0.8 | Politics | 0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
banking_and_finance | CNN Business | https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/23/tech/nvidia-earnings-ai-chips/index.html | Nvidia’s quarterly sales double on the back of AI boom | 2023-08-24 | Banking And Finance, Stock Market, Technology, Big Tech, Nvidia, Artificial Intelligence | Tune in to CNN on Sunday, August 27, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. to watch a Fareed Zakaria GPS Special, “Artificial Intelligence: Its Promise … and Peril,” which takes an in-depth look at the brave and frightening new world facing us all.New York CNN —The artificial intelligence boom continues to fuel a blockbuster year for chipmaker Nvidia.Nvidia’s stock jumped as much as 9% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the Santa Clara, California-based company posted year-over-year sales growth of 101%, to $13.5 billion for the three months ended in July — a new record for the company.The results were even stronger than the $11.2 billion in revenue that Wall Street analysts expected. The company’s non-GAAP adjusted profits grew a stunning 429% from the same period in the prior year to $2.70 per share, also beating analysts’ expectations. GAAP stands for generally accepted accounting principles.Nvidia expects revenue to be even higher in the current quarter: forecasting revenue of $16 billion for its fiscal third quarter.“Demand for our data center platform for AI is tremendous and broad-based across industries and customers.” Nvidia’s chief financial officer Colette Kress said on the company’s earnings conference call about the forecast.Nvidia’s stock has climbed by just over 220% since the start of this year amid a surge in the popularity of and demand for artificial intelligence technology. The American chipmaker produces processors that power generative AI, technology that can create text, images and other media — and which forms the foundation of buzzy new services such as ChatGPT.Nvidia also announced that its board authorized a $25 billion share buyback program. Buyback programs can signal that a company’s management believes its stock is currently undervalued.“A new computing era has begun. Companies worldwide are transitioning from general-purpose to accelerated computing and generative AI,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement, adding that the company is working with “Leading enterprise IT system and software providers … to bring NVIDIA AI to every industry.”“The race is on to adopt generative AI,” he said.Huang had said following the company’s May earnings report that the firm was ramping up its supply to meet “surging demand.”“Nvidia’s hardware has become indispensable to the AI-driven economy,” Insider Intelligence senior analyst Jacob Bourne said in emailed commentary. “The pressing question is whether Nvidia can consistently exceed the now-higher expectations.”The chipmaker’s gaming division, once its main business, grew to $2.5 billion — an 11% increase from the previous quarter and a 22% jump year-over-year.“We believe global demand has returned to growth after last year’s slowdown,” Kress said of Nvidia’s gaming unit.However, not all of Nvidia’s businesses grew. Second-quarter revenue for the chipmaker’s professional visualization unit, which makes high-end graphics, was $379 million, down 24% from one year ago. | fb09ce68af5c0b1f | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
white_house | Guest Writer - Left | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/17/opinion/editorials/government-shutdown-2018.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage | OPINION: Chaos? A Trump Specialty | 2018-12-17 | white_house | On the Senate side , Mr. Schumer ’ s office has maintained that everything depends on whether the Republican leader , Mitch McConnell , can persuade the president to embrace a deal that Democrats can live with . The offer currently on the table is for a one-year “ continuing resolution , ” or C.R. , that would delay the fight by temporarily funding parts of the government at current levels .
Some Hill Republicans thought the smart move was for Mr. Trump to push for a much shorter , two-week continuing resolution that would kick the battle into early January , allowing Republicans to try to shift some of the blame onto the incoming Democratic House majority . But the president reportedly wasn ’ t keen on this option .
Early this week , the White House was signaling that the president wasn ’ t in an accommodating mood . The administration sent the hard-liner Stephen Miller on “ Face the Nation ” Sunday to declare that , absent wall funding , a shutdown was “ absolutely ” on the table . During his executive time on Monday , Mr. Trump tweeted that a wall was vital for “ good Boarder Security . ”
By Tuesday , the president had reversed course and begun searching for a way out of the hole he ’ d dug — but in a way that wouldn ’ t look like he was caving . His press secretary , Sarah Huckabee Sanders , said he ’ d be open to something resembling the bipartisan compromise hammered out by Senate appropriators earlier this year , which included $ 1.6 billion to fortify existing barriers . The rest of the $ 5 billion , she said , could be siphoned from other agencies , an idea that prompted immediate blowback from Democrats . Mr. Schumer and Ms. Pelosi also smacked down Mr. McConnell ’ s offer of a spending plan that contained an extra $ 1 billion for what they deemed an immigration “ slush fund . ”
Lawmakers from both parties say some kind of continuing resolution is still the most likely way forward . But what exactly the president would agree to remains foggy , and Ms. Sanders refused to provide any clarity at a press briefing Tuesday afternoon .
Whatever his plan — assuming he has one — the president is clearly looking to wring every ounce of drama he can from this game of chicken . These standoffs jibe neatly with his belief that negotiations , and life in general , are a never-ending battle of nerve . He lives to make the other side blink and is eager to signal that he ’ ll do whatever it takes to get his way — even when he ultimately winds up capitulating .
Shutdown showdowns are especially fertile ground for Mr. Trump because they pit him against a political establishment that , as he sees it , obstinately refuses to pay proper deference to his genius . He has repeatedly voiced frustration at Congress ’ s unwillingness to lie back and let him run things as he sees fit . Threatening to throw the government into chaos — to furlough , or in the case of personnel deemed “ essential , ” withhold paychecks from hundreds of thousands of workers — lets him exact a bit of cathartic payback , reminding lawmakers just how uncomfortable he can make their lives . | N7VIeRhj4DbjOmbh | 0 | Donald Trump | -0.7 | White House | -0.2 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null |
elections | Guest Writer - Right | http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/03/14/silent-majority-is-mad-as-hell.html | OPINION: The silent majority is mad as hell | 2016-03-14 | elections | Violence broke out over the weekend at several Donald Trump campaign rallies . Leftwing thugs battled with police in Chicago and St. Louis .
One unhinged lunatic tried to storm the stage at a rally in Dayton , Ohio . He was stopped by Secret Service agents . Heaven only knows what he would ’ ve done had he gotten ahold of Mr. Trump .
To be clear – what happened over the weekend was not just an attack on Mr. Trump . It was an attack on the First Amendment .
But instead of condemning the professional hooligans -- the political chattering class condemned Mr. Trump .
A despondent Senator Marco Rubio went so far as to liken Mr. Trump to a third world strong man .
He ’ s come under fierce attack for suggesting that his supporters physically manhandle protesters . In February he told an audience that he wanted to punch one of the protesters in the face .
That sort of language has no place in any political campaign .
The person responsible for fomenting political unrest and creating this toxic environment is not Donald Trump -- it 's President Obama .
For the past seven and a half years this man has been stoking division and discord .
You want to talk about creating controversy ? Fine . Let 's talk about Baltimore and Ferguson , Missouri and Trayvon Martin .
President Obama is the one who told his followers if they bring a knife to the fight -- we bring a gun -- - that 's what he said .
I do n't recall too many Republicans getting upset over that remark .
Many conservative pundits still do not understand why Americans are flocking to Donald Trump .
They seem bewildered that we 've ignored Establishment Overlords like Mitt Romney and the uppity-ups at National Review
So for the sake of all you Republicans in Name Only - let me explain what 's going on here .
The folks who pay the bills in this country are fed up . We 're tired of being called racists and homophobic and xenophobic .
The Silent Majority is mad as hell -- and we 're not going to take it anymore . | TL65jM98dOTCChsz | 2 | Elections | 0.6 | Presidential Elections | 0.4 | Violence | -0.2 | null | null | null | null |
donald_trump | National Review (News) | https://www.nationalreview.com/news/trump-denies-responsibility-for-capitol-riot-says-impeachment-push-causing-tremendous-anger/ | Trump Denies Responsibility for Capitol Riot, Says Impeachment Push Causing ‘Tremendous Anger’ | 2021-01-12 | Donald Trump, Capitol Chaos, White House, Articles Of Impeachment, Violence In America | National Review BlackRock, Vanguard Pause Corporate Meetings to Avoid Violating SEC Guidance Targeting ESG Activism Trump Administration Designates Eight Cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations House Oversight Investigating Underreported Foreign Funding at American Universities Trump Administration Pulls Approval of NYC Congestion Toll Ernst Pushes for Kelly Loeffler’s Confirmation as SBA Administrator Ahead of Senate Vote President Trump said Tuesday that Democrats’ second attempt to impeach him over his role in last week’s violence at the Capitol is causing “tremendous anger” before defending the contents of the speech he delivered ahead of the riot, in which he urged his supporters to congregate at the Capitol in a show of “strength.” “It’s really a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics. It’s ridiculous. It’s absolutely ridiculous,” Trump told reporters at the White House as he was leaving for a visit to the southern border. “This impeachment is causing tremendous anger,” Trump said, adding, “It’s really a terrible thing that they’re doing.” On Monday, House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment against Trump, charging him with “incitement of insurrection” over the riot by fervent Trump supporters at the Capitol last week that resulted in five dead. The House is set to vote on the impeachment article on Wednesday. A resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office was blocked by House Republicans. On Wednesday, a large group of Trump supporters overpowered Capitol Police and forced their way into the halls of Congress. Pence and the assembled lawmakers evacuated the Senate floor, where a joint session of Congress was being held to certify the presidential election results. The violence followed a rally outside the White House earlier in the day where President Trump addressed the “Save America March” and repeated his claims that November’s election was rife with voter fraud that threatened to deprive him of his rightful second term. “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” the president said, but he also warned, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” “They’ve analyzed my speech and my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence. And everybody to the tee thought it was totally appropriate,” the president told reporters later on Tuesday about his rhetoric before and during the riot that prompted bipartisan condemnation. Send a tip to the news team at NR. Gotham-mayhem pics still jolt while Hollywood-glam pics merely amuse. Europe can again become the place the world talks about when it talks about the economic frontier. Europeans have nothing to lose but their August of leisure. There’s moral equivalence, and then there’s a total moral inversion. Trump breaks things only to pretend he is fixing them. On the sights, sounds, and tastes of a mammoth capital, and a bit beyond. There is no way to meet the goal of reducing deficits by $1 trillion without significant cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. © 2025 National Review Newsletters © 2025 National Review | fe620b9f2a1f6af0 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
gun_control_and_gun_rights | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/26/miller-bloomberg-loses-stop-and-frisk-and-nra-gets/ | Bloomberg loses stop and frisk, and NRA gets blamed | 2013-08-26 | gun_control_and_gun_rights | New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has spent tens of millions of his billions trying to get his gun bans instituted in the rest of America , even though these laws have never stopped criminals from getting guns . That ’ s why he has had to resort to policing tactics such as stop and frisk to get the firearms away from the bad guys . Unfortunately , his one area of success is no longer allowed , and he ’ s looking for someone to blame .
On Thursday , the City Council overrode the mayor ’ s veto of two bills that will create a New York Police Department inspector general to oversee tactics such as stop and frisk and allow more categories of people to sue the city for racial profiling . Mr. Bloomberg said the vote will lead to minorities being put at higher risk , since they have benefited most from crime reduction .
This political move came less than two weeks after U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin ruled that the city ’ s “ Stop-Question-Frisk ” program was a violation of the Fourth Amendment and considered racial profiling for targeting blacks and Hispanics .
After the Aug. 12 decision , Mr. Bloomberg immediately said he would appeal , pointing out that the judge ignored precedents set by other federal courts around the country that found the tactic fully legal . The mayor said that stop and frisk has resulted in 8,000 illegal guns being taken off the streets in the past 10 years and the murder rate being cut in half since he began his three terms .
“ I don ’ t often agree with Mike Bloomberg , but stop and frisk has made New York City that much safer , ” Mike Long , the chairman of the Conservative Party of New York , told me in an interview after the City Council vote . “ It has clearly saved the lives of people of color and is absolutely an important tool for making New York City one of the safest cities in the country. ” Mr. Long added that without this enforcement mechanism , “ we will be like Chicago in very short order . ”
Meanwhile , Mr. Bloomberg is so accustomed to blaming the National Rifle Association for all the world ’ s evils that he tried to link the organization to the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuits . He said last month that the New York Civil Liberties Union ’ s “ priority is not protecting our safety . It is protecting their ideology . And in that regard , they are no better than the NRA. ” He also said at the July 15 church event , “ The right to bear arms and the right to privacy do not trump the right of citizens to walk down their own street , or walk down their own hallway , without getting blown away . ”
“ The mayor is totally wrong . He has his own agenda against guns and against the NRA , ” said Mr. Long . “ We have the toughest restrictions probably in the nation already in New York , so he ’ s out of order trying to pick a fight with the NRA . ”
The NRA is the liberals ’ favorite bogeyman . In a column titled , “ What opponents of ‘ stop and frisk , ’ gun control share , ” Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen said of the unrelated work of the NRA and the ACLU : “ Between the two , guns will remain on the street and more people will die. ” Mr. Cohen gives no evidence as to why defending the rights of law-abiding gun-owners leads to more innocent deaths . The headline and association were all that was necessary to leave the reader with a false impression .
Actually , the NRA has never taken an official position on stop-and-frisk policies , nor has it lobbied for or against the tactic . Its 5 million members view it as a gray area in Second Amendment advocacy . The police do not have the right to go willy-nilly down the street , grabbing law-abiding people to check for guns . On the other hand , looking at people likely to commit crime and checking for illegal firearms is a proven method to make cities safer .
The NRA advocates for tougher sentencing for possession of illegal guns . In this regard , Mr. Bloomberg conceded in July 2012 that “ The NRA believes — rightly — that enforcing the law means prosecuting criminals to the fullest extent. ” Since 2006 , New York has had a three-and-a-half year minimum prison sentence for having an illicit loaded gun .
None of the other agenda items on Mr. Bloomberg ’ s national checklist — assault-weapon and high-capacity magazine bans and background checks for private exchanges — have ever reduced crime . Think about it : If banning guns that have a magazine with more than seven rounds or a pistol grip stopped the bad guys from getting weapons , why does the New York Police Department have to stop and frisk anyone ?
The federal appeals court should overturn this absurd ruling that taking illegal guns off bad guys is racist . And Mr. Bloomberg should try harder to hide his disgust for law-abiding gun owners .
Emily Miller is a senior editor of opinion for The ███ and author of the forthcoming “ Emily Gets Her Gun … But Obama Want to Take Yours ” ( Regnery , Sept. 3 ) . | V5JGfhUg0001h9Vz | 2 | Gun Control And Gun Rights | 0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/democrats-see-a-more-substantive-if-sleepy-debate-than-rowdy-gop-show/2015/10/12/f1b114da-7070-11e5-9cbb-790369643cf9_story.html | Democrats see a more substantive, if sleepy, debate than rowdy GOP show | 2015-10-13 | Presidential Elections, Elections | clockThis article was published more than 9 years ago LAS VEGAS — The Republican presidential debates have become appointment television. Tens of millions of Americans have tuned in to watch Donald Trump whack his unwieldy field of opponents — pooh-poohing Jeb Bush's energy level, for example, or disparaging Rand Paul's appearance. So, what happens if the biggest fireworks in the first Democratic debate here Tuesday night are over which candidates opposed the Keystone XL pipeline first, which would resurrect the Glass-Steagall banking act, or how each would pay for his or her higher-education overhauls? | e2a9b87a494a4f40 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
terrorism | Fox News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/06/14/trump-clinton-trade-blows-on-terror-and-guns-in-wake-orlando-attack.html | Trump, Clinton trade blows on terror and guns in wake of Orlando attack | 2016-06-14 | terrorism | While investigators try to piece together what led the Orlando gunman to carry out an unspeakable act of terror , the attack is upending the 2016 campaign debate as the two presumptive rivals go toe-to-toe on terror with two very different messages .
In back-to-back speeches Monday , Donald Trump doubled down on his call for a Muslim immigration ban while decrying what he described as a `` deadly ignorance '' that is hurting the country -- and Hillary Clinton renewed her call for an assault-weapons ban while vowing to stop `` lone wolf '' terrorists .
Trump , speaking in New Hampshire , focused largely on his plans for an immigration crackdown . Trump said he wants to `` suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism '' against the U.S. or its allies .
“ We have no choice , ” Trump said of the proposed ban . It was n't immediately clear whether Trump was revising his long-standing proposal to temporarily bar foreign Muslims entering the U.S. , which he also defended , or referring to the same plan .
The New York businessman also called the Orlando shooting “ an assault on the ability of free people to live their lives , love who they want and express their identity . ”
“ It we don ’ t get tough , and we don ’ t get smart – and fast – we ’ re not going to have a country anymore – there will be nothing left , ” Trump said .
Trump , speaking at St. Anselm College , was quick to slam his Democratic rival , claiming she “ is in total denial ” and that her ultimate plan is to “ disarm law-abiding Americans ” while admitting immigrants who could pose a threat .
A few hours earlier at her speech in Ohio , Clinton called for an `` intelligence surge '' and a ban on assault weapons as part of a multi-pronged strategy to confront homegrown terrorism .
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee , following the Orlando terror attack , called on Americans to fight terrorism at home with “ clear eyes ” and “ steady hands. ” She delivered a carefully calibrated message , calling for America to get tougher on terrorists while also renewing gun control proposals that have failed to gain steam in Congress .
At the Cleveland campaign event , she drew cheers from the crowd after calling for a ban on assault weapons .
“ Weapons of war have no place on our streets , ” Clinton said .
Clinton also said if she were in the White House , a top priority would be “ identifying and stopping lone wolves , ” like the Orlando shooter .
She also called for increased efforts to remove Islamic State messages from the Internet and said “ peace-loving Muslims are in the best position to help fight radicalization . ”
Trump ’ s speech was originally supposed to focus on his case against the Clintons – but Trump changed his focus following the attack in Orlando that left 49 people dead and dozens injured . The gunman died in a shootout with police .
On Monday , President Obama said investigators believe the gunman was not directed by external extremist groups , instead saying the shooter “ was inspired by various extremist information that was disseminated over the Internet . ”
He added that there is “ no direct evidence ” the shooter “ was part of a larger plot . ”
Clinton warned earlier Monday against demonizing an entire religion , saying doing so would play into the hands of the Islamic State group .
`` We can call it radical jihadism , we can call it radical Islamism , '' Clinton said on CNN 's `` New Day . '' `` But we also want to reach out to the vast majority of American-Muslims and Muslims around this country , this world , to help us defeat this threat , which is so evil and has got to be denounced by everyone , regardless of religion . ''
The horrific shooting consumed the White House race just as Trump and Clinton were fully plunging into the general election . It served as a reminder to the candidates and voters alike that the next president will lead a nation facing unresolved questions about how to handle threats that can feel both foreign and all too familiar .
Trump said Monday he was revoking the press credentials of the Washington Post after the newspaper published an article with a headline `` Donald Trump suggests President Obama was involved with Orlando shooting . ''
`` Based on the incredibly inaccurate coverage and reporting of the record setting Trump campaign , we are hereby revoking the press credentials of the phony and dishonest Washington Post , '' Trump posted on his Facebook page .
Authorities identified the killer in Orlando as Omar Mateen , a 29-year-old American-born Muslim . FBI officials said they had investigated him in 2013 and 2014 on suspicion of terrorist sympathies but could not make a case against him .
Mateen opened fire at the Pulse Orlando club with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle . He called 911 during the attack to profess his allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist organization though it was unclear whether he had any direct contact with ISIS or was just inspired by them . | yo5Wxfpo6ne7XoiZ | 2 | Terrorism | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
ebola | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/27/new-york-gov-cuomo-loosens-ebola-quarantine-restrictions-after-criticism/ | New York Gov. Cuomo loosens Ebola quarantine restrictions after criticism | 2014-10-27 | ebola | New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie 's administration on Monday said a health care worker quarantined under an Ebola watch after she returned from Sierra Leone -- and who threatened a lawsuit -- has been cleared to go home .
The state Department of Health said the patient , Kaci Hickox , has been symptom-free for 24 hours , and `` is being discharged '' after being evaluated in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
The move comes as New Jersey and New York have faced pressure from the Obama administration to dial back their quarantine policies . New York Gov . Andrew Cuomo announced late Sunday he had loosened some of the restrictions in a mandatory 21-day Ebola quarantine that he had ordered along with Christie this past Friday .
In New Jersey , Hickox , a nurse from Maine , blasted the state , saying she was treated `` like a criminal . '' Hickox tested negative for Ebola in a preliminary evaluation , but Christie 's administration continued to stand by its policies .
The health department said Monday that the patient was subject to quarantine at first because she had direct exposure to people suffering from Ebola in West Africa . At this point , though , she has requested to return to Maine , and the state says that will be arranged `` via a private carrier . ''
`` She will remain subject to New Jersey 's mandatory quarantine order while in New Jersey , '' the department said . `` Health officials in Maine have been notified of her arrangements and will make a determination under their own laws on her treatment when she arrives . ''
The department also stressed that while in isolation , the nurse was given access to `` a computer , cell phone , reading material and nourishment of choice . ''
Christie issued a statement on Sunday that stressed that home confinement would be used for New Jersey residents and others when possible .
`` The protocol is clear that a New Jersey resident with no symptoms , but who has come into contact with someone with Ebola , such as a health care provider , would be subject to a mandatory quarantine order and quarantined at home . Non-residents would be transported to their homes if feasible and , if not , quarantined in New Jersey , '' said a statement from Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts .
But New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio , calling Hickox a `` returning hero , '' charged that she was `` treated with disrespect '' when she was put into quarantine . He said that she was interrogated repeatedly and things were not explained well to her .
Cuomo , too , took a softer tone in issuing revised guidelines for his state on Sunday .
Under the new guidelines , medical professionals who have had contact with Ebola patients will be quarantined at home and receive twice-daily monitoring if they have no symptoms . Family members will be allowed to stay , and friends may visit with the approval of health officials . The state will also pay for any lost compensation , if they are not paid by a volunteer organization .
The new guidelines come after White House officials and health experts strongly criticized the mandatory quarantine , which was put in place in response to the infection of a New York City doctor , Craig Spencer . Cuomo had originally criticized Dr. Spencer for not obeying a 21-day voluntary quarantine . But on Sunday , he called the health care workers `` heroes '' and said his administration would encourage more medical workers to volunteer to fight Ebola .
Meanwhile , in New York a 5-year-old boy returning from West Africa reportedly was taken to a local hospital Sunday with possible Ebola symptoms . He was reported to have a 103-degree fever .
Earlier Sunday the White House expressed concern about what it called the `` unintended consequences '' of the mandatory quarantine , telling Fox News that the Obama administration is working on new federal guidelines on returning health-care workers exposed to Ebola , realizing the concern among Americans about a potential outbreak on U.S. soil .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , said early Sunday that the 21-day quarantines originally imposed in Florida , Illinois , New Jersey , and New York can have the `` unintended consequence '' of discouraging health care workers from volunteering , particularly in the West African countries , where an estimated 4,500 people have so far this year died from Ebola .
`` We do not want to put them in a position where it makes it very , very uncomfortable for them to even volunteer , '' he told “ Fox News Sunday . ''
Christie told Fox News that he has “ great respect ” for Fauci but defended his decision to impose the quarantine , saying he has an obligation to protect residents amid Centers for Disease Control guidelines that remain a “ moving target . ”
`` Imagine that you 're the person in charge of public health for people of a large , densely populated state … and these protocols continue to move and change , ” Christie said . “ It was my conclusion we need to do this to protect the public health of people of New Jersey . ( New York ) Governor Cuomo agreed . And now , ( Chicago ) Mayor Emanuel agrees . And I think the CDC eventually will come around to our point of view on this . ''
Officials at New York City 's Bellevue Hospital Center said Sunday that Spencer was in serious but stable condition , was looking better than he did the day before , and tolerated a plasma treatment well .
The World Health Organization said more than 10,000 people have been infected with Ebola in the outbreak that came to light last March , and nearly half of them have died , mostly in Guinea , Sierra Leone and Liberia . | jgGY80qh7pBVjLZg | 2 | Andrew Cuomo | -0.3 | Public Health | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
lgbt_rights | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/20/us/pennsylvania-same-sex-marriage/index.html?hpt=po_c2 | Federal judge rules same-sex marriage ban in Pennsylvania is unconstitutional | 2014-05-20 | lgbt_rights | Story highlights Judge : `` We are a better people than what these laws represent ''
Group slams ruling , urges governor to `` give marriage the defense it requires ''
Governor is `` reviewing the decision , '' expected to make statement Wednesday
Federal judges in several other states similarly struck down such bans
A federal judge struck down Pennsylvania 's ban on same-sex marriage Tuesday , making it the latest in a host of states in which such prohibitions have been declared unconstitutional in the past year .
As with many of those previous rulings , U.S. District Judge John E. Jones cited the constitutional touchstones of due process and equal protection in striking down the prohibition .
`` In future generations , the label same-sex marriage will be abandoned , to be replaced simply by marriage , '' Jones wrote . `` We are a better people than what these laws represent , and it is time to discard them into the ash heap of history . ''
Other courts ' decisions have been stayed , pending appeals -- meaning gay and lesbian couples ca n't marry in those states until an appeals court weighs in . Same-sex couples in Oregon began getting marriage licenses Monday after a similar federal court ruling , which that state did not appeal though the National Organization for Marriage subsequently did .
Jones issued an order Tuesday permanently barring authorities in Pennsylvania from preventing same-sex couples from getting marriage licenses . That means people could apply for licenses right away , even if weddings do n't happen so fast : Pennsylvania has a waiting period of three business days between applying for and obtaining a marriage license .
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As Jones explained , `` By virtue of this ruling , same-sex couples who seek to marry in Pennsylvania may do so , and already married same-sex couples will be recognized as such in the Commonwealth . ''
Gov . Tom Corbett tweeted early Tuesday evening that he `` is in the process of thoroughly reviewing the decision of the court , '' adding that a statement is anticipated Wednesday .
Attorney General Kathleen Kane earlier made her own definitive statement , saying she will `` not ... defend Pennsylvania 's Defense of Marriage Act because I made a legal determination as to the unconstitutionality of this law . ''
`` Today brings justice to Pennsylvanians who have suffered from unequal protection under the law because of their sexual orientation , '' Kane said .
LGBT advocates likewise praised Tuesday ruling . Those rejoicing include 11 couples who sued in July to overturn the 1996 Pennsylvania law restricting marriage to one man and one woman . Among those is Christine Donato , who has been with her partner for 17 years .
`` We are overjoyed that we will finally be able to get married in our home state in front of our family and friends , '' said Donato , who has a 6-year-old son with her partner , according to a press release from the American Civil Liberties Union .
The National Organization for Marriage condemned Jones ' decision , as well as the fact Pennsylvanians -- unlike those in other states -- have never been able to cast votes to enshrine a ban on same-sex marriage in the state constitution .
`` The administration owes it to the people of Pennsylvania to pursue this matter vigorously through the court system , and give marriage the defense it requires and deserves , '' said Brian Brown , the group 's president .
After being prohibited everywhere about a decade ago , same-sex marriage is now legal in 17 states -- 19 if you count Pennsylvania and Oregon -- and the District of Columbia .
This shift has paralleled significant movement in public opinion on the matter ; an ABC News/Washington Post survey released in March indicated 59 % of Americans favor allowing gay or lesbian couples to legally wed , a sharp turn from the wave of public opinion that led to a wave of voter-instituted constitutional amendments to the contrary in numerous states .
There 's been significant movement in federal courts as well . The turning point was last June 's landmark `` Windsor '' decision , which rejected parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in citing equal protection guarantees to conclude same-sex spouses legally married in a state may receive federal benefits , such as tax breaks .
This 5-4 ruling energized a push by same-sex marriage supporters , with about 70 such cases now making their way through U.S. courts .
A state judge in Arkansas has ruled against his state 's restrictions on marriage based on sexual orientation , though a higher court later stayed his ruling pending the appeal . New Mexico 's Supreme Court has issued a ruling allowing same-sex marriages there .
Still , most of the action has taken place in federal courts . And the decisions that have come have been one-sided , with judges again and again striking state same-sex marriage bans in states including Idaho , Utah , Oklahoma , Virginia , Texas and Michigan -- rulings that are all on hold , for now .
For several of these states , appeals courts already have begun hearing arguments for and against . Whatever their opinions are , University of California-Berkeley law Professor Jesse Chopper says , `` the Supreme Court is ultimately going to decide . ''
In his ruling Tuesday pertaining to Pennsylvania , Jones echoed many assertions made recently by his federal court colleagues .
`` The fundamental right to marry as protected by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution encompasses the right to marry a person of one 's own sex , '' Jones wrote , adding that both Pennsylvania 's banning of same-sex marriage within its borders and its failure to recognize such unions performed in other states are unconstitutional .
The judge added that there is no `` important governmental interest '' that would warrant preventing gay and lesbian couples from marrying .
`` That same-sex marriage causes discomfort in some does not make its prohibition constitutional , '' Jones wrote . `` Nor can past tradition trump the bedrock constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection . Were that not so , ours would still be a racially segregated nation according to the now rightfully discarded doctrine of 'separate but equal . ' '' | TOBjlwv8vpwveWLs | 0 | Same-Sex Marriage | -0.1 | LGBTQ Issues | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
foreign_policy | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/18/benghazi-report-cites-state-dept-for-security-failures-confirms-no-protest/ | Report on Libya attack cites 'systemic failures' in security, confirms no protest | 2012-12-18 | foreign_policy | A State Department-ordered investigation into September 's attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi , Libya , concluded that `` systemic failures '' left the facility inadequately protected , according to the independent review board 's report , which confirmed that no protest preceded the deadly attack .
The report , posted Tuesday night on the State Department 's website , also identified `` leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus . '' It suggested 29 ways the department can improve its operations , but recommended no disciplinary action .
The Accountability Review Board 's report comes after more than three months of intense debate in Washington over who was behind the attack , what motivated the attackers and why U.S. authorities were n't able to stop the violence , which took the lives of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans .
Republicans have accused Obama administration officials of giving the American people a series of misleading explanations for the attack from the start . Much of the criticism focused on U.N . Ambassador Susan Rice 's comments five days after the Sept. 11 attack that the violence was a `` spontaneous '' result of protests against an anti-Islam film . She later backtracked , saying her comments were based on the most current information provided by the intelligence community .
Although the motive for the attack remains unclear , the report released Tuesday confirms what quickly became evident -- that the attack was the coordinated work of heavily armed terrorists .
The report confirmed that the attack involved `` arson , small arms and machine gun fire , and the use of RPGs , grenades , and mortars . ''
The security failures , though , were singled out repeatedly in the report .
Despite clear and present threats , the review board found the security staffing at the Benghazi consulate was `` short-term , transitory '' and `` relatively inexperienced '' -- and ultimately `` inadequate . ''
It also found `` a pervasive realization among personnel who served in Benghazi that the Special Mission was not a high priority for Washington when it came to security-related requests , especially those relating to staffing . ''
Clinton vowed Tuesday to address the deficiencies identified in the report .
`` The Accountability Review Board report provides a clear-eyed look at serious , systemic challenges that we have already begun to fix . I am grateful for its recommendations for how we can reduce the chances of this kind of tragedy happening again . I accept every one of them , '' Clinton said in letters to the Senate and House panels reviewing the attack .
Although much of the focus is on the State Department 's preparedness , the review board did n't let Libyans off the hook . Some of the security was provided by a militia , and there were `` some troubling indicators of its reliability in the months and weeks preceding the September attacks , '' the report said .
The review board `` found little evidence '' that the guards provided by the militia `` offered any meaningful defense '' of the compound .
Among the board 's recommendations for the State Department are to strengthen its security detail in high-risk posts , to build more-secure facilities , to request the support of additional Marines and to step up security training .
The report also gives a detailed description of the attacks , which the report said `` were unanticipated in their scale and intensity . ''
At one point , the report says , U.S. officials were unable to find Ambassador Stevens `` for several hours . '' Then they received a call from a cell phone Stevens had been carrying . An Arabic-speaking man said there was an unresponsive man matching Stevens ' description at the hospital .
At first there was concern that this call was an attempt to lure U.S. personnel into a trap , but they later confirmed that Stevens was at the Benghazi Medical Center and had died after being caught in the fire at the consulate .
The report , however , shoots down criticisms that the U.S. military should have been called in sooner to help .
`` The interagency response was timely and appropriate , but there simply was not enough time given the speed of the attacks for armed U.S. military assets to have made a difference , '' the report says .
The board , though , determined the Libyan government 's response that night was `` profoundly lacking . ''
Lawmakers generally praised the review board after the report 's release , but reserved tough words for the State Department and other agencies .
`` The report makes clear the massive failure of the State Department at all levels , including senior leadership , to take action to protect our government employees abroad , '' House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers , R-Mich. , said in a statement .
Further , he said the U.S. is `` on the verge of compounding these errors by not acting against those involved in the attacks , '' complaining of a `` lack of progress '' in pursuing the terrorists responsible . | O6y7ZrHoa34pIPwH | 2 | Benghazi | -1.8 | Libya | -1.6 | Foreign Policy | -0.8 | null | null | null | null |
us_house | Vox | https://www.vox.com/2019/2/27/18242619/michael-cohen-opening-statement-trump-russia-mueller | Michael Cohen’s opening statement makes explosive claims about Trump, WikiLeaks, and more | 2019-02-27 | us_house | Michael Cohen ’ s prepared opening statement for his testimony before the House Oversight Committee Wednesday is out — and wow , is it a doozy . The New York Times obtained Cohen ’ s statement and posted it online early Wednesday morning .
Perhaps Cohen ’ s most explosive claim is that he heard Roger Stone tell Donald Trump about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange ’ s plans to release hacked emails during the presidential campaign — the most direct allegation yet that Trump was in the loop about WikiLeaks ’ plans . Special counsel Robert Mueller has been investigating this issue , and has attributed the theft of these emails to Russian intelligence officers .
Cohen makes further claims , with varying levels of corroboration , about Trump ’ s awareness of the Trump Tower Moscow discussions , the potential setup for Donald Trump Jr. ’ s meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in New York , purported racist remarks Trump made in private , and various dirty work Cohen did on Trump ’ s behalf .
According to the opening statement , Cohen also plans to present a copy of a check personally signed by Trump in August 2017 — while Trump was president — to pay Cohen back for the hush money payoff to porn actress Stormy Daniels .
Cohen was Trump ’ s loyal personal attorney and “ fixer ” for more than a decade before he came under investigation last year and had a bitter falling-out with his former boss . Cohen ended up pleading guilty to financial crimes , bank fraud , campaign finance violations , and lying to Congress . He was sentenced to three years in prison , and he ’ s scheduled to begin serving that sentence in May .
With no further reason to keep Trump ’ s secrets , Cohen now seems to want to spill all he knows about Trump , under oath . But of course , he ’ s already admitted lying to Congress in the past , so he ’ ll be challenged to corroborate his statements .
Cohen plans to say that although he does not have “ direct evidence that Mr. Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia , ” he certainly has his “ suspicions . ”
Most dramatically , Cohen plans to say for the first time publicly that he overheard a call between Trump and Stone on speakerphone in which they discussed WikiLeaks . His account has a few specifics :
That this call took place in July 2016 , days before the Democratic convention
That Roger Stone claimed to Trump that “ he had just gotten off the phone with Julian Assange ” — an allegation that Stone was directly in touch with WikiLeaks
That Stone went on to claim that , per Assange , there would soon be “ a massive dump of emails that would damage Hillary Clinton ’ s campaign ” ( in Cohen ’ s phrasing ) . This would have been shortly before WikiLeaks began posting the Democratic National Committee ’ s hacked emails — emails that , per Mueller , were hacked by Russian intelligence officers .
The question of what , exactly , Stone knew about WikiLeaks ’ plans regarding email leaks has been a mystery for some time . And Mueller ’ s recent indictment of Stone for lying to Congress did not entirely clear up the matter : The special counsel cited emails in which Stone was trying to get in touch with Assange , but didn ’ t make any definitive claims about what Stone learned .
But here , Cohen is claiming that Stone seemed to know something , that Stone claimed to have gotten information to Assange directly , and that Stone was telling Trump himself about all this . ( Stone has in the past denied doing all of these things . )
Is this “ collusion ” ? The answer may be in the eye of the beholder . Cohen is not alleging that Trump did anything regarding the hacked emails . But this is yet another allegation that someone in Trump ’ s camp seemed to be aware , to some extent , of Assange ’ s plans . Of course , so far we only have Cohen ’ s word on this .
Trump encouraged him to publicly make misleading claims about talks to build a Trump Tower in Moscow .
Trump “ did not directly ” tell him to lie to Congress about Trump Tower Moscow ( contra a recent BuzzFeed report ) .
Cohen saw Donald Trump Jr. tell his father about setting up a meeting during the campaign ( Cohen claims this may be the infamous meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower , but can ’ t prove it ) .
Trump once asked Cohen if he “ could name a country run by a black person that wasn ’ t a ‘ shithole . ” ’
And there ’ s much more . You can read the full opening statement , posted by the Times , here and watch the hearing live on ███ ’ s Facebook .
Michael Cohen testifies before the House Oversight Committee Michael Cohen – former attorney to President Trump – will answer key questions about Trump 's business practices and hush money payments . The hearing promises to be explosive . Posted by ███ on Wednesday , February 27 , 2019
For more on the Mueller probe , follow Andrew Prokop on Twitter and check out ███ ’ s guide to the Trump-Russia investigation . | 9tANctpYu828lYnk | 0 | Michael Cohen | -0.8 | Politics | -0.6 | US House | 0 | null | null | null | null |
elections | FiveThirtyEight | https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/will-the-2020-democrats-reject-obamas-immigration-legacy/ | Will The 2020 Democrats Reject Obama’s Immigration Legacy? | 2019-07-31 | elections | With Joe Biden on the debate stage Wednesday night , the other Democratic primary candidates will have another chance to criticize elements of his long political record . But Biden ’ s presence — and his wholehearted embrace of his time as second-in-command during the “ Obama-Biden administration ” — also creates an opportunity for his rivals to take on President Obama ’ s legacy , particularly on policies like immigration .
We ’ ve already seen a preview of what this might look like . In the first debate , Kamala Harris criticized a deportation program that operated for much of Obama ’ s presidency and required cooperation from local and state law enforcement , saying it allowed for the deportation of non-criminals . And more recently , Julián Castro said it is “ inevitable ” that Biden will have to respond to the record-breaking number of deportations that occurred on Obama ’ s watch . By some measures , Obama did deport more people than any other president in modern history , something for which many immigration rights advocates still criticize him . He also detained families until the courts made him stop , although his administration didn ’ t have a policy of family separation , as President Trump has claimed .
Disavowing Obama ’ s stance on immigration is complicated for Democrats , though — and not just because the former president remains wildly popular among the party . He also issued Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals , the executive order that protected young undocumented immigrants from deportation , at the end of his first term . Plus , by the end of his second term , his deportation numbers had fallen significantly , and his policies were closer to what some of the 2020 candidates are now proposing . And , of course , because Trump has adopted a harsher strategy on immigration enforcement , it has been less pressing for primary candidates to argue against Obama-era policies . But this doesn ’ t mean Obama ’ s immigration record won ’ t loom large over the primary . In fact , the extent to which candidates embrace Obama-era immigration policies could emerge as an important dividing line .
Obama was very tough on immigration at the beginning of his presidency
During the first few years of his presidency , Obama earned the nickname “ deporter in chief ” due to the high numbers of undocumented immigrants deported during his first term . This marked a sharp contrast with the comprehensive immigration reform he had promised on the campaign trail . And over the course of Obama ’ s time in office , more than 3 million unauthorized immigrants were removed from the country , compared to about 2 million immigrants under President George W. Bush and less than a million under President Bill Clinton .
But there is some debate about how record-setting Obama ’ s numbers actually are , because of a trend in the type of deportations that were prioritized . A majority of the deportations that occurred during Obama ’ s presidency were “ removals , ” which involves a formal court order and legal consequences like ineligibility to reapply to enter the country for a certain period of time . In earlier administrations , though , the bulk of the deportations were “ returns , ” where immigrants were caught at the border and simply turned around . As you can see in the chart above , returns were much higher under Bush and Clinton than under Obama and accounted for a much larger proportion of total deportations . Obama ’ s deportation numbers would look less striking by comparison if returns and removals were counted together . That said , several immigration experts I spoke with said that removals are more reflective of a concerted immigration enforcement agenda , since the number of returns are tied more closely to trends at the border . So , the Obama administration still ejected a lot of people from the country in a way that made it more difficult for them to reenter .
Another way to gauge the relative severity of a president ’ s approach , according to Alex Nowrasteh , the director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute , is to ignore the border altogether and look at deportations from within the United States . “ As far as we can tell , Obama deported more people from the interior of the U.S. than any other president in American history , ” Nowrasteh said . “ He inherited a system that was accelerating deportations and accelerated them even more. ” And over the course of his administration , Obama removed about 1.2 million undocumented immigrants from the heart of the country .
The bulk of these removals were concentrated in Obama ’ s first term , when his administration rapidly expanded a program that created partnerships between local and state law enforcement and federal immigration authorities — the one Harris criticized during the first debate . Under the program , any immigrant taken into state or local custody would have his immigration status checked against a federal database . If he was unauthorized , the police would hold him for additional time so federal agents could come pick him up . “ 2011 and 2012 were high-water marks of immigration enforcement and a good chunk of that happened through our criminal justice system , ” said Muzaffar Chishti , director of the Migration Policy Institute ’ s office at NYU School of Law . Critics argued that rather than targeting dangerous criminals for deportation , the program mostly identified low-level offenders or even people without criminal records , while scaring other undocumented immigrants out of reporting crimes .
Obama ’ s immigration policy shifted later in his presidency — but he was still criticized
But toward the end of Obama ’ s first term , his approach to immigration enforcement began to shift , although immigration advocates and experts are still divided about what this means for his legacy . In the summer of 2012 , facing increasing political pressure from immigrant rights groups , he issued the DACA executive order , which shielded some young undocumented immigrants from deportation and allowed them to apply for work permits . And starting in 2011 , his administration issued a series of memos that gradually narrowed the types of immigrants who were priorities for deportation , so that by the end of his second term , deportations from the interior of the country had fallen significantly .
Immigration policy experts like Chishti think Obama deserves credit for adjusting his policies as his presidency went on . According to estimates by Chishti ’ s group , by the end of Obama ’ s presidency , as many as 87 percent of unauthorized immigrants were not priorities for removal . “ Interior removals fell hugely and he never got credit for that , ” Chishti said . Experts also told me that Obama was trying to prove to Republicans in Congress that he was tough on immigration , in the hopes that they would work with him on comprehensive immigration reform . “ When a legislative solution fell apart , he switched to a less punitive approach , ” said Stephen Yale-Loehr , a professor of immigration law at Cornell Law School .
Others are less inclined to be generous to Obama . The partnership program with state and local police didn ’ t end until 2014 , after a number of states and cities rebelled and tried to stop participating . ( Trump has since restarted this program , although many cities and states are resisting as part of the “ sanctuary city ” movement . ) And in response to a surge of unaccompanied migrant children and families who crossed the border in 2014 , Obama ramped up family detention until the courts made him stop — although unlike Trump , he never had a formal policy of separating families . “ That ’ s a big blemish on Obama ’ s record , ” said Bill Ong Hing , a professor of law and migration studies at the University of San Francisco . “ He didn ’ t really separate families but he definitely detained them . ”
Many of the Democratic candidates have landed to the left of Obama
Trump ’ s approach to immigration , which is unquestionably more punitive than Obama ’ s , will likely continue to dominate the primary , with the candidates eager to draw a contrast with Trump . In fact , they have almost uniformly lined up behind some Obama-era immigration policies , like DACA . But other elements of Obama ’ s legacy could still emerge as contentious issues among Democrats .
One notable area of dispute emerged during the first debate , when Castro got into a tiff with Beto O ’ Rourke about whether crossing the border at places other than official ports of entry should be a crime . Castro has argued that illegal border crossing should be only a civil offense , while O ’ Rourke says applying a criminal violation is still necessary to hold smugglers and drug traffickers accountable . And in the aftermath of the debate , Obama ’ s former Secretary of Homeland Security , Jeh Johnson , argued that decriminalizing illegal border crossings would be a mistake . But in her comprehensive immigration plan released in mid-July , Elizabeth Warren also expressed her support for decriminalizing unauthorized border crossings .
Other candidates are promising broader immigration reforms — just like Obama did back in 2008 . But unlike Obama , who initially expressed reluctance to rely on executive action , many are explicitly saying they won ’ t rely on legislation alone to get things done . Harris , for example , has said she ’ ll use executive action to shield undocumented immigrants from deportation . Booker ’ s plan also promises to crack down on poor conditions in immigration detention facilities , which was something Obama was criticized for . A number of candidates have even rejected elements of the Obama administration ’ s more focused immigration priorities , saying they would only focus on violent criminals and people who pose national security threats , according to a tally by The Washington Post .
At this point , it ’ s important to emphasize that these contrasts are subtle , and candidates are mostly focusing on how they ’ d differentiate themselves from Trump . The call to decriminalize border crossing , for example , is a response to Trump ’ s use of the law to separate families . And the focus on Trump makes a lot of sense , given that Obama ’ s policies did become less severe over time and many of his reforms have been reversed under the Trump administration . But in a race that ’ s so far been led by Biden , there ’ s certainly fodder for a rebuke of Obama ’ s immigration legacy — and it could be a way for candidates like Castro to distinguish themselves in a crowded primary , or perhaps try to push the Democratic Party in a new direction on immigration . | Z5fFAgzCy3WjTdN3 | 1 | Kamala Harris | 0.8 | Joe Biden | 0.4 | Presidential Elections | 0.2 | Decision2020 | 0.2 | Elections | 0.2 |
politics | New York Times - News | http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/us/politics/elder-bush-says-his-son-was-served-badly-by-aides.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0 | Elder Bush Says His Son Was Served Badly by Aides | 2015-11-05 | politics | But it may be Mr. Bush ’ s views of his son ’ s administration and advisers that will draw the most attention . In his interviews with Mr. Meacham , the former president returned several times to the topic of Mr. Cheney , who handled the role of vice president very differently from the way the first Mr. Bush did under Ronald Reagan .
“ He had his own empire there and marched to his own drummer , ” Mr. Bush said . “ It just showed me that you can not do it that way . The president should not have that worry . ”
He said he thought Mr. Cheney had changed since serving in his cabinet . “ He just became very hard-line and very different from the Dick Cheney I knew and worked with , ” Mr. Bush said . He attributed that to the attacks of Sept. 11 , 2001 . “ Just iron-ass . His seeming knuckling under to the real hard-charging guys who want to fight about everything , use force to get our way in the Middle East . ”
He speculated that Mr. Cheney was influenced by his wife , Lynne , and his daughter Liz , both strong conservatives . “ I ’ ve concluded that Lynne Cheney is a lot of the éminence grise here – iron-ass , tough as nails , driving , ” he said .
Still , he called Mr. Cheney “ a good man ” who pushed boundaries too far . “ The big mistake that was made was letting Cheney bring in kind of his own State Department , ” Mr. Bush said . “ I think they overdid that . But it ’ s not Cheney ’ s fault . It ’ s the president ’ s fault . ”
By that , he meant his son . “ The buck stops there , ” the elder Mr. Bush said .
He was even harsher about Mr. Rumsfeld , who had been a rival of his since the 1970s , when both served in Gerald R. Ford ’ s administration . “ I think he served the president badly , ” Mr. Bush said . “ I don ’ t like what he did , and I think it hurt the president having his iron-ass view of everything . I ’ ve never been that close to him anyway . There ’ s a lack of humility , a lack of seeing what the other guy thinks . He ’ s more kick ass and take names , take numbers . I think he paid a price for that . ” | lUARTWPWx3c1u21J | 0 | George H. W. Bush | -0.1 | Politics | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
white_house | CNN (Web News) | http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/18/hillary-clinton-slams-former-staffer-whining-repeats-no-for-2016/?hpt=po_c2 | Hillary Clinton: Slams former staffer 'whining,' repeats 'no' for 2016 | 2012-10-18 | White House, Hillary Clinton, Presidential Elections, Politics | Washington ( CNN ) – It does n't matter how many times Hillary Clinton says she wo n't make another bid for the White House in 2016 . There is always someone that a ) does n't believe her b ) hopes she will change her mind or c ) wants to prevent her from running .
In an interview with Marie Claire magazine , published Thursday , Clinton insists she 's done with politics for good . When asked by writer Ayalet Waldman if she will run again for president , she laughed .
- Check out the CNN Electoral Map and Calculator and game out your own strategy for November .
`` I have been on this high wire of national and international politics and leadership for 20 years , '' Clinton said . `` It has been an absolutely extraordinary personal honor and experience . But I really want to just have my own time back . I want to just be my own person . I 'm looking forward to that . ''
Clinton said she hoped to see the day when Americans elect a woman as president .
`` That would be a great experience for me , to be up there cheering , '' she said .
Yet Google the phrase `` Hillary Clinton for President '' and `` 2016 '' and you get no less that 4 million hits , including a couple 'Hillary for 2016 ' Facebook pages . And even if she means what she says , her supporters are hoping after she recharges her batteries after her term as Secretary of State ends , Hillary 's political juices will start flowing again . After all , this is a woman who told me in an interview in February that politics was in her DNA .
Although a polarizing political figure before taking the job as secretary of state , Clinton has been immune to the kind of criticism her predecessors have faced for most of her tenure . She remains the most popular member of the Obama administration , and indeed one of the most popular people in the world .
But could the brutal attack on the US diplomatic post in Benghazi , which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans , threaten to put a cast over Clinton 's shining star ?
In a CNN interview this week , Clinton tried to end the political firestorm over the attack , which has quickly become an issue in the presidential campaign and made President Obama vulnerable .
`` I take responsibility , '' Clinton told me . `` I 'm in charge of the State Department , 60,000-plus people all over the world , 275 posts . The president and the vice president certainly would n't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals . They 're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision . ''
Although the main target of Republican attacks have been directed at President Obama , I asked Secretary Clinton whether there was a not-so-subtle effort to quash her chances for 2016 .
`` That is just so far from anything that anybody should be thinking about , '' Clinton said .
Clinton has had a loyal cadre of staff that she has either known for years or who have worked with her since she was first lady , which is known collectively as `` Hillaryland . ''
Last summer Anne-Marie Slaughter , Clinton 's former director of policy planning , caused a stir among the State Department ranks when she wrote a controversial cover story in The Atlantic , entitled `` Why Women Still Ca n't Have It All , '' about why she felt an obligation to quit Clinton 's staff because she found `` juggling high-level governmental work with the needs of two teenage boys was not possible . ''
Once the dean of Princeton University 's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs , she is now back at Princeton as a professor .
When asked by Marie Claire about the piece , Clinton did n't hold back , pointing out that she spent her life advocating on behalf of women and tried to make work places , including the State Department , friendlier to women with children .
As the article points out , Clinton said that Slaughter 's problems were her own . From the magazine :
`` Some women are not comfortable working at the pace and intensity you have to work at in these jobs … Other women do n't break a sweat . They have four or five , six kids . They 're highly organized , they have very supportive networks . '' By all accounts , this was precisely the kind of mother Clinton was to Chelsea-hands-on , prioritizing her child , and yet ever committed to work .
Clinton has very little patience for those whose privilege offers them a myriad of choices but who fail to take advantage of them . `` I ca n't stand whining , '' she says . `` I ca n't stand the kind of paralysis that some people fall into because they 're not happy with the choices they 've made . You live in a time when there are endless choices … Money certainly helps , and having that kind of financial privilege goes a long way , but you do n't even have to have money for it . But you have to work on yourself … Do something ! '' | 54420982226e2309 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
sexual_misconduct | BBC News | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49755850 | Chanel Miller: Stanford sexual assault survivor tells her story | 2019-09-23 | Sexual Misconduct, Sexual Assault, Brock Turner | What do we know about Emily Doe ? We know she was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner outside a frat party at Stanford University , California , one night in January 2015 . She was found unconscious and partly-clothed , near a dumpster .
He would get a six-month term , for sexually assaulting an intoxicated victim , sexually assaulting an unconscious victim and attempting to rape her .
He would serve three months and be put on probation for three years , ending this month . Judge Aaron Persky , who was later removed from his post , cited Turner 's good character and the fact he had been drinking .
Much of the coverage at the time also focused on the fact Turner was a star swimmer .
What do we know about Chanel Miller ? Maybe you do n't know a lot , yet . If you 've read the victim impact statement she addressed to Turner , which went viral when she was still known as Emily Doe to protect her anonymity , you 'll know she is brave and articulate .
She is a literature graduate , who has now written a book , Know My Name . She is a talented artist and would love to illustrate children 's books , her drawings being a little surreal and - by her own description - sinister . She has also studied ceramics and comic books , and done stand-up comedy .
She loves dogs . She describes herself as shy . She is half-Chinese , her Chinese name being Zhang Xiao Xia ( with Xia sounding like `` sha '' , the first syllable of Chanel ) . She smiles easily , is thoughtful and funny . She is someone 's daughter , sister , girlfriend . She could be someone you know .
Warning : This story contains content that readers may find distressing
Chanel 's memoir brims with the rage of her ordeal . But why write it , when it meant reliving her pain , reading the court documents and witness statements that had been - until then - kept from her ?
She says she felt a duty to shine a light on the darkness so many young women have to go through .
`` I 've had days where it 's extremely difficult to get up in the morning , '' says Chanel , 27 , speaking in her home city of San Francisco . `` I 've had days where I really could not imagine a single pathway forward . And those were such weighing times .
`` And it was terrible . I would n't draw anything , I would n't write anything . All I wanted to do is sleep so that I would n't have to be conscious . That 's no way to live .
`` I think of other young women who have to go through this and you see them withdraw and crumble and fall away from the things that they love . And I just think - how , how do we let that happen ? ''
Her voice is articulate and clear but it vibrates with emotion , and quiet fury , at the injustice of this happening to other women around the world . An endless parade of other people who know what it is to be Emily Doe .
`` Here are these young , talented women excited for their futures , who have so many things to give and offer . And something like this happens , '' says Chanel . `` And they go home , and they carry the shame , and they swallow it up and it eats them from the inside out .
`` And they think 'everything would be better off if I was just holed up in my room ' , 'maybe things would be better if I did n't speak at all ' . 'Maybe I do n't deserve to be loved or caressed gently ' .
`` It 's so sick , that we let this happen . That we let them digest these negative ideas of themselves . And let them be isolated . Instead of coaxing them back out here and saying , no , you deserve a full life . You deserve an amazing future . ''
Chanel was n't a university student at the time - she had already graduated . Her younger sister Tiffany was back home for the weekend and had asked if she wanted to go along to a party with her .
But her story expanded the conversation about campus rape and she wants to see changes at Stanford University specifically , like the fact forensic exams ca n't be given at Stanford hospital , with victims having to travel 40 miles .
`` Do you get an Uber for 40 minutes with a stranger while you 're still in the clothes you were just attacked in ? Do you text your one friend who has a car and disclose that information ? ''
Many women came forward after reading Chanel 's victim impact statement , emboldened to tell their own stories - in some cases for the first time .
RAINN - the rape , abuse and incest national network , the largest anti-sexual violence organisation in the US - puts the figure at one in six US women being the victim of an attempted , or completed , rape . Every 92 seconds , an American is sexually assaulted . Out of every 1,000 sexual assaults , 995 perpetrators will walk free .
Think of how many women you walk past each day . Think of one in every six .
`` We always say like , oh , why did n't she come forward ? Why did n't she report ? '' says Chanel .
`` Because there 's no system for her to report to . Why should she have faith in us to take care of her if she comes forward ? We need to be doing more to help survivors after this happens . ''
When Turner was sentenced , the crime was not described as rape - but the law in California has since changed , as a result of Chanel 's case .
There is now a mandatory three year minimum prison sentence for penetrating an unconscious person or an intoxicated person , Chanel 's attorney Alaleh Kianerci explains . Another piece of legislation was written to expand the definition of rape to include any kind of penetration ( `` The trauma experienced by survivors can not be measured by what exactly was put inside them without their consent , '' she argued , in her support of the bill ) .
She had felt so beaten down by the court case ( `` I just felt degraded and empty all the time , '' she says ) and the shock of Turner 's sentence that when her lawyer asked her permission to release her victim impact statement , she just said `` sure , if you think it 'd be helpful '' . She thought it would end up on a community forum or local newspaper website - never imagining the impact it would have .
When her statement came out , originally published in full on Buzzfeed , it received 11 million views in four days and Chanel was sent hundreds and hundreds of letters and gifts from around the world .
She read them all , saying they `` taught me to be gentler to myself , taught me who I was to them '' , adding : `` I was learning to see myself through them . ''
She even got a letter from the White House - Joe Biden , then vice-president , telling her : `` You have given them the strength they need to fight . And so , I believe , you will save lives . ''
As she was anonymous , it was common for friends to forward the statement to her , unaware she had written it . Chanel 's therapist knew she had been sexually assaulted but did not know her identity as Emily Doe for months , asking her : `` Have you read the Stanford victim statement ? ''
Courts hear from cases like Chanel 's all the time - it 's just the names , the places , the details change . So what made her story , her pain , resonate so widely ?
`` Maybe not shying away from the darkest parts , '' Chanel says . `` I think it feels almost like a relief when someone acknowledges your darkness because you feel like it 's this ugly , dirty thing you need to be concealing .
`` If you show it , people are going to cringe and back away . I could communicate all of these difficult feelings and be open about them and just lay them out and not feel shame for experiencing them . ''
Having been through the court system , Chanel said she felt she had a responsibility to report back , to show others what it is like .
`` I know that for me , I had so many , quote unquote , advantages , '' she says . `` I had my rape kit done [ a sexual assault forensic evidence kit ] . I had the assistance of policemen and nurses . I had an advocate that was assigned to me , I had a prosecutor , I had all the things you 're supposed to have .
`` And I still found it so excruciatingly difficult and emotionally damaging and going through it . I thought , 'if this is what it looks like , to be well equipped going into this , how the hell is anyone else supposed to survive this process ? ' .
`` I felt that I had a duty to write about what it 's like inside the windowless walls of a courtroom , what the internal landscape is like , what it 's like to sit on that stand and be attacked with this meaningless interrogation . ''
Writing the book also allowed her access to the court documents and thousands of pages of transcripts she had not been present for .
While elucidating , it was also deeply painful , knowing what not just the court - but her family and friends had heard and seen .
`` It was extremely difficult . I put it off for a really long time . Finally , I thought well , I have to look into them .
`` I would read about Brock and the defence talking about , play by play , taking off my underwear , putting his fingers inside… , '' she stops , before adding : `` It was so graphic and suffocating , to read about myself being verbally undressed again .
`` And to imagine it all happening in a courtroom where everyone 's just listening and nobody 's doing anything . I could not stomach it . ''
It caused her anger and `` self-induced depression '' but says there was `` this wonderful moment where I 'm like , all of these voices in these transcripts are literally in my hands , I can pick them up and put them down . But I own all of them . I get to pick out whichever words I want and assemble them how I want '' .
`` There is a lot of power in being able to craft the narrative again , '' she adds .
Know My Name brims with the trauma Chanel experienced - from waking up not knowing what had happened , to learning details of the assault from news reports , to finally telling her parents , to breaking down in court . As she says , `` writing is the way I process the world '' .
Chanel only chose to reveal her name six months ago , having started writing the book in 2017 .
She says the burden of secrecy had become too much for her - 90 % of people who knew her did n't know her other identity .
Friends thought she was still doing her 9-5 office job . So she had former colleagues ( `` my suppliers '' , she smiles ) feed her snippets of information . `` In the beginning that was so important for self-preservation and processing and privacy , '' she says . `` But over time , you feel really diminished . And I think it 's important to be able to live my full truth . ''
She expected the day , earlier this month , when she came out as Chanel to be `` stormy '' . But it was , in the end , a moment of deep calm and strength .
`` It turned out to be the most peaceful day I 've had in the last four-and-a-half years , '' says Chanel . `` I suddenly realised , I 've come out on the other side of this . ''
She does n't feel Turner - who denied all of the charges - has acknowledged what he did .
`` You know , at the sentencing , he read 10 sentences of apology , '' she says . `` It sounded generic to me .
`` And it really made me question what we 're doing in the criminal justice system , because if he 's not even learning , then really what is the point ? If he had transformed himself , then I think I would have been much more forgiving of the sentence .
`` I am really interested in self-growth and understanding that the fact that he deviated so far from that , and was never forced to do any kind of introspection , or to really look at the way he affected me , that really hurt . ''
We applaud Chanel Miller 's bravery in telling her story publicly , and we deeply regret that she was sexually assaulted on the Stanford campus . As a university , we are continuing and strengthening our efforts to prevent and respond effectively to sexual violence , with the ultimate goal of eradicating it from our community .
The closest location for a SART [ sexual assault response team ] exam is at Valley Medical Center in San Jose . We have long agreed on the need for a closer location and have committed to provide space at Stanford Hospital for SART exams . Santa Clara County , which runs the SART program , is working to train sufficient nurses to staff it .
Much of the criticism towards Judge Aaron Persky was about the relatively lenient sentence given to Turner - sparking a national debate about whether white men from wealthy backgrounds were treated more favourably by the US justice system .
`` Privilege is not having to reckon with his own actions to examine his effects on someone who is not him , '' says Chanel .
`` You know , we have young men of colour serving far longer sentences for nonviolent crimes for having marijuana possession . It 's ridiculous .
`` I just kept thinking , where does the punishment come in ? When are you forced to be held accountable for what you do in life and not just float through , as if anything you do can never hurt anybody , and you will not be affected by it .
`` I think what bothers me the most is that there 's never the suggestion that the victim was also busy having a life before this happened .
`` We have our own agendas and goals , and do n't appreciate being completely thrown off the rails when this happens . And when people say , why did n't she report ? It 's like , casually asking , why did n't she stop everything she was doing to attend to something that she never wanted to attend to in the first place ? ''
Turner attempted to have his convictions overturned last year , but his appeal was rejected . He remains on the sex offenders register . Turner was banned from the university and is now living with his parents in Ohio .
Asked whether she would like Turner and his family to read the book , she says : `` If they choose to read it , and really hear it , I will always encourage that . I will always encourage learning and deeper understanding .
`` But I 've also accepted that what they do is out of my control , that I can only focus on my own trajectory and how I wish to keep moving forward . Mainly , I want the book to exist as a companion .
`` I think of it as something you can carry with you and you go through difficult things , something you can physically hold or read in bed late at night , when you feel isolated . I always thought like , what would I have needed to hear when I was going through this ? ''
She holds a space in her heart for the two Swedish students - Peter Jonsson and Carl-Fredrik Arndt - who stopped the assault , having seen what was happening as they cycled past .
Chanel drew a picture of two bikes and slept with it above her bed after the assault , a talisman to remind her there was hope out there .
She 's since met the pair for dinner . `` I always like to say 'be the Swede ' . Show up for the vulnerable , do your part , help each other and face the darkest parts alongside survivors .
`` I think the response I 've been getting makes it sound like people are willing to step up now and really fight for what 's right . And that 's extremely encouraging . ''
Now the book is out in the world , Chanel plans to decide what to do with the next phase of her life . But she does so with the hope and belief that the good in the world outweighs the bad .
`` On the same night I was assaulted , I was also saved , '' she muses . `` There was a really terrible thing that happened - and also a really wonderful thing . They say you should n't meet your heroes - but in this case you definitely should . ''
Asked what she plans to do now , Chanel says : `` I want to write books for kids , for their ripe brains and juicy hearts , which have not yet learned to be dark and serious and drab . I 've had a bumpy few years , but I have lots of hope . I feel like my life is always beginning . ''
In the UK , the rape crisis national freephone helpline is 0808 802 9999 . In the US , the national sexual assault hotline is 1-800-656-4673 . Further information and support for anyone affected by sexual assault can be found through BBC Action Line
Know My Name is published in the US and the UK on 24 September | dd8df4200d4ba988 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
immigration | CNN (Web News) | http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/29/republicans-chide-young-for-his-wetbacks-comment/ | Republicans chide Young for his 'wetbacks' comment | 2013-03-29 | Immigration | ( CNN ) - With the GOP actively working to reshape its image , it did n't take long for top Republicans to blast one of their own , Rep. Don Young , for using the derogatory term `` wetbacks '' in describing migrant workers from Mexico .
The longtime congressman from Alaska attempted to explain why he used the ethnic slur , but he 's nevertheless seeing little mercy from some of the biggest voices in the GOP .
In perhaps one of the most forceful reactions , House Speaker John Boehner called for the congressman , who 's now serving his 21st term , to apologize .
`` Congressman Young 's remarks were offensive and beneath the dignity of the office he holds . I do n't care why he said it – there 's no excuse and it warrants an immediate apology , '' he said .
Young , Alaska 's sole congressman , originally made the comment during a sit-down interview with Ketchikan Public Radio earlier this week . Talking about how technology is affecting the economy , he referenced an anecdote from his family 's farm in California .
`` My father had a ranch ; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes , '' Young said . `` It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now . It 's all done by machine . ''
Young issued a statement Thursday to a local television station in Anchorage , which did n't come as a full apology but sought to clarify his reasoning behind using the word .
`` I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California , '' he said . `` I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect . ''
The word is widely considered an ethnic slur and generally refers to those from Mexico who come to the United States illegally by crossing the Rio Grande River . It was used by the government in the 1950s for `` Operation Wetback , '' a massive crackdown on illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border .
But on the heels of a new Republican push to expand its outreach to minorities , especially Latinos , Democrats were quick to point out the comment as damaging–and similar reactions from Republicans started rolling in , as well .
Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus said Young 's words `` emphatically '' do n't represent the party .
`` Our party represents freedom and opportunity for every American and a beacon of hope to those seeking liberty throughout the world , '' he said in a statement . `` Offensive language and ethnic slurs have no place in our public discourse . ''
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas , the number two Republican in the upper chamber , was also quick to seek distance from the comment . He blasted Young in a statement , saying migrant workers come to the country for work and opportunities , not to `` hear ethnic slurs and derogatory language from elected officials . ''
`` The comments used by Rep. Young do nothing to elevate our party , political discourse or the millions who come here looking for economic opportunity , '' he continued .
Sen. John McCain , one of the leading GOP voices on immigration reform , said on Twitter that Young 's comments `` were offensive and have no place in our Party or in our nation 's discourse . ''
The party 's tone on immigration became a focal point in the GOP 's self-review following November 's presidential election . One of the most talked-about issues was Mitt Romney 's position in favor of `` self-deportation , '' where undocumented immigrants would voluntarily leave , go home and get in the back of the line to re-apply for entry into the country .
In a report released earlier in March by the RNC , which showed the results of its months-long review after Election Day , the party described such language as harmful to the party 's image and ability to connect with voters that generally fall outside of the GOP column .
`` If Hispanic Americans perceive that a GOP nominee or candidate does not want them in the United States ( i.e . self-deportation ) , they will not pay attention to our next sentence , '' the report stated . In one of its few policy recommendations , the report advised Republicans to `` embrace and champion '' comprehensive immigration reform .
And GOP Gov . Bobby Jindal of Louisiana focused on the impact of ill-fated comments earlier this year , when he said at the Republican National Committee winter meeting that the GOP has `` to stop being the stupid party '' and should start talking `` like adults . ''
`` It 's no secret we 've had a number of Republicans this year damage our brands with bizarre and offensive comments , '' he said . `` I 'm here to say we 've had enough of that . '' | 675eb30ed1a1cf2f | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
coronavirus | Los Angeles Times | https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2020-07-27/how-many-positive-covid-19-tests-before-sports-shut-down-again | How many positive COVID-19 tests would it take to shut down sports again? | 2020-07-27 | Coronavirus, Life During Covid-19, Public Health, Safety And Sanity During COVID-19 | From the moment North American sports leagues announced their plans to start or restart their season while masked and sanitized and playing before eerily empty stands, the question wasn’t if some athletes would test positive for COVID-19, but when. The second question was how many positives tests would be too many for that team — or a league — to continue playing. One? Probably not. A player could be isolated and replaced. Two? Still not many and not enough for everything to come crashing down, because rosters were expanded to allow for the possibility of a couple of positive tests and a couple of injuries stemming from the shortened preseason. Would three positive tests be enough? Four? How about 13? Apparently not. Sports The NBA is ready to resume its season Thursday and a big unknown are the long-term health concerns if players get infected with COVID-19. Major League Baseball reached a moment of truth on Monday, when a COVID-19 outbreak that hit at least 13 members of the Miami Marlins led Commissioner Rob Manfred to cancel the Marlins’ home opener against Baltimore. The New York Yankees’ game at Philadelphia was collateral damage, called off because the Yankees would have used the same clubhouse the Marlins occupied over the weekend. Manfred said the Marlins won’t play Tuesday but will play at Baltimore on Wednesday “if the testing results are acceptable.” Note that he said “if,” emphasizing the precarious nature of the setup behind this contrived 60-game schedule. MLB owners met by phone Monday and decided not to cancel the season. Their collective response seems to consist of urging teams to ramp up their cleaning efforts, reminding players not to spit or share high-fives, and then hoping for the best, a confirmation — as if there were really any doubt — that money is driving this madness. “Now we REALLY get to see if MLB is going to put players’ health first,” Dodgers pitcher David Price, who opted out of the season due to health concerns, said via Twitter. “Remember when Manfred said players’ health was PARAMOUNT?! Part of the reason I’m at home right now is because players health wasn’t being put first. I can see that hasn’t changed.” Now we REALLY get to see if MLB is going to put players health first. Remember when Manfred said players health was PARAMOUNT?! Part of the reason I’m at home right now is because players health wasn’t being put first. I can see that hasn’t changed. According to published reports, members of the Marlins knew Saturday that four players had tested positive, but the team never considered asking for the game to be postponed. “We knew this could happen at some point,” shortstop Miguel Rojas said. “We came to the ballpark ready to play.” The games will go on elsewhere, at least for now, but with heightened anxiety levels. “When something like that happens, it makes everybody a tick more nervous than they already are,” Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway said in a videoconference with reporters. Angels manager Joe Maddon, 66, cautioned against making sweeping statements until more is known about how the Marlins’ outbreak occurred and whether breached safety protocols had contributed to the spread of the virus. “I don’t want to be an alarmist,” Maddon said. “Too many times, I’ve seen conclusion-jumping.” Also Monday, the NHL — which has moved its 24 teams to playoff bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto — announced no confirmed positive test results among the more than 800 players tested from July 18-25, while teams were still at their club’s in-season facilities. The NBA, which has held its training camp in Orlando, Fla., announced last Monday there were no positive tests among the 346 players tested at its campus between July 13-20. The NHL went to Canada, where COVID-19 has largely been well controlled, to pull off its playoffs. That removes hockey even further from the attention of American fans but gives the league its best chance of completing the season and — yes — making enough TV revenue to compensate for some of the losses triggered by the pandemic. The NBA has been dealing with players going in and out of the bubble, but it has enforced strong quarantine rules. Keeping every team off flights and in Orlando for all the games should keep players safe and keep the NBA on track to finish the playoffs. The National Women’s Soccer League and MLS had to send teams home in order to carry out their tournaments. The NWSL’s Orlando Pride pulled out of the Challenge Cup before teams traveled to the competition site in Utah; Dallas and Nashville withdrew from the MLS Is Back tournament in Orlando because each team had a number of positive tests. The NWSL season ended Sunday, while the MLS tournament continues. Dodgers The Dodgers consider the perils of travel after many Miami Marlins test positive for COVID-19, and revenge over the Astros’ sign-stealing is secondary. NFL players began reporting to training camps Monday with hastily agreed-upon safety protocols and the question of how, with close contact essential, the league will avoid its own COVID-19 outbreak. The league canceled preseason games, and Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote a letter to fans telling them, “Adaptability and flexibility will be needed for the foreseeable future.” No kidding. And here’s a sobering thought: The Minnesota Vikings announced that Eric Sugarman, their head trainer and infection control officer, had tested positive for COVID-19, as had his family members. “As I sit here in quarantine, it is clear this virus does not discriminate. It should continue to be taken seriously,” Sugarman said in a statement. At least for now, baseball seems intent on continuing, even as the number of players testing positive takes worrisome precedence over the feats and personalities that bring the game to life. “We feel like the protocols have worked pretty well,” Manfred said. That’s not good enough. How many more positive tests will be enough for Manfred and owners to concede it wasn’t smart to play outside a bubble and to travel? It would be tragic if the answer comes at the expense of the immediate or long-term health of players, coaches and other personnel, but that seems the most likely outcome. Go beyond the scoreboard Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Follow Us Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics. Sports Sparks High School Sports High School Sports Lakers Dodgers USC Sports Sports Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map Follow Us MORE FROM THE L.A. TIMES | 756905925587156d | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
healthcare | Guest Writer | http://theweek.com/articles/707712/gops-better-care-act-better-than-think | The GOP's 'Better Care' act is better than you think | 2017-06-27 | healthcare | There 's a lot to like about the Better Care Reconciliation Act , the health-care bill unveiled last week by Senate Republicans . As drafted , the proposal preserves the most worthy features of the Affordable Care Act while addressing some of its key flaws .
Many critics on the right ( like Rand Paul and Americans for Prosperity ) decry the plan as some watered-down ObamaCare lite . Many liberals , meanwhile , have reflexively tarred Better Care as an unmitigated evil being foisted upon America by heartless Republicans .
Both sides are wrong . The Better Care act is better than you think .
The Senate health-care bill is obviously more thoughtful than the House 's version , and not nearly as malign as many Democrats have summarily declared it to be . At first glance , it struck me as the kind of market-based plan conservative policy wonk Avik Roy , who once worked for Mitt Romney , would come up with if asked to replace ObamaCare . And on closer inspection , it is his plan , in key respects . That makes sense , given that Roy is the Republican Party 's go-to expert on health-care policy . And considering the context , his influence on the bill is reassuring ; when someone 's expertise is undisputed , some degree of humanity can be safely inferred .
Many on the left would dispute that , at least in this case . `` No tweaks by amendment can fix this monstrosity , '' tweeted Chris Murphy , the Democratic senator from Connecticut . `` If you vote for this evil , intellectually bankrupt bill , it will ruin millions of lives . '' The bill 's passage would , to be certain , have sweeping implications . But Republicans could make exactly the same normative claims about ObamaCare itself . They should n't , in my view ; it 's bad form to denounce people based on assumptions about their intent .
But if we 're going down this path , let 's at least be consistent about it : While the Affordable Care Act has surely helped millions of Americans , it has also still left millions of Americans uninsured , and many more with higher premiums and deductibles than they had in 2009 , when Democrats promised that their plan would deliver precisely the opposite , among other things .
Even now , many Democrats are reluctant to acknowledge that ObamaCare 's conservative critics were correct in predicting such problems , and that in some cases , at least , their objections were rooted in concern for the Americans who would be disproportionately affected by them , if so .
The left 's default position is that ObamaCare 's shortcomings are due to Republican obstructionism prior to its passage , and Republicans ' subsequent refusal to cooperate . `` I was careful to say again and again that while the Affordable Care Act represented a significant step forward for America , it was not perfect , nor could it be the end of our efforts , '' noted former President Obama in a statement criticizing the Senate health-care bill . He would , he added , be happy to support Republicans if they could just put together a plan demonstrably better than his , `` that covers as many people at less cost . ''
So , single-payer , right ? Nice . This is a discussion that Americans should have , at some point ; I 'm not convinced that it makes sense to think of health care as a market good in the first place . As it stands , however , that is how many Americans tend to think of it . And the Affordable Care Act , which passed in Congress without a single Republican vote , affirms the premise that we should think about health care this way : ObamaCare 's key provisions are about the government 's role in regulating , stabilizing , and expanding access to the market we already have , not in replacing it altogether .
The same is true of the Senate health-care bill , of course , and this brings us to a critical difference between the Better Care Reconciliation Act and the Affordable Care Act : The GOP 's plan genuinely accepts the premise that Obama and the Democrats merely conceded , and seemingly resent . This would explain why Rand Paul and Co. are grousing that the proposal amounts to `` ObamaCare lite '' — a revision that would leave the Affordable Care Act 's architecture and key regulations in place rather than smashing the law to rubble and lighting it on fire — and Democrats see it as a crime against humanity .
This also explains why there 's a lot to like about the Better Care Reconciliation Act . It 's a market-oriented plan that 's serious about the trade-offs involved in such an approach . If you want to remove some bureaucratic hurdles and government largesse from the health-care market , as many conservatives do , then some people will lose coverage , and others will see an increase in their out-of-pocket costs . That 's how markets work , even if the architects of ObamaCare refused to believe it .
And it 's worth noting that Better Care is realistic , not nihlistic . Like ObamaCare , it recognizes that the government can and should play a role in situations where the market , if left to its own devices , has merciless implications . Most significantly , it largely preserves the protections the 2009 law established for Americans with pre-existing conditions , and provides reinsurance for the insurers who might have balked at doing so . That was a humane and worthwhile achievement which Democrats deserve credit for , even if they are heartless monsters who left millions of Americans uninsured .
It seems possible , as it stands , that none of this matters . On Monday , the Congressional Budget Office released its score of the bill , which found , among other things , that passage of the legislation would result in an additional 22 million Americans being uninsured in 2026 , compared to projections based on the current law . The logic underlying this projection was debatable , but its political implications are clear cut . The Democrats who touted ObamaCare as a plan that would make comprehensive health insurance affordable to the average American are out of power , at the time being . But perhaps they will regain control of Congress in 2018 . And if so , we can all look forward to seeing them unveil their secret plan . | cmeBQK8wPidiggFl | 1 | Better Care Reconciliation Act | 0.8 | Healthcare Reform | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
trade | USA TODAY | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/12/31/donald-trump-says-he-sign-phase-one-china-trade-deal-jan-15/2782213001/ | Donald Trump says he will sign 'Phase One' China trade deal on Jan. 15 | 2019-12-31 | trade | WEST PALM BEACH , Fla. – President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will sign a `` Phase One '' trade deal with China on Jan. 15 , and plans to visit China soon to start talks on a `` Phase Two . ''
`` I will be signing our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15 , '' Trump tweeted . `` The ceremony will take place at the White House . High-level representatives of China will be present . ''
He added that `` at a later date I will be going to Beijing where talks will begin on Phase Two ! ''
Trump and aides still have not provided documents detailing what the first phase of an overall agreement involves . Financial analysts said they are eager to see what is actually in the reportedly voluminous deal .
`` On phase one , the devil will be entirely in the details of what is apparently an 86-page agreement , '' said Chad Bown , a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics . `` I look forward to reading every single line . ''
Some financial analysts have questioned whether the proposed deal truly addresses what they called China 's unfair trade tactics .
Others said the agreement will at least de-escalate the U.S.-China tariff war that has spooked investors and slowed the world economy .
Trump has made his vow to crack down on Chinese trade practices a major part of his 2020 election campaign .
The president announced the planned signing just minutes before financial markets in the U.S. opened for the final day of the year . Markets dropped slightly in early trading , but wound up the day in positive territory .
When Trump and Chinese officials announced the phase one agreement in mid-December , the U.S. agreed to shelve plans to impose new tariffs on $ 160 billion of Chinese goods that had been set to take effect Dec. 15 .
Officials said the deal includes gradual reductions of other tariff rates and increased Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products , but neither side has published a specific document .
Analysts questioned whether the deal meaningfully answers U.S. demands that China drop requirements that companies provide intellectual property and technology secrets to the government as conditions of doing business there – key points in any overall trade agreement between the United States and China .
Peter Navarro , a White House trade adviser , told CNBC that the opening phase of the trade deal does address intellectual property theft , and should be pleasing to banks , insurance companies and credit card companies .
Tori Smith , a trade economist with the Heritage Foundation , a conservative think tank , said the details of Phase One will determine what needs to be negotiated on Phase Two . `` Future phases should include more tariff rollbacks and a resolution of non-tariff barrier topics , such as investment restrictions in China and intellectual property rights issues , '' she said .
The South China Morning Post reported Monday that Vice-Premier Liu He , China 's top trade negotiator , is planning to lead a delegation to Washington for the first phase signing ceremony .
Phil Levy , a former White House official who is now chief economist of Flexport , a company that arranges and finances trade between 116 countries , said the phase one proposal is `` certainly better than ever-escalating tariffs that hurt American businesses and consumers . ''
The details of substance that have emerged , however , seem `` disappointing relative to the range of problems we have with China , '' Levy said . `` There is also a problematic move toward managed trade , with the purchase commitments . We have yet to see all the specifics , though . '' | CO5keVSCyUdw8lAx | 1 | China | -0.5 | Trade | -0.3 | Donald Trump | 0.1 | null | null | null | null |
life_during_covid-19 | BBC News | https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1jddenj5p5o | New XEC Covid variant starting to spread | 2024-09-17 | Life During Covid-19, Long Covid, Vaccines, Omicron Variant, Healthcare, Public Health | People have started catching a new Covid variant that could soon take off and become the dominant type, according to scientists. Identified in Germany, in June, cases of the XEC variant have since emerged in the UK, US, Denmark and several other countries, say users on X, formerly known as Twitter. It has some new mutations that might help it spread this autumn, although vaccines should still help prevent severe cases, experts say. For those more likely to become seriously ill from Covid, the NHS offers a free booster shot. The vaccines have been updated to better match recent variants, although not XEC, which has emerged from earlier Omicron subvariants. Prof Francois Balloux, Director of the Genetics Institute at University College London, told BBC News that although XEC has a "slight transmission advantage" over other recent Covid variants, vaccines should still offer good protection. He says it is possible XEC will become the dominant subvariant over the winter though. Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, in California, Eric Topol says XEC is "just getting started". "And that's going to take many weeks, a couple months, before it really takes hold and starts to cause a wave," he told the LA Times. "XEC is definitely taking charge. "That does appear to be the next variant. "But it's months off from getting into high levels." Symptoms are thought to be the same cold or flu-like ones as before: Most people feel better within a few weeks of Covid but it can take longer to recover. There has been "strong growth" of XEC in Denmark and Germany, Covid data analyst Mike Honey says on X. There is far less routine testing than before, making it difficult to know how much Covid might be around. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says it is normal for viruses to mutate and change. People qualifying for a free booster vaccine include: The main vaccination drive for flu and Covid will start in October, although some may receive their shots earlier. Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, UKHSA Deputy Director, said: “It is normal and expected for viruses to genetically change over time. UKHSA continues to monitor all available information relating to emerging Covid variants in the UK and internationally, and to publish our data regularly. “Vaccination provides the best protection against serious illness from Covid-19, and we urge those who are contacted by the NHS to come forward to receive their autumn vaccine.” A number of High Street chemists and private clinics sell and administer Covid vaccines directly to the public. The cost varies from about £45 to £99. You need to be aged 12 or above, and must not have had a Covid shot in the previous three months. Routine Covid testing is not recommended, but people can buy a test to carry out at home for around £2 from High Street and online chemists. The government says the appointments will put an end to 'DIY dentistry'. The Brit nominee says her music was a distraction from her true feelings as she embraces a new era. A vital drug which allows Beatrice, 5, to live relatively normally may become unavailable on the NHS. Rating for service run by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust declined from good. NHS South West says more than 25% of eligible women are not up to date with regular mammograms. Copyright 2025 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. | ebf53cdeeb629023 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Townhall | http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2012/09/18/gallup_obamas_convention_bounce_is_gone | Gallup: Obama's Convention Bounce is Gone | 2012-09-18 | elections | Gallup 's daily presidential tracker has settled back into a dead heat -- with a single , statistically insignificant point separating Barack Obama and Mitt Romney . Rasmussen 's tracker wiped the post-DNC bounce away late last week . ( Rasmussen tracks likely voters and refreshes its numbers on a three-day cycle ; Gallup measures registered voters across seven-day cycles ) . So where do things stand today ? Almost precisely where they did before the conventions shook things up . Obama led by as many as five points in Rasmussen and seven points in Gallup in the wake of his convention , thanks largely to an effective speech from former President Clinton . Today , Romney leads Obama by two points in the former poll , while Obama holds a single-point edge in the latter . For what it 's worth , this is the exact dynamic predicted by the Weekly Standard 's Jay Cost more than a week ago . I 'll leave you with a few pieces of new battleground state data :
( 1 ) Romney pulls into a virtual tie among registered New Hampshire voters . The good news for Republicans is that a likely voter screen would probably boost Mitt a little bit . The bad news is that the sample looks slightly too favorable to the GOP , although undeclared voters dominate the pool of respondents .
( 2 ) Romney edges into the lead in Colorado . Other recent polls have shown Obama up by one , two and five points there . The last survey on that list was conducted by a Democrat firm . As I reported earlier , the Romney campaign believes this state is a pure toss-up right now .
( 3 ) A Washington Post poll says Obama is leading Romney by eight points in Virginia . The survey relies on a D+9 sample , three points higher than than 2008 's partisan split . Politico 's Jonathan Martin is rather skeptical . Rasmussen recently pegged the Virginia race at 49-48 in Obama 's favor . Other polls have it somewhere in between . | Sa0gKCXgWNXGmzT2 | 2 | Election2012 | 0.1 | Presidential Elections | 0 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null |
white_house | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/13/grassley-open-to-negotiating-with-holder-over-contempt-push-but-sets-high-bar/ | Republicans open door to negotiating with Holder over contempt push | 2012-06-13 | white_house | Top Republican lawmakers opened the door to negotiating with Eric Holder Wednesday in order to potentially avoid a contempt vote in Congress , a day after the attorney general said he 's willing to make `` compromises . ''
Republican lawmakers and Holder are at a standoff over documents pertaining to the failed Fast and Furious gunrunning operation .
After Holder said he 's willing to reach a compromise , House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa , R-Calif. , on Wednesday sent a letter to the attorney general urging him to make the committee an offer .
`` Let me be clear -- if the Department of Justice submits a serious proposal for how it intends to alter its refusal to produce critical documents subpoenaed by the Committee , I am ready and willing to meet to discuss your proposal , '' Issa wrote .
The congressman did not set any conditions for what he wants to see in Holder 's offer .
A senator on the other side of Capitol Hill did , however .
Sen. Charles Grassley , R-Iowa , ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee , said Wednesday he still wants to see at least 80,000 documents in response to a congressional subpoena . The Justice Department so far claims to have produced about 7,600 of them .
Grassley told Fox News that only `` when they cough up '' the rest of those documents would he be satisfied .
`` If he 's willing to produce those documents in the next 10 days , I would say yes , it has avoided the confrontation that he 's created , '' Grassley said . As for what concessions he 'd be willing to give , the senator said he 'd be comfortable accepting certain `` restrictions '' on the use of those documents so long as they are provided to Congress .
A committee vote on contempt proceedings so far has only been scheduled on the House side in Issa 's committee , though Grassley and other GOP leaders support the move .
Obama administration officials have assailed the scheduled vote as purely political .
But Holder , under intense questioning before a Senate committee Tuesday , offered to negotiate with lawmakers in the interest of avoiding the clash .
`` I am prepared to make compromises with regard to the documents that can be made available , '' Holder said .
The attorney general has opposed releasing what is described as `` deliberative material . ''
But he said that `` in spite of that , '' he would sit down with Republican leaders `` to try to work our way through this in an attempt to avoid a constitutional crisis and come up with ways , creative ways perhaps , in which we can make this material available . ''
Holder even opened the door to releasing affidavits pertaining to wiretap applications , though he described that as a `` truly extraordinary act . ''
The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday wrote Issa urging the panel to work out the differences .
Rep. Elijah Cummings , D-Md. , urged Issa to meet with one of Holder 's deputies and work toward a `` timely resolution '' of the issue .
`` Specifically , I believe it would benefit the Committee to hear directly from the deputy attorney general about why some of the documents listed in the draft contempt citation are covered by a federal criminal statute that prohibits their disclosure , '' Cummings wrote . `` In turn , I believe it would benefit the department to hear directly from us about specific documents we believe could be produced to the Committee without compromising ongoing prosecutions . ''
`` He talks about a constitutional crisis , but remember : This is a constitutional crisis that he created because he 's been stonewalling for a year and a half on delivering these documents , '' Grassley said .
Some GOP lawmakers have run out of patience . At Tuesday 's hearing . Sen. John Cornyn , R-Texas , announced that Holder should resign -- citing the Fast and Furious operation , but also concerns about an ongoing security leak probe .
`` Americans deserve an attorney general that will be honest with them , they deserve an attorney general who will uphold the basic standards of political independence and accountability . You 've proven time and time again , sadly , that you 're unwilling to do so , '' he said .
Holder in response accused Republicans of playing politics , and specifically accused Cornyn of `` breathtaking '' inaccuracies . | QAuUyoT43HDVetqU | 2 | White House | -0.4 | Politics | 0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
energy | Washington Examiner | https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/epa-claims-replacement-for-obama-coal-rule-would-save-400-million-annually-reduce-pollution | EPA claims replacement for Obama coal rule would save $400 million annually, reduce pollution | 2018-08-21 | Energy | The Trump administration officially rolled out its replacement for the Clean Power Plan, former President Barack Obama’s signature initiative to combat climate change, with claims that the revision would save money while also slightly reducing carbon dioxide pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday morning released its plan, renamed the “Affordable Clean Energy Rule,” that the agency said would provide $400 million in annual benefits, while reducing carbon emission levels by up to 1.5 percent by 2030. President Trump is expected to tout the new rule at a rally in coal-friendly West Virginia Tuesday night. “The ACE Rule would restore the rule of law and empower states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide modern, reliable, and affordable energy for all Americans,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Today’s proposal provides the states and regulated community the certainty they need to continue environmental progress while fulfilling President Trump’s goal of energy dominance.” We won't sell or share your personal information to inform the ads you see. You may still see interest-based ads if your information is sold or shared by other companies or was sold or shared previously. Dismiss Opt out | 478a4794a8a9eddd | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
general_news | American Spectator | https://spectator.org/president-trump/ | President Trump’s Opportunity to Gut Regulations That Harm Effective Drug Policy | 2017-01-10 | War On Drugs, Regulations, General News | Support for President Trump is highly correlated with living in a region stricken by what are being called “ deaths by despair ” : skyrocketing rates of suicide , alcohol-related fatalities and most notably , relentlessly rising deaths from opioid overdose . These often-rural areas have been hit hard by job losses , with high unemployment and shredded social fabric . Not surprisingly , the overdose epidemic came up repeatedly over the course of the election — largely through questions from voters — starting from the very first primaries .
Unfortunately , what might be seen as a form of political correctness has long stymied America ’ s reaction to the problem . To take the most egregious example , we actually know how to cut opioid overdose deaths at least in half with existing treatment , but we fail to do so because much of the rehab establishment is philosophically opposed and because stifling regulation cripples the ability to rapidly expand evidence-based care .
If President Trump wants to help these suffering constituents , he needs to take bold action against these ideological and regulatory roadblocks . There are five critical components to improving drug policy , which do not require radical legislative change .
… cutting supply without addressing the root of the problem tends to merely shift people from one addiction to another .
First , we need to fight the real problem , which is addiction and other harmful drug use , not simply drug supply . Second , we need to massively expand access to evidence-based treatment , which is currently rare . Third , more evidence-based prevention is needed , which is again currently in short supply . Fourth , drug risks need to be prioritized in context , which means fighting the most dangerous drugs first and foremost .
Finally , for any of this to help in a sustained way in the most vulnerable communities , people need decent , adequately paid stable jobs . This series will explore each of these policy ideas in greater depth over the course of this week .
The addictions field is too PC to acknowledge that the vast majority of drug use — even of cocaine and heroin — occurs without doing harm . Most of it doesn ’ t involve addiction , overdose , or other damage .
Though many in society would obviously prefer for there to be no drug use , in a world of limited resources , it makes sense to focus policy on fighting the most harmful use first . That means recognizing that the main problem we need to address is addiction — and that addressing addiction requires a whole different perspective than fighting a war on drugs .
When the modern war on drugs was first declared by Richard Nixon in 1971 , thinking about addiction was simplistic : it was caused by the body developing a physical need for drugs after repeated exposure to them . People who chose to continue to take drugs until this occurred were hedonists , driven first by a desire for unearned pleasure , then by a desire to avoid withdrawal pain . Consequently , cutting the drug supply would solve the problem .
Obama administration and states ’ efforts to cut prescribing and prosecute pill mills have actually increased overdose deaths .
Now , however , science has shown that addiction is much more complex . For one , only about 10-20 % of people who take drugs non-medically — even drugs like heroin and cocaine — become addicted to them . Second , this group is different from those who don ’ t get hooked before they even try substances : at least half have mental illness , 2/3 suffer from the after-effects of child trauma and most of the rest have also experienced some recent form of distress or dislocation , often unemployment .
Physical withdrawal symptoms can also occur with drugs that are not linked with addiction ( like blood pressure medications ) and highly addictive drugs ( like cocaine ) do not leave people physically ill when they quit , though they certainly will be irritable . Seeing addiction as drug dependence was a mistake .
Consequently , today ’ s experts , like the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the diagnostic manual of psychiatry , the DSM 5 , recognize that addiction isn ’ t just physically needing a drug to function : it is compulsive use of a substance to cope with a problem , despite negative consequences . Essentially , it ’ s a learning disorder , in which the brain does not change harmful drug-related coping behavior even in the face of horrific losses like job loss , being cut off from family , losing friends , prison .
As a result , cutting supply without addressing the root of the problem tends to merely shift people from one addiction to another . It ’ s like expecting a ban on soap and hand sanitizer to stop obsessive hand-washing : if the underlying issue isn ’ t dealt with , alternative means of engaging in compulsive behavior will be sought .
In fact , this is why the Obama administration and states ’ efforts to cut prescribing and prosecute pill mills have actually increased overdose deaths . The pill mills had lists of everyone who received these drugs directly from doctors — in order to get controlled prescription drugs , you need to show real ID . But rather than being offered evidence-based treatment when law enforcement shut these doctors down , addicted customers were left to fend for themselves .
That left a market opportunity for gangsters , who rapidly supplied far more dangerous drugs — fentanyl and its derivatives , which are dozens of times more potent than heroin . This followed a pattern seen so often during the drug war — where more dangerous drugs pop up when police crack down on one source or route of supply — that it has an academic name , the Iron Law of Prohibition .
Another key fact about addiction that makes the drug war approach ineffective is that its very nature is defined by resistance to punishment . That ’ s what compulsive use despite negative consequences means : if you don ’ t stop even when you lose your house , your job , your friends , your spouse and your health , it ’ s unlikely that other punishing experiences like prison sentences will deter or change you . When we understand that addiction is learned behavior that resists punishment , it ’ s obvious that we need a whole different approach .
If our new president can move beyond the old , failed strategies by rethinking addiction , there are concrete steps he can take to save lives now . In the next four days , I ’ ll explain each of them and how these changes can finally start cutting the death toll . | 9b12f4454a98cb49 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
terrorism | Politico | http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/boston-marathon-bombing-unanswered-questions-90723.html | Boston's unanswered questions | 2013-04-29 | terrorism | There are thousands of soft targets that are very difficult to secure , the author writes . | REUTERS Boston 's unanswered questions
After the terrorist attacks of 9/11 , difficult questions were asked and subsequently new priorities and policies were implemented to move America from a “ cold war threat ” to a “ transnational threat ” environment . As we learn the hows and whys from the Boston Marathon bombing , we should be moving into a new phase of understanding and responding to the rapidly evolving threats presented by this brutal attack . Osama bin Laden wrote after the plane attacks on New York and Washington , “ It was not an army or nation state or tanks that attacked America , but 19 post-graduate students. ” On Patriots ’ Day in Boston , two students blew up crude bombs , killing three and wounding 170 people and paralyzing a city .
It is essential to ask the right questions and push the entire system to produce honest answers , even if this reveals mistakes . Right now , the NSA is sorting through communications intercepts looking for signs of the Tsarnaev brothers abroad . The CIA ’ s analysts are sifting through human intelligence reports uncovering any signs of this plot in terrorist circles . The FBI is conducting forensic analysis of their hard drives , communications and Internet use . The DHS is assessing its knowledge of Tamerlan Tsarnaev and sharing that with other agencies . Congress will perform its oversight function by conducting private inquiries and when the facts are assembled , public hearings . And certainly the Obama administration will demand a thorough and comprehensive “ after action review ” of the local , state and federal responses . Here are five critical questions :
There are thousands of soft targets , like the Boston Marathon , that are very difficult to lock down and secure completely . The 9/11 Commission outlined “ A Layered Security System ” with checks , balances and resilience . This entails overt checks , surveillance and intelligence gathered at home and abroad with counter-terrorism agreements overseas . Also , there is the critical role of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in America ; gathering information in local communities and sharing it . The 9/11 Commission talked about the essential need for unity of effort and unity of command . How well did this multi-level security system work in Boston and how will it work in the future on likely soft targets ?
We need to know a great deal more about four things before reaching a final conclusion . First , when and where did the Tsarnaev brothers become radicalized and who did they associate with overseas ? Second , what information did Russia provide when they asked the FBI to interview them ? Did they share specific “ investigative leads ” ? What was their information precisely based on ? Third , what did the FBI find in the forensic evidence on the Tsarnaevs ’ computers , social media accounts , and overseas travel ? Combing through the brothers ’ online life and community connections will reveal a treasure trove of clues . Four , did agencies like the FBI , CIA and DHS cooperate and share or did they “ stove-pipe ” information ? We should learn and adapt to better detect such radicalization in the future to prevent potential attacks . Europe , particularly the UK and France , have implemented numerous law enforcement , judicial , intelligence and education programs to prevent and detect radicalization . | 60oiAVeq0x432kXk | 0 | Terrorism | -2.5 | Boston Bombing | -2.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
immigration | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/15/democrats-shift-radically-on-illegal-immigration-a/ | Democrats shift radically on illegal immigration as Republicans remain adamantly opposed | 2015-09-15 | immigration | Democrats have become far more open to legalizing illegal immigrants over the last decade , while Republicans remain adamantly opposed , according to extensive new polling by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that helps explain the rise of businessman Donald Trump within the GOP presidential field and the dim hopes for getting anything done in Congress .
Little more than a decade ago , voters in both parties generally agreed that unchecked immigration was a significant threat to U.S. vital interests — with Democrats actually topping Republicans in that belief , 63 percent to 58 percent . Now , however , the parties diverge wildly , with 63 percent of Republicans saying immigration is a threat , while just 29 percent of Democrats rate it so .
Independents are spot in the middle , with 46 percent seeing immigration as a threat .
“ Today , the partisan gaps between Republicans and Democrats on illegal immigration are at record levels , ” the Chicago Council said . “ Two-thirds of Republicans , but only one-third of Democrats , say that controlling and reducing illegal immigration is a very important goal of U.S. foreign policy . ”
Overall , Democrats share many of the same foreign policy goals as voters who identify with the GOP or who state they are independent , the Chicago Council found , ranging from the threat from radical Islam to the spread of nuclear weapons .
But the two parties split radically on immigration and global warming , where Democrats are far more likely to say the U.S. must change , even if it means major costs to the government and economy : 56 percent of Democrats said climate change is serious and big steps are needed , while just 12 percent of Republicans agreed .
Indeed , Democrats place climate change as a top-five threat to the U.S. , while Republicans ranked it dead last out of 20 possible threats , according to the poll , which surveyed 2,034 adults between May 28 and June 17 .
The changing attitudes on immigration trace back to the beginning of President George W. Bush ’ s tenure in office .
Under President Clinton , a Democrat who oversaw the stiffest immigration policies in modern politics , the parties generally agreed that mass immigration was a threat to U.S. interests — and Democrats were even slightly more staunch in that view , at 58 percent to 56 percent for the GOP . But those attitudes changed , ironically , under Mr. Bush , who pushed for more leniency for illegal immigrants .
Democrats appeared to side with Mr. Bush , while his own GOP loyalists split from him . The divide has only deepened under President Obama , who has used the issue as a political wedge , urging Hispanic voters to punish Republicans for not embracing legalization .
But that ’ s an unpopular opinion within Republican circles , where 45 percent said illegal immigrants should be forced to leave the country , and another 16 percent said they can stay but should never be allowed to apply for citizenship . By contrast , the vast majority of Democrats say they should be allowed to stay and become citizens , either immediately or after they pay a penalty and “ wait a few years . ”
Democratic candidates are competing to be the most generous toward illegal immigrants , with several of them vowing to go beyond Mr. Obama ’ s executive actions and grant a deportation amnesty to even more than the 5 million this current White House has tried to include in its policies .
Republican candidates , meanwhile , are sparring over whether illegal immigrants should be granted any legal status at all , even if it does fall short of a special new pathway to citizenship .
America ’ s Voice , a leading pro-immigrant advocacy group , said the Republican candidates ’ rhetoric , and particularly that of Mr. Trump , is leading to a poisonous atmosphere for immigrants .
“ While none of the other contenders on the debate stage have fully embraced Trump ’ s nativist mass-expulsion platform , Republican candidate after Republican candidate is nonetheless lurching to the right on immigration , and embracing patently ridiculous and offensive immigration policies , ” the group said in a memo ahead of Wednesday ’ s GOP presidential debate .
The advocacy group warned that if the GOP doesn ’ t change its stances or tone on the issue , it will see a political backlash from Hispanic and Asian voters .
An MSNBC/Telemundo/Marist poll released earlier this week found that black voters also fully embrace the cause of illegal immigrants .
On question after question , black voters were as likely , or sometimes even more likely , than Hispanic voters to back lenient policies .
For example , only 23 percent of black voters wanted to see illegal immigrants deported to remove the need for sanctuary cities , which is even smaller than the 27 percent of Hispanics who supported deportation . And 65 percent of black voters found the term “ anchor baby ” to be an offensive way to describe a child born to an illegal immigrant mother — while just 56 percent of Hispanics found it offensive .
As with the Chicago Council poll , the MSNBC survey found a deep party divide on those questions too .
The split contrasts with most other areas of policy . Despite intense differences between Republicans and Democrats over the Iran nuclear deal and Mr. Obama ’ s handling of world hot spots , voters in both parties generally favor an active U.S. role in world affairs , the Chicago Council survey found .
Sixty-nine percent of the GOP and 67 percent of Democrats backed a strong American role . Independents are slight outliers , with just 57 percent of them favoring an active role .
Republicans are more likely to perceive Islamic fundamentalism as a critical threat , but the GOP , Democrats and independents all said the threat rose over the last year . | 7pfaWSl0mnSorEOQ | 2 | Immigration Reform | -0.1 | Immigration | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
holidays | The Week - News | http://theweek.com/articles/668662/donald-trump-ruining-christmas | Donald Trump is ruining Christmas | 2016-12-23 | holidays | I am a Hindu , my husband a Jew . So which religious holiday do we celebrate ? Why , Christmas , of course !
Every year , we get the obligatory tree and open presents while sipping eggnog and listening to Nat King Cole 's Christmas album . Later in the day , we bake shortbread cookies with our ( Christian ) friends and dine over lamb rogan josh and pulao . In short , we may not celebrate this national holiday in a traditional American way ( whatever that means ) , but we have no trouble doing so , much less saying Merry Christmas .
But in Donald Trump 's America , millions of Americans like us who have embraced Christmas voluntarily will become involuntary recruits in his War for Christmas . In the long run that wo n't save the holiday , it will doom it .
At stop after stop in his multi-state , post-election victory — err `` Thank You '' — tour , Trump has been reaffirming his pledge that America will stop saying `` Happy Holidays '' and start saying `` Merry Christmas '' on his watch . Against a backdrop of gaudily decorated Christmas trees that the Puritans would have surely banned as a pagan custom , he tells his adoring throngs that he 's had it with `` political correctness . '' He insists that it 's time to end the War on Christmas and reassert America 's heritage ( that he 's hilariously described as `` Judeo-Christian , '' completely innocent of the problem that poses for his project of Christmas revival ) .
For starters , by borrowing a page from Bill O ' Reilly 's book and publicly shaming businesses that he deems are n't paying sufficient obeisance to Christmas . ( O'Reilly , incidentally , believes that replacing `` Merry Christmas '' with `` Happy Holidays '' is a part of a `` secularist-progressive conspiracy '' to advance such nefarious ends as legalization of narcotics , abortion on demand , and euthanasia . ) For example , during his campaign , Trump constantly slammed Starbucks for redesigning its cups to emphasize a generic holiday — rather than one with an explicitly Christmas theme . He 's even threatened to evict the coffee shop from his hotel and has encouraged his fans to boycott it .
That is bad enough from a man who already has the power to make and break corporate fortunes by naming names . But once in office , Trump will command and control the entire executive machinery to bring truant companies to heel . And he does n't inspire comfort when he ominously intones things like `` America will say Christmas again — I can tell you that much . '' Will he unleash IRS inspectors to harass Starbucks ? Issue citations for OSHA violations ? The possibilities for persecution are endless .
Just to be clear , O'Reilly and Trump might be hysterical , but it is also the case that progressives have n't exactly helped matters by trying to purge every last nativity scene from the public square as a violation of the separation of church and state . That may or may not be true ( the Supreme Court was a little muddled about that in the 1989 County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union ) , but the real purpose of the First Amendment ( as the rest of the Bill of Rights ) is to stop majoritarian oppression — not expression . It is inevitable that the majority 's customs , habits , and observances will exert more influence on a culture than minority ones . But the trick is to limit the majority 's undue incursions that seek to delegitimize minority religions , not try and turn public spaces into `` religion free zones . '' Genuine tolerance and pluralism means allowing as many religions as possible to express themselves , not driving all of them behind closed doors .
A more Solomonic leader than Trump might have made common cause with other faiths that similarly want space to unapologetically practice their faith free from secular tsk-tsking . But Trump 's misguided pledge to Make America Say Merry Christmas Again sounds like he wants to turn Christians from being victims to victimizers . It is a bellicose assertion of Christianity whose real purpose seems to be to remind minorities whose turf they 're on . How would a Jewish establishment that considers Christmas something of an affront fare in such as America ? Or a Muslim storeowner who celebrates Ramadan over Christmas ? Or , for that matter , an austere and puritanical Christian that has a theological objection to Christmas ? Would they all be forced to say Merry Christmas to prove their fidelity to the majority ?
This wo n't de-escalate the culture wars but ramp them up with religious minorities forced ever more into progressive arms for protection through courts and lawsuits . It 'll also force millions of folks , like my husband and me , who are n't super religious and therefore happy to embrace the cultural default to reexamine whether we are now aiding and abetting a dangerous form of majoritarianism . Innocent and unconscious observances will become thoroughly politicized . And folks who feel like they are being forced to comply with a new pro-Christian regime will inevitably develop forms of passive resistance . This will generate anti-Christmas subversion — not a sincere celebration .
So let 's pray to God to knock some sense into Trump 's head and call off his misguided and ham-handed crusade . | 1SMndFtdBv0KUuuN | 1 | Donald Trump | -1.5 | Christmas | -0.4 | Holidays | 0 | General News | 0 | null | null |
economy_and_jobs | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/1/editorial-bubble-fever/ | Opinion: Another economic bubble about to burst? | 2014-08-01 | economy_and_jobs | Good economic news hit the wires last week , with the wires humming a tune we haven ’ t heard in a while . There were 208,000 new jobs created in July , and the economy grew at 3 percent . So why did the stock market take this as a signal to sell ?
Looking at the long-term economic indicators , more and more analysts see an asset bubble about to pop . When that happens , bad federal policies will take the blame .
Economists insist that we ’ ve been in a “ recovery ” for several years , but it has never felt like a recovery . Economic growth , job creation and productivity figures have ranged from mediocre to awful . President Obama insisted that he would revive the economy by spending $ 1 trillion on stimulus . The money is gone , and the economy is still bad .
True prosperity comes from innovation and investment . When labor is more productive , it ’ s worth it for employers to boost paychecks .
That ’ s not what we ’ re seeing now . Instead , the Federal Reserve is taking extraordinary measures to keep interest rates artificially low , masking the effects of massive government borrowing . Combine this policy with America ’ s corporate-income tax , the highest effective rates in the developed world , and companies borrow “ cheap ” money and keep profits overseas .
That produces highly indebted corporations flush with cash . When interest rates increase , as they invariably will when the Fed tightens monetary policy , this debt will suddenly be much more expensive to service . Balance sheets will be ugly .
Government policies are creating the next candidate for taxpayer bailout : the Federal Housing Administration . Originally created to help low- to moderate-income Americans buy houses , this agency now guarantees mortgages as large as $ 730,000 , which is significantly higher than the $ 625,000 houses whose loans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac backed before the housing collapse .
In 2006 , the Federal Housing Administration guaranteed just 5 percent of mortgages . The latest figures from a study by Jordan Rappaport of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and Paul Willen of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston show that this share had escalated to 44 percent by 2010 . Worse , the Obama administration is pushing banks to further loosen lending standards , which was another major factor in the housing-sector meltdown the last time everything collapsed . This has led one bank , JP Morgan , to pull out of FHA financing altogether .
While the Fed will look to “ employment cost ” in deciding what to do in cutting back on monetary stimulus and raising interest rates , it ’ s not so much that wages rose by 1 percent that matters , but that productivity actually fell by 3 percent last year , and what happens this year . If productivity fails to rise , we could be stuck in stagnation because an employer can not afford to pay more to an employee who isn ’ t more productive . The growing burden of regulations is holding back productivity .
The increasing dissonance between the stagnation in productivity and the bullish stock market suggests that an asset bubble is in the making , inflated by the Fed ’ s running the printing presses and the Federal Housing Administration ’ s goosing of the housing sector . The tax man ’ s greed and the bureaucrat ’ s hostile rules are likely to prick that bubble . | 46x4o5s7kJjl2vj3 | 2 | Economy And Jobs | -0.6 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
housing_and_homelessness | CNN Business | https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/23/homes/new-home-sales-july/index.html | New home sales fall 12.6% in July as rising prices take a toll | 2022-08-23 | Commerce Department, Economy And Jobs, Housing And Homelessness, Inflation, Mortgage Rates | New home sales plunged in July as high prices and mortgage rates pushed buyers to think twice about closing the deal.Sales of newly constructed homes fell by 12.6% in July from June and were down 29.6% from a year ago, according to a joint report from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the US Census Bureau. It was the second consecutive month of declines.Only 511,000 new homes were sold last month, at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, down from a revised 585,000 in June. That’s the lowest sales number since January 2016. A year ago, 726,000 newly constructed homes were sold.Meanwhile, the median price for a new construction home rose to $439,400, up from $402,400 the previous month.A challenging road aheadNew home sales have been trending lower as prospective buyers see their budgets stretched thin by long construction times, mounting costs and rising mortgage rates. The average interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was above 5% for all of July, having risen more than two percentage points since January.“Sales of new homes continue to crumple under the weight of high prices and higher mortgage rates,” said Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.As inventories of new homes rise, a pullback in prices is probably coming, Frick said, although there’s a limit to how low they can go given the cost of materials, land and labor that get baked into builders’ costs.“Given builders are pulling back plans to construct more homes, we won’t be building our way out of the current housing crisis for years,” said Frick.The latest data continues to paint a challenging picture for the US housing market, said John Fish, CEO of Suffolk Construction and chairman of the Real Estate Roundtable.“While the Federal Reserve attempts to reduce inflation, rising construction and land costs, supply chain disruptions and the labor shortage are contributing to the growing gap between housing demand and supply,” he said.In the short term, Fish said, controlling inflation will be an important step toward improving the housing market and broader economy. But there are structural issues that need to be addressed for a successful economy in the long-term, Fish said, like developing land-use policies that are aligned with federal and local governments, developing more housing, and investing in technologies that will help lower the cost of construction to make development more attractive.“We’re witnessing a housing recession in terms of declining home sales and home building,” Lawrence Yun, the chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, said last week after new data showed that existing home sales had fallen for the sixth month in a row. “However, it’s not a recession in home prices.”This time, the housing market’s adjustment is likely to be far less severe than the correction in 2008 because there are still fewer homes for sale than households that would like to buy them, said Kelly Mangold of RCLCO Real Estate Consulting.“Underlying demand for for-sale new homes remains,” she said.And an upshot of the downturn for buyers is that there may be less competition and more price cuts.“For those who are still motivated to buy, the market has become a less competitive space and buyers are not facing the bidding wars that characterized much of the earlier phases of the pandemic,” she said. | a4257315c14cbe3e | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
religion_and_faith | Newsweek | https://www.newsweek.com/pope-francis-condemning-gay-marriage-restrictions-highlights-catholic-civil-war-1776606 | Pope Francis Condemning Gay Marriage Bans Highlights Catholic 'Civil War' | 2023-01-27 | Religion And Faith, LGBTQ Issues, Pope Francis, Same-Sex Marriage, Catholic Church, World | This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. Nick Reynolds is a senior politics reporter at Newsweek. A native of Central New York, he previously worked as a politics reporter at the Charleston Post & Courier in South Carolina and for the Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming before joining the politics desk in 2022. His work has appeared in outlets like High Country News, CNN, the News Station, the Associated Press, NBC News, USA Today and the Washington Post. He currently lives in South Carolina. Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Pope Francis took one of his strongest positions yet against legislation around the world that criminalizes homosexuality or otherwise discriminates against LGBTQ individuals Tuesday, seemingly indicating that the leadership of the Catholic Church—long divided over the question of its position toward the community—was beginning to take a firmer position of solidarity with the LGBTQ community. "Being homosexual isn't a crime," Francis said during an exclusive interview with the Associated Press published Wednesday. While Francis still referred to homosexuality in the context of "sin," the comments were lauded by many who saw the comments as one of the first public steps by a Catholic pope to affirm the religion's acceptance of members of the LGBTQ community who have long felt maligned by the Catholic tradition. "Pope Francis's historic call for the decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide is an immense step forward for LGBTQ people, their families and all who love them," James Martin, a priest and editor of the Jesuit America Magazine wrote in response to the news Wednesday. "This is the first time that any Pope has made such a clear statement about this issue of life and death," he added. "In some countries, same-sex relations are still a criminal offense; and in several countries you can be executed for being LGBTQ. As such, Pope Francis is siding, as he always does, with life, with human dignity and with the belief that all of us are created in the image of God." "Criminalization based on sexual orientation is contrary to international human rights law," tweeted Victor Madrigal-Borloz, a United Nations independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity. "I welcome this recognition by @Pontifex." The timing of the pope's comments, however, were difficult to ignore. Just days earlier, Francis' predecessor—the more conservative late Pope Benedict XVI—released a posthumous book of essays through his publisher containing a number of revealing claims about his own philosophy of the church as well as concerns of a proliferation of homosexuality within the ranks of clergy, representing another book in a series of books critical of Pope Francis that were released in the wake of Benedict's death on December 31. One recent memoir by Benedict's longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, released in January prompted a sit-down between the two men after Ganswein claimed Francis was abandoning old traditions of the church, including with his outreach toward divorced members of the church as well as moving away from the Latin Mass, which has been growing in favor with more conservative sects of the Catholic faith. The headlines wrote themselves: Were these tell-all books the start of a "civil war" as the Catholic-funded publication Crux posed Tuesday? Some, particularly in the conservative sect of Catholicism, appeared to believe so. "We are witnessing a monumental event in the history of the Church, the beginning of an outright civil war in the church," Pope Head, a conservative Christian columnist, wrote in a viral Twitter thread promoted by prominent figures on the right like internet personality and rock musician Phil Labonte and former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. "If what is occurring right now in the Vatican occurred 400 years ago, Europe would undoubtably be dragged into outright war. The question at the heart of the conflict, is Francis a legitimate Pope?" Pope Head added. Yesterday an absolute bombshell was released, something completely unprecedented in the history of the Catholic Church. No English speaking news outlets have discussed it, and I believe we are witnessing mass media censorship. Benedict XVI published a posthumous book pic.twitter.com/XjDTC0rITP For some, Tuesday's comments, as major a step as they were, still left more to be desired from the pope. University of New Hampshire sociologist Michele Dillon, an expert on Catholic views on secular society, noted that Francis still invoked official church teachings that homosexuality was a sin even in his denunciation of discrimination toward the LGBTQ community, a posture that has caused "a lot of anguish for many gay and lesbian Catholics." While a step forward, it did not represent a tangible shift in the church's stance toward the LGBTQ community, criticizing laws that criminalize homosexuality while appearing not to make any gesture toward reframing the church's understanding of its alleged sinfulness. "It will disappoint a lot of lesbian and gay Catholics, and many other Catholics and non-Catholics too, that Francis invoked the language of sin in talking about gays even as they will appreciate his advocacy of the decriminalization of homosexuality," she told Newsweek. "Many would likely contend that it's hypocritical to criticize unjust laws while church teaching itself in this domain contributes to the stigmatization of gays and lesbians and negative attitudes toward them," she added. However, Francis is in a tight spot: The debate over Francis' vision for the church and that of Benedict's—a much more conservative figure—date back well before either man ascended to lead the Vatican, with recent events only serving to exacerbate those tensions. In the wake of the second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, a rift began to form between clergy who believed the church should adhere to a more rigorous standard of traditional Catholic values and others who believed the church should become more progressive and reflective of an increasingly secular world around it. While the church has long acknowledged that the state is free to enact laws that may be at odds with church teachings, Dillon notes that the church has continued in civil debates around subjects like gay marriage and divorce to reaffirm the sinfulness of those behaviors for Catholics. As the duly elected leader of the Catholic church, Francis—considered to be among the more progressive popes in recent history—has sought to leave his own imprint on the church. Beginning in 2021, Francis began to meet with church communities all over the world in an effort to lobby for the inclusion of marginalized groups within the church, including the poor, migrants, LGBTQ people and women, a move some felt only served to abandon the traditions that had helped define the faith for centuries. Recently, he has increased his public outreach to the LGBTQ community, including remarks last year asking parents not to "condemn" their homosexual children and firing officials behind documents barring blessings for LGBTQ parishoners. Those moves, however, have only helped to spur increasingly public opposition from some members of the clergy in recent years. "With open dialogue can come some confusion around the principles of what it means to accompany someone, or what it means to have an attitude of mercy," Patrick T. Brown, a fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center, told Newsweek. "It gets applied in different ways in different dioceses. Bishops are going to disagree on this in different ways. It's a live issue, for sure." "He's right that in the church's eyes, homosexual acts are considered a sin, but should not be a crime," he added. "I think that that is firmly within the Catholic tradition. It's just a matter of how it gets applied. "I think Francis has a more collegial style and wants to have some of these debates out in the open, and rather than behind closed doors, and I think that has led to some of the frank disagreements we've seen between some bishops in the U.S." There have been tangible examples, ranging from local school districts all the way up to the Vatican itself. A 17-page document obtained by The Denver Post last fall showed the Archdiocese of Denver advising administrators at local Catholic schools in 2019 to not enroll or re-enroll transgender students, calling their gender orientation "incompatible with Christian anthropology" and potentially leading to "profound confusion." Earlier this month, a Maryland priest allegedly denied communion to a lesbian parishioner at her mother's funeral at the church, allegedly telling her, "I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman and that is a sin according to the church," according to a statement by The National Religious Leadership Roundtable last week. The priest also allegedly left the altar while the woman delivered her mother's eulogy. Meanwhile in Rome, Pope Francis is currently under fire for considering a figure to lead a post within the church tasked with defending Roman Catholic doctrine who recently supported resolutions favoring the ordination of women as well as the "moral condonement of sexual relations between members of the same sex," according to a report by the National Catholic Register earlier this week. The debates within the church, some argue, appear to miss the larger picture: that the fastest growing religious group in the nation, according to Pew, is comprised of people with no affiliation whatsoever, and that Catholics focusing on internal debates miss the bigger issue that the church is largely seen as irrelevant by young adults, one expert on Catholicism told Newsweek. But Dillon noted most current Catholics tend to be moderate, with some of the debates around these issues being potentially off-putting for some members. What keeps them in it, she said, are largely the binds of tradition. "Since the 1970s, many Catholics who remain active Catholics conscientiously do so even though they use contraception; and/or are divorced and remarried (without an annulment); and are in same-sex relationships/same-sex marriages," said Dillon. "They take the view that being Catholic is a deeper and broader commitment and one not defined specifically or solely by their sexual behavior. "That's why many stay within the church, even as they disagree with official church teaching on these issues, or are disappointed or embarrassed by some of their experiences of church." Brown, however, noted that there might be some desire for the church to resemble the values of groups that are actually growing within the faith—Hispanics, for example—that are beginning to replace the older generations that once dominated the faith in the U.S. "That does change the church in a number of different directions," he said. "I do think that some of the debates that consumed the church over the years—politicians receiving Communion if they support abortion—are, in some respects, on the way out in future years. It's going to be a smaller church, where the people who inherit it see it as something that's part of their identity," Brown added. Update 1/25/23, 3:35 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comments from University of New Hampshire sociologist Michele Dillon. Nick Reynolds is a senior politics reporter at Newsweek. A native of Central New York, he previously worked as a politics reporter at the Charleston Post & Courier in South Carolina and for the Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming before joining the politics desk in 2022. His work has appeared in outlets like High Country News, CNN, the News Station, the Associated Press, NBC News, USA Today and the Washington Post. He currently lives in South Carolina. Nick Reynolds is a senior politics reporter at Newsweek. A native of Central New York, he previously worked as a politics reporter at the Charleston Post & Courier in South Carolina and for the Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming before joining the politics desk in 2022. His work has appeared in outlets like High Country News, CNN, the News Station, the Associated Press, NBC News, USA Today and the Washington Post. He currently lives in South Carolina. Nick Reynolds is a senior politics reporter at Newsweek. A native of Central New York, he previously worked as a ... Read more Newsletters in your inbox See all Company Editions: Contact Terms of Use © 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC | 7b28d954e6a44d36 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Reuters | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-moore/two-more-women-accuse-senate-candidate-moore-of-sexual-misconduct-idUSKBN1DG03R | Two more women accuse Senate candidate Moore of sexual misconduct | 2017-11-16 | Roy Moore, Alabama, Elections | ( ███ ) - Two more women came forward on Wednesday with allegations of sexual misconduct against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore , one accusing him of groping her and the other of forcing a kiss on her when he was 30 and she was about 18 .
They are the sixth and seventh women to accuse Moore of sexual improprieties since his race for the Alabama Senate seat began . Most were teenagers at the time . Moore , 70 , has denied the accusations and said he is the victim of a witch hunt .
Gena Richardson told the Washington Post that Moore , then a 30-year-old attorney , had repeatedly asked her for a date in 1977 just before or after she turned 18 . Richardson said she finally agreed and went to a movie with Moore , the Post said .
In a dark parking lot at a mall in Gadsden , Alabama , Richardson said Moore gave her an unwanted , “ forceful ” kiss that scared her , the Post reported .
Another woman , Tina Johnson , told AL.com , an Alabama news site , that Moore groped her while she was in his Alabama law office on legal business in 1991 .
Johnson , who was 28 at the time , said she visited Moore ’ s office with her mother , who had hired Moore in a custody case involving Johnson ’ s 12-year-old son .
Johnson said Moore grabbed her buttocks as she left . “ He didn ’ t pinch it , he grabbed it , ” Johnson told AL.com .
███ was unable to independently verify the allegations from either woman , and Moore ’ s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment .
Five other women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct or of dating them when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers .
National Republican Party leaders have responded with demands that he drop out of the Senate race . The Dec. 12 special election will fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions when he was named U.S. attorney general last spring .
Moore on Wednesday denied the allegations of the first five women to step forward .
“ We are in the process of investigating these false allegations to determine their origin and motivation , ” he said in a statement .
Moore also said he believed a message that one of the accusers , Beverly Young Nelson , said he had written in her high school yearbook had been tampered with . Nelson accused Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16 and he was in his 30s .
Nelson displayed the yearbook message at a news conference in New York , where she made the allegations on Monday . Moore ’ s campaign on Wednesday demanded that Nelson turn over the yearbook to a neutral custodian so a handwriting expert could examine it .
The Alabama state party ’ s leadership met on Wednesday night to discuss their stance and took no action , news media reported .
Republican leaders in Washington have asked Moore to withdraw from the race and said they are exploring write-in options for the election .
U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has spoken to President Donald Trump and others about the situation . Trump appeared at the White House on Wednesday but did not mention Moore .
Under state law , Moore can not be removed from the ballot . If , however , the state party tells election officials that it wants to withdraw its nominee , or if Moore himself decided to do so , election officials would not certify any votes cast for Moore .
Before the allegations surfaced , Moore , a Christian conservative and former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice , had been heavily favored to defeat Democrat Doug Jones , a former U.S. attorney . But a new poll on Wednesday , released by the Senate Republicans ’ campaign arm , had Jones surging to a 12-point lead since the allegations surfaced .
A Democratic win in Alabama would be a blow to Trump ’ s agenda and shift the political outlook for next year ’ s congressional elections , giving Democrats a stronger shot at wiping out the Republicans ’ 52-48 Senate majority .
Judge Roy Moore participates in the Mid-Alabama Republican Club 's Veterans Day Program in Vestavia Hills , Alabama , U.S. , November 11 , 2017 . ███/Marvin Gentry
Moore has suggested that McConnell and other establishment Republicans are working with news media to discredit him .
The Washington Post first disclosed allegations by four women about their relationships with Moore when they were teenagers , ranging in age from 14 to 18 . One of the women said he initiated sexual contact with her when she was 14 and Moore was in his 30s . | 4450980c12aa40b6 | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
justice_department | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/13/irs-scrutiny-went-beyond-tea-party-criteria-broader-than-thought/ | IRS scrutiny went beyond Tea Party, targeting of conservative groups broader than thought | 2013-05-13 | justice_department | An IRS campaign to apply additional scrutiny to conservative groups went beyond targeting `` Tea Party '' and `` patriot '' groups to include those focused on government spending , the Constitution and several other broad areas .
The additional guidelines created by the agency were part of a timeline , obtained by Fox News , from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration , which is looking into the controversial IRS practice . IRS officials apologized Friday for the scrutiny , but new information suggests senior leaders were apprised of the effort as early as 2011 despite public denials from the top .
Republican lawmakers have vowed to investigate and hold hearings , calling the revelations deeply troubling .
`` The conclusion that the IRS came to is that they did have agents who were engaged in intimidation of political groups , '' Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers told `` Fox News Sunday . '' `` I do n't care if you 're a conservative , a liberal , a Democrat or a Republican , this should send a chill up your spine . It needs to have a full investigation . ''
The House Ways and Means Committee plans to hold a hearing Friday , Fox News has learned . A top Democrat -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus -- also said Monday that his committee would launch a `` full investigation '' into the matter .
`` These actions by the IRS are an outrageous abuse of power and a breach of the public 's trust . Targeting groups based on their political views is not only inappropriate but it is intolerable , '' the Montana Democrat said in a statement . `` Americans expect the IRS to do its job without passion or prejudice . We need to get to the bottom of what happened here . ... The IRS will now be the ones put under additional scrutiny . ''
President Obama weighed in as well , saying at a press conference Monday that if the reports are true , `` then that 's outrageous and there 's no place for it -- and they have to be held fully accountable . ''
Obama said he first found out about the practice on Friday . He said that if agents behaved in a partisan fashion , `` I 've got no patience with it . I will not tolerate it . ''
The internal IG timeline shows a unit in the agency was looking at Tea Party and `` patriot '' groups dating back to early 2010 . But it shows that list of criteria drastically expanding by the time a June 2011 briefing was held . It then included groups focused on government spending , government debt , taxes , and education on ways to `` make America a better place to live . '' It even flagged groups whose file included criticism of `` how the country is being run . ''
By early 2012 , the criteria were updated to include organizations involved in `` limiting/expanding government , '' education on the Constitution and Bill of Rights , and social economic reform .
Taken together , the findings of the IG and the initial admissions by the IRS Friday are fueling complaints from Republicans on Capitol Hill .
Evidence that the IRS was flagging such groups in 2011 was included in a draft inspector general 's report obtained Saturday by Fox News and other news organizations and expected to be released in full later this week .
That information seemingly contradicts public statements by IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman , who told congressional investigators in March 2011 that specific groups were not being targeted .
Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins on Sunday also called the IRS activities chilling and said she was disappointed that President Obama had not condemned the actions .
`` This is truly outrageous and it contributes to the profound distrust that the American people have in government , '' Collins told CNN 's `` State of the Union . '' `` It is absolutely chilling that the IRS was singling out conservative groups for extra review . And I think that it 's very disappointing that the president has n't personally condemned this . ''
At about the same time , White House Press Secretary Jay Carney released a statement saying : `` If the inspector general finds that there were any rules broken or that conduct of government officials did not meet the standards required of them , the president expects that swift and appropriate steps will be taken to address any misconduct . ''
Michigan Republican Rep. Dave Camp , chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee , said Friday his committee will hold a hearing on the issue .
The IRS said Friday that it was sorry for what it called the `` inappropriate '' targeting of the conservative groups during the 2012 elections .
Lois G. Lerner , who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations , said the practice was initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias .
But on June 29 , 2011 , Lerner found out that such groups were being targeted , according to the inspector general 's report .
She was told at a meeting that groups with `` Tea Party , '' `` Patriot '' or `` 9/12 Project '' in their names were being flagged for additional and often burdensome scrutiny , the report states .
The 9/12 Project is a group started by conservative TV personality Glenn Beck .
Collins also said she does not believe the activity was limited to `` a couple of rogue IRS employees . ''
`` After all , '' she added , `` groups with ` progressive ' in their names were not targeted similarly . '' | QyMHmkX0CoRw4QIs | 2 | IRS | -0.1 | Justice Department | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
supreme_court | New York Times (News) | https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/us/north-carolina-supreme-court-gerrymander.html | North Carolina Court, With New Partisan Mix, Reverses Itself on a Key Voting Case | 2023-04-28 | Supreme Court, North Carolina, Gerrymandering, US Congress, Courts, Battleground States | Last year, Democratic justices on the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that maps of the state’s legislative and congressional districts drawn to give Republicans lopsided majorities were illegal gerrymanders. On Friday, the same court led by a newly elected Republican majority looked at the same facts, reversed itself and said it had no authority to act.The practical effect is to enable the Republican-controlled General Assembly to scrap the court-ordered State House, Senate and congressional district boundaries that were used in elections last November, and draw new maps skewed in Republicans’ favor for elections in 2024. The 5-to-2 ruling fell along party lines, reflecting the takeover of the court by Republican justices in partisan elections last November.The decision has major implications not just for the state legislature, where the G.O.P. is barely clinging to the supermajority status that makes its decisions veto-proof, but for the U.S. House, where a new North Carolina map could add at least three Republican seats in 2024 to what is now a razor-thin Republican majority. Overturning such a recent ruling by the court was a highly unusual move, particularly on a pivotal constitutional issue in which none of the facts had changed.The North Carolina case mirrors a national trend in which states that elect their judges — Ohio, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and others — have seen races for their high court seats turned into multimillion-dollar political battles, and their justices’ rulings viewed through a deeply partisan lens. | 8a4031ce2736cbd7 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
energy | HotAir | http://hotair.com/archives/2013/03/23/the-keystone-xl-pipeline-gets-the-senates-endorsement/ | The Keystone XL pipeline gets the Senate?s endorsement | 2013-03-23 | energy | Just FYI , President Obama is officially the last man standing in the trumped-up battle over the Keystone XL pipeline ’ s construction ; the state of Nebraska , the State Department , the House , and now even the Democrat-controlled Senate have all given the project very much on-the-record green lights . As fond as the president is of intoning on the need for bipartisanship and of imploring Congress to come together and really do some stuff , there ’ s finally bipartisan agreement on the pipeline from all sides and he just can ’ t take yes for an answer :
The Senate on Friday voted 62-37 to approve the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline in an amendment to Senate budget . Sen. John Hoeven ’ s ( R-N.D. ) amendment was largely symbolic , but served as a clear statement that the Senate backs the pipeline . “ It puts the Senate on record in support of the Keystone pipeline project . And that ’ s just appropriate , ” Hoeven said . “ The Department of State has done four environmental impact statements over the last five years — four — and said there are no significant environmental impacts . And it ’ s time that we in the Senate stepped up with the American people. ” All Republicans voted in favor . The Democrats who supported the measure were Sens . Max Baucus ( Mont . ) , Mark Begich ( Alaska ) , Michael Bennet ( Colo. ) , Tom Carper ( Del . ) , Bob Casey ( Pa. ) , Chris Coons ( Del . ) , Joe Donnelly ( Ind . ) , Kay Hagan ( N.C. ) , Heidi Heitkamp ( N.D. ) , Tim Johnson ( S.D . ) , Mary Landrieu ( La . ) , Joe Manchin ( W. Va. ) , Claire McCaskill ( Mo . ) , Bill Nelson ( Fla. ) , Mark Pryor ( Ark . ) , Jon Tester ( Mont . ) and Mark Warner ( Va. ) .
Again , I ’ m inclined to think that the most probable reason for Obama ’ s ongoing noncommittal attitude is because they ’ re cooking up some big Climate-Change-Championing scheme with which to assuage the eco-radical crowd and maintain his environmentalist creds to introduce around the same time as the pipeline ’ s ultimate approval ( something in the same vein as his recent “ I ’ m trying to please everyone , so let ’ s drill more oil and use the revenue to get off of oil ” -initiative , but bigger and even more partisan ) .
Our esteemed Green Knight in Recyclable Armor mused yesterday that the “ time has come ” for a carbon tax at last — is that what the Obama administration is up to ? | uSTIh6AtvRec4fE6 | 2 | Energy | 0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
gun_control_and_gun_rights | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/06/politics/states-gun-laws/index.html | Will states go where Congress hasn't on gun laws? | 2013-03-06 | gun_control_and_gun_rights | Story highlights As they await federal action , states are enacting their own gun laws
Red states consider pre-emptive laws to nullify a federal assault weapons ban
Blue states pass tough restrictions on gun purchases , expand background checks
States ' actions could provide political cover for a White House pushing tougher gun laws
Colorado state Rep. Tony Exum thought he was being punked .
The voice on the other end of the line claimed to be Vice President Joe Biden . It said it wanted to underscore the broader national importance of the heated gun control policy debate raging in Colorado .
`` He asked me if the gun control laws we were debating had a chance of being passed , and I told him I thought it did . He talked about what gun control laws would mean and the difficulty of getting those passed in the country , '' Exum , a Democrat , said of the call he received from Biden last month . `` At first I thought it was a prank call . ''
The brief exchange between Exum -- who represents a small section of southeast Colorado Springs where he once responded to shootings as a firefighter -- and the vice president , who heads up the Obama administration 's gun control reform efforts , was n't a chance encounter .
Calls to state lawmakers by the vice president are `` unusual , '' but not necessarily a bad thing , said Daniel Webster , director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research .
`` It 's clear that the administration has placed gun violence prevention near the top of its agenda , '' Webster said . `` States passing stronger gun laws builds momentum for change in other states and at the federal level . Colorado is an important state not only because it has experienced two of the most high-profile and deadliest mass shootings , but because it is a purple state with a lot of gun owners . ''
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( A shooting at a movie theater in Aurora , Colorado , last July killed 12 people and injured 58 . In April 1999 , two students at Columbine High School in Littleton , Colorado , killed 13 and wounded 23 others before killing themselves . )
The state battles are important because the administration needs to send a signal back to Washington that the gun laws the White House supports need not have negative political consequences , gun policy experts say .
Having the vice president reach out to local lawmakers `` may provide cover for some states that are passing these types laws so that there is some national conversation on this , '' said economist and pro-gun advocate John Lott .
In many ways , Colorado is ground zero for states ' battles over gun control policy .
As the nation awaits congressional action on a slate of gun control measures ranging from an assault weapons ban to expanded background checks , many states have taken matters into their own hands .
`` Some very pro-gun states are passing legislation that says , in essence , we wo n't follow certain federal laws , '' Webster said .
There are more than 1,000 gun policy bills pending in the nation 's state legislatures , according to an analysis by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence . The measures run the gamut from assault weapons bans and expanded background checks to proposals allowing guns in schools and in churches .
More than half of the nation 's state legislatures have had measures introduced that aim to nullify the effect of any federal ban on firearms , assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines , according to data collected by the he National Conference of State Legislatures .
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For example , on January 21 , Mississippi lawmakers introduced nearly a dozen such proposals . All of the measures failed , most of them in committee .
Most of these types of proposals hit state legislatures within days of the White House 's January announcement of 23 executive actions on gun control and the introduction by California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein of a proposed ban of some assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons .
`` The bluest states are being aggressive -- New York with the broadest prohibitions relevant to the mentally ill and lowest maximum ammunition capacity and broadest assault weapon ban , '' Webster said .
Biden traveled to a gun policy conference in Connecticut last month in the aftermath of December 's Newtown school shootings , to underscore the administration 's push for tougher laws as the state considers a broad set of gun control bills . Similar efforts are under way in New Jersey .
Maryland Gov . Martin O'Malley has spent tremendous political capital in his effort to enact several pieces of gun control legislation including stricter handgun purchaser licensing , banning the sale of assault weapons and ammunition-feeding devices with a capacity of more than 10 rounds , and expanded prohibitions for the dangerously mentally ill
Across the country in California , state lawmakers are considering measures that would expand the categories of high-risk people who can not legally purchase or possess firearms -- including repeat drug and drunk driving offenders and people who violate domestic violence restraining orders .
The debate has been especially heated in Colorado , where memories of Aurora and Columbine run deep .
On Monday , a small plane flew above the Colorado Capitol building pulling a banner that advised Gov . John Hickenlooper , `` Hick : Do not take our guns . '' Opponents packed the Capitol 's halls and honked horns in the parking lot .
Inside the statehouse , Mark Kelly -- the husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords , the Democratic congresswoman who was shot while meeting with constituents in Arizona in January 2011 -- stressed the importance of universal background checks . Like Congress , the Colorado state legislature is considering a package of gun control legislation designed to broaden background checks to include private sales and limit the size of ammunition magazines .
There are at least seven gun control measures up for a vote before the state Senate by the end of the week that , if passed , could potentially be on the governor 's desk by the end of the month .
Back in Washington , the fate of several pieces of similar gun policy legislation wending their way through a Senate committee could foreshadow the nature of the upcoming congressional gun control debate . But the politics of all of these measures is tricky and the stakes are high , said Alan Lizotte , dean and professor at the School of Criminal Justice at the State University of New York at Albany .
`` Both Democrats and Republicans are in a tough spot on this , '' Lizotte said .
The speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives , Mark Ferrandino , a Democrat , says though he too was surprised to receive a call about his state 's gun control battle from Biden last week , he understands the stakes .
The vice president `` definitely said they were paying attention to all states that were having the debates , including Colorado , '' Ferrandino said .
However both he and Exum added that though they appreciated the White House calls , they were already staunch supporters of stricter gun control legislation .
`` Our goal is to pass the best policy for Colorado , '' Ferrandino said . `` If the vice president wants to take that and help at the national level , or other legislators want to see if that will help with their state , then we 'll gladly talk with them . '' | jTu56dkw6VIoD27z | 0 | Gun Control And Gun Rights | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Los Angeles Times | http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-live-updates-trailguide-trump-continues-attacks-on-former-miss-1475236542-htmlstory.html | Trump continues attacks on former Miss Universe with middle-of-the-night tweets | 2016-09-30 | Presidential Elections, Elections | Donald Trump heads to Michigan on Friday, while Hillary Clinton swings through Florida. Ivanka Trump plugs her father’s child care policy in new campaign ad Hoping to boost her father’s standing among female voters, Ivanka Trump is starring in a new campaign ad that touts the GOP nominee’s proposals to aid working women caring for their children. “The most important job any woman can have is being a mother, and it shouldn’t mean taking a pay cut,” says Trump’s daughter, speaking to directly to the camera in the 30-second ad. The ad features images of women caring for children and Donald Trump interacting with women in the workplace. It promotes the Trump child-care plan, which was rolled out earlier this month and includes tax credits for child care and paid maternity leave. The Washington Post reports that the commercial will be part of the campaign’s $7.5-million ad buy, targeting cable networks and prime-time shows with large female audiences such as Lifetime and “Dancing with the Stars.” Earlier Friday, the Trump campaign released a separate ad with a sharper tone, hitting Hillary Clinton on her email controversy and her remark describing half of Trump’s supporters as “deplorables.” Trump urges mostly white crowd in suburban Detroit to stand guard for election fraud Donald Trump has been trying to counter accusations that he is racist by casting himself as a defender of minorities. But at a rally in the Detroit suburbs Friday, he urged the mostly white crowd to travel to monitor other polling places on election day -- a plea that civil rights groups say is code for preventing blacks from voting. “Make sure it’s on the up and up,” the Republican presidential nominee told thousands of supporters gathered at an expo center. In court cases around the country, civil rights groups are arguing that Republicans are using bogus allegations of vote fraud to suppress the black vote on Nov. 8. Trump is least popular in urban centers such as Detroit, which is predominantly black. “Make sure it’s on the up and up, because, you know what? That’s a big, big problem in this country, and nobody wants to talk about it; nobody has the guts to talk about it,” he said at the rally. If Trump’s supporters follow through on his request, legitimate voters could be blocked from the polls, voting rights groups have warned. Intimidation tactics at the polls were a hallmark of the Jim Crow era. It’s not the first time Trump has raised the specter of poll monitoring. Last month, he told a largely white crowd in rural Altoona, Pa., that he was hiring “a lot of law enforcement people” as poll sentinels in Pennsylvania. He said they would “go down to certain areas and watch and study and make sure other people don’t come in and vote five times.” What’s changed since then is that Trump has started selling himself as a champion of minorities. At the Michigan rally, he said his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, had been a disaster for African Americans. “They’re too smart, and they know they are being used,” he said. He also made this plea: “To the African American community, let me ask this question: Are you better off than you were eight years ago? If not, why not give Donald Trump a chance?” Obama plans homecoming fundraisers next weekend in Chicago President Obama is planning a homecoming weekend in Chicago next week, campaigning for local and national Democrats with two major fundraising events, Democratic campaign officials say. Obama will be the keynote speaker at a fundraising luncheon Friday for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee featuring House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. Tickets range from $10,000 a person to $66,800 per couple, the latter including a VIP reception. The event is scheduled at the North Side home of Democratic mega-donor Fred Eychaner, who on Wednesday hosted Vice President Joe Biden for a campaign fundraiser on behalf of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Duckworth, a two-term congresswoman challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk. Read More Gary Johnson, a triathlete, is ‘extremely physically fit and healthy,’ per doctor’s note Gary Johnson’s doctor has given him a bill of “extraordinary good health,” according to a note released by his campaign Friday afternoon. The letter details Johnson’s unusually active lifestyle; the Libertarian presidential contender has competed in 17 marathons and four Ironman Triathlons, and he has climbed the highest mountain peaks on each of the 7 continents. Even while mounting a third-party presidential bid, Johnson still manages to squeeze in an hour of exercise each day, writes his doctor, Dr. Lyle Amer of Santa Fe. (That’s scaling back from his typical two-hour exercise routine when not on the campaign trail.) Johnson has not consumed alcohol for nearly 30 years and is on a gluten-free diet due to having Celiac’s disease, which affects how gluten is digested. The note says Johnson does not smoke cigarettes. It makes no mention of marijuana, of which Johnson is a recreational user, although he says he has abstained during his presidential run. Hillary Clinton pounces on Donald Trump’s overnight Twitter ‘meltdown’ Clinton takes the stage in a humid gymnasium in Coral Springs pic.twitter.com/ikpMWiaJjA Hillary Clinton told a crowd of Florida voters that Donald Trump’s overnight Twitter attacks on a former beauty queen were “unhinged, even for him.” Trump’s decision to continue criticizing Alicia Machado, whom he called “Miss Piggy” when she gained weight as Miss Universe, showed he’s “temperamentally unfit” to be president, Clinton said. “Who gets up at 3 o’clock in the morning to engage in a Twitter attack at a former Miss Universe?” she said, describing his tweets as a “meltdown.” Clinton contrasted Trump’s statements on Machado with his unwillingness to discuss his proposed border wall with the Mexican president. Although he has insisted that Mexico will pay for it, he didn’t bring it up when the two men met in August. “He finds it a lot easier to insult women than talk to the president of Mexico,” Clinton said. Trump calmly discusses campaign, immigrants in video deposition over hotel dispute Video released Friday shows a decidedly sedate Donald Trump discussing the impact of his presidential campaign on his businesses and his controversial comments about immigrants. The videotaped deposition, which Trump fought to keep sealed, is part of a legal dispute involving a restaurant owner who backed out of Trump’s new hotel in Washington after Trump referred to some Mexican immigrants entering the country as “rapists.” Here’s the transcript. Mexico raises interest rates, cites Trump as threat to country The head of Mexico’s central bank says U.S. Republican candidate Donald Trump represents a “hurricane”-sized threat to Mexico. Banco de Mexico Gov. Agustin Carstens told the Radio Formula network Friday that a Trump presidency “would be a hurricane and a particularly intense one if he fulfills what he has been saying in his campaign.” Trump has proposed building a wall along the border and renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mexico’s central bank raised its prime lending rate by half a percentage point to 4.75% Thursday, citing “nervousness surrounding the possible consequences of the U.S. elections, whose implications for Mexico could be particularly significant.” Mexico’s peso had lost about 6% in value against the dollar since mid-August. It recovered slightly after the rate hike. After rough debate, Donald Trump releases new ad in hopes of making up for missed opportunities While Donald Trump mostly failed during the first debate to hammer Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server as secretary of State, his campaign is seeking to rectify missed opportunities. In a television ad released Friday, set to air in several battleground states, Trump assails Clinton over issues including her emails and her labeling half of his supporters “deplorables.” She has since apologized. “Why aren’t I 50 points ahead, you might ask,” Clinton says in video footage at the outset of the 30-second spot. The narrator then offers a response: FBI Director James Comey’s criticism of Clinton’s handling of sensitive information. The ad also castigates Clinton for allowing the Islamic State extremist group to “spread.” With fewer than 40 days until the election, Clinton and Trump are locked in a close contest. An average of national polls shows Clinton up by about 3 percentage points. In Florida, which has 29 electoral votes and where Clinton campaigned Friday, she edges Trump by 1.2 percentage points, based on an average of polls from the state. Trump talks late-night Twitter attacks on former Miss Universe For those few people knocking me for tweeting at three o'clock in the morning, at least you know I will be there, awake, to answer the call! Read More Commission acknowledges Donald Trump’s audio troubles in debate, without explanation Almost immediately after Monday’s presidential debate, Donald Trump complained he was saddled with a “defective mic.” Now, the Commission on Presidential Debates is acknowledging some technical difficulties with Trump’s audio. The commission put out a succinct statement Friday that read, in its entirety: “Regarding the first debate, there were issues regarding Donald Trump’s audio that affected the sound level in the debate hall.” The statement likely will raise more questions than settle them. There’s no detail on what was the audio issue and what exactly was the impact for the live audience. It also makes no mention of the effect, if any, on sound levels for television viewers. Around 84 million people tuned in to watch Monday’s faceoff, a record for a presidential debate. The commission did not immediately respond to a request for further comment. Hillary Clinton phones former Miss Universe Alicia Machado after Trump tweets attacks Clinton thanked Machado for her support, who said "she will continue to stand up to these attacks." Hillary Clinton spoke to Alicia Machado by phone Friday to thank the former Miss Universe for her support and “courage,” according to a campaign spokesman. The phone call came after Donald Trump lashed out at the former beauty queen in a dead-of-night tweet storm, in which he accused Machado of having a “terrible” past and called her “disgusting.” Machado, who has said Trump called her “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeping” while she served as Miss Universe nearly 20 year ago, has become a potent political weapon for the Clinton campaign. It has used her story to highlight Trump’s crass talk about women and Latinos. The Democratic nominee thanked Machado for showing courage as her story has become more prominent, said Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Clinton. According to Merrill, Machado said she’s continued to support Clinton, calling the former secretary of State an inspiration for young women and saying she looked forward to Clinton being elected president. In Florida, Hillary Clinton pushes new plan for volunteering Hillary Clinton on Friday called for a new national focus on volunteer service, drawing a contrast between her vision of communal assistance with Donald Trump’s claim that “I alone can fix” the country’s problems. The Democratic candidate said she wants to triple the size of AmeriCorps, a domestic service program created by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, in 1993, and double the amount of college scholarships available for people who sign up. She also suggested a “national service reserve” -- sort of like the Army Reserve -- for people who don’t want to quit their jobs but are still looking for part-time opportunities to volunteer. “There is so much work to be done, and so many people who want to help do it,” Clinton said. Clinton and Trump are locked in a virtual tie in the crucial battleground state of Florida, according to opinion polls. She said people may wonder why she’s focusing on volunteering instead of “beating up on your opponent and doing everything you can do get the vote out.” “Well, I’ll do that,” she said with a smile. Former Miss Universe: ‘I will continue standing up’ to Trump The former Miss Universe whom Donald Trump repeatedly attacked this week fought back Friday, insisting she would continue to stand up to him on behalf of women. During Monday’s debate, Hillary Clinton cited Trump’s harsh treatment of the beauty queen, Alicia Machado, as an example of his flawed judgment. Trump, who owned the pageant when Machado was Miss Universe, called her “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeper” and once brought reporters in to watch her work out after she gained weight. “When I was barely a young woman, the current candidate humiliated me, insulted me, and publicly disrespected me, as he used to do in private in the most cruel way,” Machado wrote on Instagram in Spanish. “Just like what happened to me, it’s clear through the years that his actions and conduct have been repeated with other women through the decades. Therefore, I will continue standing up and sharing my story, my absolute support to Mrs. Clinton in the name of women, my sisters, aunts, grandmothers, cousins, friends and the feminine community.” Trump dedicated significant time this week defending his insults of Machado, and he and surrogates have attacked Machado’s character. In tweets early Friday morning, Trump called Machado “disgusting” and a “con” and said Clinton’s citing her as an example was a sign of bad judgment. Machado has campaigned for Clinton since June and appeared in a commercial for the former secretary of State. Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate? Trump also encouraged his Twitter followers to look for a sex tape of Machado, but no evidence exists that Machado ever made one. She was filmed on a reality show embracing a man while they lay in bed, under covers. The Venezuelan actress was also once accused of driving the vehicle her boyfriend was in after he shot his former brother-in-law to death in a dispute. A judge ruled that evidence to charge Machado was insufficient. “The Republican candidate and his campaign team are again generating attacks, insults and trying to revive defamations and false accusations about my life. All this in order to intimidate, humiliate and unbalance me once more,” Machado wrote in her post. “The attacks that have emerged are slander and cheap lies generated with bad intentions, which have no foundation.” Clinton also jumped into the fray, praising Machado for standing up to Trump’s “Machado meltdown.” What kind of man stays up all night to smear a woman with lies and conspiracy theories? Donald Trump digs in on birther lie about Hillary Clinton Unbowed by charges of racism, Donald Trump is sticking by his fictional story that Hillary Clinton tried to force President Obama to release his birth certificate. “Hillary Clinton was unable to get there, and I will tell you she tried,” Trump told an NH1 television reporter Thursday. It was Trump, not his Democratic rival, who spread the lie that Obama was born in Kenya and falsely accused him of producing a fake birth certificate that shows he was born in the United States. Trump taunted Obama for years, demanding release of the president’s college records to see the place of birth listed on the application. After a rally Thursday in Bedford, N.H., the Republican presidential nominee stuck to his lie about Clinton, who has never questioned Obama’s birthplace of Hawaii. “You look at her campaign, and everybody knows it happened,” Trump told NH1, referring to Clinton’s 2008 race against Obama in the Democratic primaries. “And I would say that pretty much everybody agrees with me. But she tried, and she was unable to do it. And I tried, and I was able to do it. So I’m very proud of that.” In 2008, a volunteer for Clinton was fired for sending out an email perpetuating the birther tale, according to Patti Solis Doyle, who managed Clinton’s first presidential campaign. A confidant of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s was also said to suggest at the time that reporters look into the rumor, but no evidence has emerged that he did. In their debate Monday, Clinton accused Trump of building his political career “on this racist lie that our first black president was not an American citizen,” then reminded viewers that the Justice Department sued Trump in 1973 for allegedly refusing to rent apartments to African Americans. Trump responded that he’d done Obama “a great service” by forcing him to produce his birth certificate; settled the racial bias suit with no admission of guilt; and opened a Palm Beach country club that does not discriminate against African Americans or Muslims. Campaigning for Clinton in Philadelphia on Wednesday, First Lady Michelle Obama accused Trump, without naming him, of raising “hurtful, deceitful questions deliberately designed to undermine” her husband’s presidency and said he “traffics in prejudice, fears and lies.” Trump, who occasionally refers to the president by his full name of “Barack Hussein Obama,” conceded two weeks ago that the president was born in the U.S., but did not apologize for suggesting otherwise. Trump has not explained what evidence made him finally accept that Obama is constitutionally eligible to serve as commander in chief. Hillary Clinton tells Mary J. Blige that yes, it’s hard to be both tough and likable as a woman Mary J. Blige launched her new interview series, “The 411,” by sitting down with Hillary Clinton and asking the question that has dogged her political aspirations for years — why does she struggle to bridge the gap between how she wants to be perceived and the way people perceive her? “I’ve always been the same person,” Clinton said. “When you’re in the public eye, whether it’s in entertainment or politics, you do have the challenge of presenting yourself and have people perceive you as you think you are.” She added, “I think some of the misperception is manufactured, and some of it I take responsibility for, that I’m not communicating clearly enough what I care about and what I do.” Asked by Blige if it’s hard to be seen as both tough and likable as a woman, Clinton laughed and said, “Yes, I think it’s really hard, to be honest.” “I think it’s rooted in tens of thousands of years of how people’s lives have been defined, what it’s meant to be a woman or a man,” she said. “For women to be assuming leading roles ... it still is not fully understood because there’s no blueprint for doing it.” The interview had already gained some notoriety for a preview clip showing Blige singing to Clinton. Like you’ve never seen them before.@MaryJBlige sits down with @HillaryClinton.#The411Coming September 30th.https://t.co/hbaWqfjJcp pic.twitter.com/P2qpm3h3Pm The song, “American Skin (41 Shots)” by Bruce Springsteen, was written about a 1999 police shooting in New York. “This is how I believe people feel,” Blige told Clinton about recent killings of unarmed black men by police. “I have been so heartbroken about what’s going on,” Clinton responded. “There needs to be a greater opening of our hearts to one another, we’ve got to put ourselves in each other’s shoes, feel the pain that a mother and a father feels when their son and daughter can go out the door, and they don’t know what’s going to happen to them,” Clinton said. “I particularly want white people to understand what that’s like, and feel like they must be part of the solution.” Chicago Tribune editorial board endorses Gary Johnson The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board endorsed Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson Friday. “Libertarians Gary Johnson of New Mexico and running mate William Weld of Massachusetts are agile, practical and, unlike the major-party candidates, experienced at managing governments. They offer an agenda that appeals not only to the Tribune’s principles but to those of the many Americans who say they are socially tolerant but fiscally responsible,” it states. Except for endorsing President Obama in 2008 and 2012, the Tribune has endorsed only Republican presidential candidates for the past 169 years. Friday’s endorsement is the latest in a string of conservative and non-partisan editorial boards not endorsing Republican nominee Donald Trump. In an editorial, the board said that it cannot endorse Trump and will not endorse Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. “We reject the cliche that a citizen who chooses a principled third-party candidate is squandering his or her vote,” the editorial states. The Tribune’s editorial board said in March that it “could not, would not” endorse Trump. “Trump has gone out of his way to anger world leaders, giant swaths of the American public, and people of other lands who aspire to immigrate here legally. He has neither the character nor the prudent disposition for the job,” the editorial states. The editorial board calls Clinton “undeniably capable,” but says it is concerned about her plans to expand federal programs, and questions her honesty and trust. “Time upon time, Clinton’s behavior affirms the perception that she’s a corner-cutter whose ambitions drive her decisions,” the editorial states. Also Friday, the San Diego Union-Tribune’s editorial board backed Clinton, the first time the newspaper has endorsed a Democrat in its 148 years. Calling Trump “vengeful, dishonest and impulsive” the paper’s editorial board compared the Republican nominee to former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. It referred to Clinton as the “safe choice for president.” 9:39 a.m. This post has been updated with the Union-Tribune’s endorsement. Reagan’s son: Trump doesn’t know when to ‘shut up’ https://t.co/tl2Qeblmje Donald Trump doesn’t know when to shut up and listen, the son of former Republican President Ronald Reagan wrote in a blog post. Michael Reagan, a conservative political strategist, criticized Trump for his first debate performance and not pivoting to acting like a politician in the general election. “Trump has two more chances to prove he’s not as awful, incompetent and stupid as he was Monday,” Reagan wrote in his column Thursday for Cagle Cartoons. “Maybe he can learn a lot from his mistakes. Let’s hope so because he made too many of them to count.” Reagan pointed to Trump’s week of feuding with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado as an example of how the candidate fell into Hillary Clinton’s trap on Monday. Trump handed Machado the top of the news cycle instead of commanding it for his own message, he argued. “Donald’s main problem was the same one I talked about weeks ago: He doesn’t know when it’s time to just shut up,” he wrote. Reagan has attacked Trump’s candidacy since he refused to vote for him during the primaries. He also has said that his father would not support Trump if he were alive. Trump continues attacks on former Miss Universe with middle-of-the-night tweets Donald Trump said Friday that Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton was “duped” into using his comments about a “disgusting” former Miss Universe to attack him. Trump has repeatedly gone after 1996 Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado, now a U.S. citizen living in Los Angeles, after Clinton brought her up in Monday night’s presidential debate. She said Trump called Machado “Miss Piggy” when she gained weight after the pageant, and “Miss Housekeeping,” a dig at her Venezuelan ethnicity. “Donald, she has a name: Her name is Alicia Machado,” Clinton said. “She has become a U.S. citizen, and you can bet she’s going to vote this November.” Trump told Fox News the next morning that the moment “rattled” him, and he’s attacked Machado’s character in a series of television interviews in the days since. Machado has defended herself in a series of interviews as well, saying Trump’s criticism of her body contributed to her eating disorder. His push back against Machado and Clinton is reminiscent of Trump’s criticism of the Muslim parents of a U.S. soldier who died in Iraq following their emotional appearance at the Democratic National Convention. In a series of early morning tweets Friday, Trump alluded to a 1998 accusation against Machado of being an accomplice to an attempted murder (the charges were dropped) and speculated about how Machado became a U.S. citizen. Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an "angel" without checking her past, which is terrible! Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT! Hillary was set up by a con. Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate? No evidence exists that Machado ever made a sex tape. Trump also said that unnamed sources quoted by news outlets about him were made up. It’s unclear whether the 3:20 a.m. EDT tweet was referring to a specific story. Several recent stories about the Republican nominee that relied at least in part on unnamed sources suggested dissent within the campaign, including a New York Times article about campaign advisors frustrated he didn’t prepare enough for Monday’s debate. And on Thursday evening, the Washington Post reported that Trump’s foundation lacks state certification needed for charities to solicit contributions. Anytime you see a story about me or my campaign saying "sources said," DO NOT believe it. There are no sources, they are just made up lies! They gave to Trump’s GOP rivals. Now 95% are sitting out the general election Most of Donald Trump’s Republican presidential primary rivals have come around to his candidacy, but their donors are staying away. Nearly 95% of those who first gave to his GOP primary opponents are sitting out the general election, and of those who are still giving money, many are lining up behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton instead, according to a Times analysis of donations over $200. Trump has out-raised Clinton, $7.4 million to $2 million, among donors who supported his 16 GOP rivals. But that much support for Clinton is notable in a race in which her Republican rival is struggling in the money contest. Clinton brought in $292 million to Trump’s $82 million through the end of August. Add in loans, transfers from joint fundraising committees and super PAC money and the gulf grows, with $530 million for Clinton and $186 million for Trump, according to Federal Election Commission records through Aug. 31, the most recent period for which figures were available. Read More Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map Follow Us MORE FROM THE L.A. TIMES | f87ee4a0b2935859 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
healthcare | New York Times - News | http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/us/politics/health-site-woes-undermine-obamas-vow-on-government.html?ref=politics | Health Site Woes Undermine Obama’s Vow on Government | 2013-10-27 | healthcare | Still , extended problems would almost certainly provide ammunition to conservative lawmakers and others who argue that the size and scope of government should be reduced .
“ Is this a P.R . disaster that fits right into the ‘ government is broken ’ message ? I ’ m afraid that ’ s probably true , ” said Jared Bernstein , the former chief economist to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr . But , he added , “ If this works well a few months from now , we ’ ll probably be fine . ”
The president is said to be immensely frustrated with the rollout of what is a central part of his most important domestic policy . A stickler for detail and discipline , Mr. Obama has directed his senior White House staff to take charge of a vigorous effort to correct the problem , and to provide him detailed updates every evening .
But he may be too late to contain the damage , at least in the short term .
Yuval Levin , the editor of National Affairs magazine and a conservative opponent of the health law , said the government ’ s inability to get the Web site working raises broader questions about how well the rest of the health care law will be implemented in the next several years .
“ The promise of the administrative state becomes harder to believe in when it fails in practice , ” Mr. Levin said . He added that it was easy to overstate the impact of a Web site that would get fixed eventually . But he said that “ there ’ s a sense that in trying to do too much , the government creates questions about whether it can do anything at all . ”
For Mr. Obama , the answer to that question has always been an enthusiastic yes . In the 2008 campaign , he said he believed “ that part of my job is to make government cool again. ” His campaign sometimes talked about creating an “ iPod government ” that is user-friendly and efficient .
And when it came time to write his State of the Union addresses as president , aides said , Mr. Obama routinely reinstated language about making government more efficient after speechwriters had taken it out , deeming it boring . In his 2011 address , Mr. Obama said : “ We shouldn ’ t just give our people a government that ’ s more affordable . We should give them a government that ’ s more competent and more efficient . We can ’ t win the future with a government of the past . ” | xnoV4ssnKBhdlY6s | 0 | Barack Obama | -1 | Healthcare | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
supreme_court | Newsmax | http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/US-Supreme-Court-Sotomayor/2016/04/09/id/723045/ | Sotomayor Slams High Court Diversity After Obama Nominates White Male | 2016-04-09 | Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, Merrick Garland | U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the nation 's highest court needs more diversity of personal backgrounds and professional experience , speaking as a vacancy has refocused attention on the court 's makeup .
During a talk Friday at Brooklyn Law School , Sotomayor did n't mention the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland , who is highly respected but would n't add racial , religious , or educational diversity to the high court . But Sotomayor , the court 's first Latina justice , said `` it is important that we have greater diversity on the Supreme Court '' and in the legal profession .
`` I , for one , do think there is a disadvantage from having ( five ) Catholics , three Jews , everyone from an Ivy League school , '' several justices from New York City and no one who practiced criminal defense law outside white-collar settings , Sotomayor told the law school audience .
Sotomayor and some of her colleagues have said before that the high court could benefit from more diversity , but her remarks Friday come in the fraught context of a nomination in unusual limbo .
Since conservative Justice Antonin Scalia 's January death left Democratic President Barack Obama with the chance to fill a seat that could shift the court 's ideological balance , Senate Republicans have said they will not consider confirming anyone named before the November presidential election .
Some liberal groups hoped Obama , who had previously tapped Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan , would nominate another woman or minority . Instead , he tapped Merrick Garland , the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit .
Garland , 63 , is a white , Jewish former prosecutor with an Ivy League background and a career in the capital — and a centrist reputation the White House may have hoped would put pressure on Republicans to consider him .
Sotomayor did n't mention Garland or touch on the nomination . But in answer to diversity-related questions submitted by Brooklyn Law students , she said she felt that varied backgrounds help justices `` educate each other to be better listeners and better thinkers because we understand things from experience . ''
She recounted a 2009 oral argument in which Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg suggested that her then all-male colleagues had wrongly equated a strip-search of a middle-school girl to changing for gym class in a locker room because they had `` never been a 13-year-old girl . '' The court ultimately ruled , 8-1 , that the search was unconstitutional .
Sotomayor stressed that decisions depend on the law , not personal viewpoints or experiences .
`` But a different perspective can permit you to more fully understand the arguments that are before you and help you articulate your position in a way that everyone will understand , '' she said . | d669033bfb2345a3 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Wall Street Journal - News | http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/09/10/trump-campaign-seeks-clinton-apology-over-dig-at-his-supporters/ | Trump Campaign Seeks Clinton Apology Over Dig at His Supporters | 2016-09-10 | elections | Hillary Clinton expressed regret Saturday for calling half of Donald Trump 's supporters `` deplorables , '' but she stood by her sharp criticism of her Republican rival .
Mrs. Clinton said she was `` grossly generalistic '' when she took aim at Mr. Trump 's backers at a Friday fundraiser in New York , characterizing many as racist , sexist and homophobic .
`` That 's never a good idea , '' she said of generalizing when describing Trump voters . `` I regret saying 'half . ' That was wrong . ''
She went on , though , to call many of Mr. Trump 's actions `` deplorable . ''
`` I wo n't stop calling out bigotry and racist rhetoric in this campaign . '' —Hillary pic.twitter.com/C3Z7GybJ53 — Hillary Clinton ( @ HillaryClinton ) September 10 , 2016
`` Let 's be clear : What 's really ‘ deplorable ’ is that Donald Trump hired a major advocate for the so-called ‘ alt-right ’ movement to run his campaign and that David Duke and other white supremacists see him as a champion of their values '' she said in the new statement after criticism mounted . `` It 's deplorable that Trump has built his campaign largely on prejudice and paranoia and given a national platform to hateful views and voices , including by retweeting fringe bigots with a few dozen followers and spreading their message to 11 million people . ''
The former secretary of state said she would not stop calling out bigotry and racist rhetoric in the campaign , adding that she remains determined to bring people together .
After the initial remark , the Trump campaign quickly punched back , saying that Mrs. Clinton had revealed `` her true contempt for everyday Americans . ''
`` This was Clinton , as a defender of Washington ’ s rigged system , telling the American public that she could care less about them , '' said Jason Miller , senior communications adviser to Mr. Trump . `` And what ’ s truly deplorable isn ’ t just that Hillary Clinton made an inexcusable mistake in front of wealthy donors and reporters happened to be around to catch it , it ’ s that Clinton revealed just how little she thinks of the hard-working men and women of America . ”
By Saturday morning , Mr. Trump 's campaign manager was urging Mrs. Clinton to make amends . Kellyanne Conway took to Twitter to denounce the comment and spar with a Clinton aide .
Nick , it 's simply untrue . Come to an event ; talk to real people who are n't donors . Or better : have Hillary apologize https : //t.co/DdBFhWgav5 — Kellyanne Conway ( @ KellyannePolls ) September 10 , 2016
`` Come to an event . Talk to real people who are n't donors , '' Ms. Conway tweeted to Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill .
`` Or better : have Hillary apologize . '' Mr. Merrill wrote on Twitter that not all Trump voters are part of the alt-right , but alt-right leaders back the Republican nominee , and `` their supporters appear to make up half his crowd when you observe the tone of his events . ''
( 3/3 ) And their supporters appear to make up half his crowd when you observe the tone of his events . — Nick Merrill ( @ NickMerrill ) September 10 , 2016
At her fundraiser , Mrs. Clinton later said that the other `` basket '' of Trump supporters are `` people who feel that the government has let them down , the economy has let them down , nobody cares about them , nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures , and they 're just desperate for change . ''
Mrs. Clinton previously had not permitted reporters to attend her fundraisers . But this week , she has interacted more frequently with journalists , and on Friday night , she allowed a small press pool to listen to her 15-minute speech to donors . At the same event , singer Barbra Streisand mocked Mr. Trump , performing a parody of her song `` Send in the Clowns . '' `` He just shoots from the hip , '' Ms. Streisand sang . `` He 's full of bull . He 's lost his grip . ''
Mr. Trump responded Saturday afternoon with his own counterpunch , saying Mrs. Clinton `` should be ashamed of herself '' and asking how the former secretary of state could be president `` when she has such contempt and disdain for so many great Americans . ''
`` Is n't it disgraceful that Hillary Clinton makes the worst mistake of the political season and instead of owning up to this grotesque attack on American voters , she tries to turn it around with a pathetic rehash of the words and insults used in her failing campaign ? '' Mr. Trump said . | CKo0QulxgPmVOwyQ | 1 | Donald Trump | -0.8 | Hillary Clinton | 0.2 | Presidential Elections | 0 | Elections | 0 | null | null |
cybersecurity | Vice | https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wxqzmy/russia-is-trying-to-hack-covid-19-vaccine-development | Russia Is Trying to Hack COVID-19 Vaccine Development | cybersecurity | Russian state-based hackers have targeted Western COVID-19 vaccine development , the cybersecurity agencies of the United States , United Kingdom , and Canada say .
APT29 , a hacker group that has been linked to the Kremlin and Russian-sanctioned hacking campaigns , undertook a campaign to steal information and intellectual property around the development and testing of vaccines for the novel coronavirus .
The campaign sought to “ hinder response efforts at a time when healthcare experts and medical researchers need every available resource to help fight the pandemic ” reads a joint statement from the three countries .
The hackers used malware known as “ WellMess ” and “ WellMail ” in order to gain access to researchers ’ computers . Japan ’ s cyber security agency issued an alert in 2018 , warning that WellMess was targeting Windows and Linux machines , after the malware was found on Japanese systems .
The malware gives hackers the ability to access the target system and upload and download files at will . The hacks have not been publicly connected to APT29 before today .
“ Throughout 2020 , APT29 has targeted various organisations involved in COVID-19 vaccine development in Canada , the United States and the United Kingdom , highly likely with the intention of stealing information and intellectual property relating to the development and testing of COVID-19 vaccines , ” reads a joint technical advisory .
A spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin strenuously denied that Russia tried to hack Western research agencies . “ Russia has nothing to do with these attempts and we do not accept such accusations just like we don ’ t accept yet another set of unfounded accusations of interference in the 2019 [ UK ] elections , ” said the spokesperson per CNN .
The British also announced Thursday that evidence points to Russian interference in their 2019 election .
The Russian hacker group , sometimes referred to as “ Cozy Bear ” or by other aliases , was also identified as the group responsible for the hack on the servers of the Democratic National Committee , putting it at the centre of a conspiracy by Moscow to try and elect Donald Trump as president .
“ The group uses a variety of tools and techniques to predominantly target governmental , diplomatic , think-tank , healthcare and energy targets for intelligence gain , ” reads an assessment from the UK .
The Communications Security Establishment ( CSE ) , Canada ’ s main signals intelligence agency and cyber security organization , concluded that APT29 “ almost certainly operates as part of Russian intelligence services ” —a very high degree of confidence .
The Establishment was joined by the UK ’ s Government Communications Headquarters ’ National Cyber Security Centre and the American Department of Homeland Security ’ s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency .
“ APT29 is likely to continue to target organisations involved in COVID-19 vaccine research and development , as they seek to answer additional intelligence questions relating to the pandemic , ” the UK agency wrote in a technical assessment .
The CSE is imploring health organizations to take steps to protect themselves from cyber attack , and has previously released an assessment warning of potential cyberattacks on COVID-19 researchers .
The joint assessment says APT29 used known exploits in commercial VPN and remote access software , including Citrix , PulseSecure , and Fortinet . | A2NxmdagwISTx75l | 0 | Russia | -2.9 | Cybersecurity | -1.8 | World | 0 | Coronavirus | 0 | Technology | 0 | |
elections | Politico | http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/donald-trump-new-hampshire-retail-politics-216338 | Trump treads on tradition in New Hampshire | 2015-12-02 | elections | WATERVILLE VALLEY , N.H. – High-flying Donald Trump landed in New Hampshire on Tuesday afternoon and was headed for the exits by the end of the evening . It was just another quick stopover in a state that demands persistent and extended attention from presidential candidates .
Instead of the traditional one-on-one conversations at parties and handshakes in diners , New Hampshire voters are getting mostly distant waves and occasional autographs from Trump at big rallies , and they ’ re rewarding him nonetheless .
“ Right now , Trump ’ s going to win New Hampshire , ” said Dave Carney , a longtime GOP strategist in the state who is not connected to any of the 2016 contenders . “ It ’ s a jump ball for second . ”
Trump has led every poll taken here since July , and pulled in double the support of his closest competitor in four of the last five surveys . “ In New Hampshire , we ’ re really doing well , ” Trump relayed to the adoring crowd . “ Really , really , really doing well . ”
The event in northern New Hampshire was Trump ’ s 16th visit to the state this year . And yet not once , according to the New England Cable News candidate tracker , has he spent the night here to campaign on back-to-back days . He ferries himself to and from on his private jet .
New Hampshire institutionalists fret that Trump ’ s celebrity-based and media-fueled candidacy threatens to undermine one of the last bastions of hand-to-hand campaigning left in national politics , and the chance for underfunded underdogs to break through .
`` We always prided ourselves on insisting on retail campaigning , ” said Donna Sytek , who was the first female speaker of New Hampshire ’ s House of Representatives . “ Donald Trump has turned tradition on its head . ”
But he ’ s not alone in dismissing the traditional New Hampshire approach , and gaining ground in the process .
Both Ben Carson , who until recently had been among the top contenders here , and the steadily climbing Marco Rubio have both dedicated less time to glad-handing in New Hampshire than contenders stuck at the bottom of the 2016 polling , including Jeb Bush , John Kasich and Chris Christie .
Trump ’ s campaign says his popularity simply makes traditional retail campaigning all but impossible . Stephen Stepanek , co-chair of Trump ’ s New Hampshire campaign and a state representative , hosted Trump ’ s first 2015 appearance at his home in Amherst back in March . He expected a small affair ; 350 people showed up .
“ It was like , after that , every time we announce [ an event ] we get literally thousands of people , ” Stepanek said . “ We would love to be able to do some of the smaller events but there ’ s too much demand for them . Every time we put something out there , we just get an incredible crush of people who want to see him . ”
On Tuesday , Trump packed multiples of Waterville Valley ’ s 247-person population into his event , even as freezing rain fell across northern New Hampshire . Trump told the crowd his own motorcade slipped on the icy roads more than once en route . He vowed to drive slower during his departure .
Steve Duprey , New Hampshire Republican National Committeeman , said Trump is simply taking advantage of an option available to no other 2016 rival . “ If you ask every candidate who ’ s doing a town hall in front of 50 people , ‘ You can do a rally in front of 2,000 , would you like to do it ? ’ Every candidate will take you up on that offer , ” Duprey said . Of Trump , Duprey added , “ His version is , ‘ I ’ m doing a town hall . It ’ s just in front of 2,000 people . Don ’ t blame me because I ’ m beautiful . ’ ”
Trump has drawn comparisons to endless flavor-of-the-month candidates from 2012 : Rick Perry , Michele Bachmann , Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain , who appeared alongside Trump at a rally in Georgia this week . But his durability atop the polls now appears more akin to Mitt Romney than his fallen 2012 challengers .
“ How many times are you going to say he ’ s going to fall ? And he hasn ’ t . He doesn ’ t , ” said Carney , the GOP strategist . “ There ’ s no law of politics that the wild-assed , unsophisticated showman has to fall apart . ”
Still , Trump ’ s rivals , especially those employing more traditional tactics , hope his big rallies will amount to a temporary sugar high and won ’ t engender the same level of devotion as they say they are securing through private conversations with New Hampshire ’ s voters .
Across the state from Trump ’ s event on Tuesday , for instance , Christie celebrated his 50th day campaigning in New Hampshire , where he has held more than 100 events . “ I ’ ve been here more than any other candidate and Mary Pat [ Christie ] has been here more than any other candidate but me so we ’ re thrilled to be back in New Hampshire , ” Christie said in a Londonderry diner . Christie picked up the influential endorsement of the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper this week , as well as the backing of some other state leaders .
Sytek was among the recent Christie endorsers but she still worries about Trump . “ For people who are card-carrying members of the GOP establishment , ” Sytek said , counting herself among them , “ we worry he has hijacked our primary and we won ’ t know until February . ”
Whatever the outcome , Fergus Cullen , a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party who recently filed a petition to keep Trump off the ballot in the state , said the Trump campaign was setting poor precedent . “ The lesson for future candidates will be I don ’ t need to troop all over Grafton County in the north country I just need to hang out in a cable TV green room and wait for my next cable hit , ” Cullen said .
In 2016 , recognizing the increasing value of national media exposure over local politicking is not unique to Trump . Rubio , after an appearance at a VFW hall in New Hampshire on Monday , retreated to a quiet corner to tape a segment for On the Record with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News . Local reporters watched from 20 feet away , with iPhones , microphones and notebooks in their outstretched arms . Rubio left without taking any of their questions .
As for Trump , what his events lack in intimacy they make up for in entertainment value . Some drove for hours to see it Tuesday and dressed up for the occasion , as if attending the symphony . “ We ’ re going to see a classy guy , ” said Jodi LaBoffa , who made a three-hour drive from Massachusetts and arrived in heels and a patterned dress . “ Why not look classy ? ”
In a sop to New Hampshire tradition , Trump took questions on Tuesday – “ something different , ” he told the crowd – and variedly called his questioners “ cute , ” “ beautiful ” and “ good-looking . ”
The final question came from a young boy who asked Trump what would be different if Trump became president . “ If I become president , ” he said , “ your life will be much better than it would have been if I didn ’ t become president . ”
Moments later the event was over . “ Go out and vote , ” Trump told them . He signed autographs and shook hands before he was on his way . There was , after all , a rally in Virginia to get to on Wednesday . | IXcGIPNPUj5mcNdD | 0 | Donald Trump | 0.5 | Presidential Elections | 0 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null |
elections | New York Times - News | http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/opinion/whats-next-for-both-parties.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-abc-region®ion=span-abc-region&WT.nav=span-abc-region&_r=0&mtrref=www.nytimes.com&gwh=F20DE4FD867D6267FA110F6E1A0A540C&gwt=pay&assetType=opinion | OPINION: What's Next for Both Parties | 2016-03-16 | elections | After decades of pandering to intolerance while working against the needs of working-class Americans and minorities , the Republican Party appears headed for disaster . As its post-mortem report said , it didn ’ t have to be this way .
The question now is , what will the candidates beaten by Mr. Trump , like Mr. Rubio , do ? Will they endorse the man they portrayed as a threat to the nation , or take a more principled stand ? What are party leaders like Reince Priebus , the Republican National Committee chairman , prepared to do ?
For Democrats , the remainder of the primary season will be less perilous . While Hillary Clinton continues her march toward the nomination , the weakness of her appeal among the young , independents , men and some working-class voters can not be ignored . Though she and her campaign insist they have always envisioned a long , tough battle with Bernie Sanders , they have been challenged in ways they could not have expected . And Mr. Sanders has the drive , the money and the delegates to stay in the race until the end . No matter what happens , he will help determine the party ’ s future priorities .
Mr. Sanders ’ s quixotic candidacy has not offered concrete ways to achieve his goals with a Republican-controlled Congress , and he hasn ’ t been able to win over enough African-American and Latino voters . But he has managed to take aim at Mrs. Clinton ’ s vulnerabilities — like her paid speeches to Wall Street firms and her shifts in position on issues like gay marriage , trade agreements and immigration — to some effect . Some voters accuse her of saying whatever it takes to win , and as she tacks to the left in response to Mr. Sanders ’ s challenge , that perception may increase .
Still , Mrs. Clinton ’ s strong performance Tuesday puts her even further out of Mr. Sanders ’ s reach . But she has to do more than defeat him for the nomination . Mr. Sanders ’ s success has been as the voice of Democrats resentful of a party establishment that has been too tepid in taking on issues like income inequality . She will have to somehow connect with his supporters and show them she understands them , particularly since some of them are potential Republican voters come November . | 1AHFGXDDBa20x68y | 0 | Presidential Elections | -0.3 | Elections | -0.3 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
general_news | Washington Examiner | https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-presents-doctored-nhc-graphic-showing-alabama-could-get-hit-by-hurricane-dorian | Trump presents doctored NHC graphic showing Alabama could get hit by Hurricane Dorian | 2019-09-05 | White House, Disaster, Donald Trump, Hurricane Dorian, Alabama, General News | President Trump presented an outdated forecast map for Hurricane Dorian on Wednesday that was altered to show Alabama could be hit by the storm. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, the president gave an update on Hurricane Dorian, which is now hugging the East Coast near Florida and Georgia. Trump ushered acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan to bring out the map, which was from last week as Dorian appeared to not even have reached the Bahamas yet. The short-term forecast cone covers the Bahamas, and its extended reach, outlined in white, covers the Florida Peninsula. President @realDonaldTrump gives an update on Hurricane #Dorian: pic.twitter.com/CmxAXHY5AO — The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 4, 2019 But added to the National Hurricane Center graphic was a black semicircle next to the NHC forecast cone that reached over the Florida panhandle and a part of Alabama. “You see it was going to hit not only Florida, but Georgia. It could have — it was going toward the Gulf. That was what we — what was originally projected. And it took a right turn and ultimately — hopefully, we’re going to be lucky. It depends on what happens with South Carolina and North Carolina. But it’s heading up the coast, and Florida was grazed. Mostly wind. And we’re going to have a report on that,” Trump said. He added later, “Everybody thought that this was about a 95% probability.” The black outlined area on this very outdated @NHC_Atlantic #Dorian graphic that Trump just used in his update was added and not a part of the official forecast. @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/XMQmepPyj6 — Kait Parker (@WeatherKait) September 4, 2019 A reporter noted that it looked like the map was changed with a sharpie. Trump said, “I don’t know. I don’t know.” It is unclear who added the outlined area in black. Falsifying a federal government forecast is illegal, according to the U.S. Code. “Whoever knowingly issues or publishes any counterfeit weather forecast or warning of weather conditions falsely representing such forecast or warning to have been issued or published by the Weather Bureau, United States Signal Service, or other branch of the Government service, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both,” the text of 18 U.S. Code § 2074 states. Some meteorologists were upset at the sight of doctored graphic, expressing their dismay on social media. Insane people: Extrapolating the NHC 5-day cone of Hurricane #Dorian is most definitely an impeachable offense. Normal people: yeah that’s probably a reasonable extrapolation into Day 7. pic.twitter.com/WOp1Zhn9Jq — Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) September 4, 2019 The August 29 11am @NHC_Atlantic path of #HurricaneDorian and the #coneofuncertainty and @realDonaldTrump being briefed that am with that same graphic. Sadly, someone else must’ve then shown him this erroneous sharpied addition to the cone that included Alabama pic.twitter.com/ZSH3ehohaV — Al Roker (@alroker) September 4, 2019 A spokesperson for the National Hurricane Center did not immediately return a request for comment. Over the past few days, Trump has repeatedly said Alabama was in real danger from Dorian, even as forecasters discounted the possibility of the hurricane crossing the Florida Peninsula into the Gulf of Mexico and being in the vicinity of Alabama. By Labor Day weekend, computer models generally agreed that Dorian, which had just become a “major” Category 5 hurricane with 180 miles per hour sustained maximum winds, would pass over the northern Bahamas and then turn north off the East Coast. Yet, Trump repeatedly mentioned Alabama as possibly getting hit “harder than anticipated” on Sunday. This came after White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told reporters on Saturday that someone from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was traveling with the president as he was playing golf and “he’s being briefed every hour.” “In addition to Florida – South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE!” Trump tweeted late Sunday morning. In addition to Florida – South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2019 About 20 minutes later, the National Weather Service station in Birmingham tweeted that Alabama would not see “any impacts” from Dorian because it was projected to remain too far east. Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian will be felt across Alabama. The system will remain too far east. #alwx — NWS Birmingham (@NWSBirmingham) September 1, 2019 In a second tweet, the NWS Birmingham account explained that any showers in the area would have no association with Dorian. The scattered showers and storms we are expecting across Central AL today are not associated with Dorian. — NWS Birmingham (@NWSBirmingham) September 1, 2019 But Trump again mentioned Alabama during a hurricane briefing by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as he was advising American citizens in Dorian’s path to heed the warnings and evacuation orders from local authorities. “It may get a little piece of a great place — it’s called Alabama, and Alabama could even be in for at least some very strong winds,” Trump said on Sunday. “This just came up, unfortunately. It’s the size of the storm that we’re talking about. So for Alabama, please be careful also.” The Washington Examiner emailed the National Weather Service to ask if the Birmingham station’s tweet was sent in response to Trump or because of calls coming into the station from people concerned the hurricane would be turning towards Alabama. NWS spokeswoman Susan Buchanan wrote back saying the latter was true. “The National Weather Service forecast office in Birmingham responded to inquiries to assure the public that Alabama was not in the projected path,” she said. On Labor Day, Trump lashed out at the media for reporting his warning about Alabama, singling out ABC News’ Jonathan Karl. “Such a phony hurricane report by lightweight reporter @jonkarl of @ABCWorldNews. I suggested yesterday at FEMA that, along with Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, even Alabama could possibly come into play, which WAS true. They made a big deal about this … when in fact, under certain original scenarios, it was in fact correct that Alabama could have received some ‘hurt,’” Trump said in a pair of tweets Monday. “Always good to be prepared! But the Fake News is only interested in demeaning and belittling. Didn’t play my whole sentence or statement. Bad people!” ….when in fact, under certain original scenarios, it was in fact correct that Alabama could have received some “hurt.” Always good to be prepared! But the Fake News is only interested in demeaning and belittling. Didn’t play my whole sentence or statement. Bad people! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 2, 2019 Dorian slammed the Bahamas over Labor Day weekend, killing at least five people, before taking aim at the coasts of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. | 650d77586e202ac5 | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/03/politics/campaign-wrap/index.html?hpt=po_c1 | Dems massaging message on whether Americans better off | 2012-09-03 | elections | Story highlights President Obama criticizes Mitt Romney ; Paul Ryan compares Obama to Jimmy Carter
Poll shows Romney with a slight lead in North Carolina
Joe Biden says America is better off because 'Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive '
Democrats gather for their national convention on Tuesday , seeking to rebuff Republican attacks that the nation is worse off under President Barack Obama by emphasizing both what has been achieved and the further steps necessary to boost a sluggish economic recovery .
The three-day convention concludes Thursday with Obama delivering a nationally televised speech that will serve as a response to last week 's Republican convention that nominated Mitt Romney to run against him in November .
Romney 's campaign is focused on the question of whether Obama has made life better for Americans , arguing that continued high unemployment and sluggish economic recovery from the recession show White House policies have failed to deliver promised results .
The `` better off '' strategy was famously employed in 1980 by Ronald Reagan who asked voters that question when running against incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter . Reagan went on to win that campaign , also marked by national economic difficulties .
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden launched their counter-attacks on Monday , telling Labor Day campaign events that the nation was better off than it was in 2009 and that Romney offered nothing new from Republican policies that they said failed in the past .
Noting that Romney recently said the nation needed a `` new coach , '' Obama told a Toledo , Ohio , event that `` the problem is everybody 's already seen his economic playbook . We know what 's in it . ''
Biden led an effort to sharpen the message of Democrats on the eve of the convention after other senior members struggled to formulate a definitive answer to the question of whether voters should feel better off since Obama took office .
`` America is better off today than they left us when they left , '' Biden told a Labor Day campaign event in Detroit , referring to the state of the nation the Obama administration inherited from the Republican administration of former President George W. Bush .
`` You want to know whether we are better off ? '' Biden said , offering a favorite campaign line . `` I 've got a better off . Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive ! ''
Romney 's running mate , Rep. Paul Ryan , kept up the Obama-Carter comparisons , telling a North Carolina crowd that `` every president since the Great Depression who asked Americans to send them into a second term could say that you are better off today than you were four years ago , except for Jimmy Carter and for President Barack Obama . ''
The back-and-forth between the campaigns is part of their competition on how the election gets framed in the minds of voters . Republicans want it to be a referendum on Obama 's presidency , while Democrats seek a choice between differing political ideologies on the size and role of government .
A senior Obama campaign official told CNN on Monday that viewers tuning in to the Democratic convention will hear about how specific Obama policies and ideas will bolster the middle class to strengthen economic growth .
`` You did n't hear one tangible idea '' at the GOP gathering in Tampa , Florida , the official argued .
`` The advantage of going second is you get the last word , '' the official said , adding that Democratic organizers do n't need to `` tweak '' any of their messaging after the Republican gathering .
First lady Michelle Obama will address the Democratic convention 's first night , and former President Bill Clinton headlines the second night before Biden and Obama speak on the final night .
The race overall is very close and a new poll on Monday indicated Romney holds a slight advantage in North Carolina . Obama narrowly won the battleground state four years ago , becoming the first Democrat to carry the Tar Heel state in a presidential election since Carter in 1976 .
`` Your country needs your help , '' Ryan told the North Carolina crowed on Monday .
Republicans have long sought to portray Obama as unqualified for the challenge of fixing America 's ailing economy , and much of last week 's GOP convention focused on what they characterized as failed policies of the president that worsened an already bad economy .
`` The thrill and pixie dust of the Barack Obama presidency is gone , '' RNC chairman Reince Priebus told reporters Monday . `` There is no hope . ... After four years of Barack Obama we are not better off . ''
Democratic figures initially struggled Sunday to come up with a definitive answer on whether voters felt that conditions had improved since Obama took office . Republicans pounced when Maryland Gov . Martin O'Malley answered `` no '' to the question on CBS , and other top Democrats also had trouble giving a firm response .
While Obama senior campaign adviser David Axelrod told Fox News , `` We 're in a better position than we were four years ago , '' he did n't directly answer the question if voters thought they were better off .
`` I think the average American recognizes that it took years to create the crisis that erupted in 2008 and peaked in January of 2009 , '' Axelrod said . `` And it 's going to take some time to work through it . ''
Biden and other Democrats had a sharper response on Monday .
O'Malley appeared on CNN to insist that the country as a whole was `` clearly better off '' since jobs are being created on a monthly basis , rather than lost . But he still stipulated that more work had to be accomplished in reversing what he called the `` Bush recession . ''
Brad Woodhouse , Democratic National Committee communications director , in an appearance on CNN 's `` Early Start , '' set the tone for Biden , who spoke at a rally in the hometown of GM , which was rescued by the federal government in 2009 .
He likened Obama to a pilot who saves a crashing plane .
`` The truth is that the American people know , we were literally a plane , the trajectory was towards the ground . He got the stick and pulled us up out of that decline , '' Woodhouse said . | JMJq5B0NHjBvR6DN | 0 | Barack Obama | 1.4 | DNC | 0.7 | Election2012 | -0.4 | Presidential Elections | 0 | Elections | 0 |
elections | The Guardian | https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/19/donald-trump-and-hillary-clinton-face-fear-and-loathing-at-third-debate | Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton face fear and loathing at third debate | 2016-10-19 | Debates, Presidential Elections, Elections | Rival candidates for the presidency , both beset by controversy , will spar over six topics including debt and immigration during final clash before election day
Las Vegas is due to witness its most surreal showdown since Mike Tyson repeatedly bit Evander Holyfield ’ s ear in the middle of a heavyweight boxing match , as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton square off in the third and final debate before the presidential election .
For Trump , Wednesday night ’ s debate may be the last opportunity to salvage the dwindling support that in recent weeks has seemingly placed the election increasingly out of the Republican nominee ’ s reach .
Presidential debate : polls widen between Trump and Clinton – live Read more
The encounter at the University of Nevada , Las Vegas , comes as both campaigns are beset by controversy in the final stretch of the most unusual presidential campaign in modern history .
Clinton has been forced to contend with the illegal hacking of her campaign chairman ’ s emails , leaked in tranches by WikiLeaks in what the US government has described as the work of Russian intelligence .
Trump has faced even greater obstacles , stemming from an unearthed tape in which he boasted of groping women without their consent that prompted a number of women to come forward with accusations of sexual assault against the real estate mogul over a nearly three-decade period .
The debate , moderated by Fox News ’ Chris Wallace , will focus on six topics : debt and entitlements , immigration , economy , the supreme court , foreign hotspots and fitness to be president . But as in the last two debates between Trump and Clinton , policy is expected to take a back seat to the unpredictable behaviour associated with Trump .
The former reality TV star , who has spent the past week darkly warning of voter fraud , has one more chance to try to staunch his leaking support in the polls .
Polling aggregator Real Clear Politics shows Clinton with an average lead of almost seven points in recent polls , a lead comparable to that of Barack Obama over John McCain at a similar point in the 2008 election . Even deeply Republican states such as Alaska , Utah and Texas are within the margin of error in some surveys and the Clinton campaign , buoyed by its momentum , is now investing in conservative battlegrounds that include Arizona , Indiana and Missouri .
Clinton has maintained a tradition of burying herself in debate preparation in recent days , thus keeping a lighter footprint on the campaign trail . Trump , by contrast , has been notoriously averse to readying himself for the debates and has suffered through two below par performances .
Even so , the Republican nominee mocked Clinton at a Colorado rally on Tuesday as “ resting ” .
“ It ’ s lying down and going to sleep , ” Trump said , taking another veiled jab at Clinton ’ s health despite records disclosed by the former secretary of state last month showing no significant medical issues .
Clinton ’ s campaign said her focus would remain on policy in the debate regardless of Trump ’ s efforts to rattle her with criticisms intended for a base that routinely engages in chants of “ Lock her up ” at his rallies .
“ What we have seen is that when she does do that , the character of Hillary Clinton that ’ s revealed to voters is someone that is quite capable of standing up to him and defending American values and reaffirming them , ” Jennifer Palmieri , a spokeswoman for Clinton ’ s campaign , told reporters on Tuesday .
Extremist militias recruiting in fear of Clinton winning election , activists say Read more
“ We know that [ Trump ] thought that strategy of scorched earth would depress our vote but , if anything , we have found that it ’ s helped to motivate our voters . ”
Trump , having shown himself to be lacking in substance on the issues , will have to rely on his improvisational style to carry him through the 90-minute encounter . But Wednesday night will mark the first time Trump will be questioned before a national audience of this scale about the sexual assault allegations against him , as well as his baseless claims of voter fraud to assert that the election is “ rigged ” .
Several high-profile Republicans have refuted Trump ’ s claim of illicit activity at the ballot box . Palmieri did not say if Clinton would address the matter at the debate , stating instead that the campaign was “ confident in the election ” .
“ We understand the strategy that he is trying to do to explain his loss and also to try to deter voters , ” she said , “ [ but ] we believe that it ’ s going to be easier to vote than ever before . ”
While most of those on the Las Vegas Strip were busy milling between slot machines and Blackjack tables on the eve of the debate , many acknowledged the gambling would come to a halt on Wednesday evening . The election , several people said , was simply too captivating .
Javier Solano , of Yuma , Arizona , said he was on holiday but would not miss the final event . “ I don ’ t know what to expect from Trump , ” he said , “ but he isn ’ t a candidate fit to be president . ”
Solano , who said he was voting for Clinton , had some advice for Trump ’ s supporters : “ You can ’ t just be angry . You have to make the right choice , thinking not just about what affects you but what affects everyone . ”
Joe Jessome , of Ontario , Canada , was in town for a conference but also planned to watch the debate . Jessome , who said his American wife and two children planned to cast their ballots for Trump , expects a more “ balanced ” debate under the helm of Fox News .
“ I think the moderators are really biased toward the Democrats and Hillary Clinton , ” he said . “ [ Although ] Donald Trump speaks before he thinks a lot of the time and made lewd comments 11 years ago … it ’ s more about the economy and what ’ s going on in the world . Hillary Clinton , as far as I ’ m concerned , is ‘ Crooked Hillary ’ . ”
Brandon Davis , a Trump supporter from California , agreed . “ Everyone ’ s been against him from the beginning , ” he said , while noting Clinton had “ a lot of baggage ” .
While the debates have been marked by a bitterness bordering on contempt , Clinton and Trump will meet again at a decidedly more low-key venue on Thursday .
Both candidates are scheduled to attend the Alfred E Smith dinner , an annual fundraiser for Catholic charities in New York , less than 24 hours after they share the debate stage . The two will sit on either side of Cardinal Timothy Dolan at the white tie gala . | 4a6611f2d80e866d | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
economy_and_jobs | The Guardian | https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/06/us-jobs-report-december-2022-economy | US adds 223,000 jobs in December, ending 2022 on high note | 2023-01-06 | Economy And Jobs, Banking And Finance, Jobs Report, Jobs, Federal Reserve, Inflation, Unemployment, Data, Labor Department | Continued strength of jobs market comes as Fed struggles to cool hiring and bring down inflation by raising interest rates The US jobs market ended 2022 on a high note, adding another 223,000 jobs in December, the department of labor reported on Friday. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.5%, back to its pre-pandemic low. The continued strength of the jobs market comes as the Federal Reserve has struggled to cool hiring and bring down inflation by raising interest rates at a pace unseen in a generation. Jobs growth has slowed – the US added an average of 539,000 new positions per month in the first three months of 2022 – but over the year the economy added 4.5m jobs, the second strongest year on record. The government jobs report comes a day after ADP, the US’s largest payroll supplier, announced private employers had added 235,000 for the month, well ahead of the 153,000 Dow Jones estimate and the 127,000 initially reported for November. The Fed has been raising rates since March last year in response to the US’s cost of living crisis. The central bank raised rates seven times in 2022. While inflation has cooled from its peak of 9.1% in June, it remains high at 7.1%, well above the Fed’s 2% target rate, and is expected to remain elevated through 2023. The annual rate of inflation is still running well ahead of wage gains but the Fed has argued that a tight labor market has led to inflation-fueling income gains. So far the Fed’s hikes have done little to cool the jobs market. Some sectors – notably tech – have announced large layoffs. But the tech sector is a relatively small employer and the government’s latest survey showed strong gains in leisure and hospitality, healthcare, construction, and social assistance. “The labor market is strong but fragmented, with hiring varying sharply by industry and establishment size,” ADP’s chief economist, Nela Richardson, said. “Business segments that hired aggressively in the first half of 2022 have slowed hiring and in some cases cut jobs in the last month of the year.” | 7feba73975410ac3 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
white_house | CNN (Web News) | https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/26/politics/inside-politics-forecast-may-26-cnntv/index.html | Trump administration questions why a single judge can block its policies nationwide | 2019-05-26 | White House, Trump Administration, Politics | Washington ( CNN ) Here are the stories our panel of top political reporters will be watching for in the week ahead , in this week 's `` Inside Politics '' forecast .
Shear said what 's particularly galling to the President is that a single district court judge has the power to block his plans everywhere , through a nationwide injunction .
`` Attorney General Bill Barr complained about it last week , saying that this practice is a violation of Constitutional principles , '' Shear said . `` So the Trump Administration will be going to the Supreme Court to ask the justices to stop this practice . Legal scholars say that 's highly unlikely , but there 's more than a little bit of irony here -- during eight years of Barack Obama 's administration , a favorite tool of Republicans was , you guessed it , going to federal judges asking them to block policies they did n't like . ''
Missouri Republican Gov . Mike Parson signed one of the nation 's most restrictive abortion laws last week , barring the procedure beyond the eighth week of pregnancy , without exceptions for rape or incest .
`` Thousands of women and others all over the country came out to protest these laws , and you have all of the 2020 Democratic candidates coming out against them , '' Ball said . `` Even some Republicans say some of these laws go too far . So this is an issue that 's going to continue to simmer . You can expect it to still be going on when we get to next year , and you 'll hear the candidates talking about this a lot . ''
President Trump said on Friday he 's bypassing Congress to sell more than $ 8 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia -- an announcement that drew condemnation from lawmakers in both parties who want to punish the Saudis for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and other human rights abuses .
`` This is something Congress had been blocking for months , and now they have gone around Congress to complete the sales , '' CNN 's Phil Mattingly said , and that 's something lawmakers never like .
`` Saudi Arabia 's support on Capitol Hill has really wilted over the course of the last 10 or 11 months , and that is bipartisan , '' Mattingly said . `` You 're going to see lawmakers consider a number of ways to try and stop this from happening in the future . ''
And that 's not the only foreign policy flashpoint on Capitol Hill . Lawmakers are also concerned about the President 's plan for Iran -- last week he approved sending an additional 1,500 troops to the region .
`` You 've seen steps be taken in the last week where the administration finally came down to Capitol Hill to explain the escalation and the movement of a combat strike group and everything else that 's been going on in the Persian Gulf , '' Washington Post reporter Karoun Demirjian said .
One question , Demirjian said , is whether some lawmakers will push for a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force -- known as an AUMF -- rather than relying on the one passed soon after 9/11 that 's been used as the legal justification for military action in the region ever since .
This weekend 's presidential trip to Japan is more style than substance . The next one will be far more important -- for the global economy and for Trump 's reelection hopes .
The Dow was down last week , and it was the fifth losing week in a row . That has n't happened since 2011 .
Trade tensions are the biggest factor , and specifically trade tensions with China .
It is easy to find analysts who say the market selloff would be even worse were it not for the anticipation that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will strike a deal -- or at least the outlines of an agreement -- when they meet next month at the annual G-20 summit in Osaka .
But there are also a growing number of market watchers , or US-China relations experts , who look back at the last week and see steps by both countries that suggest longer-term nationalist instincts are trumping shorter-term economic concerns .
Here in the states , the Trump administration 's new restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei complicate any effort to resolve major trade differences .
And those watching President Xi this past week as he traveled and focused on economic issues at home also see a leader digging in for a longer-term showdown .
`` Huawei is very iconic to the Chinese , kind of like Apple to us , so putting them on the entity list is a real slap in the face and threatens to take the trade war from economics to war over nationalistic pride , '' said Mark Zandi , chief economist at Moody 's Analytics . `` It makes it very difficult to stand down . ''
Trump says standing up to China 's unfair trade and other economic policies is long overdue , and he continually voices the belief that the American economy is strong enough to absorb the pain of a trade war .
But he also wants that humming economy as his re-election calling card , and a prolonged trade war could put that at risk .
Zandi pegs the odds of 2020 recession at 30 percent if nothing changes in the current economic climate . And Zandi says , in his view , the odds of a pre-election recession jump to 50 percent or more if the US-China feud escalates and additional tariffs are added . | 2a2503b3662e15b5 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/19/politics/michael-flynn-donald-trump-russia-influence/index.html | Russian officials bragged they could use Flynn to influence Trump, sources say | 2017-05-19 | Politics, Russia, Michael Flynn, Donald Trump | Officials cautioned , however , that the Russians might have exaggerated their sway with Trump 's team during those conversations .
`` We are confident that when these inquiries are complete there will be no evidence to support any collusion between the campaign and Russia , '' a White House official said in a statement . `` ... This matter is not going to distract the President or this administration from its work to bring back jobs and keep America safe . ''
Flynn has emerged as a central figure -- and Trump 's biggest liability -- in the intensifying investigations into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians . His financial ties to Turkish government interests , which paid him $ 530,000 in a lobbying deal that he failed to disclose during the campaign , are also under scrutiny by federal investigators .
One major concern for Obama administration officials was the subject of conversations between Flynn and Kislyak that took place shortly after President Barack Obama slapped new sanctions on Russia for meddling in the election . Sources tell CNN that Flynn told Kislyak that the Trump administration would look favorably on a decision by Russia to hold off on retaliating with its own sanctions . The next day , Putin said he would n't retaliate .
Sources say Flynn also told Kislyak that the incoming Trump administration would revisit US sanctions on Russia once in office . The US has applied sanctions on Russia since 2014 for its actions in Ukraine .
Flynn 's calls with Kislyak in December have received the most attention , but his relationship with the Russian ambassador goes back four years .
He first met Kislyak in June 2013 during an official trip to Russia , according to The Washington Post . He led the Defense Intelligence Agency at the time and met his counterparts at the Russian military intelligence agency known as the GRU .
In December 2015 , Flynn attended a gala honoring the Kremlin-run TV network RT . Documents released last month revealed that Flynn was paid $ 45,000 to attend the event , where he sat at the same table as Russian President Vladimir Putin .
Officials noticed an uptick in communication between Flynn and Kislyak shortly after Flynn 's trip to Moscow in December 2015 .
Trump angrily denied any collusion with Russia this week and denounced the newest investigation -- now in the hands of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III -- as `` a witch hunt . ''
And he has remained steadfast in his loyalty to Flynn , even as the scrutiny surrounding his fired aide continues to weigh down his presidency . Trump urged then-FBI Director James Comey in February to drop the bureau 's investigation into Flynn and `` let this go , '' according to a memo Comey wrote at the time . The conversation , first reported by The New York Times earlier this week , has opened the President up to charges from critics of obstruction of justice .
Trump 's obvious bond with Flynn , like his relationship with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other top advisers , appears rooted in the fact that they supported his then-longshot presidential campaign last year at a time when most Republicans were ostracizing him . | 19257afe420f5e5f | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Politico | http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83472.html?hp=t1_3 | Election aftermath: GOP soul-searching: 'Too old, too white, too male'? | 2012-11-07 | elections | Mitt Romney got thumped among women and young voters in key states . | REUTERS GOP soul-searching : 'Too old , too white , too male ' ?
BOSTON — President Barack Obama ’ s thrashing of Mitt Romney exposed glaring structural weaknesses in the GOP that will shut the Republicans out of the White House until they find a way to appeal to a rapidly changing America .
Battling a wheezing economy and a deeply motivated opposition , Obama still managed to retain much of his 2008 map because of the GOP ’ s deficiencies with the voters who are changing the political face of once conservative-leaning Virginia , Florida , Colorado and Nevada .
Republicans face a crisis : The country is growing less white , and their coalition has become more white in recent years .
In 2004 , George W. Bush won 44 percent of Hispanics . Four years later , John McCain , the author of an immigration reform bill , took 31 percent of Hispanics . And this year , Romney captured only 27 percent of Hispanics .
“ The conservative movement should have particular appeal to people in minority and immigrant communities who are trying to make it , and Republicans need to work harder than ever to communicate our beliefs to them , ” said Sen. Marco Rubio ( R-Fla. ) , who will immediately be looked to as a potential 2016 presidential candidate .
But the GOP ’ s problem is more fundamental than one bloc of voters . For the second consecutive presidential election , the Republican got thumped among women and young voters in the states that decided the election .
“ Our party needs to realize that it ’ s too old and too white and too male and it needs to figure out how to catch up with the demographics of the country before it ’ s too late , ” said Al Cardenas , the head of the American Conservative Union and a longtime GOP leader . “ Our party needs a lot of work to do if we expect to be competitive in the near future . ”
Rep. Cory Gardner ( R-Colo. ) , a prospective 2014 statewide candidate in a state moving sharply to the middle , was just as blunt : “ After tonight , the GOP had better figure out that a big tent sounds good , but if there aren ’ t any seats in it , what good is it . ”
The desperate straits Republicans find themselves in are structural . But Romney should not be completely absolved of responsibility for his party ’ s ebb . He galloped to the right on immigration and reproductive issues in the GOP primary and only awkwardly attempted to move to the middle on those issues in the fall . His 50s-era persona was almost comically far removed from Americans who are in their 20s and 30s . And he never attempted to distance himself from or truly challenge a Republican Party that still bears bruises left from the Bush years .
But the rapidly growing population of minorities is something that looms larger than one flawed candidate .
Look no further than Florida , that reliable battleground that usually picks White House winners . Obama won there by only 2½ percentage points in 2008 , but somehow found a way to eke out a narrow lead again in the face of 8.7 percent unemployment there .
Why ? Partly because there are 190,000 more Hispanics and 50,000 more African-Americans in the state than there were in 2008 .
Florida Republicans were staggered : Obama managed to actually increase a 20-point margin from 2008 in suburban Orlando ’ s Osceola County , home to thousands of Hispanic immigrants , to 25 points .
“ Hispanics continue to grow in importance , and we need to embrace these voters for two reasons : It is simply the right thing to do , and it ’ s mandatory demographically if we are to avoid more presidential disappointments , ” said former George W. Bush political director Matt Schlapp . “ It ’ s about simple math and basic moral decency . ” | BMvjqdjZuJtpVqAs | 0 | Election2012 | -0.1 | Presidential Elections | 0 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null |
violence_in_america | Yahoo! News | https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-indicted-again-allegedly-staging-fake-hate-crime-000215050.html | Jussie Smollett indicted again for allegedly staging fake hate crime | 2020-02-12 | Chicago, Arts And Entertainment, Criminal Justice, Violence In America | Jussie Smollett is facing charges again in Chicago stemming from his claim last year that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack . The Cook County State ’ s Attorney ’ s Office confirmed Tuesday that special prosecutor Dan Webb indicted the former Empire star in connection with making false claims to police .
`` As the Cook County State 's Attorney 's Office does in all cases , the special prosecutor reviewed the facts , evidence , and the law , and determined charges were appropriate in this matter . We are unable to comment further as the matter is pending , '' the office tells Yahoo Entertainment in a statement .
In March , Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for making a false report , but charges were unexpectedly dropped weeks later . City officials , including Chicago 's mayor , were stunned by the decision . It prompted a Cook County judge to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the case in August .
Webb 's office released a statement to Chicago 's ABC7 , saying a Cook County grand jury returned a six-count indictment against Smollett , charging him with making four separate false reports to Chicago police `` related to his false claims that he was the victim of a hate crime , knowing he was not the victim of a crime . ''
`` This indictment raises serious questions about the integrity of the investigation that led to the renewed charges against Mr. Smollett , not the least of which is the use of the same CPD detectives who were part of the original investigation into the attack on Mr. Smollett to conduct the current investigation , despite Mr. Smollett 's pending civil claims against the City of Chicago and CPD officers for malicious prosecution , '' said Tina Glandian . `` And one of the two witnesses who testified before the grand jury is the very same detective Mr. Smollett is currently suing for his role in the initial prosecution of him . ''
Glandian continued , `` After more than five months of investigation , the Office of the Special Prosecutor has not found any evidence of wrongdoing whatsoever related to the dismissal of the charges against Mr. Smollett . Rather , the charges were appropriately dismissed the first time because they were not supported by the evidence . The attempt to re-prosecute Mr. Smollett one year later on the eve of the Cook County State 's Attorney election is clearly all about politics not justice . ''
Police have claimed all along that Smollett , with the help of the Osundairo brothers , orchestrated the hate crime in January 2019 to further his career . The actor , who is black and gay , said he was jumped by two men who put a rope around his neck and poured bleach on him . Smollett alleged they shouted homophobic slurs and said he was in `` MAGA country , '' referring to President Donald Trump ’ s 2016 campaign slogan `` Make America Great Again . '' The actor has maintained no wrongdoing .
After charges were dismissed , the city of Chicago sued Smollett for $ 130,000 to recoup investigative costs . The 37-year-old countersued alleging he ’ s the victim of malicious prosecution . Smollett claimed the false narrative pushed by cops caused him economic harm , `` humiliation , mental anguish and extreme emotional distress . ''
Smollett has kept a low-profile over the past year , but emerged on social media to defend his character . In October , he replied to someone on Instagram , writing , `` With all due respect brother , y'all can clown me all you want but my story has actually never changed and I have n't lied about a thing . Y'all can continue to be misinformed , internalized sheep , who believe what actual proven liars feed you or you can read the actual docs . Either way , I'mma be alright . I know me and what happened . You do n't . So carry on . All love . ''
Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox ? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle 's newsletter . | e597c3166003add4 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
fbi | Washington Times | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/may/20/donald-trump-demands-probe-whether-fbi-infiltrated/ | Trump demands probe into whether FBI ‘infiltrated’ campaign for ‘political purposes’ | 2018-05-20 | fbi | President Trump ’ s feud with the Justice Department escalated dramatically over the weekend amid reports of an FBI informant snooping around his campaign , and now the president is calling on the embattled agency to investigate itself .
In a tweet on Sunday , the president said he will officially call for an investigation to determine the extent of the FBI ’ s infiltration into his campaign and where the order originated .
“ I hereby demand , and will do so officially tomorrow , that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes — and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration ! ” the president tweeted .
The demand was made days after media reports identified Cambridge professor Stefan Halper , 73 , as the FBI informant who met with several members of the Trump campaign in the summer of 2016 .
A foreign policy analyst and veteran of several Republican administrations , Mr. Halper reportedly requested a meeting in London with Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos , which Mr. Papadopoulos accepted . In the early October meeting , Mr. Halper reportedly asked , “ George , you know about hacking the emails from Russia , right ? ”
Mr. Trump equated the tactic with spying and said it could go down as the “ all time biggest political scandal ! ”
SEE ALSO : Top Democrat deems claims Trump campaign was spied on ‘ nonsense ’
Mr. Papadopoulos would become the subject of special counsel Robert Mueller ’ s investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential race . The Trump campaign ’ s former foreign policy adviser pleaded guilty in October to making false statements to the FBI .
In a statement Sunday night , Sarah Isgur Flores , director of public affairs at the Justice Department , said the department ’ s watchdog has been asked to look into the accusations of improper surveillance .
“ The Department has asked the Inspector General to expand the ongoing review of the FISA application process to include determining whether there was any impropriety or political motivation in how the FBI conducted its counterintelligence investigation of persons suspected of involvement with the Russian agents who interfered in the 2016 presidential election , ” Ms. Flores said . “ As always , the Inspector General will consult with the appropriate U.S. Attorney if there is any evidence of potential criminal conduct . ”
Rep. Mark Meadows , North Carolina Republican and chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus , said Mr. Trump is making the right call .
But he also said the Justice Department can ’ t be impartial about policing itself . He pointed to the department ’ s refusal to turn over to the House documents outlining the scope of Mr. Mueller ’ s investigation .
“ We ’ ve seen disturbing evidence that the FBI engaged in political targeting , ” Mr. Meadows tweeted . “ But the DOJ can ’ t be trusted to investigate themselves — Congress needs the documents too . [ Deputy Attorney General ] Rod Rosenstein : where are the documents ? Show Americans the truth . ”
Former CIA Director John Brennan , a harsh critic of Mr. Trump , had a different idea about what Congress should do , lashing out at the president Sunday on Twitter and calling on congressional Republican leaders to stop him .
“ Senator [ Mitch ] McConnell & Speaker [ Paul ] Ryan : If Mr. Trump continues along this disastrous path , you will bear major responsibility for the harm done to our democracy , ” Mr. Brennan tweeted . “ You do a great disservice to our Nation & the Republican Party if you continue to enable Mr. Trump ’ s self-serving actions . ”
Rep. Adam B. Schiff of California , the ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence , said the idea that the FBI spied on the Trump campaign is nonsense .
“ The most I can tell you , Chuck , is that this claim by the president , the suggestion by [ Rudolph W. ] Giuliani that there is a political spy embedded in the Trump campaign , is nonsense , ” Mr. Schiff told Chuck Todd on NBC ’ s “ Meet the Press. ” “ And you hear it in the same terms that Trump often speaks , which is ‘ people are saying , ’ or ‘ I ’ m hearing , ’ or ‘ We ’ re being told. ’ That ’ s another way of saying , ‘ This is patently untrue , but we would like to spread it anyway. ’ And it ’ s singularly destructive of our institutions , but then that ’ s the point . ”
If reports of the informant are true , Rep. Devin Nunes , California Republican and chairman of the House intelligence committee , said it ’ s a “ red line ” that the FBI should not be allowed to cross .
“ If they paid someone , it ’ s an absolute red line , and this is over with , ” he said . “ I mean , there is no possible way that we should be allowing , even if it was legal , we should never allow this in this country . Congress should not allow for anything like this to ever occur again to any political campaign , if it in fact happened . ”
Mr. Nunes , who has accused the Justice Department of stonewalling congressional document requests , said it ’ s impossible to tell how many informants were working to infiltrate the Trump campaign .
“ We don ’ t know if there ’ s one informant or more informants because there ’ s so much out there now , ” he said . “ It ’ s really getting tough to follow , and all we ’ re asking for is give us the documentation that you used to start this investigation . ”
Mr. Nunes also questioned the timing of the media reports about the FBI ’ s informant , effectively accusing at least some people within the Justice Department of trying to set him up .
He said the Justice Department had invited him and Rep. Trey Gowdy , South Carolina Republican , to a meeting Friday , which the lawmakers declined to attend after information from a previous meeting was leaked to the press .
“ They were trying to get Mr. Gowdy and I to go on Friday to the Department of Justice for supposedly another briefing , ” Mr. Nunes said . “ We said , ‘ Look , unless we ’ re going to get documents. ’ We found out Thursday night they were not going to provide documents , so therefore we ’ re not going to go . Now , if you look what happened on Friday night , probably the mother of all leaks of all time to two major newspapers that came out late Friday night . Now had Mr. Gowdy and I went to that meeting , you can bet they would have tried to pin that on us . ”
The accusations of spying have emerged as patience with Mr. Mueller ’ s investigation grows thin . The president ’ s allies point out that no evidence of collusion with a foreign adversary has been made public .
Roger Stone , a longtime Trump aide , said it ’ s “ not inconceivable ” that Mr. Mueller will try to “ conjure up ” a crime completely unrelated to the 2016 campaign .
“ I can guarantee you they have found no evidence whatsoever of Russian collusion , nor trafficking of allegedly hacked emails with WikiLeaks , ” Mr. Stone said Sunday on NBC ’ s “ Meet the Press. ” “ It is not inconceivable no-w that Mr. Mueller and his team may seek to conjure up some extraneous crime pertaining to my business or maybe not even pertaining to the 2016 election . ”
On Sunday , CNN ’ s Jake Tapper pressed Sen. Mark R. Warner of Virginia , the ranking Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence , for evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia .
Mr. Warner said that is the “ endpoint question that we ’ re going to have to deal with . ”
“ But have you seen any evidence of that ? ” Mr. Tapper shot back .
Mr. Warner pointed to the Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer who was offering dirt on Hillary Clinton . He said the meeting shows that the Trump campaign was “ receptive to these kinds of offers ” and may be indicative of a pattern .
“ Now , did the president know about that meeting or not ? I don ’ t know , ” Mr. Warner said . “ I ’ d like to get the answer to that . ”
“ Still , as far as the public knows , ” Mr. Tapper said , “ no evidence of anybody in the Trump team accepting the offers of help , no evidence of actual conspiracy that we know of yet , that we in the public know of yet . And you ’ re not willing to comment on whether or not you ’ ve seen evidence of that conspiracy . ” | uFBACuy86T7qIKSO | 2 | White House | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
us_congress | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/13/ron-pauls-audit-fed-bill-returns-congress/ | Ron Paul’s ‘Audit the Fed’ bill returns to Congress | 2014-09-13 | us_congress | Ron Paul may not be in Congress any more , but his “ Audit the Fed ” bill lives on after him .
House Republican leaders scheduled a vote on the legislation for sometime this week , as one of a series of pre-election bills designed to highlight lawmakers ’ stances just before they go home to face voters .
Mr. Paul made the bill one of his causes , and after years of trying finally pushed it through the House in 2012 on an overwhelming 327-98 vote . But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , who had previously said he supported an audit of the Federal Reserve , reversed himself .
“ If Harry Reid refuses to hold the vote before the Senate leaves town , you can help us make sure the American people hear about it all the way until Election Day and build so much pressure by the time Congress returns , the Senate will be forced to act in the Lame Duck , ” Mr. Paul said in an email to supporters from his advocacy group , Campaign for Liberty .
Mr. Paul retired from the House after the last Congress . The current House version of the legislation is sponsored by Rep. Paul Broun , a Georgia Republican . His version cleared the House oversight committee on a voice vote in July , suggesting continued bipartisan support .
The bill would order the Government Accountability Office , which is Congress ’ s chief investigative arm , to review the Fed ’ s decision-making — particularly on monetary policy .
Congress established the Federal Reserve nearly a century ago . The system , which consists of a board of governors and 12 regional banks , act as lenders of last resort to the country ’ s banking system , and it is charged both with fighting inflation and with promoting economic growth and employment .
The Congressional Budget Office said the bill would cost about $ 5 million for the staff required to conduct the audit . The CBO also said the Federal Reserve would spend money complying with the review , which would end up costing the government about $ 3 million in lower revenue from the Fed over the next decade .
The previous chairman of the Federal Reserve , Ben Bernanke , had opposed an audit , saying it could lead to politicians second-guessing the secretive board ’ s decisions . When Mr. Paul ’ s bill came up for a vote in 2012 , Mr. Bernanke called it a “ nightmare scenario . ”
Mr. Paul ’ s son , Sen. Rand Paul , Kentucky Republican , has a companion bill in the Senate , but that has not seen any action with Democrats controlling the chamber .
Despite Democratic leaders ’ opposition , a number of rank-and-file Democrats support the legislation .
Indeed , 19 Democrats in the House are co-sponsors of Mr. Broun ’ s bill , while in the Senate , Sen. Mark Begich , Alaska Democrat , is a co-sponsor . Mr. Begich even bragged about his support for the legislation in a recent Senate campaign debate . | nS8JW38zRd9cxkWH | 2 | Ron Paul | 1.7 | Federal Reserve | -0.7 | US Congress | 0.4 | Politics | 0 | null | null |
politics | The Hill | https://thehill.com/policy/finance/415808-dems-mark-trump-tax-returns-as-key-part-of-agenda | Dems mark Trump tax returns as key part of agenda | 2018-11-09 | politics | House Democrats want to get their hands on President Trump Donald John TrumpGOP senators balk at lengthy impeachment trial Warren goes local in race to build 2020 movement 2020 Democrats make play for veterans ' votes MORE ’ s tax returns , and plan to make the issue a key part of their agenda upon taking the majority next year .
A provision in the federal tax code gives the chairs of the congressional panels with jurisdiction on tax policy the ability to request tax returns from the Treasury Department .
That means the Democratic chair of the House Ways and Means Committee will have the authority in January to demand Trump ’ s tax returns .
“ What we ’ re doing here is doing our duty as a legislative branch of government , by checking the potential , possible conflicts of interest in the executive branch of government , ” Rep. Bill Pascrell William ( Bill ) James PascrellHillicon Valley : Critics press feds to block Google , Fitbit deal | Twitter takes down Hamas , Hezbollah-linked accounts | TikTok looks to join online anti-terrorism effort | Apple pledges .5B to affordable housing Dem lawmakers ask Twitter how it will guard against census disinformation Trade deal talks manage to weather Trump impeachment storm MORE ( D-N.J. ) , a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee , told ███ on Thursday .
Democrats were frustrated during the 2016 presidential race when Trump broke with decades of precedent and refused to make his tax returns public . Their interest in getting their eyes on his returns has only grown during Trump ’ s first two years in office .
Democrats want to know if and how Trump is avoiding taxes , particularly in the wake of a lengthy New York Times story published in early October that said Trump and his family engaged in “ dubious ” tax schemes in the 1990s so that the president ’ s parents could avoid gift and estate taxes .
They also want to see how Trump is benefiting from the tax-cut law he signed last year , which to date is his biggest legislative accomplishment . And they want to learn about any conflicts of interest that Trump may have , including any links to foreign governments .
Rep. Lloyd Doggett Lloyd Alton DoggettWhite House talking new tax cuts with GOP On The Money : Lawmakers hammer Zuckerberg over Facebook controversies | GOP chair expects another funding stopgap | Senate rejects Dem measure on SALT deduction cap workarounds House committee advances measure taxing nicotine in vaping products MORE ( D-Texas ) , the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy , said on a call with reporters Wednesday that obtaining Trump 's tax returns is `` important in both guaranteeing our national security and in protecting the integrity of the tax code . ''
Democrats have the support of a number of progressive organizations on this effort . On Thursday , a coalition of liberal groups led by Tax March took out a full-page ad in The New York Times urging House Democrats to obtain and make public the returns .
Still , there are risks to the Democratic approach , and Republicans think their rivals could face backlash over investigations into the president .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison ( Mitch ) Mitchell McConnellGOP senators balk at lengthy impeachment trial Graham : Senate trial 'must expose the whistleblower ' Graham says Schiff should be a witness in Trump impeachment trial MORE ( R-Ky. ) said at a press conference Wednesday that “ presidential harassment ” might not be a smart tactic for Democrats . He pointed out that when Republicans impeached President Bill Clinton William ( Bill ) Jefferson ClintonGOP senators balk at lengthy impeachment trial Biden , Sanders , Warren , Buttigieg , Harris lead Trump in Georgia : Poll Keep your eye on essential facts in the unfolding impeachment circus MORE in the 1990s , Clinton ’ s approval rating ended up increasing while Republicans ’ approval rating declined .
“ The Democrats in the House will have to decide just how much presidential harassment they think is good strategy , ” he said . “ I ’ m not so sure it will work for them . ”
Democrats , for their part , are vowing to be careful in how they proceed .
Under federal tax law , the Treasury secretary “ shall furnish ” any tax returns requested from the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee , Senate Finance Committee or Joint Committee on Taxation , provided that the documents are reviewed in a closed session .
After a committee reviews the returns behind closed doors , it could vote to send a report to the full House , and tax-return information in the report could become public .
Over the last two years , Democrats repeatedly tried to get Congress to request Trump ’ s tax returns from Treasury but failed because they were in the minority in both chambers of Congress . But now that they will have the House majority next year , Rep. Richard Neal Richard Edmund NealJudge sides with NY officials in Trump tax return lawsuit On The Money : US paid record .1B in tariffs in September | Dems ramp up oversight of 'opportunity zones ' | Judge hints at letting House lawsuit over Trump tax returns proceed Judge hints at letting House lawsuit over Trump tax returns proceed MORE ( D-Mass . ) , who is all-but-certain to be the next Ways and Means Committee chairman , will be able to request the documents .
It could be a while before Democrats are able to examine the returns , as Neal and others in his party are bracing themselves for a legal battle .
While Democrats and a number of tax experts say that Treasury has little ability under the statute to refuse to provide the Ways and Means Committee with the returns , they also expect the Trump administration to slow-walk or turn down their request . That could lead to a court fight that eventually makes its way to the Supreme Court .
“ I assume that there would be a court case that would go on for a period of time , ” Neal said in a press conference in his district .
Trump on Wednesday said he doesn ’ t want to hand over his tax returns while under audit by the IRS . The agency has said that audits don ’ t prevent taxpayers from releasing their own information .
“ Nobody turns over a return when it 's under audit , OK ? ” the president said .
A Treasury spokesperson said that “ Secretary [ Steven ] Mnuchin will review any request with the Treasury General Counsel for legality . ”
George Yin , a law professor at the University of Virginia who has spoken with Pascrell about the tax return issue , said that in the past when there have been conflicts involving someone resisting requests for information from Congress , courts have ruled that there needs to be a legitimate legislative purpose for Congress ’ s request .
Doggett said that the returns “ serve a legitimate purpose for the work of our committee . ”
If Democrats are able to receive Trump ’ s tax returns following their request , they will face additional challenges . They will have to be careful as lawmakers and their staff review the materials to ensure that no one is violating the law by improperly releasing taxpayer information . Then they will have to decide exactly what portions of Trump ’ s tax returns they want to make public .
Pascrell said that the examination would be an “ academic , rational review ” and that there would be “ no leakage. ” He said that the committee could decide not to make public some or all of the returns .
Requesting Trump ’ s tax returns is one of a number of actions House Democrats are likely to take next year in order to provide oversight of the administration . But Republicans are warning that Democrats could be hurt politically if they take their investigations too far .
Some tax experts have suggested that Senate Republicans could respond to Democrats ’ efforts on Trump ’ s tax returns by issuing their own politically motivated requests for tax returns .
“ You could wind up in a back-and-forth strategy , ” said Mark Mazur , a former Obama administration Treasury official who now is director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center .
Democratic lawmakers say they would be discerning with their review of Trump ’ s tax returns .
“ I think it has to be done with care , ” Doggett said . “ We ’ re not interested in oversight just for oversight ’ s sake . ”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiOvernight Health Care : Trump officials making changes to drug pricing proposal | House panel advances flavored e-cig ban | Senators press FDA tobacco chief on vaping ban Speaker Pelosi , it 's time to throw American innovators a lifeline Why Americans must tune in to the Trump impeachment hearings MORE ( D-Calif. ) , the favorite to become Speaker next year , said that when Democrats pursue oversight activities , “ we ’ ll know what we ’ re doing , and we ’ ll do it right . ” | Ue7vLte158d0ZgBe | 1 | Democratic Party | 1.1 | Donald Trump | 0.2 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null |
donald_trump | The American Prospect | https://prospect.org/economy/2024-11-27-trumps-economy-brute-force-favor-trading/ | Trump’s Economy: Brute Force and Favor-Trading | 2024-11-27 | Donald Trump, Economy And Jobs, Economic Policy, Tariffs, China, Mexico, Canada | The tariff threats against major trading partners preview geopolitical strategies that Trump’s Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent has articulated, with a dash of corruption thrown in. by David Dayen November 27, 2024 5:30 AM Matt Kelley/AP Photo Donald Trump listens as Scott Bessent speaks on the economy, in Asheville, North Carolina, August 14, 2024. The most overused phrase since Donald Trump chose billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as his Treasury secretary nominee is “sigh of relief.” As the theory goes, Bessent would command respect from the markets, steering the next administration toward the usual conservative agenda of tax cuts and deregulation, and away from anything disruptive. That sigh lasted all of one day. The president-elect, in a familiar declaration of policy by way of a post on social media, announced his intention to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, and a 10 percent one on China, specifically to impede an “invasion” of migrants and drugs into the U.S. This would affect around $1 trillion in annual imports from America’s three largest trading partners, spawn retaliation, do little to prevent border crossings that are already muted and typically dependent on job availability, and of course, raise prices on many goods and services. But is there that much divergence between the nomination of Bessent and the tariff threat? Not if you listen to how the Treasury nominee sees the job, or if you know how tariffs in the Trump era will take on a premodern character, where proximity to the king will determine one’s economic fate. More from David Dayen Some have focused on Bessent’s 3-3-3 plan of targeting 3 percent GDP growth, a 3 percent budget deficit, and three million more barrels of oil per day. (The oil industry doesn’t want to do the latter, claiming they’re maxed out already; in reality, they don’t want more production to lower global oil prices.) But Bessent’s real aims seem to match his investing history, which involved wagering on geopolitical shifts, finding opportunity in other countries’ chaos and misery. He has laid out a Trump-ian strategy of using threats as the first salvo in negotiations. This interview conducted a few months ago is a good window into his mindset. “I think we establish criteria, you can call it … green-yellow-red,” Bessent said. “This is how you get in the green box, this is how you stay in the green box. If you’re India, you want to have 20% tariffs, you want to buy sanctioned Russian oil, you’re in the yellow box, and by the way, if you keep buying that oil, you’re moving toward the red box.” This idea uses trade barriers like economic sanctions and security arrangements to induce changes in other countries; Bessent suggests that nations under the U.S. security umbrella should buy long-dated U.S. debt. Chinese tariffs, Bessent says, should encourage the country to change its export-led strategy and base its economy more on internal consumption. It’s a cockeyed version of “friendshoring,” the Biden administration theory of increasing trade ties with allies, only under the Bessent-Trump plan it takes on a menacing form: Countries must play ball or get whacked. This actually reveals some continuity between Trump and his predecessors: He believes in American hegemony, and his trade policies are subservient to geopolitical goals, to keeping the world in line under the hegemon. You’ll notice that workers don’t really enter this equation. Monday night’s announcement puts our biggest trading partners in the red box, giving them the option to move out if they stop migrant and narcotic flows. This has happened before; a proposed tariff on Mexico in 2019 was canceled at the last minute after Republican senators threatened to block it. This time, there are far fewer checks on Trump’s power in the GOP. One wonders what Canada is doing in this conversation. Over 81 percent of border crossings in the last five years have been over the U.S.-Mexico border. Though Canadian border crossings rose this summer, such encounters are responsible for at most 3 percent of the total, the numbers have plunged this fall, and there’s more concern about migration in the other direction, with immigrants fearing persecution in the U.S. fleeing north. Canada is a net exporter of fentanyl, but not primarily to the U.S., and just this month Canadian authorities seized the largest drug lab in the country. (Most of the precursor chemicals come from China.) The likely reason for Canada’s inclusion is the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free-trade agreement (USMCA), the rewrite of NAFTA that Trump signed during his first term. The USMCA would appear at first glance to nullify additional tariffs, but a national-security exception could allow Trump to impose them through using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act during a proclaimed national emergency. Clearly, Trump will call the border crisis an emergency, not only for the purposes of mass deportation but to give a boost to this tariff threat. There is a review clause in the USMCA set for July 2026. Trump is signaling that negotiations will start early. That’s something Canada appears to want as well. Officials there have decried Mexico for its deepening economic relationship with China. The two countries have doubled trade in goods since 2010, and Canada and the U.S. warn that China could pass goods like automobiles through Mexico under the free-trade agreement. Canada isn’t getting much out of the USMCA (trade with the U.S. has flatlined), the new regime in America wants to stack tariffs on top of it, and Mexico is already talking about retaliatory tariffs. It feels like free trade in North America is dead. But Mexico’s economy runs on exporting to the U.S., and Canada is deeply integrated as well, trading hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of fossil fuels, auto parts, lumber, and much else. They want to escape the red box, offering whatever concessions are necessary; maybe a cosmetic announcement to shutter the border, for example. This is another Trump-ian technique, to manufacture a crisis, defuse it, and then lap up praise for the averted disaster. BUT THERE’S A SECOND PIECE TO TRUMP’S TARIFF STRATEGY, involving not countries but the importers and exporters. This is going to be one of the biggest locations of corruption and cronyism in Trump’s second term; it already was, actually, in the first. I’m talking about tariff waivers. New tariffs are clearly on the way, including more on China, leading companies relying on imports to scramble. During the first term, the companies requesting waivers from Trump’s 2018 tariffs on China that made bigger donations to Republican causes found themselves more able to avoid the levies, according to researchers from Lehigh University and elsewhere. “The tariff exemption grant process functioned as a very effective spoils system allowing the administration of the day to reward its political friends and punish its enemies,” the authors wrote. The China tariffs, administered under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, had a secret waiver process, with no oversight from Congress or ability to appeal. It was a perfect conduit for Trump’s preferred way of doing business: taking tribute from supplicants and rewarding them. Other tariffs in the Trump era, like on steel and aluminum, were conducted with outside oversight and did not show this pattern. One company made 40,000 waiver requests. Bibles were given protection from tariffs, on the theory that Bibles simply couldn’t be produced in the United States, somehow ignoring the existence of the printing press since Gutenberg. Bigger businesses with more ability to engage in the pay-to-play process got better treatment. Your tariff exemption depended on the quality of your lobbyists and the value of your donations to Republicans above anything else. There has already been a flurry of activity from companies wanting to position themselves for new waivers. Businesses donated $425 million to Republicans in the past election cycle, preparing for exactly this moment. More tariffs, as Paul Krugman notes, equals more opportunity for tariff waivers, and therefore more opportunity to buy the king’s love. When Ken Griffin, of all people, expresses publicly that tariffs can lead to crony capitalism, I think it’s clear what’s coming. But it goes beyond tariffs. Agribusiness will lobby to protect their low-paid migrant workers from deportation, and seek more money from a New Deal–era program to flat-out compensate farmers hurt by trade wars. Defense contractors will lobby to shield their fat profits from the new government efficiency monitors. Health companies will lobby to stop Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from “going wild” on their little corner of the sector. Big Tech will lobby to defuse threats to their mergers. Television networks, and their top personalities, will lobby to avoid seizure of licenses or freezing of access. These benefits will be delivered unevenly, based on who knows who, what part of the country you live in, how friendly you are with the right person. Washington will be subject to a version of what is known as the Cantillon Effect; if you are closer to power, you will have better success in your business. Another way to describe it is oligarchy. Usually cronyist countries have depressed economies. Bessent sees it as purifying. “We are going to have to have some kind of a grand global economic reordering … I’d like to be a part of it,” he said earlier this year. There’s nothing really that grand about this, though. It’s just brute force and favor-trading. David Dayen is the Prospect’s executive editor. His work has appeared in The Intercept, The New Republic, HuffPost, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and more. His most recent book is ‘Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power.’ November 27, 2024 5:30 AM If you enjoyed this article, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. For over 30 years, The American Prospect has delivered independent reporting that exposes corporate power, investigates political corruption, and analyzes threats to our democracy. Unlike many media outlets, we’re not owned by billionaires or corporations—we’re powered by readers like you. Today’s independent journalism faces unprecedented challenges. Your support makes our reporting possible and keeps our work free and accessible to all. Whether it’s $5 or $50, every contribution helps sustain our nonprofit newsroom. Join our community of supporters and make a donation today to help keep independent journalism thriving. Harold Meyerson David Dayen Maureen Tkacik Ryan Cooper David Dayen Emma Janssen Daniel Boguslaw David Dayen About the Prospect / Contact Info Careers Newsletters Browse Archive / Back Issues Subscription Services DONATE TO THE PROSPECT Copyright 2025 | The American Prospect, Inc. | All Rights Reserved | aa9538d6c7e81b1c | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Daily Kos | https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/13/1698165/-Michael-Flynn-failed-to-disclose-Russia-Saudi-nuke-deal-Democrats-want-Mueller-to-investigate | Michael Flynn failed to disclose Russia—Saudi nuke deal—Democrats want Mueller to investigate By Mark Sumner Wednesday Sep 13, 2017 · 9:01 AM EDT | 2017-09-13 | politics | To build the proposed plants would cost the Saudi Arabian government a trillion dollars — far more than they could recoup by selling power . So why would they be interested ?
If the Saudis and other Arab states buy in , it won ’ t be for energy , says Thomas Cochran , a prominent scientist and nuclear nonproliferation proponent involved with the ACU project . “ They are buying security , ” he tells Newsweek . Under the ACU plan , “ they ’ re buying a security arrangement involving the U.S. , Russia , France , and the U.K. , eventually . ”
Flynn ’ s plan was actually a cash infusion for the Russian government , the US nuclear industry , and some related companies . It was meant to generate power , all right . Just not the electrical variety .
Rewarding US nuclear companies with a large part of a trillion would go a long way toward saving an industry that 's failed to find willing customers either at home or abroad . But someone else would get a big chunk of the profits from this deal .
The idea was that Russia , facing what Johnson called an “ economic and existential calamity ” because of low oil prices , could use the income generated from the partnership . The consortium could then purchase “ Russian military hardware ” to compensate Moscow for losing military sales to Iran .
If the Flynn deal went through , Russia would be encouraged to decrease their support for Iran . In exchange , they ’ d get massive sums of cash , not only through nuclear deals , but arms sales .
The nuclear industry wins . Russia wins . Iran loses . It seems like a perfect deal … except for how the Middle East ends up being client states to a joint US-Russia protection scheme that has control over their power , and their weapons , and a big hand in their pocketbook . But from Flynn ’ s point of view , that was probably also considered a win .
None of this happened for a few minor reasons . First off , this was during the Obama administration and Russian sanctions weren ’ t easily dismissed . Second , the Iran treaty was in the works and this plan would have thrown it badly off kilter . Finally , none of the principles were really that interested . So Michael Flynn came home , cashed his expense check and … never talked about it when reporting on his boring and highly domestic career .
At this point , the phrase “ Michael Flynn failed to disclose ” is deserving of a macro at every news organization in the country . Flynn ’ s reporting failures didn ’ t start or end with the multiple unreported associations with former Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak that supposedly got Flynn booted from his position as National Security Advisor . Flynn also failed to let people know about his extensive dealings with the Turkish government , failed to get permission for his dinner with Vladimir Putin or the money that he received from Russian state media , or the Russian cybersecurity firm that mysteriously gave him a payment , or about how one of his researchers worked with Russian hackers .
Of course , in those instances where Flynn ’ s connections were known , the Trump regime ignored them , so he may have felt that reporting his many journeys and paychecks was not a big deal . Until the Special Counsel and the Senate Intelligence Committee both began taking a hard look at Flynn . Then it became a big deal . | lcOVEP0ONmJTIFzs | 0 | Business | -0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Washington Times | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/28/republicans-ruling-focuses-election-obamas-health-/ | Obama hails ruling as win for ‘middle class’; justices hand tax issue to GOP | 2012-06-28 | elections | The Supreme Court handed President Obama a major political victory on his signature health care issue Thursday , but the justices also provided Republicans with a sharper campaign issue by defining the law ’ s individual mandate as a tax .
The ruling allows Mr. Obama to engage in a four-month-long victory lap as he campaigns for re-election . It also validates the president ’ s decision to devote so much time and energy to getting the legislation passed in 2009 while the economy was in free fall — a divisive vote that contributed to the Democrats ’ loss of House control in 2010 .
Democrats didn ’ t try to hide their “ I-told-you-so ” reaction to the decision , although Mr. Obama and some others tried to downplay the political benefits .
“ I know there will be a lot of discussion today about the politics of all this — about who won and who lost , ” Mr. Obama said , adding that such talk “ completely misses the point ” of the law ’ s benefits .
Rep. Steve Israel , New York Democrat and chairman of the House Democrats ’ campaign committee , said the ruling “ isn ’ t a political victory for Democrats ; it ’ s a victory for America ’ s middle class and seniors , and now House Republicans need to drop their partisan obstruction and move on . ”
“ It will be a short-lived celebration in the White House , ” said Republican pollster Whit Ayres . “ Obama now goes into the fall campaign defending a law that most Americans think will increase their health care costs , their premiums , their taxes and the deficit . He also has to defend raising taxes on all Americans , which he pledged not to do . ”
Sen. Mike Lee , Utah Republican and a member of the tea party caucus , said Mr. Obama ’ s victory will be “ fleeting ” and argued that most Americans didn ’ t like the law ’ s individual mandate in the first place .
“ They ’ ll like it even less when they understand it ’ s a tax , ” Mr. Lee said on Fox News .
The high court ’ s ruling leaves in place 21 tax increases in the health care law costing more than $ 675 billion over the next 10 years , according to the House Ways and Means Committee . Of those , 12 tax hikes would affect families earning less than $ 250,000 per year , the panel said , including a “ Cadillac tax ” on high-cost insurance plans , a tax on insurance providers and an excise tax on medical-device manufacturers .
“ This is a clear violation of the president ’ s pledge to avoid tax hikes on low- and middle-income taxpayers , ” said a statement from the panel , which is chaired by Rep. Dave Camp , Michigan Republican .
On the campaign trail four years ago and since taking office , Mr. Obama has been fond of saying that middle-class families will not see their taxes rise “ a single dime ” under his leadership .
Mr. Obama and his rival , presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney , engaged in dueling news conferences within two hours of the high court ’ s decision . The Republican trumped the president by giving his televised statement nearly a half-hour before the president spoke at the White House .
“ Obamacare was bad policy yesterday , and it ’ s bad policy today , ” said Mr. Romney , who pledged to repeal it if he is elected .
Still , the court ’ s decision was a big win for Mr. Obama , who spoke Thursday of the “ courage ” behind the legislation and had been citing the law at campaign rallies as the major achievement of his presidency . If the justices had overturned the law or key portions of it , Mr. Obama would have been portrayed as having wasted his term on a demonstrably failed policy .
“ If the opposite decision had come out , a lot of Democrats would likely be feeling that much of their activity during the Obama administration ’ s first two years had gone to waste , ” said Seth Masket , an associate professor of political science at the University of Denver , who argued in a study that 13 House Democrats lost their seats in 2010 as a result solely of voting for the health care legislation .
The president joked this spring about the possibility of the court overturning his primary achievement . At the annual White House Correspondents ’ Dinner , he said , “ In my first term , we passed health care reform ; in my second term , I guess I ’ ll pass it again . ”
Democratic strategists are feeling emboldened that the Supreme Court under conservative Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has aided Mr. Obama ’ s agenda .
“ The late decisions by the Supreme Court this summer leaves the GOP ’ s agenda in tatters , ” said Simon Rosenberg , president of NDN , a Democratic think tank in Washington . “ Their efforts to overturn two administration efforts — immigration and health care reform — have failed . Obama comes out of this week much stronger , the Republicans weaker . His first term will now be seen as consequential , their opposition feckless . ”
The Romney campaign reported raising about $ 1 million in the first three hours after the decision was announced . Shortly after 9 p.m. , Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul tweeted that Mr. Romney ’ s website had “ raised $ 3.2 million online & counting ! ”
Obama campaign manager Jim Messina sent out a fundraising email to supporters 90 minutes before the ruling was made public , telling potential donors that Thursday was “ an important day to have Barack Obama ’ s back . ”
However , an Obama for America spokeswoman said later that the campaign does not give out specifics on fundraising except at filing time . | CDs0HM6rai762btd | 2 | Presidential Elections | 0.1 | Elections | 0.1 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | CNN (Web News) | https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/19/politics/december-democratic-debate-preview/index.html | 6 things to look for in the final Democratic debate of 2019 | 2019-12-19 | elections | Los Angeles ( CNN ) The final Democratic primary debate of 2019 is one of the best opportunities left for the seven Democrats slated to appear here in California on Thursday to leave voters in Iowa and across the country with a good impression before voting begins in 2020 .
A host of Democratic primary storylines will play out when the candidates take the stage : Is there anything that can knock former Vice President Joe Biden off the top ? Will a rising Sen. Bernie Sanders and stumbling Sen. Elizabeth Warren stay friendly ? Will the tumultuous last three weeks for South Bend , Indiana , Mayor Pete Buttigieg play out on the stage ?
And can any of the other candidates -- Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar , businessman Tom Steyer and businessman Andrew Yang -- create a moment that raises their standing outside of the top four ?
The timing is important , too . Not only is the debate the second to last contest on the calendar before the Iowa caucuses , but the candidates will debate the day after the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump and weeks before the Senate is expected to takes up the impeachment trial .
The ongoing impeachment has already overshadowed the Democratic primary and the trial will likely do the same , and , in the process , take three of the senators on stage -- Sanders , Warren and Klobuchar -- off the campaign trail and keep them in Washington .
There will also be some eyes on those candidates who are still running but did n't meet the qualifications for the debate in Los Angeles . Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro , a candidate who has now missed multiple debates , will be live tweeting during the debate , while New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker , who is missing his first contest , will be in Iowa . Both Booker and Castro have drawn attention to the lack of black and Latino representation on Thursday 's stage .
And then there is former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg , whose rampant spending and frenetic hiring has turned his late entry campaign into a real operation that is registering in national polls .
In recent weeks , former Vice President Joe Biden has enjoyed the smoothest sailing of his 2020 run to date .
Three of his debate-stage tormenters wo n't be on stage Thursday night . California Sen. Kamala Harris , who confronted Biden on his position on federally mandated busing at the first debate in June , dropped out of the race in December . Two other candidates who have sharply criticized him , New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker on race and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro on Obama-era deportations , missed the DNC 's polling and fundraising thresholds and did n't qualify .
Of those who are left , two other members of the Democratic field 's four-person top tier , Warren and Buttigieg , have been quarreling with each other .
Biden has had some tense moments , including terse exchanges with voters . Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is challenging him among Latinos , a key part of the electorate in early-voting states like Nevada and California . And everything can change in an instant with one comment or exchange on the debate stage .
But his campaign enters Thursday feeling good about its position in the race . His most important asset , a consistent lead with black voters -- crucial to South Carolina , the fourth state to vote in the nominating process , and many of the states that vote on Super Tuesday -- has shown no signs of slipping .
What Biden is left to wonder : Where are the attacks coming from ? Biden remains the national front-runner , so they 're certainly coming . But all of his most obvious critics are now gone . The ideological clashes with Warren and Sanders and generational criticisms from Buttigieg are sure to come -- but the bigger question is whether any candidate can hit Biden with something he does n't see coming .
When Democrats met to debate in Atlanta last month , Warren was rising and clearly a target for the more moderate figures in the race . Klobuchar , in an attempt to blunt the Massachusetts senator , even touted Sanders to take a shot at Warren .
`` At least Bernie 's being honest here , '' she said on `` Medicare for All , '' faulting Warren for at that point being unclear about how she will pay for her health care plan .
The strategy helped Sanders in the last debate and seemingly damaged Warren , whose lead nationally and in early states has been receding in recent weeks .
The duo has had an unspoken truce for much of the 2020 race , where each has avoided criticizing the other because of their political similarities and common goals .
But that dynamic could be tested on Thursday after a month that saw the distance between Sanders and Warren on Medicare for All get a little wider .
Warren , earlier this year , used a debate stage to proudly state she was `` with Bernie '' on the sweeping health care policy . But Warren has since backed away from Sanders ' views on Medicare for All , particularly on how she will pay for the plan , how long it will take for her to implement the plan and , most recently , her emphasis on `` choice '' as part of her health care proposal .
Buttigieg went into the Atlanta debate with a target squarely affixed on his chest . But the direct attacks many expected going into the debate never fully materialized and Buttigieg left the debate largely unscathed , only getting drawn into a few small skirmishes with his fellow Democrats .
That has n't been the case since that debate : Buttigieg has been under fire over the last few weeks for his use of top dollar fundraisers , the three years he worked for the elite consulting firm McKinsey & Company and questions about his ability to win over African American voters .
In response , Buttigieg has invited press to all of his fundraisers , released his list of clients during his three years at McKinsey and fought back against charges that he is unable to win over black voters .
The question going into Thursday 's debate is whether what has played out over the last three weeks will become flash points on the debate stage .
Democratic operatives expect -- once again -- that Buttigieg will be a focal point of the debate , but that was also the thinking going into the November 's debate .
Klobuchar has been steadily building support since the start of the year as her campaign stakes almost all of her presidential hopes on Iowa .
But Klobuchar , despite that slow rise , needs a moment -- possibly more than anyone on the stage .
The Minnesota senator has been sticking with her `` win big '' message since the last debate , but has also tested attack lines against both those who are ideologically different to her -- namely going after Warren and Sanders on Medicare for All and other policies -- and those who are more in line with her politics -- including Buttigieg and Biden .
Klobuchar has proven over the last year that she is a confident debater who knows when to pick the right time to deliver a blow to her opponent , but that confidence has not been reflected in polls outside of Iowa , where the senator is struggling to gain traction .
Klobuchar is banking on the debate helping in Iowa , where she will head to on Friday with a four-day , 27-county tour as she aims to be the first candidate to make a recent debate stage to visit all of Iowa 's 99 counties .
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang and billionaire investor Tom Steyer are on the sides of the stage -- both consistently qualifying for debates but struggling to get out of the low- to mid-single digits in at least one of the early-voting states .
Yang 's rise from an unknown first-time candidate to the well-liked leader of a movement for a universal basic income has been one of the major stories of the 2020 race . He 's professionalized his operation , bringing in veterans of Sanders ' 2016 campaign , and has in recent months placed more emphasis on telling individual voters ' stories , in hopes of taking the next step and chipping into top-tier candidates ' support .
But for the first time , one of his proposals is under fire : Some progressives were critical of the health care plan he unveiled this week , which backed away from his previous support for Medicare for All . The question for Yang , who rarely criticizes his rivals , is whether he can head into the mix and deliver enough memorable moments to change his campaign 's trajectory .
Steyer , meanwhile , seems set to try to offer his strongest contrast yet with the four front-runners . His clashes are typically not ideological , but rather about his background as a businessman against theirs as politicians . In a recent economic speech , he previewed an argument he 's likely to use .
`` Look , I have a lot of respect for the four leading Democratic candidates in this race . But here 's the truth : none of them -- not Vice President Biden , not Sen. Warren , not Sen. Sanders , not Mayor Pete -- have built or run a successful , international business . None of them have a private sector track record of creating jobs -- none of them have first-hand experience growing wealth and prosperity , '' Steyer said .
Several candidates were left this month to desperation : Booker 's campaign organized a letter ( signed by Castro , who missed the stage , and all seven candidates who made it ) lobbying the DNC to change its qualification rules for January to allow candidates to get on stage by hitting either the fundraising threshold or the polling threshold -- rather than both .
It 's an effort to address the reality that the most diverse presidential primary field in history now has no black or Latino candidates on its debate stage . It 's also a play for the future , since both are young enough to run again .
But the reality is , candidates who have missed the debate stage to date have fallen almost completely out of the public eye and the national conversation .
In late entrant Michael Bloomberg , the Democratic field finally has something it had n't had before : A candidate who is n't on stage , but can spend enough money to get the exposure he 's losing out on anyway .
The former New York City mayor 's $ 100 million-plus advertising campaign is the closest thing to a game-changer for a candidate who did n't qualify for a debate yet . But since he is n't fundraising , it 's hard to see how he would ever participate in a debate -- unless the DNC changes its rules to accommodate Booker and Castro , too .
Because of the historical size of the Democratic primary 's field , Castro , Booker and Bloomberg are far from the only Democratic candidates still running but not on the stage . In fact , more candidates are off the debate stage than on it . Those candidates include a number of Democrats who have n't made a debate stage in months , including Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet , former Rep. John Delaney and author Marianne Williamson . Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick , who announced last month , also did not make the stage . | tJFutTF3g8RlE1kR | 0 | Decision2020 | 0 | Debates | 0 | Democratic Debates | 0 | Joe Biden | 0 | Elizabeth Warren | 0 |
elections | Christian Science Monitor | http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/0903/Why-early-voting-could-favor-Democrats-in-key-states | Why early voting could favor Democrats in key states | 2016-09-03 | elections | Two months prior to Election Day , the first votes of the 2016 election will be cast next week in the battleground state of North Carolina .
With early votes expected to make up 50 to 75 percent of ballots cast in North Carolina and other key swing states , the next two months could prove even more critical than Nov. 8th in deciding who will be the 45th president of the United States .
The influence of early voting has been growing , and the major American political parties know it .
“ This is going to change the dynamics in [ battleground ] states , so that you will expect to see early rallies timed when the early voting opens up likely in Florida , Ohio , North Carolina , ” Prof. Paul Gronke , founder and director of the Early Voting Information Center and a professor at Reed College , told NPR . “ The candidates travel schedule will reflect this because they want to follow up this kind of enthusiasm and get people to the polls right away . ”
Historically , early voting has favored the Democrats in some key states , and in 2008 35 percent of votes are cast before the election according to the Associated Press . That 's up from 22 percent in 2004 .
In 2008 , for example , Barack Obama won 58 percent of the pre-election day votes to Sen. John McCain 's 40 percent and managed to win Colorado , Florida , Iowa and North Carolina even though on election day more people in those states voted for Senator McCain – which speaks to the overall enthusiasm young and minority American Democrats felt for Obama .
The 2012 presidential election saw a less dramatic divide between the Republicans and Democrats when it came to early voting . Mitt Romney pulled in more early Republican voters than the party usually sees , but the process still favored the Democrats with Obama ultimately winning the election .
The debate surrounding early voting splits down party lines . Democrats argue that restricting voting in any way is an attempt to limit the turnout of minority and low-income voters who tend to vote Democrat . Republicans say the restrictions are necessary to prevent voter fraud . Mr. Trump is particularly worried about the election being rigged and has asked individuals to monitor polls to ensure Democrats do not attempt to vote multiple times .
For Trump , the early voting challenge will be with Hispanic , black , and first-time voters who are more likely than white people to vote early , but tend to vote Democrat . Trump is lagging in the polls with these demographics now . Combined with the fact that Trump ’ s campaign organization is significantly behind Hillary Clinton ’ s in putting paid and volunteer workers into key swing states , and spreading the “ get out and vote ” message , Trump may struggle in early polls .
“ A campaign with a superior voting operation can make a difference , and right now Donald Trump has shown little sign of organization , ” Ryan Williams , a former senior staffer to Mitt Romney ’ s 2012 presidential campaign , told the Associated Press , adding that Trump only just hired a national field director .
Mrs. Clinton has been pushing for early voting since last June as a part of her voting rights platform , which includes repairing the Voting Rights Act and automatically registering voters when they turn 18 , unless the opt out . She has strongly opposed attempts to limit the right to vote , such as the recently overturned voter ID law in North Carolina .
Some 37 states and the District of Columbia allow voters to cast ballots by mail or at polling sites before Nov. 8 .
Early votes can also help reduce the logistical effort needed to get out the vote on Election Day .
“ We can ’ t say this will be locked up with early voting , but it can absolutely make a huge difference , ” Marlon Marshall , Clinton ’ s director of state campaigns and political engagement , told the Washington Post . “ Every early voter we get is one less person we need to mobilize on Election Day . ”
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Some worry something critical could happen between when early voters cast their ballots and the official Election Day – and that could make them reconsider their choice . However , people who vote early are typically decidedly in one camp or the other .
“ Early ballots will come in not much earlier than a week or a week and a half before the election and when we have asked people about whether they have any regret or they would have changed their minds , very few said they would change their minds , ” Professor Gronke told NPR . “ You may not want them to cast their ballots early but many are ready to do so . ” | lcMHP98VeiJJnv8r | 1 | Democratic Party | 2 | Early Voting | 0 | Presidential Elections | 0 | Elections | 0 | null | null |
fiscal_cliff | Bloomberg | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-12/boehner-says-we-ve-got-some-serious-differences-on-budget-plan.html | Boehner: ‘Serious Differences’ on Budget | 2012-12-12 | fiscal_cliff | Republicans in Congress hardened their resistance to President Barack Obama ’ s proposed higher taxes for top earners and demanded a spending-cut plan , as lawmakers in both parties said it ’ s becoming less likely an agreement can be enacted before the Christmas holiday .
Obama ’ s budget plan is “ mainly tax hikes , ” House Speaker John Boehner told reporters today in Washington . “ We ’ ve got some serious differences. ” During a phone call yesterday , Boehner said , he and the president were “ frank ” about “ how far apart we are . ”
Separately , Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the prospect of more than $ 600 billion in spending cuts and tax increases “ clearly ” is having an effect on the economy “ even though we ’ ve not yet even reached the point of the fiscal cliff kicking in . ”
“ It ’ s already affecting business and hiring decisions by creating uncertainty ” or “ pessimism , ” he said at a news conference in Washington . “ Clearly this is a major risk factor . ”
“ I actually believe that Congress will come up with a solution and I certainly hope they will , ” Bernanke said .
If Congress doesn ’ t act , the tax increases and spending cuts will start taking effect in January . Tax rates for income at all levels will rise , along with taxes on estates , capital gains and dividends .
The gloomy outlook shared by Republicans and Democrats about passing a deal by Dec. 25 comes amid a campaign by outside groups , in particular chief executives of major companies , urging Obama and Boehner to find a compromise .
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said the U.S. economy would thrive next year if lawmakers come up with a deal .
“ You might have a booming economy in a couple of months , ” with economic growth accelerating to 4 percent rather than 2 percent , Dimon said today at a conference in New York hosted by the New York Times ’ s DealBook .
Republicans say Obama ’ s unwillingness to specify entitlement spending reductions is hampering a deal , while Democrats say talks are stalled over Boehner ’ s refusal to allow income tax cuts to expire for the top 2 percent of earners .
“ The reports I have from people at the White House are that Boehner and his staff really are unhelpful this week , ” Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois , the second-ranking Democrat , said today . “ There just has been very little progress made . ”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor today he was “ very , very disappointed ” with the lack of progress . He said Republicans will either agree to raise tax rates for top earners , “ or we are going to go over the cliff ” of tax increases and spending cuts .
House leaders are telling members that votes are possible after Christmas , said Representative Doc Hastings , a Washington Republican . “ It ’ s going to be a long December , ” he said .
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , a Kentucky Republican , said Obama ’ s focus on higher tax rates for top earners has made a deal tough to reach .
“ The president and his allies have taken so many things off the table the only thing left is varnish , ” McConnell said .
“ There ’ s not much progress , ” said Representative Charles Boustany , a Louisiana Republican , after leaving a party meeting . “ We ’ re going to hold the line ” on tax rates .
White House press secretary Jay Carney said today the president will hold firm on his insistence that the rates for top earners go up . He wouldn ’ t give a timeline for the talks or for reaching a deal .
“ The parameters of what a deal would look like are clear , ” Carney said . While Obama is “ willing to make tough choices on the spending side , ” Republicans must accept letting rates rise for top earners , he said . Republican offers to raise revenue by curbing tax breaks are vague , he said .
Separately , Democrats are stepping up their campaign to extend tax cuts for all except the top earners . House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California called on House Republicans to advance a Senate-passed bill to maintain tax cuts for married couples earning less than $ 250,000 a year .
Sixty-five percent of Americans say Obama ’ s Nov. 6 election victory gave him a mandate on his proposal to raise tax rates for top earners , according to a ███ National Poll of 1,000 adults conducted Dec. 7-10 . Majorities of about 2-to-1 also see the election results as an endorsement of Obama ’ s pledge to protect Social Security and Medicare benefits .
“ The Republicans have isolated themselves , ” Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol today . She compared the situation to the debate over the payroll tax cut extension in 2011 , when days before its scheduled expiration , Republicans dropped their opposition . “ Republicans are just delaying , delaying and delaying , and that ’ s not responsible . ”
The Standard & Poor ’ s 500 Index rose 0.1 percent to 1,428.61 at 4 p.m. in New York , erasing an earlier rally of as much as 0.8 percent . Treasuries fell . The benchmark 10-year yield increased five basis points to 1.7 percent , the highest since Nov. 23 .
Obama held a meeting and conference call with a bipartisan group of mayors and community leaders to seek support for his talks with congressional Republicans on the budget .
“ I didn ’ t detect frustration , ” Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus , Ohio , said of the president . “ But I can tell you we ’ re frustrated , and I think America ’ s becoming frustrated . ”
Obama yesterday reduced his demand for new tax revenue to $ 1.4 trillion from $ 1.6 trillion . Republicans still have an $ 800 billion revenue target , party aides said .
Boehner said Obama ’ s demand for $ 1.4 trillion in more tax revenue “ can ’ t pass the House and Senate. ” Durbin said the offer demonstrates that “ the president ’ s trying to show some flexibility and move the negotiations forward . ”
Representative Chris Van Hollen , the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee , said he ’ s concerned Boehner may think he ’ s unable to make a deal perceived as “ reasonable to the vast majority of the country ” because it may put his speakership at risk when the next Congress convenes in January .
It ’ s becoming increasingly doubtful a plan can be enacted by Christmas , Van Hollen of Maryland said at a breakfast in Washington sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor . The two sides would have to strike a deal on a framework by the end of this week to pass legislation in both chambers by Dec. 25 , he said .
“ We are going to stay here right up until Christmas Eve , throughout the time period before the New Year , ” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor , a Virginia Republican .
The president ’ s plan also would include a corporate tax overhaul , according to an official familiar with the negotiations who wasn ’ t authorized to describe them publicly and asked to not be identified .
The two sides remain hundreds of billions of dollars apart on taxes and spending , and they continue to disagree on whether a year-end deal should include an increase in the debt limit and fresh programs to boost the economy . | Ao1iUtw6dxiI24du | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
impeachment | Fox Online News | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ken-starr-dershowitz-join-trumps-impeachment-defense-team | Ken Starr, Alan Dershowitz join Trump’s impeachment defense team | impeachment | Ken Starr , the former independent counsel who led the Whitewater investigation into then-President Bill Clinton in the mid-1990s , and attorney Alan Dershowitz will join President Trump ’ s impeachment defense team , Fox News has learned .
The prominent lawyers are among several attorneys added to the team as the president 's impeachment trial gets underway , with proceedings kicking off Thursday and moving into full swing next Tuesday .
The team will also include former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi , former federal prosecutor Robert Ray and Jane Raskin , who was part of the president 's legal team during former Special Counsel Robert Mueller 's Russia probe . Both Starr and Dershowitz are former Fox News contributors .
TRUMP 'S IMPEACHMENT DEFENSE TEAM : TOP LAWYERS TAPPED FOR LOOMING TRIAL
The inclusion of Starr drew an immediate reaction from Monica Lewinsky , the former White House intern whose affair with Clinton eventually led to his impeachment before he was acquitted in a Senate trial . `` This is definitely an 'are you f -- -- ng kidding me ? ' kinda day , '' she tweeted .
Fox News reported earlier this week that White House Counsel Pat Cipollone will take the lead on the president ’ s defense team in the Senate trial , along with Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow . Cipollone deputies Michael Purpura and Patrick Philbin will also work on the team .
Dershowitz confirmed his role in a series of tweets on Friday , saying he would `` present oral arguments at the Senate trial to address the constitutional arguments against impeachment and removal . ''
`` While Professor Dershowitz is non partisan when it comes to the constitution -- he opposed the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and voted for Hillary Clinton -- he believes the issues at stake go to the heart of our enduring Constitution , '' he said in another tweet .
TRUMP 'S IMPEACHMENT TRIAL TEAM : WHO ARE THEY LAWYER 'S DEFENDING THE PRESIDENT ?
Trump was impeached by the House last month on articles alleging abuse of power and obstruction of Congress . They relate to Trump 's urging Ukraine to launch investigations into the 2016 election and former Vice President Joe Biden 's dealings in the country . Trump has denied the allegations , saying the phone call was `` perfect . ''
The White House says that it is looking for a fair process that affords Trump the rights it says were denied to him in the House inquiry .
Despite that apparent expectation , the president in recent days has publicly pushed for the case to be outright dismissed , and for the Senate to bypass a trial completely .
“ Many believe that by the Senate giving credence to a trial based on the no evidence , no crime , read the transcripts , ‘ no pressure ’ Impeachment Hoax , rather than an outright dismissal , it gives the partisan Democrat Witch Hunt credibility that it otherwise does not have , ” Trump tweeted on Sunday . “ I agree ! ” | mTLUU7WJruKsrKEr | 2 | US Senate | -0.3 | Impeachment | 0.3 | Alan Dershowitz | 0.1 | White House | -0.1 | Donald Trump | 0 | |
treasury | Guest Writer | http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/12/11/will-interest-rates-go-up-five-things-to-expect.html | OPINION: Will interest rates go up? Five things to expect | 2015-12-11 | Federal Reserve, Interest Rates, Treasury, Banking And Finance | The Federal Reserve is likely to raise the federal funds rate at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday .
Raising the banks ’ overnight borrowing rate—held near zero since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008—has the potential to push up the cost of mortgages , slow jobs creation and curb stock prices but not always .
The effects of Fed tightening importantly depends on whether a higher federal funds rate pushes up the 10-year Treasury rate , because rates on mortgages , corporate and municipal bonds generally follow that rate up and down .
When Ben Bernanke raised the federal funds rate in 2004-2006 , those rates hardly budged , because the Chinese government was purchasing U.S. bonds at a maddening pace to keep the yuan cheap against the dollar .
Now , both the Chinese and European economies are deeply troubled and their monetary authorities are printing lots of money to push down borrowing costs . Private investors seeking safer and better returns will increase their purchases of U.S. securities limiting any increase in U.S. long rates .
Household balance sheets are in their best shape since the recovery began and lower gasoline prices give consumers more disposable income . Those factors should overwhelm the consequences of marginally higher short-term interest rates on consumer spending , and economic growth should accelerate to 2.5 to 3 percent in the New Year .
2 . Bank fees and car loans will get more expensive
Tighter banking regulations designed to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis have pushed up banks ’ costs for providing ordinary retail services . Higher short-term borrowing rates for banks will make things even tougher and banks will likely try to further boost fees on checking accounts and other services , and charge higher rates for short-term credit—credit cards , car loans and home improvements .
The good news is banks may start competing more for your money and pay higher rates on 1 to 5-year CDs .
The stronger dollar and lower oil prices are pinching corporate profits and hiring has slowed this year to about 210,000 new jobs a month—less than the 260,000 monthly average in 2014 .
Small businesses are a particularly important source of new jobs in an economic recovery but even before the Fed pushes up bank borrowing costs , tighter federal regulations forced large banks to curtail lending to these . Somewhat higher short rates are not likely to have much additional impact on their access to credit .
Finding a job remains toughest for the long-term unemployed whose skills atrophied during the Great Recession and slow recovery , and for whom government benefits—expanded Medicaid and food stamps for healthy men—have often overwhelmed incentives to reskill .
Household balance sheets are in their best shape since the recovery began and lower gasoline prices give consumers more disposable income . Those factors should overwhelm the consequences of marginally higher short-term interest rates on consumer spending , and economic growth should accelerate to 2.5 to 3 percent in the New Year .
Overall , if Beijing can mount an adequate stimulus program to stabilize its economy , the global economy won ’ t sink America ’ s boat and job gains will continue .
Once gasoline prices have bottomed , overall inflation will rise to about 2 percent .
Problems in China and shifts in the broader global economy have rocked equity prices recently . However , the Fed rate increase is widely anticipated and is likely already built into equity prices . The market is more likely to react positively to a rate increase simply because uncertainty about timing has been removed .
The economy has emerged from a tough recession and slow recovery in which the Fed deemed ultra-low interest rates necessary . However , conditions have much improved and in past decades , stock prices have often moved up even as the Fed raised interest rates .
This remains a good time to be in stocks and if you are an investor on the sidelines , gradually start buying in . | 6df6592bd63d212f | 1 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
2024_presidential_election | The Federalist | https://thefederalist.com/2024/06/28/cnns-jake-tapper-pressing-trump-about-jan-6-is-peak-cnn/ | CNN’s Jake Tapper Pressing Trump About Jan. 6 Is Peak CNN | 2024-06-28 | 2024 Presidential Election, Media Bias, CNN Bias | CNN’s Jake Tapper pressing Donald Trump on a four-hour riot at the Capitol from four years ago in a presidential debate is peak CNN. An hours-long riot at the Capitol four years ago doesn’t even rank among the top four issues facing voters as they go to cast their ballots between two presidents this fall. But the turmoil on Jan. 6, 2021, certainly claimed the lion’s share of coverage on CNN for the next two years, if not four, as the network became the go-to outlet for Democrats to spread conspiracies surrounding the isolated episode of right-wing violence. So naturally, the network where former Rep. Adam Kinzinger ran for a paycheck once it became clear he would never be reelected deployed debate moderator Jake Tapper to bring up the subject in Thursday night’s 90-minute debate. “What do you say to voters who believe that you violated [your constitutional] oath through your actions and inaction on Jan. 6, 2021, and worry that you’ll do that again,” Trump said. Trump answered by placing blame squarely with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who refused to accept Trump’s request for the Capitol to be reinforced by 10,000 National Guard troops for the joint session of Congress. “I offered her 10,000 soldiers or National Guard, and she turned them down,” Trump said. Pelosi’s deputies on the House Select Committee on Jan. 6, however, refused to investigate the speaker’s conduct and even concealed evidence of Democratic leadership rejecting Capitol reinforcements. The former president also made reference to recently published footage of Pelosi on Jan. 6 claiming “responsibility” for the security failures. Tape released from the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight this month showed the then-speaker in an SUV speaking to her chief of staff, Terri McCullough, as they were taken to Fort McNair. “Why weren’t the National Guard there to begin with?” Pelosi asked incredulously through a face mask. “They clearly didn’t know, and I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more.” President Joe Biden responded with the same accusations that aired on a loop over CNN’s endless panels for four years (and again in Tapper’s question): that Donald Trump “encouraged” the riot and did nothing for three hours as the violence unfolded. “He encouraged those folks to go up on Capitol Hill,” Biden said, adding Trump “sat there for three hours, three hours, watching, begging, being begged by his vice president and a number of his colleagues on the Republican side as well, to do something, to call for a stop, to end it.” “Instead, he talked about these people being patriots,” Biden added. An honest look at the timeline on the day of the riot, however, reveals the Democrats’ talking points, exploited by the incumbent president, are nothing more than a far-left fantasy of Republican apathy. The three-hour timeline offered by Biden, which became one of the most popular narratives of Democrats and the media when speaking about the riot, is revisionist history for guilty partisans eager to cover up their own negligence. The Washington Post time-stamps the first break-in at the Capitol for roughly 2:15 p.m. And according to The New York Times, Trump wasn’t even finished speaking when the first barriers around the building were breached. Trump tweeted at 2:38 p.m. to “support our Capitol Police” and to “Stay Peaceful!” Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful! Trump’s former director of national intelligence reminded followers on X that the former president pled with demonstrators again at 3:13 p.m. to “remain peaceful” and “respect the Law.” But “[Tapper] didn’t mention this,” wrote Ric Grenell. Nor was Tapper going to, because this is CNN. Trump’s tweet on Jan 6. @jaketapper didn’t mention this. https://t.co/4AVxAHBhnl © 2025 The Federalist, A wholly independent division of FDRLST Media. All rights reserved. We won't sell or share your personal information to inform the ads you see. You may still see interest-based ads if your information is sold or shared by other companies or was sold or shared previously. Dismiss Opt out | d547b4b66f5477cb | 2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
religion_and_faith | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/04/trump-marks-national-day-prayer-signs-executive-order-on-religious-freedom.html | Trump marks National Day of Prayer, signs executive order on religious freedom | 2017-05-04 | religion_and_faith | President Trump marked the National Day of Prayer by signing an executive order aimed at boosting religious freedom by easing IRS restrictions against political activities by tax-exempt religious organizations , including churches .
Declaring `` no one should be censoring sermons , '' Trump announced the order , which fulfilled a campaign pledge , during a Rose Garden ceremony Thursday attended by religious leaders , activists and Vice President Pence .
“ We will not allow people of faith to be targeted , bullied or silenced again and we will never stand for religious discrimination , ” Trump said before signing the order , which states it is now administration policy is “ to protect and vigorously promote religious liberty . ”
The ban on political speech from the pulpit is rooted in an amendment introduced in 1954 by then-Democratic Sen. Lyndon Johnson that gave the IRS authority to punish tax-exempt charitable organizations , including churches , for making political endorsements or getting involved in political campaigns .
The order directs the IRS to exercise maximum enforcement discretion to alleviate the burden of the so-called Johnson Amendment .
In addition , it instructs the Treasury Department not to target the tax-exempt status of churches and other institutions if they express support for political candidates .
The order also directs the Department of Justice to ensure religious protections are afforded to individuals and groups , such as Little Sisters of the Poor , a group of nuns who take a vow of poverty in serving the elderly .
In his introductory remarks , Pence said the National Day of Prayer is a time to reaffirm “ the vital role people of faith play in American society ” and praised the president for marking the day in such a public manner .
Trump campaigned against the ban and pledged in his address to the Republican National Convention that he would “ work very hard to repeal that language and to protect free speech for all Americans . ”
Trump called up several of the Little Sisters of the Poor members and congratulated them on their landmark victory in the Supreme Court over the issue of the contraceptive mandate included in ObamaCare .
According to Trump , more than 50 religious groups filed lawsuits against the Obama administration for violating their religious liberty .
Before the final order was released , several religious liberty groups expressed support for the administration ’ s actions .
“ The first freedom in the Bill of Rights is religious freedom . America was born on the foundation of religious freedom and it is one of our most cherished liberties . There could be no better day to sign an executive order on religious freedom than the National Day of Prayer , ” said Mat Staver , chairman of Liberty Counsel .
Mark Rienzi , counsel for The Becket Fund , said on Twitter he was encouraged by the “ promise of the protection ” coming from the White House and looked forward to seeing the final language .
The Becket Fund is the public interest law firm which has represented the Little Sisters of the Poor in their fight to be exempted from ObamaCare ’ s contraceptive mandate .
The executive order drew critics from the left and the right .
`` If the … EO on religious liberty ends up being what media outlets are currently reporting , then it 'll be woefully inadequate , '' tweeted Ryan Anderson , a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation .
The American Civil Liberties Union argued the executive actions constitute “ a broadside to our country ’ s long-standing commitment to the separation of church and state ” that will divide the nation and permit discrimination .
`` President Trump ’ s efforts to promote religious freedom are thinly-veiled efforts to unleash his conservative religious base into the political arena while also using religion to discriminate . It ’ s a dual dose of pandering to a base and denying reproductive care . We will see Trump in court , again , ” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero in a statement . | rlgWdF1BJAJXnhqi | 2 | Religion And Faith | 1.3 | Religious Freedom | 1 | Executive Orders | 0.6 | null | null | null | null |
state_department | Fox Online News | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/05/chambliss-sources-terror-chatter-beyond-anything-heard-since-before-11/ | 19 US posts to remain closed this week, as lawmakers say terror threat 'specific' and 'serious' | 2013-08-05 | state_department | The State Department has announced that it will keep 19 embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa closed throughout the week “ out of an abundance of caution ” in the wake of terror threats that shut them down .
Posts in Abu Dhabi , Amman , Cairo , Riyadh , Dhahran , Jeddah , Doha , Dubai , Kuwait , Manama , Muscat , Sanaa , Tripoli , Antanarivo , Bujumbura , Djibouti , Khartoum , Kigali and Port Louis have been instructed to close for normal operations from Monday through Saturday , department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said .
The State Department also said some of those embassies were already going to be closed in accordance with local customs marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan .
Those authorized to reopen Monday are in Dhaka , Algiers , Nouakchott , Kabul , Herat , Mazar el Sharif , Baghdad , Basrah and Erbil .
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Capitol Hill lawmakers , including top-ranking members of intelligence committees , on Sunday described the terror threat that closed 22 U.S. embassies and consulates across the Muslim region as the most serious one since before the 9/11 attacks and related to a specific act or plot .
Florida Republican Rep. Tom Rooney , a member of the House Intelligence Committee , told Fox News that U.S. intelligence agents detected a “ very specific ” threat and suggested they have known about it for at least several weeks .
He was among several congressional lawmakers Sunday who said the threat was gleaned from so-called “ chatter ” from phone lines , computer outlets , websites and other communication outlets .
Rooney also said the information is not what intelligence committee members “ see on our regular briefings . ”
The Obama administration ’ s decision Friday to close the U.S. outposts Sunday came the same day as the State Department issued a worldwide travel alert .
Rooney suggested Sunday the travel warning will not be lifted soon .
“ If I had plans to travel to certain places in the Middle East , I would probably go ahead and cancel them , ” he said .
Rooney 's comments followed Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss , the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee , telling NBC ’ s “ Meet the Press '' that the threats are `` very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11 . ''
He also described the threats as “ the most serious … I 've seen in a number of years . ”
Sources confirmed with Fox News the chatter was picked up over the past two weeks and exceeds anything in the past decade . They also said the extraordinary volume of chatter was preceded by months of “ absolute quietness . ”
The sources said the chatter included Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri demanding that key leaders of the terror network in the Arabian Peninsula step up their activities in the wake of recent killings of top terrorists .
A Mideast diplomat said al-Zawahiri ’ s “ pressuring ” of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to launch new terrorist attacks on American and other Western targets is “ unprecedented . ”
The sources also said the U.S. outpost closings and the travel alert were prompted in part by a series of recent Al Qaeda-led prison breaks that have freed hundreds of operatives over the last month , including one this weekend in Aleppo , Syria . Other recent breaks have been orchestrated in Iraq , Libya and Pakistan and Abu Ghraib , in Afghanistan .
Maryland Rep. C.A . Dutch Ruppersberger , the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee , also said the intercepted threats came from `` high-level people ” in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula .
He told ABC ’ s “ This Week ” the information was about a “ major attack . ''
Yemen is home to Al Qaeda 's most dangerous affiliate , blamed for several notable terrorist plots on the United States . They include the foiled Christmas Day 2009 effort to bomb an airliner over Detroit and the explosives-laden parcels intercepted the following year aboard cargo flights .
New York Republican Rep. Pete King , who leads the House Homeland Security subcommittee on counterterrorism and intelligence , said the threat included dates but not locations of possible attacks .
`` The threat was specific as to how enormous it was going to be and also that certain dates were given , '' he said on ABC .
Rep. Adam Schiff , a House Intelligence Committee member , said the `` breadth '' of the closures suggests U.S. authorities are concerned about a potential repeat of last year 's riots and attacks at multiple embassies , including the deadly assault in Benghazi , Libya , in which the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed .
In addition , Interpol , the French-based international policy agency , has issued a global security alert in connection with suspected Al Qaeda involvement in the recent prison escapes .
Schiff also said the breaks add to the concerns about an attack and noted the approaching end of Ramadan .
`` So you have a lot things coming together , ” he said . “ But all of that would not be enough without having some particularly specific information , '' he said .
The administration ’ s announcements Friday said the Al Qaeda network might target either U.S. government or private American interests .
The intelligence intercepts also prompted Britain , Germany and France to close their embassies in Yemen on Sunday and Monday . British authorities said some embassy staff in Yemen had been withdrawn `` due to security concerns . ''
Canada also announced it was closing its embassy in Dhaka , Bangladesh . | W5DxceUDqB5nkhqR | 2 | Politics | -0.1 | State Department | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
asia | Axios | https://www.axios.com/muslim-repression-china-india-trump-857889c3-8517-4718-9664-a30cc48f03de.html | The world's Muslims are facing unprecedented repression | 2019-12-27 | asia | Things have never been worse for Muslims who live as minorities in their home countries .
China has built concentration camps for over a million Muslim ethnic minorities .
concentration camps for over a million Muslim ethnic minorities . Myanmar committed a `` textbook '' campaign of ethnic cleansing against its Rohingya minority , killing thousands and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee .
a `` textbook '' campaign of ethnic cleansing against its Rohingya minority , killing thousands and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee . India just passed a citizenship law that excludes Muslims .
a citizenship law that excludes Muslims . The United States continues to implement a travel ban that is separating American Muslims ( and others ) from family members abroad .
And , increasingly , there 's nowhere for them to run . Many countries around the world , not just the United States , have put up immigration barriers specifically targeting Muslims .
The backstory : These situations have arisen partly for localized reasons , but also because of sweeping global trends .
The U.S. war on terror has led to other state violence against Muslim populations . In fact , Chinese President Xi Jinping explicitly cited the U.S. war on terror as justification for policies that resulted in the ongoing detention of over a million Chinese Muslims .
Muslims , always the top victims of Islamic terrorism , now face demonization in countries like Sri Lanka due to popular fears of Islam due to its association with extremist groups .
The rise of far-right populist leaders such as India 's Narendra Modi and Hungary 's Viktor Orban — as well as the election of President Trump — has seen these leaders whip up anti-Muslim sentiment in order to bolster their own popularity .
The Trump administration has at times supported seemingly contradictory policies regarding religious freedom for Muslims — implementing the travel ban while also condemning China 's crackdown .
One of Trump 's campaign promises was a `` total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States . '' He partially fulfilled that campaign promise through his travel ban , implemented through executive order , that prohibits entry to the United States to almost all citizens of five Muslim-majority countries .
Trump has hired and promoted numerous once-fringe Islamophobes , including Frank Gaffney , Sebastian Gorka , and Pamela Gellar .
But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has referred to China 's internment camps as the `` stain of the century , '' and Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback has condemned China 's actions as well .
The bottom line : It 's a very bad time to be a Muslim in a country that is n't predominantly Muslim . And overall , the international community seems relatively unwilling to do much about it . | 2hjGwJk9l6miyaWA | 1 | Oppression | -0.4 | China | -0.3 | Muslims | -0.1 | Islam | 0 | Asia | 0 |
republican_party | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/18/politics/gop-path-ahead/index.html?hpt=po_c1 | A defeated GOP wants to unite, move on, fight another day | 2013-10-18 | Republican Party, Politics | Story highlights Republicans stood united after a long fight that shut down the government
GOP likely to stay united on common themes of taxes and spending
Some issues -- immigration and Obamacare -- could continue to divide the party
In a large conference-style room in the basement of the U.S. Capitol , Republican members of the House , exhausted from more than two weeks of battling on the shutdown and debt ceiling crisis , met for one last time .
They met in a room that had often been filled with contentious debate , snickering rebels , quiet observers and frustrated moderators . But on the night the House voted to reopen the government , the mood was different .
They knew it was over . They could fight no more . They had lost .
But , even in defeat , many who were in the room say there was a surprising feeling of unity . On that night , 16 days into their failed strategy , the diverse group of Republicans who have had sharp differences on how to push a Republican agenda in a Democratic led government stood as one .
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor , R-Virginia , spoke passionately in the GOP conference room , urging his members to unify . And it worked . Embattled Speaker of the House John Boehner received a standing ovation . The unusual plea for unity was a recognition that the last few weeks had been , to say the least , bruising for the GOP .
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During the summer , the far right tea party wing had backed Boehner into a corner by demanding he link defunding the Affordable Care Act , also known as Obamacare , to the shutdown and debt ceiling . Meanwhile , what was left of the Republican moderates in the House and Senate -- in fact much of the more realistic GOP center -- had privately thought the tactic would lead to political disaster .
`` I think we have fully now acquainted our new members with what a losing strategy that is , '' Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told The Hill .
On some issues , Republicans are likely to motivate around common themes .
As talks with Democratic leaders get underway on a budget , Republicans are likely to stand against any effort to raise taxes and will push for lower government spending and changes to entitlement programs .
And Republicans have turned their attention to another aspect of Obamacare : its chief implementer , Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius . The GOP is calling for her resignation over its botched rollout .
While the Republicans stood united in the face of defeat , the day-to-day realities are going to prove much more difficult .
The President is already pushing Congress to get started on immigration reform , which the Senate already passed . Immigration has long been a contentious subject within the Republican Party . Some members are opposed to any liberalization of immigration laws while others , including former President George W. Bush , have pushed the party to embrace a comprehensive overhaul .
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In the two days after that showing of unity , fractures are already forming .
`` One of my favorite old Kentucky sayings is there 's no education in the second kick of a mule , '' he told the Hill newspaper . `` There will not be a government shutdown . ''
But an aide to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said he had a different point of view . The aide told CNN 's Dana Bash that he has not ruled out any future efforts to shutdown the government in the fight against Obamacare .
Additionally , Cruz blamed his Republican Senate colleagues for losing the fight .
`` Unfortunately , the Senate chose not to follow the House . And in particular , we saw real division among the House of Representatives . That was unfortunate . I would point out that had Senate Republicans united , and supported House Republicans , the outcome of this , I believe , would 've been very , very different , '' Cruz told CNN 's Dana Bash .
While Cruz gained national attention -- and much condemnation -- for his fight , his support among tea party activists has skyrocketed to 74 % . But at the same time , support for the tea party declined with only 30 % of Republicans viewing the coalition favorably , according to Pew Research Center .
It 's a paradigm Republicans have to consider as they hope to maintain control of the House and obtain control of the Senate in the 2014 elections and win the White House in 2016 .
That 's something with which McConnell , a political veteran , is well aware . `` Full-scale repeal is obviously something that 's not going to be achievable until I 'm the majority leader of the Senate and we have a new president , '' he told the Hill , referring to a repeal of Obamacare .
But McConnell has a tough re-election of his own . And conservative activists are not pleased with his role in negotiating a deal to reopen the government . The Senate Conservative Fund , a group dedicated to electing conservative members of the Senate , endorsed his challenger , Matt Bevin , Friday morning .
One of the lawmakers who backed the strategy to defund Obamacare , Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida , said that the fight was worth it .
`` If we do n't address it today , when are we going to address it ? '' he rhetorically asked on CNN 's 'Erin Burnett OutFront . ''
But on the same program , fellow Republican Rep. Michael Grimm of New York said the GOP is `` a big party , '' adding that a lot of members believe in being `` pragmatic and reasonable , '' noting that the strategy to dismantle Obamacare was neither .
As politicians often look for political advantage , Obama highlighted the Republican divisions .
`` We should n't fail to act on areas that we do agree or could agree just because it 's bad politics , just because the extremes in our party do n't like the word compromise , '' he said Thursday .
Boehner , who has spent the last two-and-a-half years trying to corral his party on a host of issues , knows full well the difficulty of uniting the party .
`` Because we 're Republicans , we 're a little more independent-minded than our friends across the aisle , '' Boehner told WLW radio Wednesday . `` Some are a little bit more independent-minded than others . '' | 8fd94229ff0e4446 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/08/politics/christie-bridge/index.html | E-mails among Christie appointees suggest political vendetta | 2014-01-08 | politics | Story highlights Gergen : `` It feeds into this narrative that he 's a bully ''
King : `` If that perception starts to stick in , that 's not a presidential temperament ''
Top aides to Gov . Chris Christie communicate about lane closures to George Washington Bridge
Christie says he knew nothing about what transpired ; mayor says e-mails raise credibility questions
This is n't the first time critics have called New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie a bully . But now the man many consider a Republican presidential frontrunner is on the defensive , scrambling to distance himself from an erupting political scandal that threatens to tarnish his image well before the 2016 elections .
E-mails that surfaced Wednesday suggest top Christie appointees orchestrated traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge as part of a political vendetta to punish a local mayor who would n't support him at the polls . Lane closures around approaches to the country 's busiest bridge snarled traffic for days in September in Fort Lee , New Jersey -- a problem the governor and his administration had originally blamed on a mishandled traffic study .
In response to the e-mail firestorm , Christie said Wednesday that he was misled by staff . He called the conduct outrageous and said he knew nothing about it .
`` This behavior is not representative of me or my administration in any way , '' he said , `` and people will be held responsible for their actions . ''
Even if he had nothing to do with the traffic snarls , the allegations could have serious consequences for Christie , analysts said .
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`` There 's something about this that 's so petty and so vindictive and it feeds into this narrative that he 's a bully . ... He 's going to have to find some way to defuse this to prove he does n't run a shop like that , '' said CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen , a former adviser to several U.S. presidents .
It 's a defining moment for Christie , CNN Chief National Correspondent John King said . And how he deals with the situation in the next two days -- from whether he fires anyone to what he says -- will be key .
`` If he handles it decisively and then he sits down and calmly answers questions and does n't berate the reporters who ask them , then he has a chance to be a leader who dealt with a crisis and he moves on , '' King said . `` But if that perception starts to stick in , that 's not a presidential temperament . And that 's bad for him nationally in his perspective . It 's bad for him as he starts his new term in New Jersey . And it 's bad for him with the audience he needs to care about most politically long-term at the moment , and that 's the Republican base that he wants to make him their nominee . ''
`` Not necessarily , '' Oxford University historian Timothy Stanley wrote in an opinion piece for CNN.com . `` He 's a resourceful politician and it 's still many months before campaigning starts in earnest . But now his opponents have a stick to beat him with . Best of all , it 's an anti-government stick . If Republicans stand for anything right now , it 's opposing the ability of government to mess with the individual 's life -- and here we have a classic example of politicians taking revenge on each other at the expense of the average citizen . ''
Political commentators from both sides of the aisle immediately recognized the potential for credibility questions , particularly around Christie 's explanations in recent months about the traffic jams in Fort Lee and previous comments rejecting suggestions of political mischief .
`` He 's already cemented a narrative as something of a bully , '' said S.E . Cupp , a Republican political strategist and CNN `` Crossfire '' host . `` If this was happening in his administration , I do n't think it would shocking . ''
But , she said , if it `` turns out he 's lying about what he knew or whether he ordered it -- that 's going to be the worst , the most damaging . Because his authenticity is his calling card . ''
It 's important to ask how much Christie knew , Gergen said , but the reality might be more complicated .
`` Sometimes the boss does not order something , '' Gergen said , describing the Nixon White House during the Watergate scandal . `` I do n't know whether Nixon ordered Watergate , but I can guarantee you that people who carried out Watergate thought that 's what he would have wanted . There 's an environment in which you find yourself sometimes on staff when things do n't have to be said . You sort of know . ''
The correspondence , subpoenaed by Democrats investigating the matter and spiced with tough Jersey political talk and expletives , is the most damaging evidence so far supporting their assertions the move was orchestrated because Fort Lee 's mayor , a Democrat , did n't endorse Christie 's re-election .
Mayor Mark Sokolich said the traffic mess created serious hardships for commuters and other residents , and impacted public safety in his community .
The exchanges began three weeks before access lanes to the bridge were closed , causing heavy traffic backups between September 9 and 13 , two months before Election Day .
`` Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee , '' Bridget Anne Kelly , Christie 's deputy chief of staff for legislative and intergovernmental affairs , said in an e-mail to David Wildstein , then the highest-level appointee representing the state at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey , which operates the bridge connecting the two states .
In another message about school buses with students onboard caught in the traffic jams , Wildstein writes , `` they are the children of Buono voters , '' apparently referring to Barbara Buono , Christie 's Democratic opponent in last November 's gubernatorial election .
Those cited in the series of e-mails and text messages did not respond to requests for comment or to verify the communications .
Wildstein , who has left his job , is expected to appear at a legislative hearing on Thursday .
Democratic New Jersey Assembly Deputy Speaker John Wisniewski said the e-mails call into question the integrity of the governor 's office .
Christie , he said , `` has a lot of explaining to do . ''
`` I do not believe the governor called the Port Authority and said , 'Close some lanes . ' But I did say I hold him responsible for the atmosphere . Now finding that that atmosphere existed in his own office is what I find really troubling , '' Wisniewski said .
JUST WATCHED E-mails tie Christie aides to gridlock Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH E-mails tie Christie aides to gridlock 05:59
JUST WATCHED Democrat : It 's a sad day for New Jersey Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Democrat : It 's a sad day for New Jersey 01:39
JUST WATCHED What did Christie know about closed lanes ? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH What did Christie know about closed lanes ? 03:02
Christie 's name did not appear in the e-mails , he added .
Sokolich told CNN 's `` The Situation Room '' the e-mails suggested that political motives behind the lane closures have led him to believe that Christie is more clued-in than he 's admitted .
`` I 'm rooting that the highest elected official in the state of New Jersey is n't involved . But I 'm beginning to question my judgment , '' Sokolich said .
The mayor raised the issue of public safety being compromised . A letter by his emergency services coordinator , Paul Favia , on September 10 obtained by CNN cited `` new traffic patterns '' around the bridge 's toll plaza that were backing up traffic in Fort Lee .
`` This new traffic pattern is causing unnecessary delays for emergency services to arrive on scene for medical emergencies , '' Favia said , citing one case in which paramedics rushing to aid an unconscious elderly woman suffering a heart attack were held up and had to meet the ambulance transporting the victim at the hospital instead of at the scene . She later died .
Details surrounding the woman 's death have n't been released . But the situation could deepen Christie 's political woes , Gergen said .
`` If a woman died here , '' Gergen said , `` he 's in deep , deep trouble . ''
Christie is now campaigning for fellow GOP governors as chairman of the Republican Governors Association and is seen as prime political target for national Democrats .
They rarely attacked him during his re-election campaign but are now becoming more aggressive with the bridge controversy unfolding .
`` These revelations are troubling for any public official , but they also indicate what we 've come to expect from Governor Christie - when people oppose him , he exacts retribution . When people question him , he belittles and snidely jokes . And when anyone dares to look into his administration , he bullies and attacks , '' said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz , the Democratic National Committee chair , in a statement .
A source close to Christie said `` there will probably be some sacrificial firing and that 'll be it . '' | Ludq48gCzDiKtnmX | 0 | Chris Christie | -2.3019 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
politics | Washington Times | https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/may/25/court-halts-trumps-emergency-declaration-wall-buil/ | Court halts Trump's emergency declaration wall-building plans | 2019-05-25 | politics | President Trump said this weekend that he will try to speed an appeal after a federal judge late Friday halted his plans to construct border wall by declaring a national emergency and pulling the money from the Pentagon .
Mr. Trump , writing on Twitter from Japan , where he was traveling , lashed out at Judge Haywood Gilliam , an Obama appointee to the federal court for Northern California , saying he was enabling criminals by ruling against the president ’ s most prominent campaign promise .
Judge Gilliam said the president and his team overstepped their powers by trying to rearrange money within the Pentagon to make it usable for border wall construction , after Congress had a thorough debate and approved far less than the president wanted .
He issued a preliminary injunction finding that Congress is likely to prevail as the case proceeds , and he blocked the government from carrying out wall-building Mr. Trump said was already underway near El Paso , Texas , and Yuma , Arizona .
“ Congress has repeatedly rejected legislation that would have funded substantially broader border barrier construction , ” the judge wrote .
The ruling is a substantial blow to Mr. Trump , who orchestrated a government shutdown to try to get his border wall built , then signed a bill to reopen government without getting the wall money he sought .
He had been counting on his emergency powers , which he said allowed him to tap the Pentagon ’ s money to build border barriers . Indeed , one section of law explicitly authorized the Defense Department to build barriers in drug corridors .
But the pot of money for that construction was limited , and the Defense Department had to siphon money from other accounts to fill the drug corridor fund — something Judge Gilliam said isn ’ t allowed in this case .
The Justice Department had argued that Congress didn ’ t explicitly deny the administration the ability to use the money , and in fact included reprogramming abilities in the laws allowing the administration to shift substantial amounts of money within the Defense Department .
Indeed , that ’ s exactly what House Democrats have done in their new round of spending bills for next year , moving to explicitly prevent the president from a repeat of this year ’ s emergency declaration money-shifting .
But Judge Gilliam said that ’ s not necessary . He said the Constitution doesn ’ t require Congress to foresee every circumstance in which the president might make mischief with money . Instead , the president is bound only to spend on exactly what Congress authorizes .
“ Defendants ’ reading of these provisions , if accepted , would pose serious problems under the Constitution ’ s separation of powers principles , ” he concluded .
Mr. Trump didn ’ t comment on Judge Gilliam ’ s legal reasoning , but on Twitter said he was hurting the country ’ s safety .
“ Another activist Obama appointed judge has just ruled against us on a section of the Southern Wall that is already under construction . This is a ruling against Border Security and in favor of crime , drugs and human trafficking . We are asking for an expedited appeal ! ”
Mr. Trump initially requests about $ 1.6 billion in border wall money for 2019 , then upped that request to $ 5 billion , and eventually $ 5.7 billion .
Congress , after an election , one government shutdown and a change in power in the House , approved $ 1.375 billion .
Mr. Trump signed that legislation in February — then immediately declared a national emergency and issued a memo authorizing the Defense Department to tap $ 2.5 billion in drug interdiction accounts and another $ 3.6 billion in military construction funds to build the wall . He also authorized use of $ 601 million from a Treasury Department forfeiture fund .
Under the law , the drug interdiction money can be used to build walls in drug corridors , but the fund didn ’ t have $ 2.5 billion , so the Defense Department said it would reprogram money from elsewhere to fill out those accounts .
It authorized $ 1 billion in transfers . That ’ s the money Judge Gilliam halted .
He did not rule on the government ’ s plans to tap the $ 3.6 billion in emergency declaration money , saying that issue is not yet ripe . But given the tenor and reasoning in Friday ’ s opinion , it ’ s difficult to imagine Judge Gilliam would find use of that money for a border wall legal at this point .
Judge Gilliam is one of several courts hearing challenges to Mr. Trump ’ s emergency declaration . Cases in Texas and Washington , D.C. , are still proceeding . | EBuBRqsKPevL07h7 | 2 | Border Wall | -0.5 | Politics | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
education | New York Magazine | http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/08/white-kids-get-meds-black-kids-get-suspended.html | White Kids Get Medicated When They Misbehave, Black Kids Get Suspended — or Arrested | 2015-08-06 | education | In recent years , as a national conversation about racial discrepancies in American policing has heated up , a depressing subplot has also emerged : a pattern of similar discrepancies in how discipline is meted out in schools . Black students made up just 18 percent of students in the public schools sampled by the New York Times in 2012 , but “ they accounted for 35 percent of those suspended once ” and 39 percent of those expelled — examining federal data , the Times also noted that “ nationwide , more than 70 percent of students involved in arrests or referrals to court are black or Hispanic. ” Even black preschoolers were not exempt : They made up the same 18 percent of the student population , but constituted half of all suspensions .
As everyone from the Times to the ACLU has noted , the enactment of tough “ zero-tolerance ” policies in schools has led to the criminalization of what had previously been viewed as minor disciplinary issues . Zero-tolerance often mandates that students be suspended — even referred to law enforcement and arrested — for minor transgressions : Until a 2013 rule change , Los Angeles students routinely received automatic suspensions for refusing to take off their hats ( this fell under a category of violation called “ willful defiance ” ) , while a Florida district , the sixth largest in the country , set a state record for student arrests in a jurisdiction in 2011 , primarily on charges of possessing small amounts of marijuana and spraying graffiti . The ACLU has called this phenomenon the “ school-to-prison pipeline . ”
Now , a new paper in SAGE takes a closer look at how race and class affect school districts ’ approaches to punishment , but also examines another important element of school discipline : Some disruptive kids , rather than being punished , are “ medicalized ” — that is , eventually given diagnoses , therapy , and/or medication as a result of behavioral problems . As “ problem behaviors such as inattention , hyperactivity , and defiance of adult authority have received increased attention ” since the 1990s , the study notes , schools have increasingly sought treatment and made special provisions for disruptive students through mental-health provisions in state and federal legislation .
For the study , David M. Ramey , of Pennsylvania State University ’ s department of sociology and criminology , used data from over 60,000 schools in 6,000 districts to examine trends in how schools ’ racial and socioeconomic makeup impacted how they dealt with misbehaving students .
If you ’ re a black student or you ’ re poor , you ’ re far more likely to be punished than offered behavioral treatment when you misbehave .
There was a strong correlation between the percentage of black students in a school and the rates of punitive discipline , and an inverse relationship between the percentage of black students and the rate of behavioral treatment . “ Schools with more black students relative to other schools in the district had higher rates of suspension or expulsion and police referral or arrest ” than other in-district schools , the study notes , and also had substantially lower rates of enrollment in mental-health and special education programs . Students in more socioeconomically disadvantaged districts are also far more likely to face criminalized punishment than kids in more affluent areas , in part , Ramey thinks , because criminalized punishment is cheaper than mental-health treatment , and these districts are often strapped for cash . Here , race and class are — as is so often the case — inextricably linked .
Ramey draws on prior work in the field to demonstrate that the far higher rates of criminalization black students experience may be the result of endemic bias on the part of school officials . An American Psychological Association study found that black boys are perceived as older and less innocent than their white peers , and some studies indicate teachers can suffer from the fundamental attribution error , attributing minority children ’ s misbehavior to different causes than they do white children ’ s . Ramey notes how one study found that schools blame “ poor parenting , cultural deficiencies , and poor character ” for bad behavior among racial minority children , and see that behavior as permanent and leading almost inexorably to involvement with the criminal justice system . Further , a study on enrollment in special education programs found that “ teachers and administrators are less likely to attribute minority students ’ misbehavior to underlying behavior disorders , ” which could be ameliorated with mental-health treatment .
When school officials are given more leeway in how they discipline students , the role of race is more apparent in their decision-making .
“ In disadvantaged districts , ” says Ramey , “ the school board tends to have a lot more power in setting disciplinary policy , in particular at the top , and it ’ s followed relatively uniformly across the schools. ” A district might mandate metal detectors or zero-tolerance policies , for example , and every school follows those policies , regardless of the makeup of the student body . In more affluent districts , things are different . There , Ramey says , “ The schools and administrators are allowed a greater degree of autonomy. ” School boards outline a disciplinary guideline ( usually tied to government funding through state or federal law ) that they want to meet , but individual schools have more flexibility in how they meet them , be it through tougher punitive discipline or the expansion of mental-health programs . “ This is where you see race really mattering , ” Ramey says . “ The predominantly black schools in advantaged districts have much higher levels of suspension than predominantly white schools in advantaged districts . Conversely , predominantly black schools have much lower rates of [ mental-health-program ] enrollment than predominantly white schools in advantaged districts . ”
Some schools have come to mirror the adult criminal justice and mental-health systems in how they deal with problematic behavior .
For most of the United States ’ industrialized existence , working-class schools tried to reproduce the organization and principles of the industrial labor force : vocational skills , and an emphasis on the values of order , compliance , efficiency , and uniformity . But various theories hold that as the U.S. manufacturing economy and its labor system fled overseas in the second half of the 20th century , the criminal justice and mental-health systems replaced it as a model for how schools should be run . Ramey says that some of the discrepancies in these systems are mirrored in U.S. schools : “ There are racial inequalities in the mental-health system across the life course , and it ’ s the same with the criminal justice system. ” Like their adult counterparts , children of color are far more likely than white children to be pulled into the criminal justice system . Like adults , they are far less likely to seek out or be referred to mental-health professionals for treatment . “ A lot of these structural inequalities we see in adult systems of social control are reproduced throughout childhood , ” says Ramey .
Of course , it ’ s not all cut-and-dried : The sources of racial disparities in treatment , for instance , do not lie exclusively within these larger systems . Black families have been shown to be “ skeptical of medical and mental-health research , particularly contested and controversial issues like ADHD , ” and are therefore less likely to seek out treatment , while predominantly Latino schools see less medicalized and criminalized discipline , all things being equal . “ Some of the research , ” Ramey says , “ suggests that Hispanics and Hispanic families in Hispanic schools — in particular first-generation immigrants — tend to avoid social control institutions altogether , be it the criminal justice system , the mental-health system , or the medical system , ” often due to language barriers , immigration status , and other concerns .
More research is definitely needed in this area , both because of limitations in this analysis ( it does not look at the treatment of a black individual compared to a white one for the same behavior at the same school , for example ) and the gravity of the issue . There is clearly a discrepancy in how schools respond to bad behavior based on the racial and socioeconomic makeup of their student bodies , but there are still plenty of unanswered questions about the details . | FLtLwiqyC0xbKo9x | 0 | Civil Rights | 0.5 | Education | 0.1 | School | 0.1 | Prescription Drugs | 0 | Prisons | 0 |
democratic_party | Politico | http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/democrats-prepared-to-buck-white-house-on-iran-nuclear-deal-116088.html?hp=t2_r | Democrats prepared to buck White House on Iran nuclear deal | 2015-03-15 | democratic_party | Even as the White House ramps up pressure on Congress to stay out of its negotiations with Iran on a nuclear agreement , Republicans are on the brink of veto-proof majorities for legislation that could undercut any deal .
And that support has held up even after the uproar last week over the GOP ’ s letter to Iranian leaders warning against an agreement .
Though several Democratic senators told ███ they were offended by the missive authored by Sen. Tom Cotton ( R-Ark . ) , none of them said it would cause them to drop their support for bills to impose new sanctions on Iran or give Congress review power over a nuclear deal .
That presents another complication for the administration ahead of a rough deadline of March 24 to reach a nuclear agreement with the country .
“ The letter ’ s incredibly unfortunate and inappropriate , ” said Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota , a centrist Democrat who voted for the sanctions bill in committee and is a sponsor of the congressional approval legislation . “ That doesn ’ t diminish my support for the legislation that we introduced . ”
The president ’ s challenge in Congress on the issue isn ’ t limited to the 47 Republican senators who signed last week ’ s missive arguing that a nuclear agreement could be revoked by the next U.S. president . In a letter released Saturday , White House chief of staff Denis McDonough implored Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker ( R-Tenn. ) not to push for a vote on his bill that would give Congress 60 days to reject or approve of any deal .
McDonough argued that Corker ’ s measure , which has nearly a dozen Democratic supporters , “ goes well beyond ensuring that Congress has a role to play in any deal with Iran. ” And he asked Corker , who ’ s sought to maintain a cordial relationship with the White House , to let the administration finish its negotiations with Iran , indicating it may take until the end of June . A framework is expected by the end of this month .
Corker shrugged off the request in response . And in an interview late last week , he said he hasn ’ t lost the support of any Democrats despite the turbulent atmosphere surrounding Iran politics .
“ Let a couple days go by . We think there ’ s going to be really ignited momentum , ” Corker , who did not sign the Cotton letter , said on Thursday . “ Nobody ’ s dropping out . We ’ ve had reaffirmed commitment ” from Democrats .
Indeed , a day after the controversy over Cotton ’ s letter erupted , Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado co-sponsored Corker ’ s congressional review bill , the 11th Democrat to signal support .
Though the White House has seized on the GOP ’ s “ open letter to the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran ” in an effort to shift the politics of the nuclear negotiations in its favor on Capitol Hill , there ’ s no evidence it ’ s working so far . Nearly all of the 54 Republicans and more than a dozen Democrats in the Senate remain at odds with the president on the issue .
Meanwhile , the House will hold hearings this week to grill administration officials on Iran , a potentially troubling sign for the administration , considering the chamber passed a strict Iran sanctions bill in 2013 by a vote of 400-20 — far above the veto override threshold .
“ The letter was simply unacceptable , and it brought hyperpartisanship to an issue that we need to maintain our bipartisanship in , ” said Sen. Gary Peters ( D-Mich. ) , a supporter of sanctions that would not take effect unless talks fall apart or Iran backs away from the terms of any deal . “ That doesn ’ t change my support for that bill . … I stay firm . ”
A group of 10 Democrats wrote to President Barack Obama this month and vowed not to support the bill that would allow Congress to reject a nuclear deal until after March 24 . That followed a similar deadline set by 12 Democrats in a January message to Obama regarding the conditional sanctions bill . Aides in both parties put their vote counts for the bills in the mid-60s , but they ’ re confident that if either comes to the floor , additional Democrats will back them .
The administration now appears to be asking for even more time : McDonough said in his letter to Corker that if a framework is reached this month and a “ final deal by the end of June , we expect a robust debate in Congress. ” GOP leaders appear determined to move much sooner than that .
For a moment , Cotton ’ s letter appeared to shake the bipartisan foundation undergirding both of the Iran bills . Democrats warned of a backslide into partisanship on a foreign policy issue that ’ s united Congress for years . Capitol Hill has long pressed for additional economic penalties on Iran in hopes of forcing it to the negotiating table with global powers .
But Sen. Richard Blumenthal ( D-Conn. ) , who backs the sanctions bill , said , “ The fundamentals for bipartisan action ought still to be there . ”
“ This is a sad day in America when people are trying to kill negotiations that are underway , ” Sen. Bill Nelson ( D-Fla. ) said of the Cotton letter . But would he back away from Corker ’ s congressional approval bill ?
“ No , ” he answered , adding with apparent satisfaction : “ I ’ m an original co-sponsor . ”
The Republican stewards of Iran legislation , who have jockeyed for the support of the party leadership , said several Democrats reiterated their support privately last week after the letter uproar . Corker ’ s bill that would allow Congress to vote to override Obama ’ s Iran deal is seen as the one Republican leaders are most likely to schedule for action on the Senate floor , probably sometime in April .
Another bill , proposed by Sen. Mark Kirk ( R-Ill. ) , could also be an option if Congress begins to doubt Iran ’ s commitment to finalizing a deal or upholding one . Kirk ’ s bill would trigger sanctions if Iran walks away from talks or reneges on a deal . He said 68 senators have signaled support for it , a number he predicted would grow “ once we actually vote . ”
The White House and Obama administration officials are shrugging off Congress ’ still-strong bipartisan desire for weighing in on the delicate talks with Iran , and they declined to say whether the president will renew veto threats on either Iran bill after March 24 . The view from Obama ’ s orbit : firmly focus on making sure there ’ s a deal first , regardless of the speculation on Capitol Hill .
“ The administration is focused on achieving a deal that prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon , ” a senior administration official said . “ If a deal is reached , we will make the case to the Congress and the American people as to why the deal we are negotiating is in the national security interests of the United States and our international partners . ”
In sharply divided Washington , it ’ s possible that the bipartisanship on the bills won ’ t last . In just the past month , the GOP enraged Democrats by inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress about Iran without input from Obama . And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) infuriated Sen. Robert Menendez ( D-N.J. ) by trying to vote on Corker ’ s bill before it had passed committee , causing Democrats to turn on their own legislation .
And the Cotton letter , of course , further ratcheted up foreign policy tensions in Congress . Some are warning that any further divisiveness could cause support for the Iran bills to dissipate .
“ I ’ d like to see them stop politicizing this issue , ” said Sen. Angus King of Maine , an independent who caucuses with Democrats , “ and start talking about the merits . ” | b3Zn0id9o9hUsQUv | 0 | Democratic Party | -0.2 | Iran Negotiations | -0.2 | Iran | -0.1 | Politics | 0 | null | null |
immigration | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/01/politics/house-border-bill/index.html?hpt=po_c1 | House passes $694 million border bill | 2014-08-01 | immigration | Washington ( CNN ) In a late-night vote after a bitterly partisan debate , the House of Representatives passed a $ 694 million border bill Friday , but the measure has no chance of becoming law .
The vote was almost entirely on party lines , 223-189 , with just one Democrat , Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar , voting for it . Four Republicans opposed the legislation .
The bill proposes to give the Department of Homeland Security more than $ 400 million for additional border security and law enforcement measures . It would allocate more than $ 20 million to speed up the deportation process by accelerating the judicial process , and also would set aside millions for National Guard border efforts and temporary housing for unaccompanied minors , among other things
The measure that passed Friday also included a change to a 2008 anti-trafficking law to make it easier to send home the unaccompanied children from Central American countries .
The Democratic-led Senate had already left Washington to start a five-week summer recess after it was unable to pass its own legislation to give President Barack Obama some of the money he 's requested to address the massive influx of migrants at the nation 's southwestern border .
At a news conference Friday , President Barack Obama dismissed the House GOP measure as `` a message bill '' and vowed to veto if it came across his desk .
The vote came one day after a chaotic scene on Capitol Hill when House Speaker John Boehner was forced to abruptly pull an earlier version of the bill because it did n't have sufficient votes to pass . Some conservatives did n't like the price tag of the legislation and others demanded tougher restrictions on a separate bill that would halt future deportations of some child immigrants who arrived years ago .
House GOP leaders had already agreed to hold a separate vote on that measure , modeled on a plan from conservative Sen. Ted Cruz , R-Texas , which would prevent Obama from continuing his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ( DACA ) policy . Under DACA , the administration can defer deportations of children brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents .
But conservatives wanted to end that policy , fearing that the President would use his executive authority to expand deportation deferments .
After a late night of negotiations on Thursday , GOP leaders agreed to the demand .
The House passed that bill Friday , 216-192 , after a heated and ugly floor debate . Democrats accused the GOP of being `` anti-Hispanic '' and `` extreme '' -- a message the party will certainly repeat over and over before the midterm elections .
Brushing off accusations that both bills were just political theater , House Republicans worked all day to lock down the votes from their members . They believed passing legislation right before they left for the break would flip the narrative -- instead of being the party that did nothing , they could claim they stayed and approved a plan while the Democrats who run the Senate left town without any action on the issue .
`` The people 's House is here working and we 're not going to stop working until we pass legislation that actually addresses this crisis , '' said Rep. Steve Scalise , R-Louisiana .
House Democrats said the Republicans would only make the situation worse .
Rep. Luis Gutierrez , D-Illinois , warned that the House Republicans ' legislation would cause the deportation of 600,000 `` Dreamers '' -- people who arrived in the U.S. illegally as minors and received conditional permanent residency under the 2001 DREAM Act .
`` Republicans want to kill DACA and kill it quietly on a Friday night , '' Gutierrez said .
But Rep. Bob Goodlatte , R-Virginia , said the President 's move `` to use his pen and cell phone to legislate '' and allow children stay in the country violated the Constitution because it was up to Congress to pass new laws .
Republicans criticized Obama for sending mixed messages to Congress on modifying that law . The President and some in his administration indicated they could support a bill to expedite deportations of children coming from Guatemala , Honduras and El Salvador , but then backed off after Congressional Democrats strongly opposed linking that with additional border money .
Without any agreement on additional resources to address the border crisis , Obama said Friday , `` we 've run out of money . ''
Three weeks ago , Obama had asked Congress for $ 3.7 billion in emergency funds to help process the unaccompanied children at the border and boost border security . The Senate Democrats ' plan called for $ 2.7 billion , but it failed to advance .
The President said Friday he would reallocate money to ensure federal agencies providing housing or holding immigration hearings could continue to handle the increased activity along the border in Texas . | vwSUtxkjA8PBVDZT | 0 | US House | -0.8 | Immigration | 0.6 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
defense_and_security | HuffPost | https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/general-john-hyten-nuclear-trump_us_5a10ac27e4b045cf4371d3ba?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009 | Top General Says He Would Reject An ‘Illegal’ Nuclear Strike Order From Trump | 2017-11-19 | Nuclear Weapons, Defense And Security | Trends Reporter, HuffPost The top nuclear commander in the U.S. said Saturday that he would reject an “illegal” nuclear attack order from President Donald Trump, and would instead steer the commander in chief to other “options.” “If you execute an unlawful order, you will go to jail,” Air Force Gen. John Hyten told an audience at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia. “You could go to jail for the rest of your life.” Hyten, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command who oversees America’s nuclear arsenal, spoke at a forum titled “Nukes: The Fire and the Fury,” as recorded in a video on the event’s Facebook page. He didn’t define what exactly would constitute an illegal launch order. But Hyten said he has been trained for the past 36 years in the law of armed conflict, and mentioned the consideration of such elements as proportional response and unnecessary suffering that would be caused by such a conflagration. In the event Trump suggests an illegal strike, Hyten described a scenario in which he would present Trump with legal choices. “I provide advice to the president. He will tell me what to do,” Hyten said. “And if it’s illegal, guess what’s going to happen? I’m going to say, ‘Mr. President, that’s illegal.’ And guess what he’s going to do? He’s going to say, ‘What would be legal?’ And we’ll come up with options... a mix of capabilities to respond to whatever the situation is, and that’s the way it works. It’s not that complicated.” “I think some people think we’re stupid,” he said. “We’re not stupid people. We think about these things a lot. When you have this responsibility, how do you not think about it? What people forget is that this is a military mission and military function.” In congressional testimony earlier this month, retired Gen. Robert Kehler, who served as the head of Strategic Command from 2011 to 2013, also said that the military is only obligated to follow legal orders. Hyten’s comments, first reported by CBS News, come in the wake of taunting threats against North Korea by the president. In August, Trump told reporters that if North Korea continued to threaten the U.S., its actions would be met “with fire and fury the likes of which this world has never seen before.” Many interpreted this to mean a nuclear strike. Trump also threatened in a United Nations speech to “totally destroy” the country of 26 million people if its leader, Kim Jong Un, threatened the U.S. “This is a very serious subject and the world is a very dangerous place right now,” Hyten said Saturday. The general said his command must provide “strategic deterrence.” If that fails, “we’ll have a decisive response,” he said, and must be “combat-ready to do that all the time.” Hyten’s job, he said, is to “create the conditions for diplomacy to work by being ready all the time, and we are ready every minute of every day.” The forum Saturday included a video that showed scenes of nuclear devastation beneath the song “We’ll Meet Again” ― the same music used at the end of Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 antiwar film “Dr. Strangelove,” which famously ends with a nuclear holocaust. Hyten said he has seen the movie nearly half a dozen times. The next four years will change America forever. But HuffPost won't back down when it comes to providing free and impartial journalism. For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience to qualifying contributors who support our fearless newsroom. We hope you'll join us. You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again. We won't back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can't do it without you. For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience. to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you'll join us. You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again. We won't back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can't do it without you. For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience. to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you'll join us. Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages. Hyten referred to a 2016 speech by then-President Barack Obama calling for a nuclear-free world. While he seemed moved by the speech, Hyten said, “I don’t believe we’ll ever get to a nuclear-free world.” You have the right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of your personal information to third parties. 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elections | Guest Writer - Right | http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2016/10/05/analysis-mike-pence-handily-wins-vice-presidential-debate-n2228206 | Analysis: Mike Pence Handily Wins Vice Presidential Debate | 2016-10-05 | elections | Mike Pence won . It was n't especially close in my book . A few thoughts :
( 1 ) Kaine was peevish and annoying with his incessant interruptions , to which Pence responded calmly -- occasionally evincing forcefulness , at other times appearing amused . Donald Trump 's running mate also made a point of highlighting Kaine 's painfully rehearsed lines , mocking them gently -- and not so gently -- each time . On style , this was a clock-cleaning .
( 2 ) On policy substance , Pence was fluid and prepared . Kaine was also familiar with his briefing book . It appeared as though Kaine was instructed to raise anti-Trump attack lines and talking points at every single opportunity . If that was his goal , mission accomplished . Others have made these observations , but I 'll amplify them : Kaine did not seem interested in winning this debate . He seemed interested in emptying his rhetorical clip of opposition research on the man at the top of his counterpart 's ticket . And Pence declined , repeatedly , to answer specific charges and challenges about things Trump has done and said . He made a choice not to defend the indefensible . These dynamics were 'sore-thumb ' obvious . A fair question some have asked : Was Pence so polished , informed , relaxed and smooth that he only accentuated the reality that Trump is none of those things ?
( 3 ) While Kaine was constantly on offense against Trump , occasionally defending Mrs. Clinton with brief talking points , Pence picked his spots . He prosecuted a tough case against the Clinton Foundation 's foreign donations . He raised her email scandal on multiple occasions , including in the context of cyber security , where Trump whiffed last week . And over and over again , he would not let Kaine get away with the ridiculous claim that the Iran deal ended that anti-American regime 's nuclear program . It does nothing of the sort , and effectively guarantees that Iran will be a threshold nuclear state when the agreement 's restrictions automatically expire . Even President Obama has more or less admitted as much . Kaine kept advancing a mischaracterization , and Pence kept calling him on it . The Indiana Governor 's decision to go criticize Hillary Clinton 's extreme views on abortion was also a great move , especially since he underscored Kaine 's politically-motivated reversals on those questions , causing the Virginia Senator to squirm in his seat .
( 4 ) The moderator was pilloried by viewers online throughout the evening , and I agree that she seemed inclined to cut Pence off as he was getting into the meat of Clinton 's various scandals . But in her defense , she repeatedly called Kaine out for interrupting and asked pointed , substantive questions of both candidates , including two queries pertaining to the national debt and entitlements . Maybe I 'm an outlier here , but I thought she was fine overall , even if she did n't pick her `` enforcement '' spots perfectly .
( 5 ) I 'm not sure any of this matters . This election is the Trump and Clinton show , and while Pence was effective at prosecuting a tough case against the Democratic nominee and ( sometimes painfully ) side-stepping challenges about Trump 's long rap sheet of statements , Kaine remained relentlessly on-message as an attack dog . That may have frustrated and turned off many viewers , but negativity works . If Donald Trump wants to reverse the self-inflicted negative momentum he 's experiencing in this race , he 's going to have to do so himself on Sunday . Pence passed this test with flying colors , but he 's not the man in the spotlight . The Hoosier State Republican did everything he could to help his ticket , and he may have created a favorable and stabilizing impression , but the undercard debate can not and will not be decisive . I 'll leave you with this . Decisive :
• 4 say Tim Kaine # VPDebate — Frank Luntz ( @ FrankLuntz ) October 5 , 2016 | F4O8OyGlCj1US3ZF | 2 | Vice Presidential Debate | -0.2 | Presidential Elections | -0.1 | Elections | -0.1 | null | null | null | null |
cybersecurity | CNN (Web News) | http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/24/politics/opm-hacking-senate-briefing/index.html | OPM vs. FBI on government hacking numbers | 2015-06-24 | FBI, Cybersecurity, Technology | Washington ( CNN ) The cyber-breach at the Office of Personnel Management uncovered in recent months was bad .
But how bad is a matter of dispute that has divided leaders at the Office of Personnel Management .
A brief dispute flared between senior officials from OPM and the FBI , laying bare a simmering behind-the-scenes debate over the handling of what U.S. officials say is the worst ever breach of U.S. government data . U.S. officials believe Chinese government hackers are to blame .
OPM Director Katherine Archuleta , responding to questions from senators , disputed a CNN report that that hackers may have compromised the personal information of as many as 18 million current , former and prospective government workers .
Archuleta suggested the number was inaccurate and that she did n't know the source of the data , U.S. officials briefed on the Senate meeting said . She stuck by OPM 's initial estimate that 4.2 million people were affected .
That prompted James Trainor , acting assistant director for the FBI 's cyber division , to stand up and dispute Archuleta 's assertion .
FBI Director James Comey provided the 18 million estimate in an earlier briefing to a group of senators . It was based on an internal estimate prepared by OPM officials , CNN reported Monday .
Trainor was n't scheduled to speak at the Tuesday briefing , but told senators he felt compelled to defend Comey 's testimony .
He held up a copy of OPM 's own internal report that was the source of the 18 million figure .
OPM officials say the 18 million number is a raw estimate and that their investigation continues .
JUST WATCHED U.S. security breach larger than estimated Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH U.S. security breach larger than estimated 01:49
It was an unusual piece of drama in an otherwise dry briefing that left senators scratching their heads and doubting that OPM was up to the job of defending its computer networks even now .
`` I have absolutely no confidence that this could not happen again tomorrow , '' Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said after leaving the briefing , noting OPM was still grappling with the size of the breach .
`` When they do n't even know the scope for certain , that does n't give me a lot of confidence . ''
The brief dispute Tuesday illustrated the internal wrangling over the Obama administration 's response to the OPM hack .
In a public hearing on Wednesday , Archuleta took questions from lawmakers before the House Oversight Committee . As frustrations among lawmakers builds , some administration officials believe she wo n't likely survive the growing calls for her to resign .
Archuleta told lawmakers that two different numbers exist for who was affected . The government has alerted the 4.2 million victims of one hack of personnel records , she said . But she declined to offer much information about whether the 18 million figure was a more accurate to encompass all those who were affected .
`` It is a number I am not comfortable with at this time because it does not represent the total number of affected individuals , '' Archuleta told the House panel .
The number , she said , was a `` preliminary '' estimate of Social Security numbers that were stolen . But she declined to provide more information , or a better idea of how many people were affected .
House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz , R-Utah , blasted OPM in his opening statement Wednesday , and promised to drill down for answers .
`` We 're in a situation here where a hurricane has come and gone and just now OPM is wanting to board up the windows , '' Chaffetz said .
Chaffetz later said that the number may actually encompass all current and former federal workers overseen by OPM , a total of 32 million people . But he posed that number as part of questioning and Archuleta was steadfast in saying she would not talk about that number .
Archuleta and other OPM officials have pinballed between Capitol Hill hearings and briefings ever since the expansive data breach was first exposed .
Some investigators believe the administration has been slow to acknowledge the severity of the breach , leading to a drip-drip of negative headlines and hampering the ability of citizens affected to do what they have to protect themselves .
But the critics also acknowledge that OPM is dealing with an unprecedented breach that officials still do n't fully understand .
The hackers accessed separate databases that house personnel records and those that contain sensitive data from security clearance records -- known as SF86 forms , OPM has said .
The total number of records affected remains unknown -- and may never be , OPM and its critics acknowledge .
That 's in part because suspected Chinese hackers managed to roam the OPM databases for a year before being detected , according to U.S. officials briefed on the investigation . Once inside OPM 's networks , hackers created high-level security credentials to give themselves complete access , the officials say . What they stole may never be fully assessed , the officials say .
The roots of the recent OPM breach could be traced to an earlier 2013 OPM breach , investigators now believe . At the time , OPM officials minimized what was taken by hackers , who are believed to be the same responsible for the latest breach . But it turned out what was taken provided blueprints to the OPM network , valuable information for future intruders .
At Wednesday 's House Oversight hearing , Donna Seymour , the agency 's chief information officer , said that in the 2013 breach , hackers took `` some manuals about our systems . ''
Asked if those manuals were akin to blueprints of OPM 's computer systems , Seymour answered , `` It would be fair to say that would give you enough information that you could learn about the platform , the infrastructure of our system , yes . ''
In a 2014 interview with WJLA-TV in Washington about the 2013 breach , Archuleta minimized the damage .
`` I can tell you the most important piece : No personal identification information was compromised , '' she said . `` That 's the most important thing . That happened because of the good work and dedication of our employees . ''
About the 2013 breach , Archuleta added : `` Again , we did not have a breach in security . There was no information that was lost . We were confident as we worked through this that we would be able to protect the data . '' | f7a5e0ea7025c10d | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
elections | Vox | http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/8/13207434/trump-audio-ryan-mcconnell | Even Trump boasting about sexual assault isn’t getting Republican elites to dump him (so far) | 2016-10-08 | elections | After leaked audio revealed that Donald Trump boasted about sexually assaulting attractive women ( “ grab them by the pussy , ” he said ) , many Republican elites suggested they were incredibly outraged .
Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus said , “ No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner . Ever. ” House Speaker Paul Ryan , who said he was “ sickened ” by Trump ’ s comments , went on , “ I hope Mr. Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests. ” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called Trump ’ s remarks “ repugnant , and unacceptable in any circumstance. ” Many other Republicans made similar statements .
But there ’ s one thing Priebus , Ryan , and McConnell didn ’ t do after Trump ’ s comments leaked : pull their endorsements . Not even audio in which their presidential nominee boasted about sexual assault got these party leaders to finally pull their support . ( Some less well-known Republicans have , though — such as Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Utah Gov . Gary Herbert . )
This next paragraph would normally try to explain what these men are thinking and the political calculations they are making about how Hillary Clinton would be worse for them .
But really ? This is a freaking boast about sexual assault . And part of what makes it so shocking is that it ’ s entirely within the realm of what we know about Trump ’ s character — he ’ s made so many downright misogynistic comments over the decades that it takes a full article to pull them all together . And he just defended some of those remarks in the past couple weeks — again insulting Rosie O ’ Donnell in his first debate against Hillary Clinton , and doubling down on a feud with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado over her weight .
Then again , it is this long history that we ’ ve all known about for months and months that makes Republican elites ’ refusal to finally dump Trump so unsurprising . After all , consider just a fraction of what Trump has gotten away with so far in this campaign :
He characterized Mexican immigrants as “ rapists ” who are “ bringing crime ” and “ bringing drugs ” to the US .
He said Sen. John McCain was not a “ war hero ” because “ he was captured . ”
He suggested that Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly asked him tough questions at a debate because she was on her period .
He proposed banning an entire religious group from entering the US .
He has encouraged people at his campaign rallies to physically attack protesters .
He randomly calls Sen. Elizabeth Warren “ Pocahontas ” to denigrate her claimed Native American heritage .
He argued that a judge ’ s Mexican heritage was reason enough to kick him off a court case .
He got into a public feud with the parents of a fallen military veteran — suggesting the mom didn ’ t speak at the 2016 Democratic convention not because it was too hard for her to talk about her dead son , but because she ’ s Muslim .
If Republicans didn ’ t fully reject Trump after any of these other comments were made or brought to light , should it really surprise us that they ’ re sticking by Trump after his most recently discovered horrific remarks ? Apparently , GOP elites are okay with the man who ’ s made all sorts of racist , sexist , and otherwise bigoted comments remaining the face of the party — and , potentially , becoming the next president of the United States . | 9JWU7011Kfkm2sZQ | 0 | Presidential Elections | -0.2 | Donald Trump | 0 | Elections | 0 | null | null | null | null |
politics | Democracy Now | http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/25/weapons_pipelines_wall_st_did_clinton | Weapons, Pipelines & Wall St: Did Clinton Foundation Donations Impact Clinton State Dept. Decisions? | 2016-08-25 | politics | This is a rush transcript . Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : New questions have arisen this week over Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation . On Tuesday , the Associated Press published a new investigation revealing that while Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state , more than half the private citizens she met with had donated to the Clinton Foundation . The AP investigation comes after a three-year battle to gain access to State Department calendars . The analysis shows that at least 85 of 154 people Hillary Clinton had scheduled phone or in-person meetings with were foundation donors . This does not include meetings Clinton held with U.S. or foreign government workers or representatives , only private citizens . These 85 donors contributed more than $ 150 million to the foundation combined . Calling into CNN ’ s AC360 Wednesday , Clinton slammed the investigation .
HILLARY CLINTON : There ’ s a lot of smoke , and there ’ s no fire . This AP report , put it in context . It excludes nearly 2,000 meetings I had with world leaders , plus countless other meetings with U.S. government officials when I was secretary of state . It looked at a small portion of my time . And it drew the conclusion and made the suggestion that my meetings with people like the late great Elie Wiesel or Melinda Gates or the Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus were somehow due to connections with the foundation instead of their status as highly respected global leaders . That is absurd . These are people I was proud to meet with , who any secretary of state would have been proud to meet with to hear about their work and their insight .
AMY GOODMAN : The AP says it ’ s been asking for the State Department schedules for three years and that what ’ s been released thus far covers only half of her four-year tenure .
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump , who himself has donated $ 100,000 to the Clinton Foundation , has accused Clinton of selling access to the State Department .
DONALD TRUMP : We are going to end government corruption . Hillary Clinton ran the State Department like a failed leader in a Third World country . That ’ s what it ’ s run—it ’ s run like—like a Third World country . She sold favors and access in exchange for cash . She sold it .
AMY GOODMAN : Questions have also arisen over what will happen to the Clinton Foundation if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency . According to a new report in The Wall Street Journal , the Clinton Foundation will stop accepting corporate and foreign donations , but an exception may be made for the Clinton Health Access Initiative . The Journal also reports former President Bill Clinton will leave the board , but that Chelsea Clinton plans to stay on it .
Well , for more , we ’ re joined by two guests . David Sirota is the senior editor for investigations at the International Business Times . His most recent article is titled “ Was There 'Pay to Play ' at the Clinton Foundation ? ” We ’ re also joined by Paul Glastris , editor-in-chief of the Washington Monthly . He was President Bill Clinton ’ s chief speechwriter from 1998 to 2001 .
We welcome you both to ███ ! Paul Glastris , let ’ s begin with you . What ’ s your reaction to these revelations of the Associated Press ?
PAUL GLASTRIS : Well , you know , I read the story very carefully . I think Secretary Clinton kind of got it right . This was a eyebrow-raising piece of math that said half of the private-sector people she met with in her first two years were Clinton donors . Let ’ s—basically , there ’ s two—there ’ s two issues here . One , did she have special—did people who gave to the foundation have special access ? And , two , did the access get them anything ? Right ? On the special access part , that piece of math that the AP story shows suggests that . That ’ s why people , I think , are paying attention . But it ’ s—actually , those 85 people are 1 percent of the Clinton Foundation donors . There are 7,000 Clinton Foundation donors ; 85 got access .
And then you look at the individuals highlighted in the story . They ’ re people like Elie Wiesel , the Holocaust survivor and human rights activist . They ’ re people like Muhammad Yunus , who created the microfinance revolution that has lifted millions of the most destitute people out of poverty . They ’ re people who are running AIDS campaigns in Africa . So—and for the most part , these are people that have known Hillary Clinton for years , even decades . Muhammad Yunus and Hillary Clinton were doing microfinance in Arkansas in 1985 . So , what these people seem to be , at least from the evidence of the story , are part of Hillary Clinton ’ s longtime network . And they also happen to be people who gave to her foundation . They don ’ t seem to be people who gave to her foundation in order to get to know Clinton . They ’ re people who gave to her foundation because they know Clinton . And that ’ s an important distinction .
DAVID SIROTA : Well , my reaction to it is that I think that if you look at some of these individual examples , I think Paul is right that it ’ s hard to argue that their donations to the foundation got them access . They are—a lot of these people in the AP story are people who knew her .
But I think we should pull back and look at not just what the AP reported , but at the nexus between the donors to the Clinton Foundation—major corporate donors , major foreign government donors—and what business they had with the State Department . Look , the Clinton team , the foundation and the campaign , is saying that this is not going to happen if she is president . The question then becomes : Why was it then allowed to happen when she was secretary of state ? The secretary of state has a huge amount of power over a huge number of issues and policies and contracts , for instance , that many of these donors had an interest in . And we did a series on , for instance , arms exports and how many of the governments that gave big to the Clinton Foundation saw huge increases in arms export authorizations from the State Department , and the State Department is the chief regulator of arms exports . There have been stories about foreign governments giving , like Algeria gave $ 500,000 to the Clinton Foundation at a time when it was lobbying the State Department on human rights issues . You had a situation , that The Wall Street Journal reported , where Hillary Clinton herself intervened in a case dealing with taxes with UBS , a Swiss bank , and then , suddenly , after that , UBS began donating big to the Clinton Foundation . So there are many examples of—I mean , there ’ s oil companies—that ’ s another one I should mention right now , which is that oil companies were giving big to the Clinton Foundation while lobbying the State Department—successfully—for the passage of the Alberta Clipper , the tar sands pipeline .
So , again , there are many of these examples where the people and corporations that were lobbying the State Department were giving huge to the Clinton Foundation . Do we know that that money made those deals and those—and access about those deals happen ? I don ’ t think we know . But here ’ s the key point . The key point is that ethics rules have typically been in place in states and at the federal level that have said we want to prevent the appearance or the potential for conflicts of interest , because we understand that if the appearance or the potential for a conflict of interest is there , we can ’ t know if those conflicts are operationalized , that there are so many ways for them to be operationalized that we need to prevent the potential and appearance of a conflict of interest or potential appearance of a conflict of interest . And that is really what ’ s at issue here .
AMY GOODMAN : So , can you respond to that , Paul Glastris ?
PAUL GLASTRIS : Well , that was a—that ’ s a whole lot of examples , and I can ’ t respond to , you know , each one individually . But I think we have now two big investigations—one by the AP , the other as a result of the conservative Judicial Watch lawsuit that showed various members of the—ex-members of the Clinton Foundation and others trying to get meetings with Secretary Clinton . And in virtually every case , the secretary ’ s people made the right choice . So , when an ex-Clinton Foundation official wanted a visa granted to a soccer player who had committed a felony , the answer became no . When the crown prince of Bahrain wanted a special meeting with Senator Clinton—Secretary Clinton , they said , you know , “ Let ’ s have it go through official channels , ” and she got—he got the meeting , which is , of course , what he should have done . When Muhammad Yunus then asked for help because the government of Bangladesh was sort of destroying his leadership team at the bank that he created , and the entire international community said that that was wrong , she did act . So , in each of the situations where we have these internal records of what she did and who she met with , she did the right thing . And I don ’ t think there ’ s a lot of dispute about that . So , we don ’ t know what happened in these other instances , but we have had this kind of deep forensic now from some very , very—with some very , very good data , and it ’ s shown a very tight ship and a very ethical set of choices . So , you know , you can always raise these issues , but the facts we have from this reporting pretty strongly shows that there were not favors granted for any of this .
DAVID SIROTA : The Bahrain example is a very good example . I mean , that is a very—I ’ m glad you brought it up . The Bahrain example , we saw that the email came in from the Clinton Foundation . The crown prince of Bahrain has given the Clinton Foundation $ 32 million . And I don ’ t think anybody is going to sit up and say the crown prince , one of the top leaders in a dictatorial regime , is giving money—we haven ’ t heard anyone argue that money from dictators typically comes because dictators want to reduce poverty in the world . So , money is coming into the Clinton Foundation from the crown prince of Bahrain . The Clinton Foundation reaches out to the State Department and says , “ He is a good friend of ours , ” this person from this autocratic regime , head of the military there . The State Department says that the crown prince had already reached out to them and that Hillary Clinton wasn ’ t sure she wanted to have a meeting with him . And then , subsequently , the meeting happens .
And what happens after , if that—we don ’ t know if that meeting actually happened , but there was a—the State Department said it was going to happen . Subsequently , after that , what happened is that Bahrain saw a major increase in U.S. arms export authorizations from the Clinton State Department , at a time that Bahrain was facing the Arab Spring uprisings and was accused of human rights violations in crushing those protests . So , did the money and the Clinton Foundation relationship ultimately lead to those arms export deals ? We don ’ t know . Did it potentially get access for that leader at that time ? There ’ s certainly evidence that that could have happened .
And again , the question that this all revolves around is : Why was the potential for a conflict of interest allowed to exist at the State Department , when the Clinton campaign and the Clinton Foundation now says it ’ s now unacceptable if Hillary Clinton would be president ? What is the difference there ?
PAUL GLASTRIS : OK , well—well , can I address that particular point ?
PAUL GLASTRIS : So , the rules of Hillary Clinton and the existence of the foundation and what they could and couldn ’ t do were hashed out by the Obama White House and Hillary Clinton . So the rules she lived under were the Obama administration rules .
Moreover , the decision to sell arms to this or that country , though the State Department is the regulator , the ultimate regulator , these are made in interagency discussions pushed more by the Pentagon and the White House and other parts of the government than anywhere else . So , there ’ s no indication that Bahrain was—by putting money into the Clinton Foundation , it was influencing the Defense Department , that wanted to sell these weapons . So , you can question whether they should or shouldn ’ t have . They were right in the middle of orchestrating the Iran thing , and they had restive Sunni nations , so this was all—you know , if you like the Iran deal , you know , you have to balance that out . So—but this is—so , this is a function of what the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative is . And their basic business model is—
DAVID SIROTA : But here ’ s the question , Paul . I mean , the question becomes—
DAVID SIROTA : Why were these leaders—let ’ s say , of these Middle Eastern dictatorships—why were they giving that money ? I mean , these are sophisticated , politically sophisticated donors , them and corporations . They are repeatedly giving money to the Clinton Foundation . And I don ’ t think you ’ re arguing , and I haven ’ t heard anyone argue , that , you know , the Saudi regime or another dictatorial regime is giving money to the Clinton Foundation because they really—in the deep well of their heart , they want to solve poverty or help poor children . They are repeatedly giving money to the Clinton Foundation at a time they are seeking highly controversial—in this instance that we ’ re talking about , highly controversial arms deals . There was a Saudi deal where the State Department said it was Hillary Clinton ’ s personal top priority to get one of the biggest Saudi arms deals through . The Israelis were raising concerns about it .
DAVID SIROTA : It went through . And again , the money flowed into the Clinton—had flowed into the Clinton Foundation . So , why were those donors giving ? What did they think they were getting ?
DAVID SIROTA : And again , the critics of this say that what it ended up being was potentially a way that donors saw a way to curry favor with the State Department on controversial issues .
PAUL GLASTRIS : Right . OK , two points . One , the reason the Clinton State Department and the entire Obama administration was willing to give a lot of arms to the Saudis and the Bahrainis was that they were tubing the Saudis and the Bahrainis by trying to open negotiations with Iran . Everybody knows this . It ’ s not—we don ’ t need to kind of find some nefarious payoff in order to understand the policy . You can agree with the policy or disagree with the policy , but if you ’ re in favor of the opening of Iran , it ’ s hard to say they shouldn ’ t have sold these arms to the Sunnis . They were trying to keep a balance of power going in order to bring some kind of peace and resolution of these nuclear issues .
Now , on the Clinton Global Initiative , the point I was trying to make is , the whole business model of this thing is : Get rich people and governments to empty their wallets in order to help poor Africans who can ’ t afford AIDS drugs . Eleven million—that Bahraini money and that Saudi money was spent on things like training midwives in Ethiopia or lower-priced AIDS drugs for 11 million people . So , you know , that was the business model . You could say that ’ s a terrible business model , they shouldn ’ t have set it up . Fine , I understand , it looks bad . But that ’ s what the money went for . And , you know , it certainly leaves open questions as to whether that money bought influence . All I ’ m saying is , the deepest investigations we ’ ve had , this AP story and the Judicial Watch story , showed that that ’ s not the case .
DAVID SIROTA : Well , I mean , look , again , I think you ’ re right to say that the Clinton Foundation has done projects and is involved in efforts that are laudable and philanthropic . But again , the deeper policy question here goes back to whether a potential conflict of interest , whether the appearance of a conflict of interest , should have been permissible at the State Department and what this money potentially bought .
And I want to go to the—one other point about the appearance of a conflict of interest , because I ’ ve heard a lot of pundits out there defending the Clintons with sort of the same talking points , saying , “ Oh , well , there was a—there ’ s an appearance of a conflict of interest , and there was only a potential , and that ’ s all that can be proven. ” And , of course , if a lot of these same pundits , these Democratic pundits , were looking at a Republican situation , they would be screaming about how this is a huge scandal . But the key on the appearance of a conflict of interest is , if we want people to believe that their government is doing things in the right way in a democracy , that access isn ’ t being sold , that contracts aren ’ t being given out on the basis of preference and money going into a private foundation , appearances actually do matter . It is not something to throw—to pooh-pooh . Appearances really matter . The optics are not just some talking point . The optics matter in a democracy , when people—the public is asked to believe that its government is acting on behalf of the public interest . And in this case , all of these questions swirling around—the Clinton people seem to understand that those questions can not exist when she was president , but why was it allowed to exist when she was in such a powerful position as America ’ s top diplomat ?
AMY GOODMAN : We ’ re going to talk about what should happen with the Clinton Foundation , if Hillary Clinton became president . We ’ re speaking with David Sirota of the International Business Times , who has long covered the Clinton Foundation , and Paul Glastris , who was a President Bill Clinton speechwriter for a number of years and is now the editor of the Washington Monthly . Stay with us . | EWvuzaW8bAm5LGEP | 0 | General News | -0.2 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
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