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The Supreme Court struck a blow to a Democrat-aligned effort to chip away at the Electoral College to help oust Donald Trump as president, ruling Monday that states can punish presidential electors who go rogue and do not vote for the candidate who won their state. The unanimous decision was a major loss for so-called “faithless electors,” who had insisted they had the right to cast ballots for whomever they thought best for the job, regardless of how their state voted. The justices put their foot down, upholding the authority of states to slap fines and other penalties on electors who snub the voters. “The State instructs its electors that they have no ground for reversing the vote of millions of its citizens. That direction accords with the Constitution — as well as with the trust of a Nation that here, We the People rule,” Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama-appointee, wrote for the court’s unanimous opinion. The ruling settled cases out of Colorado and Washington, both of which have laws that punish electors who refuse to follow the will of voters, which the states made a condition of appointment to the Electoral College in the first place. Defenders of the Electoral College argue that it empowers states and ensures regional issues matter in campaigns. Critics say it’s outlived its usefulness and now sends presidents to the White House who do not win the most votes nationwide. That has happened five times, including twice this century, both of thgose times delivering a Republican to the Oval Office — in 2000, when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore despite Mr. Gore capturing about a half-million more votes; and in 2016, when President Trump won despite Hillary Clinton garnering 3 million more votes. In that last election, seven electors refused to back the candidate who won their state. In Washington, won by Mrs. Clinton, three electors instead cast ballots for Colin Powell, a former Republican secretary of state. They hoped it would persuade GOP electors in states Mr. Trump won to install a moderate Republican as president instead. Their plan failed and when they returned home, they were fined $1,000 each for not honoring their pledge. The three Powell voters challenged Washington’s law as a violation of the First Amendment. In Colorado, the state also went for Mrs. Clinton but presidential elector Michael Baca cast his vote for former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, an anti-Trump Republican. Following state law, Colorado removed Mr. Baca as a presidential elector and replaced him with someone who would vote for Mrs. Clinton. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals backed Mr. Baca, while the Washington Supreme Court ruled against the three Powell electors. Monday’s ruling upheld the fines against the Washington state electors and reversed the 10th Circuit’s ruling in Colorado, finding that constitutional rights aren’t violated when states penalize their faithless electors. “The Constitution’s text and the Nation’s history both support allowing a State to enforce an elector’s pledge to support his party’s nominee — and the state voters’ choice — for President,” Justice Kagan said in the opinion. The high court reasoned that states have broad authority over requirements for its presidential electors. “It reflects a tradition more than two centuries old. In that practice, electors are not free agents; they are to vote for the candidate whom the State’s voters have chosen,” Justice Kagan wrote. Justice Sonia Sotomayor recused herself in the Colorado dispute because she was friends with the challenger, making that case an 8-0 decision. She did, though, participate in the 9-0 Washington ruling, siding with the other eight justices to uphold penalties for rogue faithless electors. In the 20th century, states moved to ban faithless voting and 32 states plus the District of Columbia have laws on the books requiring presidential electors to cast their votes for the candidate that won the popular vote in their state. The high court upheld state laws that require electors to take a pledge not to go rogue in 1952, but Monday’s ruling took that ruling a step further, allowing states to legally sanction electors that break their pledges. Fifteen states immediately remove faithless electors as a penalty, like Colorado, and others impose fines like Washington state does. Lawrence Lessig, the attorney who represented the presidential electors, said the high court needed to hear the challenges to avoid a “constitutional crisis.” “We have achieved that. Obviously, we don’t believe the court has interpreted the Constitution correctly. But we are happy that we have achieved our primary objective — this uncertainty has been removed. That is progress,” said Mr. Lessig. Mr. Lessig’s organization, Equal Citizen, said in a press release it will continue efforts to reshape the Electoral College system through grassroots efforts after the November election to continue the discussion. One possibility is endorsing the National Popular Vote Compact, which is an agreement among states to award their Electoral College votes to the candidate that wins the most votes nationally. Thus far, only 15 blue states and the District of Columbia — with a combined 196 electoral votes — have signed on, and the compact doesn’t take effect unless states with the needed 270-vote majority sign on. But the ruling could potentially complicate the compact, which has been an effort to circumvent the Electoral College. Colorado officials cheered the opinion, saying it avoided uncertainty and chaos ahead of November. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold called the ruling “a recommitment to our fundamental rights to vote and have our voices heard.” She also said it reconfirmed states’ rights. Nonpartisan groups also welcomed the ruling, noting that if electors were free agents, special-interest money would try to sway them with amounts far greater than Washington’s $1,000 fines.. “If electors had been turned loose to violate state law and ignore their state’s voters, they would have been free to accept contributions from wealthy special interests who want to influence our politics, free from any public disclosure,” said Paul Smith, vice president of the Campaign Legal Center. “While numerous federal laws require elected officials and policymakers to follow financial ethics and transparency rules, there are currently no federal ethics or transparency laws for presidential electors. The absence of transparency laws, combined with unfettered discretion, would have led to corruption threatening the very legitimacy of the presidential election,” he added. | 2 |
Two Democratic senators have backed off their threats to block President Biden’s non-minority nominees after getting reassurances from the White House that Asian American and Pacific Islander voices will be prominently heard in the administration. The White House indicated late Tuesday it will add a senior level AAPI liaison. A spokesman for Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Illinois Democrat, said the administration is committed to elevating AAPI voices, including “appointing an AAPI senior White House official to represent the community,” securing confirmation of AAPI appointments, and advancing policy proposals “that are relevant and important to the community.” “Accordingly, she will not stand in the way of President Biden’s qualified nominees — which will include more AAPI leaders,” said spokesman Ben Garmisa. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Hawaii Democrat who said she was prepared to join Ms. Duckworth in the blockade, likewise backed off late Tuesday after a “productive” conversation with the White House. “Based on the private conversation we had, I will continue voting to confirm the historic and highly qualified nominees President Biden has appointed to serve in his administration,” Ms. Hirono said on Twitter. Earlier Tuesday, the two senators had indicated they would block Mr. Biden’s non-minority nominees after getting frustrated over a lack of AAPI representation in the Cabinet. Ms. Duckworth had said she heard multiple times that the AAPI community can boast about Vice President Kamala Harris, whose mother is from India and whose father is from Jamaica. “And that is not something you would say to the Black caucus: well you have Kamala, we’re not going to put any more African-Americans in the Cabinet because you have Kamala,” she said. “Why would you say it to AAPI?” The threats from the two senators — and swift action from the White House to try to address their concerns — help illustrate that Democrats’ effective control of Washington can hinge on a single senator. The Senate is divided 50-50 between the two parties, with Ms. Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Lawyers for President-elect Joe Biden's transition team accused President Trump and his allies of trying to "interfere with the inevitable" as the president refuses to concede the election and continues to pursue legal challenges to ballots in several states. The White House and Trump political appointees have told government officials not to begin working with the Biden transition team until the General Services Administration (GSA) makes its official ascertainment that Biden has won the election, according to reports.This certification opens up funds, lets the incoming administration move into government offices, allows members of the transition team to get intelligence reports and more. But the GSA has yet to officially determine that Biden is the winner of the election, a decision which a spokesperson defended as consistent with precedent established during the 2000 Bush-Gore legal fight. President-elect Joe Biden speaks at The Queen Theater, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) BIDEN TRANSITION HANGS IN LIMBO, AWAITING GSA CERTIFICATIONMembers of the Biden legal team, however, disputed the GSA's characterization of the status of the current election and panned the refusal to concede from Trump and his backers. "For somebody to judge how this is done in the past, they should look to the past and with the exception of Florida 2000, which is a very bad example, I think, as you well know, certainly not at all analogous to this situation," Biden legal adviser Bob Bauer said Tuesday. "The ascertainment, as it's called, would have been done by now."Added Biden campaign General Counsel Dana Remus: "I think that there's every indication from every corner that President Trump, his campaign, his allies are trying everything to interfere with the inevitable. But we are pushing forward and we are confident that the inevitable is a very successful administration."LIVE UPDATES: GEORGIA SENATE RACEA ATTRACTS NATIONAL ATTENTIONTrump, meanwhile, continues to reiterate "WE WILL WIN!" on Twitter and added Tuesday, "People will not accept this Rigged Election!" President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the White House, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, in Washington. The president has not yet conceded the presidential election. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) After Biden declared victory Saturday when several news organizations, including Fox News, called Pennsylvania in his favor, Trump released a statement saying Biden "is rushing to falsely pose as the winner.""The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor," Trump added in the statement. Despite a number of suits filed in multiple states by the Trump team, there is almost no chance that the legal strategy could achieve a positive electoral result for the president. Even if some improper votes are found and thrown out, based on the history of past legal challenges and recounts, it would be nearly impossible for such challenges to disqualify so many votes that it closes the gaps Biden leads by in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and others. WHO WILL BIDEN'S CABINET PICKS BE? HERE ARE SOME LEADING CONTENDERSThe Trump campaign, for example, was in court Tuesday arguing to throw out fewer than 600 ballots in Montgomery County, Pa., on technicalities. When asked by a judge if there is any evidence of "fraud" or "undue influence" in those votes, the Trump lawyer replied that there was not -- just that the ballots were improperly filled out and should be disqualified. Biden leads by more than 47,000 votes in Pennsylvania. The fact the GSA has not yet officially ascertained that Biden will win the presidential election, which was called by the Fox News Decision Desk on Saturday, has not completely stalled the presidential transition. The Biden team is forging ahead with what it can do, it says, though it warns that delaying the Biden transition team's access to official government resources like intelligence reports could harm national security. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPA GSA spokesperson added that the Biden team can "continue to receive the pre-elect services from the government (e.g., limited office space, computers, background investigations for security clearances). GSA has met all statutory requirements under the PTA [Presidential Transition Act of 1963] for this election cycle and will continue to do so."Fox News' Brooke Singman and the Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives are once again fleeing the state in a second bid to prevent the Republican majorities in the legislature to pass a controversial GOP-sponsored elections bill to strengthen voting access rules.The Democratic lawmakers aim to fly to Washington, D.C. on Monday, a source with knowledge of the plans confirmed to Fox News, in order to deny the quorum needed in the House to pass the voting measures. Republicans argue the bill would provide greater election security, while Democrats charge it would suppress voter turnout of minorities. TEXAS-SIZED BATTLE OVER CONTROVERSIAL ELECTION BILLS ENTERS ROUND TWOUnder Texas law, the Democratic lawmakers could face arrest by taking flight."Texas Democrats’ decision to break a quorum of the Texas Legislature and abandon the Texas State Capitol inflicts harm on the very Texans who elected them to serve," said Gov. Greg Abbott in a statement. "As they fly across the country on cushy private planes, they leave undone issues that can help their districts and our state.These include "issues like property tax relief; funding to support Sheriffs and law enforcement in high crime areas; funding for children in foster care; and funding for retired teachers," the statement read.Texas Democrats scuttled the original bill in late May, at the end of the legislative session, with a walkout that grabbed national attention.The bill outlined last week by state House Republicans would create new ID requirements for voting by mail, and ban drive-thru and overnight early voting, which were used during the 2020 elections in the Democratic stronghold of Harris County, which includes Houston, the state’s largest city.But unlike the bill from the regular session, the new proposed legislation would not ban Sunday morning voting, which was heavily criticized for unfairly targeting Black voters who cast ballots through "souls to the polls" efforts coordinated by churches.While grabbing the spotlight, the elections bill is far from the only thing on the agenda for the special session, which was called by three-term GOP Gov. Greg Abbott and kicked off on Thursday.The governor last Wednesday outlined what the Republican-controlled legislature will debate during the session – which can last up to 30 days. Besides the election bill, issues on the docket include: bail overhaul, border security, social media censorship, legislative branch funding, family violence prevention, limiting transgender student access to school sports, abortion-inducing drugs, additional payments for retired Texas teachers, critical race theory, and budgetary issues.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPBut the battle over the elections bill is taking center stage, as Texas tries to join more than 15 other states where Republicans control the state government and have passed laws tightening voting access rules. Among those states are the key electoral battlegrounds of Arizona, Florida and Georgia. The push has been fueled in part by former President Donald Trump's repeated unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged" and "stolen." | 2 |
Fox News' town hall with President Trump, co-moderated by anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, dominated the 6:30-7:30 p.m. ET time slot on Thursday for both total viewership and the 25-54 age demographic.Fox News had 4.2 million total viewers and 744,000 in the 25-54 age demographic for Trump's first town hall with the network since the 2016 presidential election. In contrast, MSNBC had 1.4 million total viewers and 239,000 in the 25-54 age demographic during the same time. CNN came in last, with 1 million total viewers and 251,000 in the 25-54 demo, according to Nielsen Media Research.The streak for Fox News continued during primetime (8:00-11:00 p.m. ET) on Thursday, averaging 3.9 million viewers and 707,000 in A25-54. MSNBC averaged 2.4 million and CNN averaged 1.4 million.During the town hall, Trump said he was ready to take on Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) when it looked like he was going to be the nominee before Super Tuesday, although admitting it would be a bit tougher to beat him in the November election. After Super Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden is now the frontrunner.Trump was asked about his past criticisms of Supreme Court justices after Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) threatened Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch of "paying the price" if they make the wrong choice in the abortion cases they are deciding on.President Trump is asked if he should apologize for attacking Supreme Court Justices in the past. @realDonaldTrump: "I have to state the facts, I’m not threatening anybody physically." pic.twitter.com/Dby1s3W9eA— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 5, 2020"I have family members who don't speak to me and recently was told 'if you support Trump, you are no longer part of my life.'How are you going to bring us together?"@realDonaldTrump addresses the political divide in the country. pic.twitter.com/VjGG56p3eb— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 6, 2020When the town hall was aired again at 11:00 P.M.-12 A.M. ET, Fox News netted 2 million total viewers and 422,000 in A25-54, meaning the total viewership for the event was 6,137,000 total viewers and 1,166,000 in the A25-54 demo. | 2 |
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Sunday he doesn’t owe Sen. John McCain an apology for saying over the weekend that the senator, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for six years, isn’t a true war hero. In a phone interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Trump — who sits atop the Republican field in some polls — said his fellow candidates are blowing his comments out of proportion because they’re jealous or scared of his political power. He also strongly denied that he owes Mr. McCain an apology after making the comments at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa. “No, not at all,” Mr. Trump said. “I got a standing ovation, the biggest ovation they had all weekend, by far. When I left the room, it was a total standing ovation. It was wonderful to see. Nobody was insulted. What happened is, later on the Republican candidates, some of whom are registering 1 percent and zero [in the polls], and they’re very upset I’m leading the polls by actually a nice margin, they’re very upset.” Some of Mr. Trump’s fellow candidates have called for him to withdraw immediately from the race after his comments about Mr. McCain, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and the party’s 2008 presidential nominee. At the summit, Mr. Trump downplayed Mr. McCain’s status as a war hero. “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured. He’s a war hero because he was captured,” the real estate mogul said. Mr. Trump later clarified that he does, in fact, consider Mr. McCain a war hero. But the attempted backtracking wasn’t enough for other top Republican contenders. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Mr. Trump is “unfit” and should leave the race. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, on Mr. Trump’s heels in most polls, said “enough with the slanderous attacks” following the comments about Mr. McCain. Other conservative leaders say Mr. Trump doesn’t belong in the race. “Donald Trump is a clown … He needs to be out of the race,” Michael Needham, CEO of the group Heritage Action for America, said on “Fox News Sunday.” In the face of such criticism, Mr. Trump has refused to back down. He said Mr. McCain failed the Republican Party by losing to President Obama in the 2008 election. “I’m very disappointed. I understand John McCain. I’ve backed John McCain — raised, I think, $1 million for John McCain when he let us down. He ran for president and lost to Obama, let us down. I wasn’t thrilled with that,” Mr. Trump said. “But I will say what I want to say, and maybe that’s why I’m leading in the polls because people are tired of hearing politicians and pollsters telling the politicians exactly what to say.” | 2 |
UPDATE: Republicans like Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) say Trump should forge ahead, asking what, exactly, does Pelosi not want Americans to hear?#ShutdownNancy shut down the government, and now #SOTU. What are Democrats afraid of Americans hearing? That 17,000+ criminals were caught last year at the border? 90% of heroin in the US comes across the southern border? Illegal border crossings dropped 90%+ in areas w/ a wall? https://t.co/PzIQ3kxapM— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 16, 2019Actually, he answered the question for her.This decision makes clear what we already know: Democrats are only interested in obstructing @realDonaldTrump, not governing.— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 16, 2019ORIGINAL POSTGiven that we are now in the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is requesting that President Trump delay his State of the Union address.Today, I wrote to @realDonaldTrump recommending that we delay the State of the Union until after government re-opens, as the @SecretService, the lead federal agency for #SOTU security, faces its 26th day without funding. https://t.co/K2oL8WGvqo pic.twitter.com/g3fIlxDbbK— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 16, 2019"Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government re-opens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after government has re-opened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to Congress on January 29th," Pelosi suggests. The shutdown is now in its 26th day. Neither Trump nor the Democrats will budge on border security. Trump said he'll settle for nothing less than a wall, but Democrats won't offer a penny for it.There are now 77 major or significant Walls built around the world, with 45 countries planning or building Walls. Over 800 miles of Walls have been built in Europe since only 2015. They have all been recognized as close to 100% successful. Stop the crime at our Southern Border!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2019It is becoming more and more obvious that the Radical Democrats are a Party of open borders and crime. They want nothing to do with the major Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border. #2020!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2019 | 2 |
"If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period." (Pause for applause.) "No one will take it away. No matter what."
- President Barack Obama
That was one of President Obama's signature promises that he made when selling his health reform plan. Critics said it was unlikely to be true at the time. Americans are now seeing plainly that it was not true. And now, NBC News reports, the Obama Administration knew this was a lie based on how the Obamacare regulations were written and revised. The Obama Administration changed a "grandfathering" provision that would have allowed most Americans to keep their insurance and, as a result, estimated that 40% to 67% of all members of the individual health insurance market would lose their plans.
The law states that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010 will be “grandfathered,” meaning consumers can keep those policies even though they don’t meet requirements of the new health care law. But the Department of Health and Human Services then wrote regulations that narrowed that provision, by saying that if any part of a policy was significantly changed since that date -- the deductible, co-pay, or benefits, for example -- the policy would not be grandfathered. Buried in Obamacare regulations from July 2010 is an estimate that because of normal turnover in the individual insurance market, “40 to 67 percent” of customers will not be able to keep their policy. And because many policies will have been changed since the key date, “the percentage of individual market policies losing grandfather status in a given year exceeds the 40 to 67 percent range.” It was hard to believe that the Obama Administration believed their own rhetoric about "keeping your health insurance plan" under Obamacare, and we now know that they didn't believe it either. But President Obama kept on making that same promise to Americans, over and over, even as recently as in last year's debates with his rival Mitt Romney. The reason that insurance plans are getting canceled and new plans are more expensive is due to the Obama Administration's new minimum guidelines for what insurance must cover. Their rhetoric is that the new insurance is better. Tell that to Jacqueline Proctor, the 60-year-old Californian whose new insurance must cover childcare and maternity care. Her insurance will cost "more than twice as much" as her old insurance and is mandated that she purchase insurance for services that she will never use. Here's the NBC News report from Thomas Roberts: | 2 |
I wanted to like Paul Ryan.
Before he was nationally known, Rep. Ryan visited me at ABC, and we went to lunch. He was terrific. He was a rare politician, one who actually cared about America's coming debt crisis and the unfairness of entitlements. He even talked about F.A. Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom"! If only more politicians thought that way.
But then the housing bubble burst. Ryan voted for TARP. Then he voted for the auto bailout. Who is this guy? I thought he believed in markets!
At Fox, when I got my own TV show, I asked him about that.
"I voted for TARP because I believed we were going to fall into a deflationary spiral, the economy was going to collapse. ... The purpose of voting for that auto bill was to prevent the auto companies from getting TARP dollars. ... Now TARP has become this revolving government slush fund. Never was intended ... ."
But in your ideal world, should government have bailed out the auto company?
"No."
Whew.
I wish he had voted against those bills, but the political class was in near panic, and Ryan is a politician.
It's a reason I don't like politicians.
But at least Ryan speaks against bailouts now.
"We're reaching a tipping point in this country where a majority of Americans are getting their benefits and livelihoods from the federal government ... .
Why does this put us on a road to "serfdom"?
"Because we're moving from a society where the goal of government is not to equalize opportunity but to equalize the results of our lives. ... The more we ask government to do for us, the more government can take from us. ... Government is doing so much in our lives that we have less freedom to govern ourselves."
I like hearing a politician say that. I told Ryan that I fear that most Americans don't understand economics and actually prefer a government that "takes care" of us.
"No. I think people believe in the American idea, (that) our rights don't come from government. ... And so we do not want a government where they give us our rights and redistribute, regulate and ration our rights."
Hope he's right.
In 2008, Ryan proposed a "Roadmap for the Future," a budget plan that would slow the growth of government. It was timid. It wouldn't eliminate the Education Department or other useless government agencies and wouldn't balance the budget for decades.
Yet even Republicans said his plan was too radical. Newt Gingrich called it "right-wing social engineering."
Last year, I invited Ryan back on my show to talk about that. By then, "the needle had moved." Ryan's Roadmap helped change the discussion. Many Republicans woke up. Newt apologized for his comment. The Republican Study Committee proposed bigger cuts.
Now, said Ryan, "I would call (my plan) mild. I was trying to get consensus. We've moved the center of gravity. We've taken on what they call the third rail, these entitlement programs which are the big drivers of our debt. We showed the country that there is a different way to go and that we can get back toward limited government, economic freedom. And I feel pretty good where we are and how we brought this conversation forward."
He should feel good. For 50 years, the needle did not move at all. Americans accepted the growth of the welfare state. Now, more understand.
"We have one more opportunity in this country. ... It is not too late to revive and reapply the American idea. But there will come a point where that moment might pass us."
Countries can get off the road to serfdom. Canada did it and prospered because of it. It won't be easy for America, but if we do it, Paul Ryan deserves much of the credit.
"What I've learned in southern Wisconsin (is that) people are ready to be talked to like adults, not like children. And they know we're in a debt crisis."
Hope he's right. Copyright 2012, Creators Syndicate Inc. | 2 |
House Speaker John Boehner, who announced of Friday he will be stepping down and resigning from Congress on October 30, said his more conservative opponents are not being realistic about how things are accomplished in Washington.
The tea party wing of the party has had its sights set on Boehner for quite some time, and he was only narrowly re-elected speaker in 2013. Conservative members have reportedly been plotting to force him to step down amid the debate over defunding Planned Parenthood.
Appearing Sunday on "Face the Nation," Boehner said he had always intended to step down at year's end anyway, and said he would have gotten the overwhelming majority of votes had he been challenged.
But he said the didn't want to make fellow Republicans "walk the plank" with voters back home because their constituents felt they weren't being aggressive enough.
He ticked off a list of accomplishments made under his leadership, including stopping a tax increase on most Americans and entitlement reforms.
"All done over the last four-and-half years with a Democrat president, all voted against by my most conservative members because it wasn't good enough," Boehner said. "Really? This is the part that I really don't understand."
The founders set up a system of government that allowed the president to make a decision after the House and Senate had voted, Boehner said, because they didn't want a parliamentary system where changes were made too quickly.
"And so change comes slowly," he said. "And, obviously, too slowly for some."
Asked if the tea party wing was being unrealistic in its expectations, Boehner emphatically replied, "Absolutely, they're not realistic!
"Our system of government is not about Hail Mary passes," Boehner said. "It's the Woody Hayes school of football: three yards and a cloud of dust, three yards and a cloud of dust. It's a slow methodical process."
Boehner admitted he was a rebel himself when he entered Congress in 1991, but said his goal was to shake up the House of Representatives, not the Republican Party.
Boehner announced his resignation one day after hosting Pope Francis at an address to a join session of Congress — something Boehner has been pushing for since the mid-1990s. He said meeting the pope did not spur his decision, but it "helped clear the picture."
As for what he wants said about him when his portrait is unveiled in Statuary Hall, Boehner said simply, "He was a good man. That's all." © 2022 Newsmax. All rights reserved. | 2 |
Late yesterday House Speaker John Boehner announced the new Benghazi select committee will include seven Republicans and five Democrats. Because Republicans are the majority party in the House, they have also been appointed the majority on the committee. Before the partisan count was announced, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi demanded the committee be split evenly between Republicans and Democrats, despite giving very little attention to Republicans during her time as Speaker in the majority. Now, even after being denied the same number of seats as Republicans on the panel because Democrats are in the minority, Pelosi is again asking for more Democrat power on the committee. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner late Tuesday urging him to reconsider plans to put seven Republicans and five Democrats on the panel. The House is expected to vote Thursday on the resolution establishing the committee, over Democratic objections.
"Another partisan review that serves only to politicize these attacks is disrespectful and unworthy of the American people," Pelosi and Hoyer wrote. Lets not forget that Democrats (acting like adults as usual) have already threatened not to participate in the Benghazi investigation at all. If they do decide to participate, you can expect to see Democrats enter hearings with a well thought out plan not to ask questions of witnesses, but to attack the credibility of Rep. Trey Gowdy leading the investigation. As we move forward, expect Democrats to protest nearly every part of this process in an effort to draw out the investigation to a point where bipartisan bickering turns everyone, including the public wanting more answers about Benghazi, off. | 2 |
President Biden‘s immigration bill cancels penalties for future illegal immigrants, speeds legalization of those already here and increases legal immigration levels. But the bill, which lawmakers will officially introduce on Capitol Hill on Thursday, backtracks on new border security and worksite enforcement compromises that have long been seen as key parts of any serious attempt to overhaul the immigration system. A senior administration official acknowledged that was intentional. “This is not a bipartisan bill,” the official told reporters in previewing the legislation. The Biden plan checks off most of the major wish-list items of immigrant-rights activists, including: funding lawyers for some migrants who want to challenge their deportations; granting speedy legal status to “Dreamers” and farm workers; pouring cash into Latin America for nation-building activities; and slashing barriers to legal immigration. And the new bill also takes pains to reject the immigration solutions proposed by former President Trump. Where he called for ending the diversity lottery that gives away green cards by random chance, the Biden plan increases the number from 55,000 to 80,000. Mr. Trump’s calls to limit the chain of family migration are also rejected, and instead the Biden proposal increases chances for family migration. And where Mr. Trump saw the U.S. system as the root cause of illegal immigration, serving as a pull factor to entice people to make the journey, Mr. Biden instead argues the push factors in Latin America are more important. “We’re just focusing on what works. What’s clear that does not work is just having a wall and not addressing the reasons why people are coming,” the official told reporters. The official did suggest they expect enforcement measures to be added by Republicans in Congress later, though she would not speculate on what types of additions would be acceptable to the new president. “The president is restarting the conversation,” the official said. Sen. Robert Menendez will be introducing the bill in the Senate, and Rep. Linda T. Sanchez will introduce it in the House. There are no Republicans known to be on board as of now, and some Republicans who had been part of past efforts, such as the 2013 bill that cleared the Senate, have already rejected Mr. Biden‘s framework. One of those, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, has labeled the Biden plan a “blanket amnesty.” The crux of the bill is legal status for most of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants now in the U.S. Those who made it into the country before Jan. 1, 2021, would be eligible. They would get a five-year provisional status, then could get a green card and get citizenship three years later. “Dreamers” and most of those here under Temporary Protected Status would get an even faster path, with immediate green cards. Migrants who could prove they’ve been employed as farm workers would also be eligible for that path. The bill backtracks on past compromises that even Democrats had accepted, such as workplace enforcement. The Obama administration supported making E-Verify, currently a voluntary method for screening out illegal immigrants from jobs, mandatory as part of any immigration overhaul. The Biden bill instead leaves E-Verify a voluntary program, and calls for a commission of business and labor officials to talk about future changes. | 2 |
Donald Trump will be leaving his business to focus on the presidency, he said in a series of tweets Wednesday morning. “I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump also said that while he is not required to leave the business he feels it’s “visually important” to avoid any conflicts of interest. I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my ...— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016
great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! While I am not mandated to ....— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016
do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses..— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016
Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016 Still, while more details will be forthcoming, questions remain as to whether this plan will be enough to quell concerns about conflicts between his business and the presidency. If Trump hands off the business to his children, as he has indicated he would like to do in the past, it could still present conflicts or perceived conflicts of interest between the Trump administration and the Trump family. In the past, presidents have placed their funds in a blind trust, operated without their knowledge by an independent party. Meanwhile, Trump remains close to his children, with many currently occupying official roles in his presidential transition. Trump tweeted that his children will be present at the Dec. 15 conference, suggesting they will be playing some role in his business going forward — which also means that the fundamental issues surrounding Trump's business empire and his upcoming presidency will largely remain as well. A bill was introduced in the House earlier this month that would require the president and vice president to put their assets in a blind trust or inform the Office of Government Ethics when making decisions that would affect their personal finances. “Every recent president in modern history has taken steps to ensure his financial interests do not conflict with needs of the American people,” Rep. Katherine Clark, who introduced the bill, said in a statement. “The American people need to be able to trust that the President’s decisions are based on the best interests of families at home, and not the President’s financial interests.” | 2 |
House Republicans resurrected their border bill Friday morning and said they were on track to pass the rewritten measure later in the day — though with the Senate gone for the summer the vote will be more a political statement than a policy-making exercise. GOP leaders weren’t making any predictions after suffering an embarrassing conservative rebellion on Thursday, which forced them back to the drawing board, but rank-and-file lawmakers said they believed they had finally corralled enough votes to pass it. “We will finish the job. We will get it passed tonight,” said Rep. Matt Salmon, an Arizona Republican who said the changes made overnight were critical to earning enough votes. The crux of the bill sends hundreds of millions of dollars to immigration agencies to house the illegal immigrant children and families surging across the border, and makes changes to a 2008 law that made it difficult to deport children from Central America. In order to attract enough support, Republicans also added in another bill that would halt President Obama’s non-deportation policy for so-called Dreamers, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Conservatives had supported both of those policies in general but balked at the way the bills were written, arguing they left too many loopholes that they believed Mr. Obama would use in refusing to enforce the laws. As of late Friday morning GOP lawmakers were rewriting their bills to try to accommodate those concerns. The procedural hiccups signal just how touchy the immigration issue is. Many Republicans want to vote on the strongest possible statement opposing Mr. Obama’s policies, and they fear his claims of unilateral authority to pick and choose how he enforces immigration laws. Democratic leaders, meanwhile, have called for the GOP to forgo changes to the law, and instead want to see a bill that only spends money to house and care for the tens of thousands of children and families from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that are crossing the Rio Grande in search of a foothold in the U.S. But Senate Democrats failed to win enough votes for that plan on Thursday, with even some of their own party colleagues joining Republicans in saying it doesn’t do anything to stop the flow of children. After their failure, Senate Democrats closed the chamber down and sent most lawmakers home for a five-week summer vacation, meaning that regardless of what the House does, nothing can be sent to Mr. Obama’s desk. “They never should have left in the first place,” said Rep. Michele M. Bachmann, Minnesota Republican. “We were here actively engaged on the House side, getting the job done on immigration. They couldn’t get the job done in the Senate.” Rep. Phil Gingrey, Georgia Republican, said that at the very least the House had avoided a PR “disaster.” “If we had gone home yesterday, I think that would have been a disaster,” said Rep. Phil Gingrey, Georgia Republican. “There is a humanitarian issue and you can’t explain all the nuances and connect every dot to all of 7,000 constituents. They are going to read the newspaper and they’re going to say, ‘Oh, those Republicans went home, didn’t have a vote and now they are going on a five-week vacation.’” | 2 |
Rev. Billy Graham, the world-renowned evangelist whose ministry changed the lives of hundreds of millions of people, has died at age 99 at his home in North Carolina.
Graham's impact transformed America's religious life and reached around the world. He eventually became a counselor to presidents and the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history.
Spokesman Mark DeMoss says Graham died at his home in North Carolina on Wednesday morning. Graham's personal physician, Lucian Rice, said he didn't die of any particular illness, instead, "he just wore out." But Graham wanted the world to know, he's not really dead, he's just moved to heaven.
This famous quote from Billy Graham sums up his perspective on eternity: “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God."
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William Franklin Graham was born November 7, 1918, four days before the end of World War I.
Raised on a dairy farm during the Great Depression, he developed a strong work ethic, a work ethic that was clearly evident through six decades of ministry.
Rev. Graham shared the gospel of Jesus Christ to nearly 215 million people in live audiences in more than 185 countries and territories.
Hundreds of millions more have been reached through radio, television, film, books and the internet.
Billy Graham gave his heart to Jesus Christ at 16. His profound conversion happened under the ministry of traveling evangelist Mordecai Ham.
Answering God's call to the ministry, he was ordained in 1939 by a church in the Southern Baptist Convention.
Four years later, he graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois, where he met and married his wife, Ruth.
"All I remember is going back home and kneeling down that night and saying, Lord, if you'd let me spend the rest of my life with that man, I would consider it the greatest privilege," Ruth Graham once said. "And fortunately, I didn't know what I was praying. If I'd known what lay ahead, I wouldn't have had the nerve to pray a prayer like that."
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Billy Graham gained his primary evangelistic experience on radio, and then through Youth for Christ, an organization founded to minister to young people and servicemen during World War II.
Following the war, Graham preached throughout the United States and Europe.
His ministry with Youth for Christ opened doors for a series of interdenominational city-wide campaigns in the late 40s.
Graham's Los Angeles Crusade in 1949 brought international recognition. Originally scheduled for three weeks, the meetings were extended to more than eight weeks.
"In the city of Los Angeles, the largest tent ever erected for a revival meeting is now complete," the news media reported at the time.
The tent seated 6,500 people, and several thousand more stood around the sides.
Graham's team established prayer chains throughout the city to intercede for the crusade.
One prayer warrior, known as Mrs. Edwards, felt a supernatural compulsion to call the legendary newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst and tell him about Billy Graham.
From that call, Hearst issued the now famous command, "puff Graham," which means highly promote this man.
The Los Angeles crusade became front page news. That led to overflow crowds and extended runs for many of the crusades that followed.
One in London lasted 12 weeks, and a crusade in New York City ran for 16 weeks.
"Now I'm going to ask you to get up out of your seat, hundreds of you, men, women, young people," Graham preached in his powerful, familiar voice in that New York outreach.
Even gang members turned in their weapons at the New York crusade.
BELOW: Franklin Graham reflected on his father's legacy a few years ago on The 700 Club
Billy Graham was not afraid to confront the evils of society. He joined with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. to battle racism.
"Don't ever say it's a white man's religion or a black man's religion," he said. "Christ belongs to all people. He belongs to the whole world."
Graham also took on apartheid, refusing to hold a crusade in South Africa until the meetings were integrated.
Despite sharp criticism from many in the religious community, Billy Graham also took the message of salvation behind the "Iron Curtain" to communist eastern Europe.
Billy Graham's ministry partner Cliff Barrows said, "They had packed the materials in little cellophane bags with a pencil and a decision card and a Gospel so that they would have the Scriptures, and we just passed them out. We threw them out to the people, and they were reaching up and grabbing them. They were so hungry to hear the Word and to receive it."
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He even went into North Korea, one of the world's most secretive regimes to talk about Christ with its leader, the late Kim Il Sung.
Evangelist Luis Palau said, "Billy Graham really opened up more countries to the Gospel, inspired more young preachers to have faith to believe that nations could be opened up, has given credibility to Biblical Christianity like no one except maybe the Apostle Paul in history."
Like the apostle Paul, Billy Graham was not ashamed to share the Gospel with people in power.
Franklin Graham said, "He has stayed focused on telling men and women about Jesus Christ. His ministry, his life, every speaking engagement, every opportunity with a president or a king or whoever, he would always get the conversation right around to the Gospel."
He was known as the pastor to the presidents, a friend of 11 commanders in chief, Democrats and Republicans alike.
President Jimmy Carter said, "He has reached out equally for opportunities to serve God, to all people."
"When he prays with you, you feel that he is praying for you, not the president," President Bill Clinton said.
"The humble farmer's son who helped change the world is a spiritual gift to all of us," President George H.W. Bush said with tears in his eyes.
The evangelist helped change the world, and the world noticed.
Since 1955, Billy Graham was listed a record 54 times, by the Gallup organization, as one of the "10 most admired men in the world," including 48 times consecutively – more than any other person in history.
But in spite of the acclaim, Billy Graham walked in humility, a life yielded to Christ. He made this clear at the dedication of his library.
"My whole life has been to please the LORD and to honor Jesus, not to see me, not to think of me," Graham said.
During his 1957 New York City Crusade, Graham preached what became his signature Gospel invitation, "You come now, quickly. While every head is bowed in prayer and the choir sings softly 'Just As I Am.' Hundreds are already coming from everywhere, you come with them."
Turning to the camera, he offered the Gospel to viewers at home as well, saying, "You out there tonight can give your life to Christ. Just bow your head and say yes to Christ right now." | 2 |
Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci during his testimony in front of a Senate panel.“It is a fatal conceit to believe any one person or small group of people has the knowledge necessary to direct an economy or dictate public health behavior,” Paul said Tuesday. “I think government health experts during this pandemic need to show caution in their prognostications.” The senator accused public health experts of “instilling undue fear” in school teachers over the coronavirus pandemic, and reiterated his desire to see schools reopen in the fall. (RELATED: FLASHBACK: Jan. 21: Fauci Says Coronavirus ‘Not A Major Threat’ To U.S.) “We shouldn’t presume that a group of experts somehow knows what’s best for everyone,” Paul added. “When are we gonna tell the people the truth? That it’s okay to take their kids back to school.” “We need to not be so presumptuous that we know everything,” Paul continued. “But, my question to you is, can’t you give us a little bit more on schools, so that we can get back to school?” WATCH: Fauci responded to Paul, telling him that he agrees with him on the importance of returning kids to school. (RELATED: ‘We’re Ready To Get Working’: Rand Paul Calls For Kentucky And Other Rural States To Reopen) “I feel very strongly we need to do whatever we can to get the children back to school,” Fauci said. Fauci also added that some of his past comments on the ability of sporting leagues and schools to reopen have been taken out of context. “When things get in the press of what I supposedly said, I didn’t say,” Fauci added. “I never said we can’t play a certain sport.” “The only thing that I can do is, to the best of my ability, give you the facts and the evidence associated with what I know about this outbreak,” Fauci concluded. Some parts of the U.S. have experienced a surge in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks, and recently recorded 37,000 new cases, breaking the country’s single-day record. States such as Arizona and Texas have reimposed some restrictions on businesses in the state to slow the spread, and aovid overwhelming their medical systems. | 2 |
An antique car drives down Main Street during a July Fourth parade in Barnstable, Mass., in 2014. (Mike Segar/Reuters) There’s no prescribed way to celebrate July 4th. And that’s the best part of it. Donald Trump is recruiting some Abrams tanks and obsessing about some of the choreography for an Independence Day parade in Washington D.C. He wants it to be militaristic, bombastic, and he wants to be at the center of it. I couldn’t care less. And, I wonder why anyone else does. I can’t remember ever paying attention to how this day was celebrated in the capital city. In recent years I’ve taken my kids to a minor league baseball game in Hartford. Or spent time at my in-laws having a a small family cookout. When I was in my twenties and trying to win over the woman who is now my wife, we went to a park and saw an outdoor orchestra attempt to time the very Russian 1812 Overture to a fireworks show. There’s something delightful about celebrating with artifacts from these two supposed geopolitical rivals. I remember one year spent at our beloved Sea Isle City, in New Jersey, and watching as the legal professionals and illegal amateurs put on fireworks shows up the coast, stretching upward through Ocean City to Atlantic City. This year we’re escaping our hot apartment and taking the kids to an indoor waterpark and resort.
There have been recurring elements. The fireworks and hotdogs. Family time. But there’s no prescribed way to celebrate July 4th. And that’s the best part of it. Thanksgiving is governed by family traditions. Christmas is governed by religious ones. New Years, at least for the young and single, is governed by the manic desire to find someone to kiss at midnight. July 4th is whatever you make of it. July 4th commemorates a political event — the signing of the Declaration: a document full of ideological claims and a fair bit of rip-roaring propaganda. (Damn you King George, for allowing free worship for French-speaking Catholics in a neighboring territory!) But our July 4th celebrations are remarkably non-ideological.
Other nations are not so blessed. I spent a few years reflecting on the meaning of Irish independence, which is celebrated according to the liturgical year, attached to Easter Monday. The Irish are often subjected to an ideological excavation of their independence. And they have had reasons in living memory to look around with some sadness, and ask “Was it for this?”
Last year, I paid attention to Hungary’s March 15th celebrations, which mark the Revolution of 1848. That nation’s leader, Victor Orban, turned it into a campaign rally seen round the world. It had rousing themes about Hungary’s remarkable and improbable survival as a nation. But it also had at its heart a nasty denunciation of George Soros — a native son of Hungary — at the center of it.
In the last couple of years, some outlets like the New York Times and Vox will run articles questioning the War of Independence. But I suspect no one takes these seriously. It’s an attempt at generating a few hate clicks during a slow news week.
Unlike Ireland, America is blessed by its geography and history with an ability to not care so much about the British, and not agonize so much about our now old history of conflict with them. Unlike Hungary, America doesn’t feel itself to be so vulnerable, so we don’t celebrate our mere survival, or solemnly remind ourselves of the preciousness of independence. We just have fun. We eat hamburgers and hot dogs which may have German origins. We pull out Chinese fireworks, and Russian symphonic pieces. My guess is even a huge number of people who would be happy to wear the epithet “nativist” to mark their views on immigration will nonetheless be eating hummus or guacamole while they watch Trump review the tanks.
And this is as it should be. The most perspicacious of the English understood that as soon as Americans started to get beyond the Appalachian mountains, we would be cut off from the motherland. Some of them thought we would revert to a kind of semi-barbarian form of life out there. Maybe a few of us have.
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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! More than 76,000 people tried to cross the U.S.-Mexico border in February — a "remarkable" leap that more than doubles the number of border apprehensions during the same period of time last year, and is also the highest number of any February in the past 12 years, according to officials.The system is "well beyond capacity, and remains at the breaking point," U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told reporters on Tuesday as the agency released the "record numbers" of those trying to enter the U.S. through the southern border.67 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FOUND IN DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS INSIDE TINY NEW MEXICO 'SHED': ICEOfficials said that 76,103 people — an increase of 31 percent over January — were apprehended. Of those, 7,249 were unaccompanied children, and 40,385 were family units -- totaling 60 percent of apprehensions.Brian Hastings, the chief of law enforcement operations at the agency, told reporters that historically, 70 to 90 percent of apprehensions at the border included Mexican nationals.As of Tuesday, he said, 70 percent of those arrested for attempting entry without proper documentation are from the "Northern Triangle of Central America," which includes Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras."It should be very clear from these numbers that we are facing alarming trends in the rising volumes of people illegally crossing our southwest border, or arriving at our ports of entry without documents," McAleenan said.NEARLY 200 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS APPREHENDED CROSSING BORDER IN NEW MEXICOWhile fewer people overall are being apprehended crossing the border illegally each year, he said the increased numbers are "currently at our highest levels in over a decade both a border security and humanitarian crisis."The commissioner added that border patrol is also noticing a "stark increase" of those seeking asylum. Since October, there's been a 90 percent increase over the "record levels" of asylum seekers since the last fiscal year, according to the agency, which added that 60 percent of those trying to enter the U.S. without proper documentation are "making claims of fear of return to their home country."Officials on Tuesday announced plans for a new processing center in El Paso, Texas, to manage the record number of people crossing the border. While not a permanent solution, it will be better suited to manage families and children, and handle medical care concerns.“While our enhanced medical efforts will assist in managing the increased flows, the fact is that these solutions are temporary and this solution is not sustainable,” he said.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPAfter two illegal immigrant children died while in Border Patrol custody, the agency stepped up medical screenings and announced sweeping changes that include more rigorous interviews as they enter into the system.The data released on Tuesday comes as the GOP-controlled Senate plans to reject in a vote next week President Trump's national emergency declaration at the border that would send extra funding there.The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
As Hillary Clinton announces her campaign today, she quite literally stands alone. She’s the sole announced Democrat candidate and the only top-shelf contender.
But that’s not going to help her in Iowa, where voters will still expect to be pandered to as if they were in the center of a hard-fought battle. “I’ll be waiting to see how aggressively pursued I am,” Jan Bauer, a county Democrat chair, tells The Washington Post. “We really are that spoiled,” adds Bret Nilles, another county chair.
The Clinton campaign understands this–and even seems to welcome the challenge to pander.
“You’re going to see the effort on Hillary’s behalf go from zero to 60 in about four seconds, including her own approach,” Jerry Crawford tells the Post. He helped run Hillary’s 2008 bid in Iowa. “I have absolute confidence that she will be very aggressive in fighting for every vote.”
Hillary finished third in Iowa the last time around, trailing a then-obscure senator named Barack Obama and a soon-to-be-disgraced former senator named John Edwards. This time, whether or not she faces any real competition, she’s prepared to pander properly to Iowans.
The Post reports she plans to open a headquarters in Des Moines soon and will have staffers deployed across the state. Around 40 volunteers are on board already, set to be absorbed into the campaign as it launches.
All of this seems slightly silly when one looks at the status of Hillary’s potential competitors.
The names bandied about so far include: former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (who watched voters in his deep-blue state select a Republican to replace him last fall), former Rhode Island Governor (and recovering Republican) Lincoln Chaffee, and current Vice President Joe Biden (last seen stealing a pacifier from a baby).
As the sole viable Democrat, Hillary Clinton could take some controversial positions in Iowa. She could, perhaps, come out against costly and unnecessary ethanol subsidies. After all, she has nothing to lose, in Iowa or elsewhere. Instead, she’s ready, even eager, to pander to Iowans.
Let the 2016 race begin. | 2 |
FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2010 file photo, Los Angeles Clippers team owner Donald Sterling watches his team play in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! President Obama on Sunday said the purported comments by NBA owner Donald Sterling are “racist” and that people who make such remarks are “ignorant.”His remarks follow the posting of an audio recording Friday by the TMZ website in which a man identified as Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, tells his girlfriend not to bring black people to games.The president made his comments at a press conference with Malaysia's prime minister.He called the remarks "incredibly offensive racist statements" and said he was confident NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will address the issue.“When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance you don't really have to do anything, you just let them talk," Obama said.He also said the remarks are an example of the United States continuing to wrestle with the legacy of racism, slavery and segregation. Obama said Americans have to be "steady and clear in denouncing" discrimination.Sterling was supposed to receive a lifetime achievement award in the coming week from the NAACP.However, NAACP interim President Lorraine C. Miller told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Sterling was no longer getting the award.The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
A company behind a popular card game is trying to sabotage President Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border by purchasing up portions of land in that long horizontal area, and offering potential customers a cut.Known as “a party game for horrible people,” Cards Against Humanity is asking for $15 from visitors to its site in a holiday promotion claiming that in return they’ll receive “six surprises.” One of those gifts, according to the company, is a formal opportunity to buy a plot of land on or right near the border and be covered by legal representation specializing in eminent domain — rendering it not a surprise at all. The goal for the company is “to make it as time-consuming and expensive as possible for the wall to get built.” “Donald Trump is a preposterous golem who is afraid of Mexicans,” reads the website’s promotion called “Cards Against Humanity Saves America.” Ironically, despite the company’s sympathy for immigrants and foreigners, it says in its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section that if a would-be customer doesn’t live in U.S. or Canada, they can’t sign up. “No. This is ‘Cards Against Humanity Saves America,’ not ‘Cards Against Humanity Saves The Dumb Country You Live In,'” the company’s answer reads. Nevertheless, the company says “America will be saved,” specifically from “injustice, lies, racism, the whole enchilada” if people send $15. The jabs at Trump and his administration are aplenty. The business admits that “we’re liars, just like the president.” Furthermore, surprises don’t contain sexual content “or footage of Donald Trump watching Russian prostitutes urinate on a bed Obama slept in,” according to the company. When asking in the FAQ section of the website “Why don’t you just stick to card games?” and not get political, the company retorts in typical sassy fashion: “Why don’t you stick to seeing how many Hot Wheels cars you can fit up your asshole?” (RELATED: In Strange Move, DNC Knocks Trump For Lack Of Progress On Border Wall) All 150,000 slots to sign up for the peculiar gifts sold out within the first day. Cards Against Humanity did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for further details by time of publication. Follow Eric on Twitter Send tips to [email protected]. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]. | 2 |
President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he’ll tap Rep. Mick Mulvaney to be his budget director, putting an ardent conservative in the job that has the most control over the size of the federal government. Mr. Mulvaney, a South Carolina Republican, was elected to Congress as part of the 2010 tea party wave, and carved out a role as one of House conservatives’ fiercest fighters for cutting spending. He voted against the 2011 debt deal and against most of the omnibus spending bills that have come to the floor during his six years in office. “We are going to do great things for the American people with Mick Mulvaney leading the Office of Management and Budget,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. The OMB is the nerve center for the federal government, serving as the White House’s chief oversight over the departments and agencies that dole out money and write regulations. While not as high-profile as other administration jobs, the OMB director has extensive influence over nearly every midlevel and major decision. Mr. Mulvaney takes cutting seriously, regularly coming in under the budget for his House office and returning unused money to the Treasury Department. He’s also sponsored a constitutional amendment to impose term limits, and has tried to end the abuse of war-funding bills to break budget caps. “Mick Mulvaney is the absolute right choice,” said House Speaker Paul D. Ryan. “In Congress, he has been a conservative reformer from day one, proposing solutions to fix the budget process and our regulatory system.” | 2 |
A worker arrives at the Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. October 1, 2013. (James Lawler Duggan/Reuters) The new rule defines “sex” to mean biological sex for the purposes of Obamacare’s nondiscrimination policy. The Department of Health and Human Services has just announced a rule undoing an Obama-administration policy that had redefined “sex” to include “gender identity” and “termination of pregnancy” for purposes of nondiscrimination under the Affordable Care Act.
Section 1557 of Obamacare prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in health-related programs or activities. Near the end of President Obama’s second term, his HHS Department released a regulation redefining “sex” for the purposes of Section 1557 to include “gender identity” and “termination of pregnancy.” As a result of the rule that HHS released today, that regulation has been reversed and “sex” once again refers only to biological sex, as was intended in the statute.
In December 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas enjoined Section 1557’s prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and termination of pregnancy. Last fall, the same federal judge vacated the rule, saying that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
As a result of these rulings, HHS no longer could enforce the Obama-era provision, and today’s new rule brings federal policy into compliance with court rulings.
“What this regulatory reform does is update the books to reflect the reality that ‘gender identity’ and ‘termination of pregnancy’ have been deemed unlawful interpretations of civil-rights law,” Roger Severino, director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights, told National Review. “This final rule is merely conforming to that legal reality.”
Severino noted, too, that the new HHS rule “carries forward the Obama administration’s decision not to include ‘sexual orientation’ as a protected category under the definition of sex discrimination.” Some progressive advocates had urged the Obama-era HHS to add “sexual orientation” to its regulation, but it failed to do so.
Opponents of the Obama administration’s regulation had both health-care and religious-freedom concerns about its implications. Because the policy applied to any health programs or activities funded or administered by HHS, as well as any plans offered in Obamacare’s health-insurance marketplaces, it affected a huge number of health-care providers in the U.S.
By redefining “sex,” the policy required medical professionals to treat biological males who identify as women, and biological women who identify as men, according to their gender identity rather than their biological sex — a practice that can lead to improper health-care decisions. There was, for instance, a documented case in which a biological female who identified as a male visited a hospital complaining of abdominal pain. Because the doctors were required to treat this person according to gender identity, this biological woman, who was unknowingly pregnant, ended up delivering a stillborn child.
“We agree with the court’s rationale that the plain original meaning of ‘sex’ under our sex-discrimination laws referred to the biological realities of sex, and this is particularly important for programs administered or funded by HHS, because we so often deal with the scientific reality of sex in our health and research programs,” Severino explained.
As the federal judge determined, the Obama policy also had negative implications for religious-liberty and conscience rights, particularly for health-care workers.
“There were religious-freedom concerns at play, as well as to the ability of doctors to be able to act according to their best medical judgment, as well as their conscience and religious beliefs,” Severino said.
The decision to reverse the Obama-administration regulation will almost certainly be met with fury by progressive activists and their allies in the media. When it first became public that the Trump administration was considering undoing the Section 1557 rule, the New York Times falsely asserted that “‘Transgender’ Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration.”
Nevertheless, the move fulfills a key promise that Trump made both on the campaign trail and throughout his time in office, voicing support for undoing Obama-era policies that redefined “sex” to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” This move, though it comes near the end of his first term, is another step in showing his supporters, especially social conservatives, that he is willing to follow through. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Three American prisoners held in North Korea have been released and are en route to the U.S. after a surprise diplomatic mission by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, President Trump announced Wednesday.Pompeo is returning with the Americans, said to be in "good health," after a brief visit to Pyongyang. Trump said he plans to greet them at Andrews Air Force Base when they arrive outside Washington.“I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting,” Trump tweeted, referring to the prisoners. “They seem to be in good health.”Pompeo told reporters during the initial leg of the flight to Japan that he’s “thrilled” to have the Americans back. Trump also said that a date and location have now been set for his meeting with Kim Jong Un, later telling reporters that it would not be at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Pompeo visited North Korea this week, where he secured the release of three American prisoners. (AP)White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump “appreciates leader Kim Jong Un’s action to release these American citizens, and views this as a positive gesture of goodwill.”“The three Americans appear to be in good condition and were all able to walk on the plane without assistance,” she said.Pompeo arrived in North Korea on Tuesday to prepare for the upcoming summit between the two leaders. Trump, announcing Pompeo’s visit, had hinted at the possibility of the prisoners' release.“We will soon be finding out,” he said Tuesday when asked at the White House whether the prisoners would be freed. “It would be a great thing if they are, we’ll soon be finding out.”Pompeo was heading to North Korea just as Trump announced the U.S. would pull back from the Iran nuclear agreement. Trump is hoping to now make headway against North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.Ahead of the planned summit, Trump hinted last week that the release of the prisoners was imminent, saying in a tweet: “stay tuned.” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that it would be seen as “a sign of good will” if North Korea released the prisoners.The Americans were all detained or sentenced within the last couple years.Kim Dong Chul, a South Korea-born U.S. citizen and former Virginia resident, was sentenced in April 2016 to 10 years in prison with hard labor after being convicted of espionage. He reportedly ran a trade and hotel service company in Rason, a special economic zone on North Korea's border with Russia.Tony Kim was detained at Pyongyang's airport in April 2017 and accused of unspecified "hostile acts" against the regime. He taught accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. In a statement, Kim's family thanked "all of those who have worked toward and contributed to his return home."Kim Hak Song, an ethnic Korean born in China, was detained in May 2017 for "hostile acts." He worked in agricultural development at an experimental farm run by the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, which was founded in 2010 with donations from Christian groups.Another American detainee, Otto Warmbier, died in June 2017 -- just days after he was brought back to the U.S. with severe brain damage. He had been arrested in January 2016 and accused of stealing a propaganda poster and was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor.Pompeo’s short trip is the latest move in a constantly evolving diplomatic situation in the region. Kim met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China on Tuesday, the second meeting in recent months, and also met this month with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in South Korea.During the summit, the two discussed denuclearization and declared a formal end to the Korean War. The North Korean regime has also claimed it will end its nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile testing program.Fox News' Caleb Parke and The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
Protesters gather outside the Indiana Governor's mansion, April 18, 2020, urging Gov. Eric Holcomb to back off restrictions on Indiana residents because of the coronavirus, and restart the economy. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Plans are now in place in Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Texas to gradually open their state's economies after indications the coronavirus outbreak is slowing.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says gyms, barbershops, and bowling alleys can reopen Friday. Some restaurants and theaters will also open with social distancing. South Carolina is set to allow most retail stores to reopen, but only at 20 percent capacity. Merchant Catherine Gouge said, "We're just really glad we can have people in the store again."
Tennessee is set to reopen most businesses on May 1.
Industry giants Boeing and Bobcat are also sending people back to work.
And protests continue in other states, as some Americans demand they open up.
In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, thousands protested the state's stay-at-home orders. One protester said, "We're not subjects, we're citizens, we're free people."
In Phoenix, protesters faced off with people dressed in scrubs as hundreds say they want their economy to reopen.
But Dr. Anthony Fauci of the Coronavirus Task Force says it could backfire: "What you do if you jump the gun and go into a situation where you have a big spike, you're going to set yourself back."
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So far, 22 million Americans are out of work because of the nationwide shutdowns. Republican and Democratic negotiators have reportedly agreed on the principles for a new financial aid bill, focusing on small businesses.
That comes as the economy is facing serious problems. The lack of demand for oil caused the May contract price of oil to collapse Monday into negative territory for the first time in history. But President Trump did not seem concerned. "Much of it has to do with short-sellers. Much of it has to do if you look a month into the future, I think it's at $25 or $28 a barrel," Trump said. While some parts of the country are opening up, President Trump is tightening up the borders to prevent more cases from coming into the US. Overnight Trump tweeted that he will be signing an executive order temporarily suspending immigration into the United States because of coronavirus.
In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2020 | 2 |
Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States, announced on Sept. 15 it would require proof of COVID-19 vaccination at bars, nightclubs, breweries, lounges, and related businesses.
The order will also require vaccine proof or a negative COVID-19 test for large outdoor events, including Los Angeles Rams, Chargers, and Dodgers games, said County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer to the Board of Supervisors. Would-be customers will have to have at least one vaccine dose by Oct. 7 and be fully vaccinated by Nov. 4, she said.
“This is a reasonable path forward that will position us to be better able to break the cycle of surges,” Ferrer told the board. “This modified health officer order aligns with the continued need to reduce risk of transmission and increase vaccination coverage.”
Los Angeles officials, she said, now believe that vaccine passport systems “are now a very important strategy for quickly raising vaccination coverage across our county and ending the pandemic.”
Other than Los Angeles, New York City on Sept. 13 officially implemented its vaccine passport system for restaurants, bars, gyms, and other facilities. Businesses that don’t comply or violate the city ordinances can face fines, said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
In California, San Francisco in August also rolled out a vaccine passport mandate for similar establishments. Provinces in Canada as well as France, Switzerland, Israel, and a number of other countries have mandated that people show proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, gyms, bars, and related businesses, which has drawn protests in Europe.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of New York City on Sept. 13, calling for the city to end its mandate.
“You should have a right to choose whatever you do with your body,” Ricardo Alexander, a public school math and physics teacher, told the rally.
While officials who endorse vaccine passports say they are necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, questions have been raised about whether such systems would be discriminatory.
Some Republican governors, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have signed bills or issued orders to prohibit businesses or local governments from using vaccine passes.
The Electronic Freedom Foundation nonprofit, in a lengthy post last month, stated that government officials around the world have made grave errors when rolling out passport systems, noting that “imposing such systems on the world will lock out hundreds of millions of people” from key services, including travel and obtaining visas.
“These new trust-based systems, if implemented in a way that automatically disqualifies people who received genuine vaccinations, will cause dire effects for years to come. It sets up a world where certain people can move about easily, and those who have already had a hard time with visas will experience another wall to climb,” the foundation stated. Follow Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter at The Epoch Times based in New York. | 2 |
A recently passed bill in Arizona allowing businesses to refuse service to gays and others based on religious beliefs is stirring controversy as Gov. Jan Brewer considers whether to sign or veto it.
Some businesses fear it will spark a boycott of the state, much like the yearlong one after Arizona passed a controversial immigration law in 2010.
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll The law intends to allow business owners the right to refuse service to anyone if doing so would violate their religious convictions. It was sparked by incidents such as a case in New Mexico where the state Supreme Court allowed a gay couple to sue a wedding photographer who refused to take pictures of their commitment ceremony.
Recent federal court rulings across the country have sided with allowing more rights to same-sex couples, and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has extended the rights of those married in one state even if they are living in a state that does not recognize the marriage.
Both houses of the Arizona Legislature are controlled by Republicans. Three Republicans broke rank Thursday as the House of Representatives voted 33-27 for passage of the bill. That came after a 17-3 Senate vote on Wednesday that fell along party lines. The governor, also a Republican, has said she will decide whether to sign the bill by February 28, but she vetoed a similar bill last year, The New York Daily News reports. Tennessee earlier this month introduced a similar bill. Opponents call the bill unconstitutional and discriminatory, but GOP backers say it isn't intended to discriminate against anyone, but to allow individuals to practice their religious convictions. Some Christians, in particular, say that their faith defines marriage between a man and a woman and that homosexuality is a sin. To be forced to take part in a same-sex ceremony would force them to act against their beliefs, they say.
The liberal think tank Center for American Progress says the previous boycott after the immigration bill passed cost the state more than $23 millin in lost taxes and at least $350 million in spending. The Greater Phoenix Economic Council urged Brewer to veto the bill, saying that four companies have said they may leave the state otherwise, reports The Los Angeles Times. "With major events approaching in the coming year, including Super Bowl XLIX, Arizona will be the center of the world’s stage,” the group's letter said. "This legislation has the potential of subjecting the Super Bowl, and major events surrounding it, to the threats of boycotts."
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll © 2022 Newsmax. All rights reserved. | 2 |
One of the two openly gay hoteliers who hosted Republican Senator Ted Cruz at a Manhattan event last week, has caved to the Gaystapo with the kind of sniveling, dishonest and humiliating apology demanded by the Gaystapo if you don’t want your life ruined.
“I am shaken to my bones by the emails, texts, postings and phone calls of the past few days. I made a terrible mistake,” wrote Ian Reisner on his Facebook page over the weekend. Reisner went on to claim, quite ridiculously, that he was unaware of Cruz’s opposition to same sex marriage:
I’ve spent the past 24 hours reviewing videos of Cruz’s statements on gay marriage and I am shocked and angry. I sincerely apologize for hurting the gay community and so many of our friends, family, allies, customers and employees. I will try my best to make up for my poor judgment. Again, I am deeply sorry.
Reisner and his business partner, Mati Weiderpass, are prominent New York real estate developers and gay rights advocates. One of their hotels, OUT NYC, is famous for being gay-friendly.
Instead of hating Cruz, the hoteliers decided last week to host an event with the Republican presidential hopeful to discuss, among other things, their common ground on the issue of Israel. Once news leaked of the event, The Big Gay McCarthy Hate Machine, that chooses which opinions are appropriate for the gay community, immediately began the evil work of destroying the lives of these two men. Boycotts against their businesses were quickly organized and hate campaigns were launched via social media.
No one with a half a brain believes Reisner was unaware of Cruz’s personal opposition to same-sex marriage, or his political position in favor of allowing the states to determine the definition of marriage. What’s important to the Gaystapo is that Reisner was willing to grovel through such a ridiculous claim.
Like many others before him, Reisner’s entire life and career was about to get the Khristallnacht treatment, and he caved.
That’s what the Gaystapo wants; for its targets to prove their fealty by humiliating themselves. Once The Big Gay McCarthy Hate Machine knows you are broken and no longer defiant, they take the pressure off.
By terrorizing dissent and individual thought, followed by immediate relief once the target speaks the approved opinion, an important public example is set that warns other not to stray from the Thought Plantation.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC | 2 |
Education Reading is fundamental, but it's not a fundamental right. | 7.3.2018 12:10 PM Tegotego / Dreamstime.com
A federal judge has made it very clear in a new ruling that the government can force you to send your kids to school, but you can't force the government to actually provide an education there.
Judge Stephen Murphy III of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, just dismissed a case originating from Detroit accusing Gov. Rick Snyder and other state officials of doing such a terrible job when the then-bankrupt city was under the control of emergency managers that they deprived students of a right to an education or even basic literacy.
The plaintiffs argued that this extremely crappy non-education violated their Due Process and Equal Protection rights under the 14th Amendment. The State of Michigan argued that this complaint—a demand for "access to literacy"—is not constitutionally recognized. The judge agreed, though he very much sympathized with the students, and dismissed the case.
While the dismissal is prompting some outrage (and the plaintiffs promise to appeal) it should not come as a surprise. The courts have been extremely reluctant to wade into any space where they define what sort of an education anybody has a "right" to, though they've certainly been fine with the government forcing kids to attend regardless. A Supreme Court case from 1973, San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, held that the U.S. Constitution did not establish a "fundamental right to education."
But that ruling was about equal access to educational tools and funding mechanisms. The San Antonio case was about whether it was constitutional to use property taxes as a school funding mechanism if it meant that students in poorer communities got worse educations than those in wealthier communities (answer: yes). In this case, Murphy noted, the plaintiffs are simply arguing that they aren't getting any sort of education at all. Was that a distinctly different enough argument for Murphy to contradict pervious precedents? Is basic "access to literacy" a fundamental right?
In the end, the judge ruled it was not: Plainly, literacy—and the opportunity to obtain it—is of incalculable importance. As Plaintiffs point out, voting, participating meaningfully in civic life, and accessing justice require some measure of literacy. Applying for a job, securing a place to live, and applying for government benefits routinely require the completion of written forms. Simply finding one's way through many aspects of ordinary life stands as an obstacle to one who cannot read.
But those points do not necessarily make access to literacy a fundamental right. The Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized, in Rodriguez and elsewhere, that the importance of a good or service "does not determine whether it must be regarded as fundamental[.]" He noted previous examples where courts have ruled that there's no fundamental right to water or sewer service and that the Due Process Clause does not compel the state to protect a child from an abusive father or from a bully in school.
So even when the government has the authority to mandate behaviors of the citizens under the law, it's a one-way street. The judge ruled that the state cannot be affirmatively ordered to provide students even the basic level of education to achieve literacy.
This is not to say the judge's ruling is wrong. If the courts did rule that schools were constitutionally mandated to provide a certain level of education, imagine the lawsuits that would follow as everybody attempted to make the case for how that level of education should be determined. We already have a constant culture war within the education system itself about what schools are supposed to be teaching. The last thing we need is for the courts to get dragged into figuring out those boundaries.
But what people should take away from this ruling is the importance of competition and choice in forcing schools to improve. If the courts can't make a school provide a certain level of education, parents and students must be free to pick other schools. Education must be a marketplace. A court can't order a grocery store to sell certain products, but they know that if they don't provide what customers need somebody else will and they'll lose business. Schools should be the same way. And there's evidence to show that when there's charter schools and other school choice options around, public schools start to improve.
If the courts lack the authority to force schools to provide a certain level of education, we should make sure that parents have access to school choice to decide what's best for their own kids. | 2 |
Tuesday’s highly anticipated announcement from WikiLeaks was not exactly the end of Clinton’s campaign as Roger Stone had hoped, but rather a discussion about the past, present, and future of WikiLeaks for its 10-year anniversary. Julian Assange said they would be releasing roughly 1 million documents with “significant” information about the U.S. election, Google, and mass surveillance, among other topics, but he denied that the release would be focused on destroying Hillary Clinton. "There's been a lot of misquoting of me and WikiLeaks publications,” he said. “In this particular case, the misquoting has to do with 'we intend to harm Hillary Clinton' or I intend to harm Hillary Clinton or I don't like Hillary Clinton. All those are false." He also declined to say whether any of the upcoming releases would be directly related to Republicans. The releases can be expected by the end of the year, with items dropping in the coming week. #Assange: Regarding upcoming publications... We hope to be publishing every week for the next 10 weeks. #wikileaks10— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 4, 2016 Assange also said the nature of the organization and its funding would be changing, as it will soon open itself up to membership. | 2 |
UPDATE: Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said strikes from the U.S. and Arab partners were trying to hit training facilities and headquarter buildings of the Islamic State in Syria where officials believed the terrorist group was trying to command and control their forces. “We’re still assessing the effectiveness of these strikes, but we believe we hit what we were aiming at,” he said on MSNBC. —- President Obama on Monday night authorized a major escalation of the war against the Islamic State, sending missiles and warplanes on bombing missions for the first time into Syria to strike the terrorist group’s strongholds in that country. The Pentagon announced that both U.S. and allied pilots, along with missile-firing U.S. ships, launched their first airstrikes inside Syria after a sweeping diplomatic push by the Obama administration had secured dozens of verbal commitments from leaders around the world and in the Middle East to join the fight against the Islamic State. The missiles and bombs began flying into Islamic State-held areas early Tuesday local time and was expected to last for the next few days, a senior Pentagon official told The Washington Times. “We will continue to attack Islamic State targets whether they’re in Iraq or in Syria,” the official said. The barrage also comes on the eve of President Obama’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly and two days of meetings with world leaders at the New York gathering. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby noted Monday night that the U.S. was not acting alone, and there were multiple reports of involvement by several Arab nations in about two dozen strikes, concentrated on the insecure Iraqi-Syrian border and on Raqqa, the Islamic State’s de facto capital. Several news organizations specified involvement in airstrikes by Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, while CNN reported that some Jordanian special operations forces were involved in ground assaults in Syria. All those nations are conservative Sunni monarchies that could see the Islamic State as undermining their legitimacy despite its being a Sunni group fighting one majority-Shiite regime (Iraq) and one Alawite-dominated government (Syria). But Adm. Kirby himself said only that “I can confirm that U.S. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against [Islamic State] terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles. Given that these operations are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide additional details at this time.” Rep. Michael T. McCaul, Texas Republican and chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, praised the assault, saying “in times of war and of peace it is important that we come together as a nation. “To defeat ISIS, we must cut off the head of the snake, which exists in Syria. I support the administration’s move to conduct airstrikes against ISIS wherever it exists,” he said. Even before the Pentagon announcement Monday evening, though, senior administration officials were unclear on exactly what role each coalition partner will play. Turkey’s role Secretary of State John F. Kerry dodged that question Monday, and questions remain over whether Turkey — which has a more than 750-mile border with Syria and Iraq and has resisted joining the coalition — will join the U.S.-led effort or continue to stay on the sidelines. Turkish diplomats have paid lip service to the American push for international action against the Islamic State, also known by the acronyms ISIS and ISIL. But with Ankara having secured the release of 49 hostages from the Islamic State under vague circumstances in recent days, analysts cite fears that the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may have cut a secret deal with the extremists that involves staying out of the U.S.-led coalition. “There’s a lot of suspicion in Turkish public opinion right now about how the hostage deal was reached,” said Cenk Sidar, the head of Washington-based Sidar Global Advisors, a private analysis firm. “People believe there is some sort of a deal between Erdogan and ISIL. “It seems there may have been a deal to release the hostages, but we don’t know what assurances have been given to ISIL in return,” Mr. Sidar said in an interview Monday. “Did they agree to something involving the Turkish border? Did they agree not to join the coalition against [the Islamic State]?” Meanwhile, tensions escalated to new heights Monday along Turkey’s border with Iraq and Syria, where the Islamic State now controls a wide swath of territory. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtlumus claimed that some 130,000 Syrian Kurdish refugees — mostly women, children and elderly — have crossed into Turkey in the past four days, fleeing an onslaught by Islamic State militants on their villages and towns. The situation has heightened tensions between Turkish authorities and Syrian and Iraqi Kurds. The Obama administration has been leaning heavily on Iraqi Kurds to take a lead role in ground-level combat against the Islamic State. The Erdogan government has cited the surge of refugees as a reason to clamp down on key border crossings with Iraq and Syria. The move prompted clashes Sunday and Monday between Turkish police and angry Kurds stuck along the border. More than 100,000 displaced people from years of war in Syria are already living in camps on the Turkish side of the border. Oil smuggling Mr. Kerry in recent days has publicly questioned whether rogue elements inside Turkey are secretly working with Islamic State militants to transport crude oil northward across the Turkish border from Syria and Iraq for sale on the global black market, helping to finance the Islamist movement’s operations. “There are various channels,” Mr. Kerry said Monday during an interview with MSNBC, adding that a core part of the growing U.S.-led mission is to ensure that oil “can’t move through Turkey or through Syria or out through Lebanon.” Top Obama administration officials have provided few details on intelligence relating to the suspected Islamic State oil smuggling operation, and intelligence community sources in Washington cautioned against reading too deeply into Mr. Kerry’s remarks. One U.S. intelligence official told The Times that “the black market in Turkey is playing an important role in giving [the Islamic State] a profitable outlet for the oil it controls,” but challenged the notion that Turkish authorities might have a role in the smuggling operation. Further, the official said, some Iraqi Kurds may be involved in the smuggling, even as Kurdish forces are involved in fighting Islamic State militants. “The area in Iraq where ISIL is operating is associated with long-standing oil smuggling networks which have traditionally had a Kurdish component,” the intelligence official said. “So, nobody should be surprised if there were Kurds involved in bringing ISIL-controlled oil to market.” The official added that there are “constraints on [the Islamic State’s] ability to capitalize on the energy infrastructure it controls as it can’t sell at market prices, lacks technical expertise, and cannot operate facilities — some of which are shut down entirely — at anywhere near full capacity.” While Mr. Kerry has repeatedly referenced the smuggling problem, he also has stressed that Turkey — long regarded as a key NATO ally and a bridge to the Middle East and Central Asia for the alliance — remains a close diplomatic friend of Washington. Mr. Kerry said Monday that he “had a long meeting with President Erdogan” last week. He also told a Capitol Hill hearing last week that the Erdogan government’s reluctance to supporting the fight against the Islamic State might be related to the dozens of Turkish citizens held hostage in northern Iraq. But with the hostage release, Mr. Kerry implied Monday, the Obama administration intends to mount pressure on Turkey to take a more active stand. “The proof will be in the actions,” he told MSNBC. “We’re not going to take anything to the bank on the basis of a verbal interaction.” Mr. Kerry has spent the past three days in New York City meeting face to face with dozens of diplomatic counterparts on the periphery of the annual United Nations General Assembly gathering. He said Friday that “more than 50 countries have come forward with critical commitments” to the growing coalition. But there has been little evidence of tangible action. On Friday, Mr. Kerry said dozens of countries had committed “almost $1 billion” to a U.N.-led humanitarian response to the crisis, and specifically cited contributions from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. He asserted Monday that he and others in the Obama administration are just now “beginning to put together the specific tasks that each nation” will undertake in the growing coalition. Late last week, French warplanes began pounding Islamic State targets in northern Iraq. On Monday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said his nation will not launch any strikes inside Syria. When pressed for an explanation, he said only that Iraq’s government had requested the strikes. Syria has not made such requests and warned weeks ago that it would not let foreign countries bomb Islamic State targets with impunity. Unlike even an uncooperative Iraq, Syria has a military capable of at least attempting resistance to outside strikes. Mr. Kerry met one-on-one with Mr. Fabius on Sunday, but State Department officials declined to provide details about the meeting. One State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity with reporters, said only that “the bulk of the meeting was devoted to working together to build the coalition to counter” the Islamic State. Mr. Kerry met privately with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Monday. | 2 |
Democratic presidential hopefuls will once again crowd on stage at their third debate, set to air on ABC News on Thursday. Ten candidates will be on hand to have their say. Voters are not keen on the idea. “Most voters — including a majority of Democratic primary voters — still believe there will be too many candidates on the stage,” reports a new Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday. It found that 54% of all voters say that the number of White House hopefuls “is more than enough.” The survey found that 53% of Democratic voters agree with that. There is some tolerance here, though. A third of Democratic primary voters say the debate stage will have “just the right amount of candidates.” The stage likely will be more crowded in the future. “Voters already unhappy with the size of the debate stage on Thursday are set to be disappointed: Eleven candidates have already qualified for the next debate in October, with several more on the fringes,” noted a Politico analysis of the future event. “This virtually ensures that there will be either a larger stage or a second night of debates, as the DNC has previously said it does not plan to feature more than 10 candidates on the same debate stage,” the analysis said. The Politico/Morning Consult poll was conducted Sept. 7-8 online among a national sample of 1,998 registered voters | 2 |
When it comes to #MeToo sexual misconduct issues, former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic Party's presumptive 2020 presidential nominee, has made it no secret where he stands: automatically believe women.
"For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you've got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she's talking about is real," said Biden during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who faced accusations that as a teenager he had assaulted a woman at a party.
As vice president, Biden played an important role in the Obama administration's efforts to compel colleges and universities to take sexual violence more seriously—and to adopt policies that limited the due process rights and presumption of innocence for the accused. In recent years, his rhetoric on these issues has been in lockstep with #MeToo activists.
Despite his public pronunciations on the subject of never touching women without their explicit verbal consent, Biden has previously faced accusations that he was too handsy with people. But now the former vice president is facing a much more serious accusation of sexual assault, from an alleged former staffer named Tara Reade.
It remains to be seen whether the mainstream media will assign Reade's story as much credibility and importance as that of Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Kavanaugh; they certainly have not done so yet. In any case, supporters of Biden—as well as the candidate himself—should take this opportunity to reflect on whether automatic belief is a useful or practical approach for handling decades' old claims of misconduct.
Reade describes herself as a "California-based victim rights advocate and activist" in her interview with the journalist Katie Halper, who has helped bring this accusation to light. Reade says she worked for Biden in the early 1990s and asserts that she was unambiguously assaulted by him in 1993. According to Reade, he began kissing her without her permission, pushed her against a wall, reached under her skirt, and penetrated her with his fingers.
"He said 'come on man, I heard you liked me,'" Reade recalled to Halper in the interview. "For me, it was like, everything shattered. I looked up to him, he was like my father's age, he was this champion of women's rights, in my eyes. I couldn't believe it was happening. It was surreal."
Reade had already complained to her bosses about sexual harassment in Biden's office—she said a supervisor had once asked her to serve drinks at an event because she had attractive legs—but had shared the more serious accusation against Biden with a few close confidants. She said she once tried to talk to a supervisor about what had happened, but this person shut her down before she could tell the whole story. She also said she filled out an official form detailing her assault, but does not know what became of it.
A year ago, Reade—who supported the campaigns of Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.)—attempted to come forward with stories of sexual harassment in Biden's offices. As detailed in an Intercept piece, she reached out to Time's Up, a project of the National Women's Law Center that provides support to alleged #MeToo victims. Time's Up declined to assist Reade; the organization's official excuse was that a feud with a national political candidate could jeopardize their status as a 501(c)(3) non-partisan group. But as The Intercept also notes:
The public relations firm that works on behalf of the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund is SKDKnickerbocker, whose managing director, Anita Dunn, is the top adviser to Biden's presidential campaign. A spokesperson for Biden declined to comment. The SKDK spokesperson assigned to Time's Up referred questions back to the NWLC.
The mainstream media has given Reade little attention. She was interviewed on Hill.TV by Krystall Ball and Saagar Enjeti (whose populist impulses often put them at odds with the establishments of both parties), but The New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN have all declined to cover the story thus far.
The anti-Biden left, however, has seized the opportunity. #IBelieveTaraReade was trending on Twitter on Thursday. Nathan Robinson, editor of the leftist publication Current Affairs, has criticized MSNBC and CNN for failing to cover the story.
It's a really shocking interview and I'm not sure how people can support Biden after hearing it. https://t.co/BkzjVG9gq3
— Nathan J Robinson (@NathanJRobinson) March 26, 2020
Sanders supporters, of course, have every incentive to weaponize this last-minute accusation against Biden in an attempt to deny him the nomination. And Biden fans have every reason to roll their eyes at these attempts; they can write off Reade as someone who, at the very least, waited too long to tell her story, and was a supporter of rival campaigns.
Both sides have a point. Barring the emergence of some really credible documentation, it's going to be nearly impossible to informally adjudicate—formal adjudication being absolutely impossible—the accusation. Too much time has passed.
On the other hand, the very recent precedent set by the mainstream media and mainstream liberals during the Kavanaugh episode is that all accusations should be revisited, no matter how old. Indeed, one could make a better argument for considering Reade's accusation than Blasey Ford's: the latter concerns behavior that occurred during the accused person's teenage years in the early 1980s, whereas Biden allegedly committed his transgression while a sitting U.S. senator. And again, Biden himself has taken the position that we should believe women even if it takes them a very, very long time to come forward.
It seems unlikely the Reade accusation can sink Biden's candidacy, but whether Democratic primary voters and the mainstream media are willing to air it out as they did Kavanaugh's will tell us a lot about what "believe all women" actually means. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The Senate approved Chuck Hagel's nomination for Defense secretary Tuesday, ending a contentious battle that exposed deep divisions over the president's Pentagon pick.After Republicans blocked the nomination earlier this month, they ultimately allowed for an up-or-down vote on Tuesday. The margin was historically close, with 58 senators supporting him and 41 opposing in the end.Though Hagel is himself a former Republican senator, the resistance to his nomination showed an unusual level of distrust among many senators toward the man chosen to lead the Defense Department -- at a time when the country is trying to wind down the Afghanistan war, while assessing emerging threats from Iran, Syria and elsewhere in the turbulent Middle East and North Africa.Republicans had earlier held up the nomination largely over demands for more information from the Obama administration on the Sept. 11 Libya attacks.But they also raised serious and recurring concerns about Hagel's record of past statements and votes on everything from Israel to Iran to nuclear weapons.Sen. John McCain, a leading Republican, clashed with his onetime friend over his opposition to President George W. Bush's decision to send an extra 30,000 troops to Iraq in 2007 at a point when the war seemed in danger of being lost. Hagel, who voted to authorize military force in Iraq, later opposed the conflict, comparing it to Vietnam and arguing that it shifted the focus from Afghanistan.McCain called Hagel unqualified for the Pentagon job even though he once described him as fit for a Cabinet post.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asked what the delaying tactics had done for "my Republican colleagues.""Twelve days later, nothing. Nothing has changed," the Democrat said on the Senate floor. "Sen. Hagel's exemplary record of service to his country remains untarnished."Reid blamed partisanship over Obama's second-term national security team for the delay. Both Reid and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat, warned that it was imperative to act just days before automatic, across-the-board budget cuts hit the Pentagon.Hagel will succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and join Obama's retooled national security team. Hagel's nomination bitterly split the Senate, with Republicans turning on their former party colleague and Democrats standing by Obama's nominee.Republicans also challenged Hagel about a May 2012 study that he co-authored for the advocacy group Global Zero, which called for an 80 percent reduction of U.S. nuclear weapons and the eventual elimination of all the world's nuclear arms.The group argued that with the Cold War over, the United States can reduce its total nuclear arsenal to 900 without sacrificing security. Currently, the U.S. and Russia have about 5,000 warheads each, either deployed or in reserve. Both countries are on track to reduce their deployed strategic warheads to 1,550 by 2018, the number set in the New START treaty that the Senate ratified in December 2010.In an echo of the 2012 presidential campaign, Hagel faced an onslaught of criticism by well-funded, Republican-leaning outside groups that labeled the former senator "anti-Israel" and pressured senators to oppose the nomination. The groups ran television and print ads criticizing Hagel.Opponents were particularly incensed by Hagel's use of the term "Jewish lobby" to refer to pro-Israel groups. He apologized, saying he should have used another term and should not have said those groups have intimidated members of the Senate into favoring actions contrary to U.S. interests.The nominee spent weeks reaching out to members of the Senate, meeting individually with lawmakers to address their concerns and seeking to reassure them about his policies.Hagel's halting and inconsistent performance during some eight hours of testimony at this confirmation hearing last month undercut his cause, but it wasn't a fatal blow.There was no erosion in Democratic support for the president's choice and Hagel already had the backing of three Republicans -- Sens. Thad Cochran, Mike Johanns and Richard Shelby. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also switched to support Hagel in the final vote.The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
President Trump has asserted executive privilege over a host of documents related to the decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, the Justice Department said Wednesday, thwarting Congressional Democrats’ attempts to subpoena the materials. Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd alerted the House Oversight Committee of the move in a letter, saying Democrats had soured the chances for cooperation by moving to hold Attorney General William P. Barr in contempt of Congress. “By proceeding with today’s vote, you have abandoned the accommodation process with respect to your requests and subpoenas for documents concerning the secretary’s decision to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census,” Mr. Boyd said. Democrats believe there were shenanigans behind the inclusion of the citizenship question, which they argue will scare illegal immigrants and even legal Hispanic residents from replying to the census. The legality of adding the question to the 2020 count is currently being decided by the Supreme Court. But Democrats are conducting their own investigation on Capitol Hill, and Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings issued a subpoena for documents from the Commerce Department, which oversees the census, and the Justice Department, which requested the citizenship question. Frustrated at the slow process of getting the documents and what he felt was administration obstruction, Mr. Cummings had scheduled a vote to recommend holding Mr. Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress. As he kicked off the contempt proceedings Wednesday, Mr. Cummings said the administration “waited until the last minute” to assert privilege, which he called part of Mr. Trump’s “blanket defiance.” “This does not appear to be an effort to engage in good faith negotiations or accommodations,” he said. The escalation of the clash — both Mr. Cummings’ contempt proceedings and Mr. Trump’s privilege assertion — likely puts the documents even further out of reach of Mr. Cummings, at least for the time being. In his letter, Mr. Boyd said the documents were either part of deliberations, attorney-client communications or attorney work product — all of which are protected by executive privilege. Mr. Boyd said Mr. Trump’s move was a “protective assertion,” giving the president a chance to make a final decision on documents after a full review. “Regrettably, you have made these assertions necessary by your insistence upon scheduling a premature contempt vote,” he wrote. | 2 |
Outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) is not going to leave quietly into the night. He’s continuing his role as the GOP’s biggest pain in the a** by declaring he will block further judicial nominations until the Senate brings up legislation to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller. With Jeff Sessions being fired as attorney general, Matt Whitaker has become the acting chief at the Justice Department. Whitaker has slammed the Mueller probe, which is looking into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians during the 2016 election, and has declared he has no intention of recusing himself. He’s in a position to oversee the investigation, which has given congressional Democrats an ample amount of heartburn. There have been calls for special legislation to be passed to protect Mueller and the investigation from Democrats. Flake has decided to assume the role of Benedict Arnold again. With Flake being the deciding vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the gentleman from Arizona has made himself an obstacle…again (via The Hill):Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said on Wednesday that he will oppose any of President Trump's judicial nominations until legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller gets a vote."I have informed the majority leader I will not vote to advance any of the 21 judicial nominees pending in the Judiciary Committee or vote to confirm the 32 judges awaiting confirmation on the Senate floor until ... [the bill] is brought to the full Senate for a vote," Flake said from the Senate floor.Flake's threat will block the Judiciary Committee from approving judicial nominations and sending them to the full Senate without help from Democrats. Republicans hold a 11-10 majority on the panel and many of the most controversial nominees pass along party lines, meaning they would need either Flake's vote or a Democratic senator to flip.On the Senate floor, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has slightly more leeway. With a 51-49 majority, Flake would need a Republican colleague to join him and every Democrat to block a judicial nominee on the Senate floor..@JeffFlake announces on the floor he has informed McConnell he will not for any judicial nominees on the floor or in the Judiciary Committee until the Mueller protection bill gets a floor vote— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) November 14, 2018Flake: "I have informed the Majority Leader that I will not vote to advance any of the 21 judicial nominees pending in the Judiciary Committee, or vote to confirm the 32 judges awaiting a confirmation vote on the floor, until S. 2644 is brought to the full Senate for a vote."— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) November 14, 2018NEW: @JeffFlake says he will not vote to advance any of of the 21 judicial nominees pending in the judicial committee, or vote to confirm the 32 judges awaiting confirmation on the Senate floor until the Mueller protection bill is brought up for a full vote on the Senate floor.— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) November 14, 2018Flake had threatened to hold up judicial nominees in June as bargaining chips in the debate over Trump’s position of tariffs and travel restrictions to Cuba. This man can't leave Washington soon enough. | 2 |
President Trump’s eldest son said Sunday that there was more to his meeting with a Russian lawyer last year than previously acknowledged, prompting fresh speculation about Trump campaign intrigue with the Kremlin. In a startling switch, however, Donald Trump Jr. said the lawyer claimed Russia was working to help Hillary Clinton’s campaign. When the New York Times first reported the meeting Saturday, the younger Mr. Trump issued a statement saying the meeting was focused mainly on a discontinued program for U.S. adoptions of Russian children. He issued a new statement Sunday, acknowledging the meeting was set up by an acquaintance he knew from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow who said the lawyer might have information helpful to the Trump campaign. The meeting in June 2016 with a lawyer with Kremlin ties, who was later identified as Natalia Veselnitskaya, was also attended by Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and top advisor Jared Kushner and Trump campaign chairman Paul J. Manafort. The younger Mr. Trump said that during the meeting Ms. Vesenlantskaya claimed to have information that “individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee” and supporting Clinton. “No details or supporting information was provided or even offered,” the younger Mr. Trump said in a statement. “It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information.” He said no details or supporting information was ever offered, and that his father was unaware of the meeting. Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Trump’s legal team, said the president was “not aware of and did not attend the meeting.” The younger Mr. Trump had not disclosed the meeting prior to the news report. Mr. Kushner, who works as a top adviser to the president, later reported the meeting on White House disclosure forms. The president’s opponents in the U.S. seized on the story as fresh evidence of possible collusion. The FBI has uncovered no evidence of collusion after a yearlong investigation, but they continue, including a Justice Department special counsel probe that began in May. • This article is based in part on wire service reports. | 2 |
Thomas Barrack, who spearheaded the inaugural fund for former President Donald Trump in 2017, was arrested and charged Tuesday with illegal foreign lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. The Justice Department unveiled a seven-count indictment charging Barrack and his co-defendants related to “unlawful efforts to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates in the United States at the direction of senior UAE officials by influencing the foreign policy positions of the campaign of a candidate in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and, subsequently, the foreign policy positions of the U.S. government in the incoming administration, as well as seeking to influence public opinion in favor of UAE interests.” Barrack, the founder of private equity firm Colony Capital, was charged along with employee Matthew Grimes of Colorado and UAE national Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, with the trio accused of “acting and conspiring to act as agents of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018.” Barrack was also hit with charges related to obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements during a June 2019 interview with federal law enforcement, with investigators saying Barrack “falsely” denied that Alshahhi had ever asked him to take any actions on behalf of the UAE. Barrack served as an informal Trump campaign adviser in 2016 and as the chairman of Trump’s presidential inaugural committee between November 2016 and January 2017 after his victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Robert Mueller’s special counsel report stated that Barrack and longtime Trump associate Roger Stone “both recommended” that Trump hire Paul Manafort to run his presidential campaign and that “in early 2016, at Manafort’s request, Barrack suggested to Trump that Manafort join the Campaign to manage the Republican Convention.” Manafort and Stone would both be convicted of crimes stemming from Mueller’s investigation. The Justice Department said Barrack “informally advised senior U.S. government officials on issues related to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East” beginning in early 2017 and “also sought appointment to a senior role in the U.S. government, including the role of Special Envoy to the Middle East.” The 46-page indictment against Barrack, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, contended that Barrack sent Alshahhi a text message in April 2017 stating that Trump had discussed appointing him as either U.S. ambassador to the UAE or special envoy to the Middle East, which Barrack told Alshahhi “would give Abu Dhabi more power!” Alshahhi allegedly replied, “This will be great for us. And make you deliver more. Very effective operation.” Barrack then allegedly said this would also be “great for u!” And Alshahhi told him that senior UAE officials “love the idea” of Barrack potentially getting appointed and would support him. “The defendants repeatedly capitalized on Barrack’s friendships and access to a candidate who was eventually elected President, high-ranking campaign and government officials, and the American media to advance the policy goals of a foreign government without disclosing their true allegiances,” acting Assistant Attorney General Mark Lesko of the DOJ’s National Security Division said Tuesday. “The conduct alleged in the indictment is nothing short of a betrayal of those officials in the United States, including the former President. Through this indictment, we are putting everyone — regardless of their wealth or perceived political power — on notice that the Department of Justice will enforce the prohibition of this sort of undisclosed foreign influence.” The Justice Department said Barrack used his “status as a senior outside advisor to the campaign and, subsequently, to senior U.S. government officials, to advance the interests of and provide intelligence to the UAE” while failing to register with the DOJ as required by law, noting that Barrack — “directly and through Alshahhi and Grimes — was regularly and repeatedly in contact with the senior leadership of the UAE government” and that on multiple occasions, he referred to Alshahhi as the UAE’s “secret weapon” to advance its foreign policy agenda in the U.S. Barrack also “inserted language praising the UAE into a campaign speech” in May 2016 and “emailed an advance draft of the speech to Alshahhi for delivery to senior UAE officials,” according to the DOJ. Barrack and Grimes further “solicited direction from senior UAE officials in advance of the publication of an op-ed authored by Barrack” in October 2016, the Justice Department said, and “removed certain language at the direction of senior UAE officials, as relayed by Alshahhi.” Investigators said “throughout 2016 and 2017, the defendants sought and received direction and feedback, including talking points, from senior UAE officials in connection with national press appearances Barrack used to promote the interests of the UAE.” Barack and his co-defendants also “repeatedly acted at the direction of UAE officials to influence the foreign policy positions of the incoming administration in favor of UAE interests” after Trump won, DOJ said, with Barrack attending a December 2016 meeting with Grimes, Alshahhi, and senior UAE government officials at which he allegedly advised them to make a “wish list” of U.S. foreign policy items that the UAE wanted accomplished during the Trump administration. The DOJ said Barrack “agreed to promote the candidacy of an individual favored by senior UAE officials for the position of U.S. Ambassador to the UAE” in May 2017 and also “agreed to provide Alshahhi with non-public information about the views and reactions of senior U.S. government officials following a White House meeting between senior U.S. officials and senior UAE officials.” The Justice Department said “Alshahhi communicated with Barrack about the opposition of the UAE to a proposed summit at Camp David to address an ongoing dispute between the State of Qatar, the UAE, and other Middle Eastern governments” in September 2017, “after which Barrack sought to advise the President of the United States against holding the Camp David summit.” DOJ noted that “the summit never happened.” Barrack stepped down as CEO of Colony Capital in 2020 and resigned as its chairman in April. “American citizens have a right to know when foreign governments, or their agents, are attempting to exert influence on our government,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge William Sweeney Jr. said on Tuesday. “This is especially important to Americans during a presidential election year, and the laws on the books were created to protect our nation from such untoward influence. This case is about secret attempts to influence our highest officials, and when that corrupt behavior was discovered, we allege Mr. Barrack went even further, obstructing and lying to FBI special agents.” Earlier this month, Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, was indicted on 15 felony charges pertaining to what prosecutors called over a decade of tax evasion. Investigators indicated that the 74-year-old dodged Internal Revenue Service payments on $1.7 million in income after he was seen parading through a courtroom in New York City. The charges resulted from a yearslong inquiry into the 45th president, his associates, and the Trump Organization. Trump himself has not faced charges. | 2 |
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign manager resigned Friday amid fallout from a scandal in Iowa involving a presidential campaign he worked for in 2012. Jesse Benton said he didn’t want to become a distraction as McConnell tries to win a tough re-election campaign in Kentucky. “This decision breaks my heart, but I know it is the right thing for Mitch, for Kentucky and for the country,” Benton said in a statement. Benton’s resignation, effective Saturday, comes barely two months before Kentucky voters choose between McConnell, a five-term incumbent and the top-ranking Senate Republican, and Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes. In Iowa this week, former state Sen. Kent Sorenson pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from his switch of support from one Republican presidential candidate to another before the 2012 Iowa caucuses. He received thousands of dollars in “under the table payments” before switching loyalties from candidate Michele Bachmann, whose Iowa campaign he headed, to candidate Ron Paul, then lied to federal investigators about the money, the Justice Department said. Prosecutors refused to say which campaign paid Sorenson. A representative for Bachmann didn’t immediately return voice and email messages seeking comment Friday. A phone message for Paul also wasn’t immediately returned. Benton, a tea party insider, worked as a top aide to Paul. On Friday he said that he has been the target of “inaccurate press accounts and unsubstantiated media rumors” about his role in past campaigns that are “politically motivated, unfair and, most importantly, untrue.” In a separate statement Friday, McConnell’s campaign said the senator “obviously has nothing to do with the Iowa presidential caucus or this investigation, so it would be inappropriate for his campaign to comment on this situation.” Charly Norton, a spokeswoman for the Grimes campaign, said in a statement, “Sen. McConnell owes the people of Kentucky a full account of what he knew and when he knew it.” Benton was mentioned in documents gathered during an Iowa state ethics probe of Sorenson, a complaint to the Federal Election Commission and e-mails purported to be from the Ron Paul campaign obtained by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, which monitors federal campaign finance issues, The Courier-Journal of Louisville reported. Benton’s hiring to oversee McConnell’s campaign was seen as a way to appeal to more conservative elements of the Kentucky GOP. McConnell eventually faced a tea party-inspired opponent in the Republican primary, which he easily won. Early in the campaign, Benton gained unwanted attention with the airing of a recording in which he was heard saying he was “holding my nose” to work for McConnell’s re-election campaign. Benton managed Rand Paul’s successful U.S. Senate campaign in Kentucky in 2010. Rand Paul is Ron Paul’s son. In his statement Friday, Benton said he was troubled that media reports risked “unfairly undermining and becoming a distraction to this re-election campaign.” “I cannot, and will not, allow any possibility that my circumstances will affect the voters’ ability to hear his (McConnell’s) message and assess his record,” he said. “This election is far too important and the stakes are way too high.” Benton said he was leaving the campaign with “a top-flight team of incredible people that are working tirelessly to ensure Mitch’s re-election. They are a finely oiled machine and will not skip a beat without me.” Copyright © 2022 The Washington Times, LLC. | 2 |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring in the United States jumped last month to its highest level since January as U.S. employers shrugged off global trade conflicts and added 266,000 jobs. The unemployment rate declined to 3.5% from 3.6% in October, matching a half-century low, the Labor Department reported Friday. And wages rose a solid 3.1% in November compared with a year earlier. The healthy job gain runs against a widespread view that businesses are struggling to find workers with unemployment so low. Persistent hiring should help keep consumers spending - a key engine of growth as businesses have cut their investment spending and exports have stalled. Monthly job growth has in fact accelerated since this summer, averaging 205,000 over the past three months, up from just 135,000 in July. Steady hiring has helped reassure consumers that the economy is expanding and that their jobs and incomes remain secure, which, in turn, has helped fuel spending. Consumer spending has become an even more important driver of growth because the Trump administration’s trade conflicts have reduced exports and led many businesses to cut spending. Renewed concerns that trade will continue to hamper the U.S. economy drove stock prices lower earlier this week, after President Trump said he was willing to wait until after the 2020 elections to strike a preliminary trade agreement with China. With the two sides still haggling, the administration is set to impose 15% tariffs on an additional $160 billion of Chinese imports beginning Dec. 15. Both sides have since suggested that the negotiations are making progress, but there is still no sign of a resolution. Hiring in the United States has remained mostly healthy this year despite the trade war. Even so, Trump’s combative use of import taxes, combined with retaliatory tariffs by China and Europe, has stalled job growth in manufacturing. Employers have been hiring at a solid enough pace to absorb new job seekers and to potentially lower the unemployment rate, though the pace of job growth is down from last year. The holiday shopping season has begun later this year compared with previous years, a fact that some economists think might have delayed hiring by retailers and shipping firms last month. With tariffs hobbling manufacturing, the job market this year has underscored a bifurcation in the economy: Service industries — finance, engineering, health care and the like — have been hiring at a solid pace, while manufacturers, miners and builders have been posting weak numbers. Despite the raging trade tensions, most analysts say they remain hopeful about the economy and the job market. The economy grew at a 2.1% annual rate in the July-September quarter, and the annual pace is thought to be slowing to roughly 1.5% to 2% in the final three months of the year — sluggish but far from recessionary. Consumer confidence has slipped in recent months but remains at a decent level, helping boost sales of expensive purchases, such as autos and appliances. With inflation surprisingly low, the Federal Reserve has cut its benchmark short-term interest rate three times this year. Those rate cuts have helped support the housing market. Sales of existing homes have risen nearly 5% in the past year. Sales of new homes have soared by one-third. Copyright © 2022 The Washington Times, LLC. | 2 |
President Donald Trump will visit the cities where this weekend's mass shootings took place, according to news reports.
El Paso, Texas Mayor Dee Margo said at a news conference Monday the president will visit the city Wednesday, and Federal Aviation Administration adviseries suggest Trump will be in Dayton on the same day.
Margo, a Republican, has been a critic of Trump and earlier this year would not meet with him while he was in El Paso.
But he said Monday he would meet with him under his capacity as mayor and ask Trump for federal help.
"He is president of the United States, so in that capacity, I will fulfill my obligations as mayor of El Paso and hope that if we are expressing specifics that we can get him to come through for us," Margo said.
The mayor also said he will continue to defend the city against attacks against its character, presumably by Trump.
"I don't know how we deal with evil," Margo said. "I don't have a textbook for dealing with it other than the Bible. I'm sorry. We are going to go through this. The president is coming out. I will meet with the president. I guess for people who have lots of time on their hands, I will deal with the emails and phone calls." © 2022 Newsmax. All rights reserved. | 2 |
Nearly 40 House Democrats defied President Obama and helped the Republican majority pass a bill Friday that lets Americans keep, for one year, health plans that do not comply with Obamacare. The defections from 39 members of Mr. Obama’s party highlighted the pressure on Congress to help people who lost coverage because of the president’s signature law, as balky websites keep a veil over alternative plans and pressure mounts on the Democrat-led Senate to forge a remedy. “Let’s face it, millions of people right now have a cancelled policy,” Rep. Ron Barber, Arizona Democrat, said before voting for the Keep Your Health Plan Act. The House passed the bill, 261 to 157, despite a veto threat from Mr. Obama and objections from Democrats who said the legislation was an insidious attempt to rot the Affordable Care Act from the inside out. Four Republicans voted against the bill, perhaps because it could be viewed as an attempt to smooth over Mr. Obama’s controversial reforms. Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan Republican, offered the bill at the height of furor over Mr. Obama’s oft-repeated promise that people who liked their health plans could keep them. Millions of Americans received cancellation notices because their plans did not meet the health care law’s coverage requirements, forcing the president to apologize as vulnerable Democrats scrambled to find a legislative solution. Rampant glitches on the HealthCare.gov website — a federal portal that connects 36 states with plans under Obamcare — have intensified the problem, because people losing their policies cannot explore their options. Mr. Barber said some Arizonans are “beside themselves.” “Because by December 31 they don’t have health coverage, and they can’t get on the exchange to find out what’s available,” he told reporters. Mr. Obama announced an administrative remedy on Thursday that permits insurers to offer a one-year renewal to people who hold noncompliant plans, and Senate Democrats are pushing legislation that would let existing enrollees hold onto their plans indefinitely. The Republican-led bill goes further, allowing new enrollees to gain current health plans that do not comply with Obamacare. Democratic opponents of the bill said the GOP offered a hocus-pocus fix that amounts to yet another attempt to repeal Mr. Obama’s signature law. “It basically allows them to sell low-quality 2013 plans all through 2014, nothing else,” Rep. Frank Pallone, New Jersey Democrat, said. Rep. Jim McGovern, Massachusetts Democrat, deemed it a “colossal waste of time.” The White House said Mr. Obama would veto the House bill because it would likely increase the number of people with barebones plans, undermining Obamacare’s attempts to offer better protections through state-based insurance markets. If too many young and healthy people keep noncompliant plans, a high proportion of sicker consumers on the exchanges — people with preexisting conditions can no longer be denied — would cause premiums to rise and spoil Mr. Obama’s overhaul. “The Administration supports policies that allow people to keep the health plans that they have,” the White House said in a statement of administration policy. “But, policies that reverse the progress made to extend quality, affordable coverage to millions of uninsured, hardworking, middle class families are not the solution.” The House voted shortly before Mr. Obama met with insurance company executives at the White House. The president made no mention of his renewal proposal in remarks before the meeting. Instead, he said they would be “brainstorming” ways to make Americans aware of their coverage options. “Because of choice and competition, a whole lot of Americans who’ve always seen health insurance out of reach are going to be in a position to purchase it,” he said. But Mr. Obama’s administrative decision has some state insurance commissioners worried. The logistics of grabbing back people who received cancellation notices are murky, they said, and it may prevent customers from contributing to a robust exchange in their respective states. Rep. John Fleming, Louisiana Republican, said Mr. Obama’s fix “really only offers political cover for Democrats. It doesn’t really do anything substantial.” He said the Upton bill is a step in the right direction, but he is working on legislation that lets Americans “meet the individual mandate as long as you purchase insurance that you like that you’re comfortable with.” “What I’d like to do is actually put in effect rules and regulation and laws that actually allow that [individual] market to come back together again,” he said, an idea that would surely roil Mr. Obama’s plans to build balanced exchanges through his law. GOP lawmakers insisted they like to scrap the whole law, despite their vote to amend Obamacare’s problems. “It is merely to stop the bleeding,” Rep. Michael Burgess, Texas Republican, said. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was struck by mortar fire Sunday evening in the latest attack on American targets in Iraq, sources told Fox News.A senior U.S. defense official said all Pentagon officials were safe and accounted for. There were no reported deaths or injuries. The official initially described it as rocket fire, but military sources told Fox News on Monday the attack involved 60-mm mortars, not Katyusha rockets. The sources said of the three mortars fired, one hit the roof of the dining hall, injuring a civilian contractor, one mortar landed short and the third did not explode.“The security situation remains tense and Iranian-backed armed groups remain a threat. So, we remain vigilant,” a State Department spokesperson told Fox News.Former Deputy Prime Minister Hoshyar Zebari blamed the attack on an “unruly militia.” “The Embassy restaurant or canteen was damaged and burned. This is a very dangerous game by #PMF uncontrolled factions to galvanize the tense situation. It must stop,” he tweeted, referring to the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq. Separately, five Katyusha rockets crashed into a riverbank in the city's Green Zone without causing any injuries or serious damages, a statement from U.S. Joint Operations Command said.IRANIAN MISSILE ATTACK ON US BASE IN IRAQ LEFT 34 SOLDIERS WITH CONCUSSIONS, PENTAGON SAYSIraq Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi condemned the attack that targeted the U.S. Embassy. In a statement, he asserted Iraq's commitment to "protecting all diplomatic missions."The city has been on edge after hundreds of anti-government protesters flooded the streets on Sunday, defying a powerful religious leader who recently withdrew his support from the popular movement. Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP)Security forces fired tear gas and live rounds to disperse the crowds from Baghdad's Khilani Square, medical and security officials said. One protester was killed and six wounded after security forces fired live rounds in nearby Wathba Square later in the evening.Iraqi security forces reportedly wounded at least 28 demonstrators in the first hours of Sunday's street rallies.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Sunday’s attack came after Iran launched ballistic missiles on two military bases in Iraq where U.S. troops have been stationed, in retaliation for a drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top military general. Dozens of troops were said to have been diagnosed with brain injuries, but no one was killed in the attacks. Fox News' Nick Kalman and The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
President Donald Trump was briefed Thursday night about the monthly employment report issued Friday morning in Washington and signaled in advance that the numbers were going to be favorable, breaking with past practice of presidents who avoided disclosure of market-sensitive information.
“Looking forward to seeing the employment numbers at 8:30 this morning,” the president tweeted at 7:21 a.m. in Washington.
Looking forward to seeing the employment numbers at 8:30 this morning.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2018 The Department of Labor reported at 8:30 a.m. that unemployment in the U.S. had dropped to its lowest level since 1969 as the economy added a higher-than-expected 223,000 jobs in May.
Larry Kudlow, director of Trump’s National Economic Council, said in a brief interview that Trump had the numbers last night and his tweet wasn’t meant to signal a positive report. “I don’t think he gave anything away” in the tweet, Kudlow said in a separate interview with CNBC.
The breach of precedent is just the latest in a string of instances in which Trump has broken with normal presidential practice. Just this week, he pardoned Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative commentator convicted of breaking campaign finance law. Presidents usually hold off on controversial clemency decisions until their terms are nearly over.
Trump’s social-media post was met with tepid reaction in financial markets, where investors assess more than just the headline numbers. U.S. stocks jumped in early trading. After Trump’s tweet, the two-year Treasury yield climbed one basis point, while the dollar stayed flat.
Some White House officials get access to the monthly employment data the day before the report is released publicly, and the president is routinely briefed on the numbers on Thursday. Most jobs reports are released on the first Friday of each month. There are government procedures for officials who handle undisclosed numbers that require a delay of commenting until one hour after they’re released.
“They’re treated like state secrets,” Alan Krueger, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration, said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio before the employment report came out.
The jobs report also showed wage gains -- mediocre for years -- exceeded estimates, rising 2.7 percent from a year earlier.
“It doesn’t look good,” said Mark Hamrick, Bankrate.com’s senior economic analyst. “As has been said so many times by the president’s supporters as well as his critics, this is another case where it would be better for President Trump would be wise to spend his time doing something other than tweeting.”
Omair Sharif, a senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale, said the tweet creates a conundrum for traders ahead of future jobs reports.
“I don’t know if people should object, but it adds a little extra uncertainty prior to the release that could impact what people in the market are thinking just before the data come out,” he said. “If don’t get a tweet next time, people will think it’s going to be a bad print.” © Copyright 2022 Bloomberg News. All rights reserved. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Demonstrators from coast-to-coast boisterously -- yet for the most part peacefully -- rallied Sunday in protest of a long-awaited verdict that acquitted Floridian George Zimmerman in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.However, sporadic reports of vandalism trickled out of West Coast cities like Oakland, including the halt of a passenger train, the burning of American and California flags, the lighting of small fires in city roadways, shattered storefront windows and the spray painting of a courthouse, as well as the damaging of a police squad car. Protesters massed there Saturday evening just after the verdict was rendered by a six-person, all-female jury around 10 p.m. ET."I know this case has elicited strong passions. And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher," President Obama said in a statement released Sunday. "I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son."In New York City, hundreds of protesters marched into Times Square on Sunday night, zigzagging through Manhattan's streets to avoid police lines.Sign-carrying marchers thronged the busy intersection, chanting "Justice for! Trayvon Martin!" as they made their way from Union Square.More On This... Some tempered their anger, saying they didn't contest the jury's decision based on the legal issues involved.But "while the verdict may be legal, a system that doesn't take into account what happened is a broken legal system," said Jennifer Lue, 24, an Asian-American resident of Harlem.Rev. Jacqueline Lewis told the Middle Collegiate Church congregation in Manhattan Sunday morning, "We're going to raise our voices against the root causes of this kind of tragedy," while Baptist Pastor Jack Hakimian reportedly expressed disappointment and resignation at the Impact Miami Church in North Miami.In South Florida, a wary populace awoke to relative calm Sunday, as fears of mass and violent protests proved unfounded in the face of a highly-visible police presence. "I haven’t seen any evidence of problems yet, and hopefully there won’t be any," Ed Shohat, a Miami-Dade’s Community Relations Board member, told The Miami Herald. "We do not believe (violence) will happen. Frankly, Miami is a … more mature community than … 25, 30 years ago when we had violent reactions to criminal court verdicts."Meanwhile, Mark O'Mara, who defended Zimmerman at trial, suggested his client’s safety was at risk. "There still is a fringe element that wants revenge," O'Mara said. "They won't listen to a verdict of not guilty."However, Martin supporters -- for the most part -- somberly grieved the verdict in a non-violent fashion.Some detractors of the verdict spoke of a lingering and ineffable sadness, which they sought to privately assuage through the comfort of family and friends. Others convened in places of worship -- and in so-called First Amendment Zones erected by authorities -- especially for peaceful demonstration.At a youth service in Sanford, Fla., where the trial was held, teens wearing shirts displaying Martin's picture wiped away tears during a sermon at the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church.In South Florida, Miami pastors planned to convene Sunday at 2 p.m. for a vigil at North Miami City Hall, while others awaited a second, scheduled service at 6 p.m. at the Torch of Friendship at Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami, according to CBS Local in Miami.Overnight in Oakland, police said about 100 people protested, with some among the crowd breaking windows and starting fires in the streets. As the protest eventually fizzled, the office of police information added that it had no word of any arrests as of 2 a.m. local time.However, some Oakland marchers reportedly vandalized a police squad car, and police were -- at one point - forced to form a line to block the protesters' path.The Oakland Tribune reported some downtown office windows had been shattered, and footage from a television helicopter portrayed people starting fires in the street and spray painting anti-police graffiti. Protesters, there, also reportedly burned an American, and California state flag and spray painted Alameda County's Davidson courthouse.Meanwhile, in San Francisco, raucous, yet peaceful protesters marched on the city’s Mission District neighborhood; while about 200 in Los Angeles convened for a vigil in Leimart Park, the city’s historically black neighborhood. City News Service in Los Angeles reported at one point that a smaller group halted an Expo Line train, somewhere within the city, but police could not immediately confirm details of that account.Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Andy Neiman said another group of 50 to 100 demonstrators marched around midnight."There was a period where crowds were running among vehicles, but police dissuaded them," he reportedly said, although he added that he knew of no arrests.More than 40 people gathered at City Hall in Sacramento, and the Sacramento Bee reported protesters riotously chanting: "What do we want? Justice. When do you we want it? Now. For who? Trayvon." Meanwhile, a banner unfurled behind the speakers read, "No justice, no peace!" as the crowd cried out in unison.In Florida late Saturday and into Sunday, media outlets reported mostly subdued sadness, and no violence or large gatherings.“I’m sad,” was the only response Miami Gardens barber Steve Bass could muster to the Miami Herald, when asked for his opinion regarding the verdict. Bass had reportedly cut Trayvon Martin’s hair since the teen was a toddler.Outside the Seminole County courthouse, where the trial took place, the Orlando Sentinel reported that a bewildered crowd of about 150 received the not-guilty verdict with chants of, "No justice, no peace."Some civic officials weighed in, with Miami-Dade Commissioner Jean Monestime telling The Herald via email, “The jury’s verdict in the murder trial of George Zimmerman is extremely disappointing. As a father of two boys, this case was personal. We should honor the life of Trayvon Benjamin Martin with a peaceful, non-violent response to the verdict.”Just moments after the verdict was delivered, a Miami-Dade Police spokesman told The Herald that the department was warily watching developments across the southern Florida city.“We’re playing it by ear, just like everybody else,” Detective Javier Baez said, adding Miami police had made “minor” changes to its Sunday routine, ordering officers who would normally report in plain clothes to don uniforms on Sunday. “Everyone knows to be here in town if we have to be available,” Baez told The Herald.A court public information officer said that members of the jury had no desire to speak to the media Saturday night. Identities of jury members are currently protected by a court anonymity order.Around an hour after the verdict, Zimmerman's father tweeted: "Our whole family is relieved. Today... I'm proud to be an American. God Bless America! Thank you for your prayers!"Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, tweeted "Lord during my darkest hour I lean on you. You are all that I have. At the end of the day, GOD is still in control. Thank you all for your prayers and support. I will love you forever Trayvon!!! In the name of Jesus!!!"The verdict came a year and a half after civil rights protesters angrily demanded Zimmerman be prosecuted. That anger appeared to return Saturday night outside the courthouse, at least for some who had been following the case.Rosie Barron, 50, and Andrew Perkins, 55, both black residents of Sanford, stood in the parking lot of the courthouse and wept."I at least thought he was going to get something, something," Barron said.Perkins was so upset he was shaking. "He killed somebody and got away with murder," Perkins shouted, looking in the direction of the courthouse. "He ain't getting no probation or nothing."Several Zimmerman supporters also were outside the courthouse, including a brother and sister quietly rejoicing that Zimmerman was acquitted. Both thought the jury made the right decision in finding Zimmerman not guilty -- they felt that Zimmerman killed Martin in self-defense.Cindy Lenzen, 50, of Casslebury, and her brother, 52-year-old Chris Bay, stood watching the protesters chant slogans such as, "the whole system's guilty."Lenzen and Bay -- who are white -- called the entire case "a tragedy," especially for Zimmerman.The jury of six women informed Judge Debra Nelson shortly late Saturday that they had reached a verdict after deliberating for approximately 15 hours over two days. Zimmerman, 29, blinked and barely smiled when the verdict was announced. After hearing the verdict, Judge Nelson told Zimmerman he was free to go."We're ecstatic with the results," defense attorney Mark O'Mara said after the verdict. "George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except protecting himself in self-defense."Another member of his defense team, Don West, said: "I'm glad this jury kept this tragedy from becoming a travesty."Martin's killing in February 2012 unleashed debate across the U.S. over racial profiling, self-defense and equal justice. Protesters nationwide lashed out against police in the Orlando suburb of Sanford as it took 44 days for Zimmerman to be arrested. Many, including Martin's parents, said Zimmerman had racially profiled the unarmed black teen. Zimmerman identifies as Hispanic.The jurors considered nearly three weeks of often wildly conflicting testimony over who was the aggressor on the rainy night the 17-year-old was shot while walking through the gated townhouse community where he was staying and where Zimmerman lived.Prosecutors called Zimmerman a liar and portrayed him was a "wannabe cop" vigilante who had grown frustrated by break-ins in his neighborhood committed primarily by young black men. Zimmerman assumed Martin was up to no good and took the law into his own hands, prosecutors said.State Attorney Angela Corey said after the verdict that she believed second-degree murder was the appropriate charge because Zimmerman's mindset "fit the bill of second-degree murder.""We charged what we believed we could prove," Corey said.The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
Donald J. TrumpThroughout the year, we have seen Democrats across the country uniting around a new legislative proposal that would end Medicare as we know it and take away benefits that seniors have paid for their entire lives.Dishonestly called “Medicare for All,” the Democratic proposal would establish a government-run, single-payer health care system that eliminates all private and employer-based health care plans and would cost an astonishing $32.6 trillion during its first 10 years. As a candidate, I promised that we would protect coverage for patients with pre-existing conditions and create new health care insurance options that would lower premiums. I have kept that promise, and we are now seeing health insurance premiums coming down.STANDARDS EDITOR:Medicare op-ed and all the reaction show democracy in actionRelated:Factcheck.org has looked into statements made in this column.I also made a solemn promise to our great seniors to protect Medicare. That is why I am fighting so hard against the Democrats' plan that would eviscerate Medicare. Democrats have already harmed seniors by slashing Medicare by more than $800 billion over 10 years to pay for Obamacare. Likewise, Democrats would gut Medicare with their planned government takeover of American health care.The Democrats' plan threatens America's seniorsThe Democrats' plan means that after a life of hard work and sacrifice, seniors would no longer be able to depend on the benefits they were promised. By eliminating Medicare as a program for seniors, and outlawing the ability of Americans to enroll in private and employer-based plans, the Democratic plan would inevitably lead to the massive rationing of health care. Doctors and hospitals would be put out of business. Seniors would lose access to their favorite doctors. There would be long wait lines for appointments and procedures. Previously covered care would effectively be denied.In practice, the Democratic Party’s so-called Medicare for All would really be Medicare for None. Under the Democrats' plan, today’s Medicare would be forced to die.The Democrats' plan also would mean the end of choice for seniors over their own health care decisions. Instead, Democrats would give total power and control over seniors’ health care decisions to the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.More:Donald Trump knows nothing about Medicare, health care or Democrats: TalkerMy family escaped socialism, now my fellow Democrats think we should move the party in its directionBernie Sanders: Trump lies about 'Medicare for All' and he's made health care worseThe first thing the Democratic plan will do to end choice for seniors is eliminate Medicare Advantage plans for about 20 million seniors as well as eliminate other private health plans that seniors currently use to supplement their Medicare coverage.Next, the Democrats would eliminate every American’s private and employer-based health plan. It is right there in their proposed legislation: Democrats outlaw private health plans that offer the same benefits as the government plan. Americans might think that such an extreme, anti-senior, anti-choice and anti-consumer proposal for government-run health care would find little support among Democrats in Congress.Unfortunately, they would be wrong: 123 Democrats in the House of Representatives — 64 percent of House Democrats — as well as 15 Democrats in the Senate have already formally co-sponsored this legislation. Democratic nominees for governor in Florida, California and Maryland are all campaigning in support of it, as are many Democratic congressional candidates.Democrats want open-borders socialismThe truth is that the centrist Democratic Party is dead. The new Democrats are radical socialists who want to model America’s economy after Venezuela.If Democrats win control of Congress this November, we will come dangerously closer to socialism in America. Government-run health care is just the beginning. Democrats are also pushing massive government control of education, private-sector businesses and other major sectors of the U.S. economy. Every single citizen will be harmed by such a radical shift in American culture and life. Virtually everywhere it has been tried, socialism has brought suffering, misery and decay.Indeed, the Democrats' commitment to government-run health care is all the more menacing to our seniors and our economy when paired with some Democrats' absolute commitment to end enforcement of our immigration laws by abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That means millions more would cross our borders illegally and take advantage of health care paid for by American taxpayers.Today’s Democratic Party is for open-borders socialism. This radical agenda would destroy American prosperity. Under its vision, costs will spiral out of control. Taxes will skyrocket. And Democrats will seek to slash budgets for seniors’ Medicare, Social Security and defense.Republicans believe that a Medicare program that was created for seniors and paid for by seniors their entire lives should always be protected and preserved. I am committed to resolutely defending Medicare and Social Security from the radical socialist plans of the Democrats. For the sake of our country, our prosperity, our seniors and all Americans — this is a fight we must win.Donald J. Trump is the president of the United States. Follow him on Twitter: @realDonaldTrump | 2 |
GOP front-runner Donald Trump on Friday night followed up a Twitter assault on rival Ted Cruz with a barrage of insults at a campaign event in Iowa, appearing to signal an end to his friendly relationship with the Senator from Texas.
But on Saturday morning, the billionaire New York real estate developer tried to downplay the unpleasantness, saying he was "having a little fun with Ted" at the rally.
"We have had a very good relationship," Trump told Fox News' "Fox and Friends Weekend" on Saturday. "I'm sure it will end because, you know, he has got to come after me at some point. I'm leading by a lot as you know, so at some point he is going to come after me but I like him and I think he likes me. And we have had some fun on the trail."
The tension has been growing between the Trump and the Texas Senator since earlier this week, when a New York Times article reported that Cruz had said at a private fundraiser that Trump is facing a "challenging question" about whether he has the "judgment" to be president.
According to an audio recording provided to the Times by a person who attended the Madison Avenue meeting along with about 70 other people, Cruz discussed the election, tying Trump in with Ben Carson.
"Both of them I like and respect,” Cruz is heard saying in the recording. “I don't believe either one of them is going to be our president.”
Cruz was still aiming for peace on Friday afternoon, tweeting that a fight with Trump is just what establishment Republicans want:
The Establishment's only hope: Trump & me in a cage match. Sorry to disappoint -- @realDonaldTrump is terrific. #DealWithIt
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 11, 2015 Cruz posted his conciliatory tweet after Trump's earlier barrage against him:
Looks like @tedcruz is getting ready to attack. I am leading by so much he must. I hope so, he will fall like all others. Will be easy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2015 .@tedcruz should not make statements behind closed doors to his bosses, he should bring them out into the open - more fun that way!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2015 But even after Cruz insisted that he liked Trump, the businessman's gloves came off in Des Moines, reports The Washington Post.
In his speech, Trump slammed Cruz repeatedly for not supporting subsidies for ethanol, a major business for farm-centric Iowa, and said that the Texas senator was taking the stand against ethanol because he is tied to major Texas oil companies. Trump also questioned Cruz' appeal to Iowa evangelicals, making a reference to Cuba, where Cruz' father is from. “We're doing really well with the evangelicals,” Trump said. “And, by the way — and again, I do like Ted Cruz — but not a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba, in all fairness. It's true. Not a lot come out. But I like him nevertheless. But I think we're going to do great, and we are doing great with evangelicals.”
Cruz' campaign didn't respond to the taunts, reports the Post, but radio show host Steve Deace, considered a surrogate for Cruz in Iowa, posted on Facebook that the senator has already locked down his support in the state and advised him not to "go to war" with Trump. Trump also slammed super PACs, calling them "no good" and pointing out that none of the fundraisers are supporting his candidacy. Meanwhile, Cruz' super PACs have raised almost $38 million since his campaign started, reports the Post.
On TV Saturday morning, Trump insisted he and Cruz have some similar ideas, but there also are differences.
"There is a difference in temperament and I would give myself the advantage in temperament, you know, putting people together," Trump said.
However, even in slamming Cruz, Trump still called the Texan a "nice guy," the Post reported.
Trump and Cruz could lose out if they attack each other, the Post suggests, because both appeal to the same types of voters, and a fight between them could push some supporters to follow other candidates.
Cruz has avoided attacking Trump, and has defended him, including after the businessman's campaign announcement statements about Mexicans drew fire. However, Cruz did reject Trump's call to bar Muslims from coming into the United States, while still saying, "I like Donald Trump."
A Cruz aide said the campaign is preparing for the possibility of Trump striking harder if Cruz threatens his status as a front-runner, but will not resort to "petty attacks."
"We have done our homework. There's nothing that they will hit us with that will surprise us,” the unnamed aide said.
One of those attacks could come on whether Cruz, who was born in Canada, meets the legal requirement to run for president.
His father was from Cuba, Cruz' wife, Heidi, explained at an appearance in Missouri this week, but his mother was born in the United States. Legal scholars have determined he is a natural-born citizen, which meets the Constitutional requirement for president. Still, she predicted, "Trump will probably attack him on it." Related stories: Cruz: Trump, Carson Campaigns Will Fall, I'll Get Their Supporters The Hill: Trump-Cruz Rise in Polls, 'Nightmare' for GOP © 2022 Newsmax. All rights reserved. | 2 |
September 08, 2020
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The Rochester, New York, police chief resigned Tuesday amid increasing scrutiny over his handling of the police-involved death of Daniel Prude.Chief La’Ron Singletary, who had held the position since April 2019, resigned along with Rochester Police Department Dep. Chief Joseph Morabito and Dep. Chief Simmons, according to a press release reported by NBC News. Prude died in Rochester police custody in March after arresting officers had placed a spit hood was over his head and restrained him, as video of the arrest shows. “As a man of integrity, I will not sit idly by while outside entities attempt to destroy my character,” Singletary said in a press release shared by Spectrum News anchor Jim Aroune. “The events over the past week are an attempt to destroy my character and integrity.” (RELATED: Joe Prude, Brother Of Daniel Prude, Says Cops Are ‘Some Cold-Blooded … Killers’ Who ‘Assassinated’ Brother) He continued: “The mischaracterization and the politicization of the actions that I took after being informed of Mr. Prude’s death is not based on facts and is not what I stand for.” #BREAKING @RochesterNYPD @LaRonSingletary retiring. Dep. Chiefs Morabito and Simmons too. More retirements may be comming. Mayor blindsided. Said Singletary was not asked to resign. City Council learned this at start of briefing on #DanielPrude response. @SPECNewsROC pic.twitter.com/6U9HGgQA8t — Jim Aroune (@JimAroune) September 8, 2020 Protests and riots have occurred in Rochester in recent days since police released footage of Prude’s arrest on Sept. 4. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]. | 2 |
Senator Susan Collins speaks to reporters after announcing her support for the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, October 5, 2018. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters) We are not prone to praising Susan Collins. But we are delighted to make an exception for her impressive speech on the Senate floor this afternoon explaining why she’ll vote “yes” on Brett Kavanaugh. A process that has often been disgusting — exposing the bottomless bad faith of Senate Democrats and the hysterical partisanship of much of the mainstream media — reached the beginning of the end with a careful, thoughtful, and persuasive presentation by Senator Collins. She rightly excoriated the last few weeks as akin to “a gutter-level political campaign.” She was appropriately angry over the charges surfaced by guttersnipe attorney Michael Avenatti that Judge Kavanaugh was allegedly part of a gang-rape ring as a teenager — a charge that, lest we forget, was taken seriously by the press and Democrats. She blasted whoever on the Democratic side leaked to the press Dr. Ford’s letter to the committee.
On Ford’s allegation, she got to the crux of the matter: The witnesses that Ford named have no memory of such a party, and no one has come forward who does. (We will note that Kavanaugh categorically denied being at such a party before he knew what Ford’s friend, Leland Keyser, would say — taking a great risk unless he was sincere and truthful in his denial.) There are key gaps in Ford’s account, including not knowing how she got home from the party in question. She could have mentioned, but didn’t, that the FBI’s renewed background check she pushed for turned up no corroborating information.
Opponents of Judge Kavanaugh say that Republicans are brushing by Ford’s allegation. As Collins demonstrated, that’s not true. It’s simply that there isn’t enough evidence to credit her charge; in fact the evidence cuts the other way, even under the “more likely than not” standard that Collins set out. She spoke, with conviction, of how important she believes the Me Too movement is. But that doesn’t mean that every accusation must be believed, or the mere existence of an accusation should be enough to destroy someone’s reputation and career. Collins spent the first part of her remarks defending Kavanaugh’s jurisprudence, in a bizarre flashback to what the Kavanaugh confirmation was largely — although not entirely — about a few weeks ago. She emphasized how much weight he puts on precedent. This is important to Collins because she hopes the Court will preserve Roe v. Wade. We think she’s wrong to infer from Kavanaugh’s respect for precedent that Roe has a safe future, and, of course, disagree with her on the merits of that execrable decision. But we will leave that for another day.
For now we will only say, Well done, Senator. You have done your institution and yourself proud. Recommended NBC's 'Cataclysmic' Olympics-Coverage Flop How can anyone feel good about these Olympics? Joe Biden Doesn’t Know What You’re Talking About To watch Biden at the lectern was to experience shock and dismay interspersed with moments of alarm and dark humor. No wonder he hides from the media. Nikole Hannah-Jones Responds to Our 1619 and Slavery Issue She reacted with a lot of sneering and ad hominem argumentation and nothing of substance. Maskless Super Bowl Marks Our Return to Normalcy This collective moment was a warning to the Covid regime that its strictures won’t stand much longer. The Perfect Storm Is Coming Not learning from the stagflationary past may lead to a stagflationary future. The Afghanistan Debacle Looks Worse and Worse The more we learn about the administration’s withdrawal, the more it becomes clear that its decisions were driven by political considerations and panic. The Latest Nikki Haley Blasts American-Born Skier Competing for China at Beijing Olympics 'Every athlete needs to know when they put their flag on, you're standing for freedom or you're standing for human rights abuses,' said Haley. San Francisco Voters Overwhelmingly Back Recall of Progressive School-Board Members More than 70 percent of voters supported the ouster of school board members Alison Collins, Gabriela López, and Faauuga Moliga. How Georgetown Is Stifling Speech on Campus The university is implementing the academic analog of a SLAPP suit against Ilya Shapiro. McKinsey Website Contradicts Denials of Chinese-Government Work; Rubio Claims ‘Cover-Up’ The consultancy once said it did work for China’s central government, undercutting recent statements. Imagine a Trumpdeau. You Can’t If Trump had gone after the 2020 rioters the way Trudeau is targeting truckers, the institutions and the permanent government wouldn’t have complied. Building Back Stagflation Our elected leaders must accept that inflation is a monster of their own making, and stop fanning the flames with ever-higher levels of government spending. | 2 |
New jobless claims fell 34,000 to 444,000 for the week ended May 15th, data from the Department of Labor showed Thursday.
Economists had expected claims to fall to 460,000 from the initially reported 4730,000 in the prior week. The prior week was revised up to 478,000. The 4-week moving average—which smoothes out data that is often volatile week to week—fell to 504,750, a decrease of 30,500 from the previous week’s revised average.
Initial claims hit a record 6.87 million for the week of March 27, 2020, more than ten times the previous record. This year has seen immense progress in bringing down the number of new claims, as mass layoffs have been offset by a huge hiring spree. Yet job creation fell far short of estimates in April and many businesses have said they are having difficulty hiring workers.
Continuing claims get reported with a week’s delay. For the week ended May 8, continuing claims rose 3,751,000, an increase of 111,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 15,000 from 3,655,000 to 3,640,000. | 2 |
Protesters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Getty Images The Minnesota Freedom Fund said it’s spent “well over” $200,000 in bailing protesters out of jail — despite receiving more than $30 million in donations.
“We are working on doing more,” the fund tweeted on Monday.
The fund, established in 2016, briefly stopped accepting donations, which have been flowing in since the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
“We are no longer the same organization we were one week ago,” MFF wrote on its website on June 2. “One week ago we were a small bail fund struggling to get anyone to listen about the harms of cash bail and pre-trial detention. We are now flooded with resources and we are going to take a beat while we marshal those. We have some big plays in mind.”
But three days later, it announced donations “may be used to expand legal support for those arrested or incarcerated protesting the murder of George Floyd, and our core values and mission.”
The backlash over the unused bailout cash was swift.
“Return the money to people NOW. Before we find a way to take it back anyway,” one person responded. “Raised 35 million and only 200k went to bail funds? Absolutely no justification for that.”
Another person tweeted, “Nah, we want receipts. You received millions.”
Someone suggested MFF use some of the money toward hiring black activists.
“Create jobs, and mobilize these funds faster to the people that need them within the community all at once,” the person wrote. “You have more than enough money to do that.”
Within four days of Floyd’s death, MFF had amassed $20 million, the New York Times reported.
On its site, the fund says that number has since ballooned to more than $30 million, with donations pouring in from around the world.
MFF said it prioritizes bailouts for “black, indigenous and people of color, those experiencing homelessness, people arrested who live in Minnesota and those who have been detained while fighting for justice.”
Minneapolis erupted in protests and riots in the wake of Floyd’s death, leading to the arrest of dozens. | 2 |
Sen. Jeff Sessions will fight back against the assault on his character Tuesday, defending his reputations against painful accusations that he is a racist, sexist and homophobe at a Senate hearing on his nomination to become attorney general. The former federal prosecutor and Alabama attorney general will insist that his lifetime commitment to law and order includes the protection of the rights of every American. “I deeply understand the history of civil rights and the horrendous impact that relentless and systemic discrimination and the denial of voting rights has had on our African-American brothers and sisters. I have witnessed it,” Mr. Sessions plans to tell the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to his prepared opening remarks. “I understand the demands for justice and fairness made by the LGBT community. I understand the lifelong scars born by women who are victims of assault and abuse,” the Alabama Republican says in the statement. Mr. Sessions is the first of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees to face the scrutiny of a Senate confirmation hearing, and he is one of the most controversial nominees. He is the chief target of liberal groups hoping to derail Mr. Trump’s agenda. Activists for civil rights, gay rights, illegal immigrants and marijuana legalization are pressuring Senate Democrats, some of whom have served alongside Mr. Sessions for 20 years in the Senate, to oppose him. But Mr. Sessions will try to present himself to his colleagues and the American people as someone not only qualified for the job but also reverent of the responsibilities of serving as the country’s top law enforcement officer. “I feel the weight of an honor greater than I have aspired to. If I am confirmed, I commit to you and to the American people to be worthy of that office and the special trust that comes with it,” he says. “While all humans must recognize the limits of their abilities — and I do — I am ready for this job. We will do it right.” The chief complaint about Mr. Sessions has been over race, stemming from accusations that as U.S. attorney in Alabama in the 1980s he improperly prosecuted black voting rights activists and made racially insensitive comments. He is accused of joking one time that he thought the Ku Klux Klan was OK until he learned its members smoked marijuana. In 1986, the same accusations derailed his nomination for the federal bench when he also was grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Mr. Sessions has vehemently denied making racially insensitive statements or holding racist views. He has pledged to uphold the law fairly and equitably. But his critics are far from satisfied. “I come before you today as a colleague who has worked with you for years, and with some of you for 20 years. You know who I am. You know what I believe in. You know that I am a man of my word and can be trusted to do what I say I will do,” Mr. Sessions says in the opening statement. “You know that I revere our Constitution and am committed to the rule of law. And you know that I believe in fairness, impartiality, and equal justice under the law,” he says. Mr. Sessions will outline goals for battling gun crimes, illegal immigration, drub-trafficking cartels and other criminal gangs. He also will pledge to protect voting rights, support local law enforcement agencies and build mutual respect between police and minority communities. “In my over 14 years in the Department of Justice, I tried cases of nearly every kind — drug trafficking, firearms, and other violent crimes, significant public corruption cases, financial wrongdoing, civil rights violations, environmental violations, and hate crimes,” he says. “Protecting the people of this country from crime, and especially from violent crime, is the high calling of the men and women of the Department of Justice. Today, I am afraid, that has become more important than ever.” | 2 |
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday to suspend Parliament, a maneuver that outraged his critics because it will give the opposition even less time to block a no-deal Brexit before the scheduled Oct. 31 withdrawal. Though Johnson previously had refused to rule out such a move, the timing of the decision took lawmakers — many of whom are on vacation — by surprise.Lawmakers reacted with fury, including John Bercow, speaker of the lower House of Commons, who was not told in advance of Johnson’s plan. “Shutting down Parliament would be an offense against the democratic process and the rights of parliamentarians as the people’s elected representatives,” Bercow said. “Surely at this early stage in his premiership, the prime minister should be seeking to establish rather than undermine his democratic credentials and indeed his commitment to Parliamentary democracy.” The main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote to the queen to protest “in the strongest possible terms on behalf of my party and I believe all the other opposition parties are going to join in with this.” The House of Commons will convene from Sept. 3-10 and then was scheduled to go on a break until Oct. 9 — though lawmakers had suggested they might cancel that break and stay at the House of Commons because of the national crisis. But Johnson said he has decided to ask the queen to give her speech that outlines the government’s legislative agenda on Oct. 14. Since Parliament is normally suspended before her speech, the decision means opposition lawmakers would be unlikely to have enough time to pass laws blocking the U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union without a negotiated deal on Oct. 31. The pound plunged on the news, down to $1.2196 from almost $1.2300 the previous day. The EU is adamant that it will not renegotiate the agreement struck with former Prime Minister Theresa May on the terms of Britain’s departure and the framework of future relations. Without such a deal, Britain faces a chaotic Brexit that economists warn would disrupt trade by imposing tariffs and customs checks between Britain and the bloc, send the value of the pound plummeting and plunge the U.K. into recession. Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit official, called Johnson’s move “sinister.” “As a fellow parliamentarian, my solidarity with those fighting for their voices to be heard,” he tweeted. “Suppressing debate on profound choices is unlikely to help deliver a stable future EU-UK relationship.” On Tuesday, opposition lawmakers declared that they would work together to try to stop a departure from the EU without an agreement, setting up a legislative challenge to Johnson and his promise to complete the divorce by Oct. 31. Some 160 lawmakers have signed a declaration pledging “to do whatever is necessary” to prevent Johnson from bypassing Parliament in his plans.Johnson has told EU officials it won’t be possible to agree a deal on Britain’s departure from the bloc without the removal of controversial language on a “backstop,” aimed at avoiding the return of a border between EU member Ireland and Britain’s Northern Ireland. He said at the close of the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, Monday that he was “marginally more optimistic,” of progress. Scott Lucas, a professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham, said Johnson’s maneuver touched off the biggest crisis since the abdication of King Edward VIII to marry the divorced American socialite, Wallis Simpson. “This is biggest constitutional crisis since the 1930s,” Lucas said. “Even World War II didn’t present a constitutional crisis because the coalition government and Parliament agreed the rules of the game.” It’s also a potential economic crisis because of the projected drop in GDP, he added. Copyright © 2022 The Washington Times, LLC. | 2 |
Republicans on Thursday confronted House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam B. Schiff for his two years of leveling conspiracy charges against President Trump, urging him to resign because they “have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties.” Mr. Schiff, California Democrat, defended himself by listing supposed inappropriate contacts between Trump associates and suspect foreigners. But he didn’t list a single instance of Trump people coordinating in Russian election interference, as he did at a hearing on March 20, 2017. Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the previous chairman and now ranking Republican, and other GOP members signed a letter to Mr. Schiff, who has reopened a Russia probe. The letter cited the decision by special counsel Robert Mueller to end his investigation without finding that Trump associates conspired with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election by hacking computers or posting social media broadsides against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Under Mr. Nunes, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s Republican majority also cleared the Trump campaign. “Your actions both past and present are incompatible with your duty as Chairman of this Committee, which alone in the House of Representatives has the obligation and authority to provide effective oversight of the U.S. intelligence community,” the letter states. “As such, we have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your Constitutional responsibility and urge your immediate resignation as Chairman of this Committee.” Mr. Schiff reacted angrily Thursday as he convened a hearing with four expert witnesses on Russian influence operations and the actions of oligarchs to aid President Vladimir Putin. As he stared at Republicans, he began a refrain of “you might think it’s OK” as he listed events such as Donald Trump Jr. meeting with a Russian lawyer who claimed to have dirt on Mrs. Clinton. Witnesses say no such information was passed. He also noted that former campaign chairman Paul Manafort provided some type of polling data to Russia-linked Ukrainian officials and campaign adviser Roger Stone’s brief email exchange with a hacker who turned out to be a Russian intelligence operative. After the hearing, Mr. Schiff tweeted: “I say this to the President, and his defenders in Congress: You may think it’s okay how Trump and his associates interacted with Russians during the campaign. I don’t. I think it’s immoral. I think it’s unethical. I think it’s unpatriotic. And yes, I think it’s corrupt.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California supported and defended Mr. Schiff amid the Republican criticism. “I’m so proud of the work of Chairman Adam Schiff,” Ms. Pelosi said. “I think they’re just scaredy-cats. They just don’t know what to do.” Republicans say that if there were collusion in the election, it was the Clinton campaign paying middleman to collect disinformation on Mr. Trump from the Kremlin and spread it around Washington to the FBI and news media. The Republican letter said, “Despite these [Mueller] findings, you continue to proclaim in the media that there is ‘significant evidence of collusion.’ You further have stated you ‘will continue to investigate the counterintelligence issues. That is, is the president or people around him compromised in any way by a hostile foreign power.’ “Your willingness to continue to promote a demonstrably false narrative is alarming. The findings of the Special Counsel conclusively refute your past and present assertions and have exposed you as having abused your position to knowingly promote false information, having damaged the integrity of this Committee, and undermined faith in U.S. government institutions.” Rep. Michael R. Turner, Ohio Republican, likened Mr. Schiff to Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the virulent 1950s anti-communist who alleged that a number of U.S. government officials were working with the Soviet Union. “I believe the chair has abused his power,” Mr. Turner said. “He’s misrepresented the information we received in classified sessions.” “Now Mr. Chairman, when this body understood that McCarthyism was something to be rejected, it for years watched it,” he said. “But you are using that playbook. In McCarthyism, we had Russia chasing after Russian communists, and now we have Schiff chasing after Russian collusion.” Mr. Turner said Mr. Schiff is adding prosecutors to the staff, not intelligence analysts. It was a reference to former federal mob prosecutor Daniel Goldman, whom Mr. Schiff hired as his chief investigator. Mr. Goldman has wholeheartedly endorsed the Christopher Steele dossier. The Democratic Party-financed document hurls conspiracy charges at Mr. Trump and his associates, based on Kremlin sources. Mr. Mueller, in effect, rejected the charges. Republicans consider it a Kremlin hoax. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Ukraine's interim government says it has proof that Russian military and intelligence forces are fomenting the unrest that has destabilized the eastern part of that country since Russia's annexation of Crimea last month.The New York Times reports that photos and descriptions circulated by the Kiev government show that some of the so-called "green men" -- gunmen who have seized government buildings and demanded Crimea-style referenda on becoming part of Russia -- have been identified in other photos as being among Russian troops.The Times also reports that one of the men in the photos has been identified as Igor Ivanovich Strelkov, a veteran Russian military and intelligence operative. Strelkov is believed to have served Russia undercover both in Crimea and in the city of Slovyansk, one of the centers of the most recent unrest.Last week, Ukrainian authorities released a wanted poster for Mr. Strelkov, accompanied by a pencil sketch of his gaunt face. "What, they can't even get a proper photo of him?" one of the men behind the sandbagged entrance to the city council of Slovyansk over the weekend, who referred to himself simply as Daisy, told a Wall Street Journal reporter. When asked about the role of Russian intelligence, the man declined to answer and told a reporter to leave immediately.The Obama administration has endorsed the claims of the Ukrainians, saying that Russia could face new economic sanctions if government buildings currently occupied by demonstrators are not vacated under the terms of an agreement reached Thursday among Russian, Ukrainian, American and European diplomats. Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to arrive in Ukraine Monday morning to meet with Ukraine's interim prime minister and president, as well as other officials.Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have repeatedly denied that Russian forces are involved in the unrest, which began after the February deposition of pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. That message is backed up by the separatists themselves, who claim that their movement is entirely homegrown and in response to what they consider an illegal coup that resulted in Yanukovych's downfall.The unit accused of operating in eastern Ukraine is known as the GRU, the Russian acronym for the Main Intelligence Department of the Russian General Staff. It is an elite Russian military intelligence unit that has participated in virtually every military conflict in which Moscow has been embroiled in recent decades, including wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Georgia.In eastern Ukraine, Ukraine's State Security Service alleges the Russian operatives' task is to coordinate pro-Russian militias, help them identify targets and carry out seizures of key installations, such as police and security headquarters, government offices and communications infrastructure.Ukrainian security officials say Russian intelligence has spent years building up a network of sleeper agents in eastern Ukraine. One of them, they say, is Igor Bezler, a 49-year-old Crimean native who they say served in the GRU until 2002, when he moved to the eastern city of Horlivka. There, he worked as a security guard and as head of a funeral company.Then, last week, after a pro-Russian mob took over the town's police station, a video posted on a local news organization's website showed him parading in fatigues in front of a couple dozen local police, identifying himself as a lieutenant colonel in the Russian army and telling them they had a new chief. Ukrainian officials allege he was tasked earlier this month with seizing state-security buildings in Donetsk region, then taking the police station in Horlivka."The fact that the Russians have woken up these networks is evidence that we're dealing with a serious operation, not a game," a senior Ukrainian security official told the Journal. Now, Mr. Bezler is occupying the police station with a group of armed men, officials say. According to local police, Mr. Bezler told them he had an order "from the center in Slovyansk" to hold the building at any cost and had sufficient force to do so.The separatists' endgame is unclear. Some talk of federalization within Ukraine; others want independence; yet others dream of a Crimea scenario, energized by Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent mention of Novorossiya (literally, New Russia), a tsarist-era imperial term for what is now southeastern Ukraine. Moscow's goals have also been unclear in comparison to the Crimea campaign, in which Moscow rapidly annexed the peninsula.Click for more from The New York TimesClick for more from The Wall Street Journal | 2 |
Barack Obama will make a long-awaited trip to Kenya later this year, visiting his father's homeland for the first time since becoming US president six years ago, the White House said Monday.
During the long-promised visit this July, Obama will attend a Global Entrepreneurship Summit in the east African nation, a statement said.
Obama has visited Africa four times since becoming president, but has not visited the country where he still has relatives.
For much of Obama's presidency, Kenya's leaders have been under a cloud of prosecution by the International Criminal Court.
Kenyatta was indicted over the country's 2007-08 post-election violence, the worst since it won independence from Britain in 1963.
Kenyatta has always protested his innocence.
The case was dropped in December, with prosecutors complaining that they had been undermined by a lack of cooperation by the Kenyan government, as well as the bribing or intimidation of witnesses.
"President Obama will meet him in Kenya," a White House official told AFP, confirming a meeting that is likely to court controversy.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the United States regularly raises "concerns with the Kenyan government about restrictions on human rights and fundamental freedoms."
"The president's trip will create another opportunity for dialogue with the government and civil society on these issues."
Obama had visited Kenya before as a senator and before entering politics, visiting his father's home village and taking a very public HIV test.
The president's origins have spurred domestic controversy, with some hardline political foes claiming he was not born in the United States and so was ineligible to become president.
Obama allies say this is thinly veiled racism.
The president has often made light of the controversy.
"If I did not love America, I wouldn't have moved here from Kenya," he recently joked.
On this visit, Obama expected to take part in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), which is being held in sub-Saharan Africa for the first time.
"Hosting the GES is an opportunity for Kenya to showcase its economic progress," said the White House official.
"Kenya maintains enormous potential for economic growth, thanks to the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of the Kenyan people." | 2 |
Newly-elected New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced she will pay her interns $15 per hour, in what she calls an effort to “walk the walk” and have her policies match her political viewpoints. Ocasio-Cortez, who is calling on other lawmakers to raise pay for staffers, would be considered a generous boss in the nation’s capital, where plenty of interns go unpaid.A 2017 study by an advocacy group called Pay Our Interns found that 51 percent of Senate Republicans offered paid internships, compared with 31 percent of Democrats. Meanwhile, young staffers in the House of Representatives had dismal pay prospects: Only 8 percent of Republicans – or 19 of 238 – paid interns, while 3.6 percent of Democrats, or 7 of 193, did so. The study also concluded that internships in D.C. cost $6,000, on average. A list of who was not paying young staffers included lawmakers like California Sen. Kamala Harris, Virginia Democrat Mark Warner and New York Democrat Chuck Schumer – all of whom have voiced support for raising the federal minimum wage.Sen. Mark Warner’s office told FOX Business it is offering paid internships, which are available to certain applicants with “demonstrated financial need.” Compensation rates are $13.25 per hour. A spokesperson for Sen. Schumer told FOX Business that, as of January, the office will offer "eligible interns" a stipend.More from FOXBusiness.com... Notable Republicans on the list include Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.A spokesperson for Sen. Cruz told FOX Business that he is paying his interns, though declined to say how much or whether all interns are included.Spokespersons for Sens. Harris and Rubio did not return FOX Business’ request for comment.Another lawmaker who is “walking the walk”– Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders – also pays interns $15 per hour, his office confirmed to FOX Business. California Rep. Ro Khanna announced on Twitter Wednesday that he will be paying young staffers at least $15.Both the House and Senate allocated millions of dollars to pay funds into a spending bill earlier this year, which would go into effect in 2019.This story has been updated. | 2 |
President Trump never ordered his coronavirus task force to slow down testing for the pathogen, key members told Congress on Tuesday. “None of us have ever been told to slow down on testing. That just is a fact,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “It’s the opposite, we’re going to be doing more testing, not less,” Dr. Fauci said. One by one, the heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration and Brett Giroir, the country’s testing “czar,” told lawmakers they were not ordered by Mr. Trump to slow down diagnostic efforts. “The only way that we will be able to understand who has the disease, who is infected and can pass it, to do appropriate contact tracing is to test appropriately, smartly and as many people as we can,” testified Adm. Giroir, an assistant health secretary and four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service. Mr. Trump’s own remarks sparked the unusual round of questioning. He told a Tulsa rally that testing is a double-edged sword because while it roots out cases, it also makes the country look bad as large numbers of infections are posted on global tracking sites. He said he told his people to “slow the testing down, please.” His aides said he was joking, though the president fanned the flames Tuesday by saying: “I don’t kid.” The U.S. is home to about 330 million people. It has conducted over 25 million tests and discovered over 2.3 million infections. More than 120,000 people in the U.S. have died from the disease, known as COVID-19. Dr. Fauci said America is looking at a “mixed bag” at this juncture in the pandemic. “It’s a serious situation. In some respects we’ve done very well,” Dr. Fauci said, citing improvements in hard-hit New York City. “In other areas of the country, we’ve now seeing a disturbing surge of infections,” he added, citing flare-ups in Florida, Texas and Arizona. Mr. Trump headed to Arizona on Tuesday to view a section of the border wall and speak to conservative students in Phoenix. Roughly 20% of those tested in Arizona are coming back positive, suggesting rampant spread after the state reopened its economy. Dr. Fauci said states seeing a spike will need to devote manpower to testing and tracing cases, so they “can do something about them.” Governors battered by new cases say many of the infections are hitting younger adults who are unlikely to die from the disease. Rep. Diana DeGette, Colorado Democrat, asked whether people should link the declining death rate in the U.S. to that trend. Dr. Fauci said it’s difficult to say, since deaths don’t show up in the data until weeks after cases are detected. “I think it’s too early to make that kind of link,” Dr. Fauci said. “Deaths always lag considerably behind cases.” He said the concern is people involved in the localized spikes will infect other people, who might get sick and die. Committee Chairman Frank Pallone said American testing the virus stumbled out of the gate but appears to be improving. Still, he said the country is short of 900,000 daily tests experts say it needs. “We are also hampered by the administration’s refusal to develop and implement a national testing and contact tracing strategy,” Mr. Pallone, New Jersey Democrat, said. “This cannot continue — we need federal public health experts to take more of a leadership role, and this administration is failing to allow that.” Adm. Giroir said the U.S. should be able to conduct 40-50 million per month by fall. He said test sites are required to report demographic data, to ensure equitable access, and that Morehouse School of Medicine has been awarded $40 million for a three-year project to deliver COVID-19 information to minority communities. Prior to the testimony, Mr. Trump complained that he didn’t get the same amount of credit as his most famous task-force member. “We did a great job on CoronaVirus, including the very early ban on China, Ventilator production, and Testing, which is by far the most, and best, in the World. We saved millions of U.S. lives.! Yet the Fake News refuses to acknowledge this in a positive way,” he wrote in a series of tweets on his way to Arizona. “But they do give Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is with us in all ways, a very high 72% Approval Rating. So, if he is in charge along with V.P. etc., and with us doing all of these really good things, why doesn’t the Lamestream Media treat us as they should? Answer: Because they are Fake News!” | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Republican front-runner Donald Trump took a new round of shots at the GOP's nominating process Sunday, while his newly-hired convention manager Paul Manafort accused Trump's rival Ted Cruz of using "gestapo tactics" to earn delegate support at nominating conventions across the country.Speaking to thousands packed in a frigid airport hangar in western New York, Trump argued anew that the person who wins the most votes in the primary process should automatically be the GOP nominee."What they're trying to do is subvert the movement with crooked shenanigans," Trump said. The real estate mogul compared himself to Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, who is well behind Hillary Clinton in that party's delegate race despite a string of state wins."We should have won it a long time ago," Trump said. "But, you know, we keep losing where we're winning."Trump was introduced at the rally by Buffalo real estate developer and 2010 New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, who said that talk of a brokered Republican convention "suggests that they can take that right away from the American people to choose their leader."Manafort, a veteran GOP strategist who worked on White House campaigns for President Gerald Ford in 1976 and Kansas Sen. Bob Dole in 1996, told NBC's "Meet The Press" that the Cruz campaign was using a "scorched earth" approach in which "they don't care about the party. If they don't get what they want, they blow it up."Manafort added that the Trump campaign is filing protests because the Cruz campaign is "not playing by the rules.”“You go to his county conventions and you see the gestapo tactics," he said.Trump has a 743-to-545 delegate lead over the Texas senator, with the end of the primary/caucus season fast approaching. Over the weekend, Cruz completed his sweep of Colorado's 34 delegates by locking up the remaining 13 at the party's state convention in Colorado Springs. He already had collected 21 delegates and visited the state to try to pad his numbers there.Cruz came out ahead in the Colorado contest, though, after dedicating resources to the convention process and putting in personal face time on the day of the final vote, something Trump did not do. The Trump campaign’s flyers in Colorado naming their preferred delegates were also riddled with errors. While Trump aides blamed the state party for giving them bad information, the party pushed back.And on Twitter, the Colorado GOP retweeted a message, saying: “You may not like CO's caucus system, but it's representative, and claiming delegates were 'stolen' insults the Republicans who participated.”Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier also retweeted a message saying the rules “were publicly available for months to people who know how to read and understand words.”Polls show Trump holding a sizable lead in the next big state contest, New York's April 19 primary, but Cruz is trying to chip away at Trump's home-state advantage in conservative pockets of the Empire State.Ohio Gov. John Kasich is third with 143 delegates, behind Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who ended his campaign March 15 with 171 committed delegates.Manafort insisted Sunday that he’s still connected enough to wrangle delegates."You would be surprised who's been calling me over the last week and where they're from," he said. "Do I know the 25-, 30-year-old delegates? No. Do I know the people who push buttons in a lot of these states? Yes."However, Manafort made clear the Trump campaign won’t use strong-arm tactics.“That’s not my style,” he told NBC. “That’s not Donald Trump’s style. That’s Ted Cruz’s style.”Manafort also dismissed the notion that the Trump campaign has missed opportunities to get delegates through insider tactics and boasted that Cruz has and will continue to lose that way. He said the Trump campaign has gotten all of the committee spots in Alabama and that it “wiped [Cruz] out" in a similar effort in Michigan.“You’re going to see Ted Cruz get skunked in Nevada,” Manafort added.Manafort made clear the race to get 1,237 delegates will likely extend until early June, which includes California’s GOP primary, with 172 delegates, and the New Jersey primary with 51 at stake.“I’m confident there are several ways to get to 1,237,” he said.Trump would need to win nearly 60 percent of all the remaining delegates to clinch the nomination before this summer's convention in Cleveland. So far, he's winning about 45 percent.Manafort insisted being hired by the Trump campaign was not a shakeup, particularly amid Cruz’s come-from-behind win last week in Wisconsin.He argued the campaign season is entering its end stages and that Trump must move from the free-wheeling, free-media style that made the first-time candidate the GOP presidential front-runner.“Donald Trump has recognized that,” Manafort said, while arguing Trump still runs the campaign.The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
Judge Amy Coney Barrett said Tuesday that her family has been “attacked” during her bid for a seat on the Supreme Court, and she’s seen “caricatures floating around” concerning her Catholic faith, but said she’s going through it because she feels a duty to defend the law. As senators kicked off the first round of questions, Judge Barrett said she knows she’s made “distinct” choices to have a large, interracial family — she has seven children, two of them adopted from Haiti — and to have a law career, but said she has never imposed those preferences on anyone else, either personally or as a judge. “We knew our lives would be combed over for any negative detail, we knew our faith would be caricatured, our family would be attacked, and so we had to decide whether those difficulties would be worth it. Because what sane person would go through that if there was not a benefit on the other side?” she said. “The benefit is that I am committed to the rule of law and the role of the Supreme Court and dispensing equal justice for all.” She concluded: “I’m not the only person who could do this job, but I was asked, and it would be difficult for anyone, so why should I say someone else should do the difficulty if the difficulty is the only reason to say no. I should serve my country. And my family is all in on that because they share my belief in the rule of law.” Judge Barrett’s past relationship with a charismatic Catholic group has drawn intense and negative coverage. And the last time she testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2017, when she earned her seat on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, she faced extensive challenges about her Catholic faith, including one senator who complained about her religious “dogma” and another who demanded whether she was an “orthodox Catholic.” But Democrats say they will stay away from those sorts of challenges to her faith this time. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Brad Parscale’s abrupt demotion Wednesday night “shocked” some inside the Trump campaign, sources familiar with the move told Fox News, even as President Trump’s sliding poll numbers and the recent Tulsa rally debacle had raised questions about his future.The president announced on Facebook and later on Twitter Wednesday night that Parscale would be replaced as campaign manager by Bill Stepien, who had served as deputy campaign manager.TRUMP REPLACES CAMPAIGN MANAGERParscale, who ran Trump’s digital operations in 2016 and was promoted to Trump’s right-hand man for the 2020 cycle, is expected to shift back to his previous role.Two top campaign officials told Fox News that Parscale will serve as a senior adviser focusing entirely on the campaign’s digital operation and data collection.Speculation has swirled for weeks about Parscale’s future, as Trump has fallen behind Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden by double digits in multiple polls, and as the campaign struggled to fill seats for the president’s rally last month in Tulsa, Okla.A source familiar with the situation said that Parscale indeed had been losing influence as of late with other campaign officials exerting more power, including Stepien, who joined the campaign in May as deputy campaign manager after serving as a political director at the White House. There was also the return of Stephanie Alexander, who was on the campaign in 2016 and returned in May as campaign chief of staff.Still, multiple sources told Fox News that many expected Parscale to stay through the election, and that Wednesday night’s announcement came as a “surprise” and that many were “shocked.”“They shouldn’t be,” a senior administration official told Fox News. “Had to happen.”The official added: “This doesn’t surprise anyone who knows POTUS and how he wants his campaign run.”Stepien, before joining the campaign and the Trump administration, previously managed both of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s gubernatorial campaigns. Stepien also served as Christie’s deputy chief of staff.One source familiar with the move told Fox News that Stepien is a "really hard worker," while another said he is "married to his job."BIDEN LEADS IN NEW SWING STATE POLL BUT MAJORITY SAY 'SECRET TRUMP VOTERS' COULD TILT ELECTION“Bill’s MO is to keep under the radar and keep his head down and stay focused on the job. So if anything, all the attention he’s gotten probably makes him a little uncomfortable," another Republican operative told Fox News. "He knows his role is to be the guy behind the guy.”The operative added that the campaign was looking for someone who was a "strong" and "experienced operative.""Brad is the best in the business when it comes to data, but he’s not a political operative," the operative explained. "Stepien is one of the best political operatives in the country and innately understands data and field and its integration and how to use that to move votes.”The president announced the shake-up Wednesday night in a statement on social media.“I am pleased to announce that Bill Stepien has been promoted to the role of Trump Campaign Manager,” the president said in a statement. “Brad Parscale, who has been with me for a very long time and has led our tremendous digital and data strategies, will remain in that role, while being a Senior Adviser to the campaign.”The president added that both Parscale and Stepien “were heavily involved in our historic 2016 win, and I look forward to having a big and very important second win together.”"This one should be a lot easier as our poll numbers are rising fast, the economy is getting better, vaccines and therapeutics will soon be on the way, and Americans want safe streets and communities!” the president added.The move comes as the president’s polling numbers have fallen, with the latest RealClearPolitics average showing Trump trailing Biden by more than 8 percentage points.The move also comes as the Trump administration has faced immense criticism over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, an issue that has spilled out onto the campaign trail with Democrats—and Biden himself—hammering the president regularly.But a major campaign shake-up in the general election for Trump is hardly unprecedented. In 2016, Trump had three campaign managers: Corey Lewandowski, who ran Trump’s primary campaign and was removed ahead of the conventions; Paul Manafort, who ran Trump’s campaign during the convention and then was removed, and is now currently serving jail time for charges stemming from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation; and Kellyanne Conway, who led the campaign through the general election to Trump’s victory.The shake-up follows a similar one less than a month ago, when Michael Glassner, organizer of the president’s rallies, was reassigned, and Jeff DeWit, who served as Arizona chairman of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, joined the 2020 staff as chief operating officer.That change was in response to lower-than-expected crowd turnout at a rally in Tulsa, which embarrassed the president and put the campaign on the defensive. The Trump team noted that the rally attracted large numbers of television and online viewers, and that the coronavirus may have led many supporters to stay at home.Meanwhile, Biden campaign Rapid Response Director Andrew Bates, in a statement to Fox News, reacted to the news of the shake-up by saying: "Almost 140,000 Americans have lost their lives and millions more have lost their jobs because of Donald Trump's failed leadership. The Trump campaign's game of musical chairs won't fix this. We need a new president for that."Biden also shuffled his campaign team amid a disastrous stretch in his campaign, albeit much earlier in the cycle. For Biden, the moves marked genuine shake-ups that expanded and changed how the campaign operated.Biden elevated Anita Dunn, effectively displacing his first campaign manager, Greg Schultz, after a fourth-place Iowa finish and after he was already headed for a second embarrassing finish in New Hampshire. Dunn had joined Biden at the outset of his campaign after having served President Barack Obama as a top communications adviser.With Dunn’s urging, Biden hired his current campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, in March after Dunn and others helped resurrect Biden in Nevada and South Carolina and put him on the path to the nomination. Schultz is now at the Democratic National Committee, helping lead the joint battleground strategy among the national party, the Biden campaign and state parties.Fox News' Paul Steinhauser, Kristin Fisher and Gregg Re contributed to this report. | 2 |
White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney slammed what he says is not mere fear-mongering but outright lies by Democrats about President Trump's federal budget proposal.
This is "demagoguery at the very highest level," Mulvaney told "Fox & Friends" on Thursday, singling out New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who said "children will die" if this budget is enacted.
Mulvaney said that comment in particular shows why politicians are losing credibility with the American people. "Republicans care about poor people. Republicans care about kids. Republicans care about the elderly," the founding member of the House Freedom Caucus emphasized.
He said on the other hand, despite what critics say, Democrats truly care about national defense and the rhetoric from either side is unhelpful to the national debate. The plan also does not slash Meals On Wheels, said Mulvaney. Sen. Bernie Sanders claimed that low-income seniors "will not be able to get the one nutritious meal a day [they] now receive through the Meals on Wheels."
Bernie Sanders on Trump's Budget Plan: 'Grotesquely immoral': https://t.co/XGGHQ9ZYzc pic.twitter.com/xqZweorfNR
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 24, 2017
This is where the #TrumpBudget belongs. pic.twitter.com/5YtP39OPVx
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) May 23, 2017
The $4.1 trillion proposal unveiled Monday sets a goal of 3 percent economic growth. The budget takes $616 billion out of the planned expansion for Medicaid, $193 billion out of food stamps, and $143 billion from student financial aid.
Watch the interview above. | 2 |
As Jason covered on Wednesday, Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt was reportedly chosen to head up the Environmental Protection Agency. President-elect Trump made the official announcement Thursday morning. "For too long, the Environmental Protection Agency has spent taxpayer dollars on an out-of-control anti-energy agenda that has destroyed millions of jobs, while also undermining our incredible farmers and many other businesses and industries at every turn. As my EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt, the highly respected Attorney General from the state of Oklahoma, will reverse this trend and restore the EPA's essential mission of keeping our air and our water clean and safe," said President-elect Donald Trump. "My administration strongly believes in environmental protection, and Scott Pruitt will be a powerful advocate for that mission while promoting jobs, safety and opportunity."Pruitt said he was "deeply grateful and honored" to be chosen as Trump's EPA pick. “The American people are tired of seeing billions of dollars drained from our economy due to unnecessary EPA regulations, and I intend to run this agency in a way that fosters both responsible protection of the environment and freedom for American businesses,” he said in the statement. This post has been updated. | 2 |
Getty Images WASHINGTON — President Trump has asked state and local officials to publicly praise Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, calling efforts to abolish the agency “dangerous.”
In a letter issued Monday, Trump asked public officials to applaud the “sacrifice” of ICE officers as well as Customs and Border Protection agents.
“Through letters, public statements, op-eds, resolutions, and events, we can give our voice to our Nation’s longstanding tradition of honoring the public servants who protect our communities and our way of life,” Trump wrote.
He said he wrote the letter because ICE has become a political punching bag, with a number of likely Democratic 2020 hopefuls — including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) — urging that the agency be abolished.
“Tragically, the brave men and women of ICE have recently been subjected to a nationwide campaign of smears, insults, and attacks by politicians shamelessly catering to the extreme elements of our society that desire lawlessness and anarchy,” Trump said in the letter.
“These horrendous assaults are no-doubt spurred on by the dangerous ‘Abolish ICE’ movement – a movement to abolish our borders entirely,” the president said.
Trump referenced protests against ICE in Portland, Oregon — in which the protesters had the backing of the city’s mayor — and in Louisville, Kentucky.
“Yet, while anarchist protesters hurl vicious insults at ICE officers in Portland and other disturbing episodes nationwide, those same ICE officers continue to dutifully remove some of the most dangerous and violent individuals from the communities they protect – putting their lives on the line in the process,” Trump said.
The president said that in fiscal year 2017, ICE arrested more than 125,000 “aliens” with criminal records. He also pointed out how immigration enforcement plays a part in keeping the US safe post-9/11.
“We also must not forget the important role that ICE and CBP play in preventing terrorism,” the president said. “The attacks were carried out by foreign nationals who exploited our lax immigration laws and defrauded our immigration system in order to murder nearly 3,000 innocent people.”
Trump was hosting an event later in the day, a “Salute to the Heroes of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection,” at the White House.
He’s invited ICE officers, CBP agents and politicians, including Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, to take part. | 2 |
WASHINGTON - For decades, Joe Biden was for it, now the Democratic presidential frontrunner says he's against it. He wants to get rid of a ban on taxpayer-funded abortions.
Even some of the former vice president's aides were surprised by how just how quickly Biden changed his mind on what's been known for decades as the Hyde Amendment - the law that blocks tax dollars from being used to fund abortions. Leading in a field of candidates running to his left, it only took a few days of pressure from liberal activists for Biden to cave.
"Just as I've never attempted to impose my views on anyone else as to when life begins, I have never attempted to impose my view on who should pay for it if people fundamentally disagree with the position we take," Biden said. "But folks, but folks times have changed. I don't think these guys are gonna let up."
He shifted his position, he says, while crafting his healthcare plan, as more and more states pass laws protecting the unborn. "I can't justify leaving millions of women without access to the healthcare they need and the ability to exercise their constitutionally protected right," he said.
Biden has long made a distinction between his personally held Catholic views and voting record.
"Life begins at conception - that's the church's judgment. I accept it in my personal life. But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews," he said in a 2012 vice-presidential debate.
For him, the Hyde Amendment represented middle ground - until now. Condemnation from pro-life activists was swift. "Joe Biden's support for taxpayer funding of abortion after decades of opposition is just the latest example of Democratic extremism on abortion. Long gone are the days of 'safe, legal, and rare'," says Marjorie Dannenfelser with the Susan B. Anthony List, pointing out Biden's original position is popular among the electorate.
A 2016 Politico poll revealed 58 percent of likely voters oppose federal funds being used to pay for abortions. And a recent Marist poll found 34 percent of Democrats identify as pro-life.
This is likely just the beginning of Biden's journey to the left in his quest to win the nomination. | 2 |
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush on Friday pitched himself as the most conservative governor in the history of Florida, saying his record of success is something people yearn for in a Washington, D.C., culture that has not yet “contaminated” him. “I was the most conservative governor in the state’s history, but I had a reformer’s heart,” Mr. Bush said, speaking at the Des Moines Register political soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. “We cut taxes every year totaling $19 billion. We reduced the state government workforce by 13,000. In fact, you can fire someone for incompetence in state government in Florida — I’m sorry, that’s a really radical idea. And you can reward public [servants] that do a better job.” Mr. Bush, the son and brother of two former U.S. presidents, has defended the foreign policy legacy of his brother, former President George W. Bush, in recent days. But he also been working to portray himself as someone whose political record was forged outside the divisive arena of the nation’s capital. “Yeah, I haven’t been in Washington, D.C.,” Mr. Bush told reporters before his soapbox speech when asked if he is a “plausible outsider.” “I wouldn’t know how to drive — I could barely get from Dulles to Senator [Charles] Grassley’s office — I think I could probably get there with GPS.” “I mean, I never lived there. … I’ve been a reform-minded governor. I’ll tell that story,” he said. “I’m blessed with a great family, but my record of success is something people yearn for in Washington, D.C.” He took a shot at how President Obama has been selling the nuclear deal with Iran. “This idea that a president tears down his opponents, demonizes ‘em, says that if you’re against the Iran deal, you’re part of the ‘death to America’ [or] you’re in cahoots with the ‘death to America’ crowd?” he said. “Give me a break. I mean, this is not how we’re going to solve our problems.” “I haven’t been contaminated by that culture that always tries to demonize and divide. I’m from Florida. We solve problems there,” he said. Mr. Bush was in a tie for seventh at 5 percent in a CNN/ORC survey on the Republican field in Iowa released earlier in the week. But the former governor, who has described himself as a “joyful tortoise,” said there’s a long way to go. “Look, polls are irrelevant,” he told reporters. “During the … 10 days of the state fair, there will be people moving up and moving down — it’s always been that way. I’ll remind you that my dad in 1980 was probably [an asterisk] at this point, and last time around there were candidates that were winning at this point that never even made it to the starting line.” “This is an all-in state — you got to organize, you got to get people to commit to attending the caucuses, recruiting others to go to the caucuses. … You gotta go campaign,” he said. Asked whether he was “all in here,” Mr. Bush said, “Oh, yeah — I’m competitive. You gotta show respect for Iowans. They’re discerning voters, they want to hear what’s on your mind, and I do think leadership matters a lot. You see what’s going on in the world today. We need to re-engage and be the leader in the world [to] create a safer world for ourselves and for the rest of the world.” | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Former National Security Council aide Fiona Hill clashed with Republicans during Thursday’s Trump impeachment inquiry hearings after accusing some lawmakers of embracing the “fictional narrative” that only Ukraine -- and not Russia -- interfered in the 2016 elections, igniting a fierce response.The testy proceedings at the Capitol also included testimony from David Holmes, a U.S. State Department official in Ukraine, who described how he overheard a phone call this summer with President Trump about wanting Ukraine to conduct political investigations.Holmes testified that he eventually understood that “demand” to be linked to delayed military aid. The White House countered, as it has in prior hearings, that the witnesses did not speak to any direct knowledge on the aid hold-up, while GOP lawmakers dismissed the alleged offense as nothing more than a “thought crime.”FIONA HILL SAYS SHE WAS GIVEN STEELE DOSSIER JUST BEFORE IT WAS PUBLISHEDBut Hill irritated Republicans from the outset Thursday by saying in her opening statement, “Based on questions and statements I have heard, some of you on this committee appear to believe that Russia and its security services did not conduct a campaign against our country—and that perhaps, somehow, for some reason, Ukraine did.”Throughout the day, Republicans repeatedly addressed her claims. The top Republican on the committee, Rep. Devin Nunes, pushed back by holding up a copy of the GOP-led Intelligence Committee’s 2018 “Report on Russian Active Measures” finding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.“What you just said was not true…but you felt the need to put it in your eight-page statement,” Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told her.New York Rep. Elise Stefanik said: “Not a single Republican member of this committee has said that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 elections.”Ohio Rep. Brad Wenstrup told Hill her statement was “false,” saying she was just repeating “Mr. Schiff’s narrative,” referring to the Democratic committee chairman. “That’s where you’ve heard it. We did a whole report on it.”The transcript of Trump's July 25 call with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky -- a moment at the heart of the impeachment probe -- shows Trump asking for a “favor” in the form of Ukraine providing information about the hacking of the DNC server in 2016. He referenced CrowdStrike, a cyber firm used by the DNC to investigate the attacks.Hill acknowledged in her testimony that her comments were in reference to those allegations.“These fictions are harmful even if they are deployed for purely domestic political purposes,” Hill said, also saying "if the president, or anyone else, impedes or subverts the national security of the United States in order to further domestic political or personal interests, that is more than worthy of your attention."She later, though, acknowledged that reporting from a 2017 Politico story indicated Ukrainian officials sought to "curry favor" with the Clinton campaign. “They bet on the wrong horse … They bet on Hillary Clinton winning the election,” she said, noting some officials disparaged Trump, but drawing a distinction between those issues and Russian meddling.IMPEACHMENT WITNESS FIONA HILL ONCE OPPOSED SENDING LETHAL AID TO UKRAINE IN FIGHT WITH RUSSIADemocrats have dismissed the notion that Ukraine played a role in the 2016 race. But Republicans throughout the hearing have repeatedly asked witnesses about a separate Ukraine-related allegation involving Alexandra Chalupa—a former Democratic National Committee consultant who allegedly had meetings during the 2016 campaign with officials at the Ukrainian Embassy in D.C. to discuss incriminating information about Trump campaign figures, as detailed in the Politico story."At the same time, certain Ukrainians did work against candidate Trump," Wenstrup said. "Some with the DNC."Nunes -- the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee -- accused Democrats during the hearing of "improperly redacting [Chalupa's] name from deposition transcripts and refusing to let Americans hear her testimony as a witness in these proceedings."The Russia probe and the 2016 election were frequently referenced by Nunes in the hearing. Hill acknowledged that she knows Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous dossier of conspiracy theories about Trump, and was shown an early copy of the document.Referencing the Democrat-funded dossier, Nunes asked both Hill and Holmes if they think it’s appropriate for political parties to send operatives into foreign countries to dig up dirt on their opponents. Both said no.The testimony came on the last scheduled day -- at this time -- of open impeachment hearings before the Intelligence Committee, which hosted a spree of five hearings spread across three days this week.The inquiry, at its core, has focused on how Trump pressured Zelensky to announce investigations related to the Bidens, as well as alleged actions taken by Ukraine in the 2016 election, as military aid was withheld.Holmes, the U.S. State Department official in Ukraine, testified about a Sept. 8 conversation where Bill Taylor, the top diplomat in Ukraine, told him Trump's advisers wanted Zelensky to commit to going on American television to announce an investigation.“This was a demand that President Zelensky personally commit, on a cable news channel, to a specific investigation of President Trump’s political rival,” Holmes said, adding, “I was shocked the requirement was so specific and concrete.”The interview never happened, and the aid was eventually released, a fact that Republicans have cited to counter Democrats' allegations.Speaking to lawmakers, Holmes said he eventually got the "clear impression" that the hold on aid was "likely intended" to prod Ukraine over the desired investigations -- related to former Vice President Joe Biden's role in the ouster of a prosecutor who had been looking into Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings where his son Hunter was on the board. Hill said Thursday: "It was clear Burisma was code for the Bidens."Trump has maintained there was no "quid pro quo," however, and Republicans have panned such witness assertions as speculation."These two witnesses, just like the rest, have no personal or direct knowledge regarding why U.S. aid was temporarily withheld," White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.But Holmes offered a first-hand account all the same of how he overheard a July 26 call between Trump and European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland where the president asked Sondland whether Zelensky was going to conduct the investigations he wanted.Holmes said Sondland, who was in Ukraine for meetings, began the call by telling Trump that Zelensky “loves your ass.”“I then heard President Trump ask, ‘So, he’s gonna do the investigation?’ Ambassador Sondland replied that ‘he’s gonna do it,’ adding that President Zelensky will do ‘anything you ask him to,’” Holmes said.Holmes explained how he heard the call.“While Ambassador Sondland’s phone was not on speakerphone, I could hear the president’s voice through the earpiece of the phone,” Holmes said. “The president’s voice was very loud and recognizable, and Ambassador Sondland held the phone away from his ear for a period of time, presumably because of the loud volume.”Trump, in real-time, tweeted his skepticism."I have been watching people making phone calls my entire life. My hearing is, and has been, great," the president tweeted during the hearing. "Never have I been watching a person making a call, which was not on speakerphone, and been able to hear or understand a conversation. I’ve even tried, but to no avail. Try it live!"CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPOn Thursday, Holmes also detailed how State Department officials were frustrated with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani's involvement in Ukraine policy."My recollection is that Ambassador Sondland stated, 'Dammit Rudy. Every time Rudy gets involved he goes and f---s everything up.'”Hill, too, recalled comments from former National Security Adviser John Bolton describing Giuliani as a "hand grenade" and the issues being pursued by Sondland and White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney as a "drug deal" that he wouldn't be a part of.Holmes also recalled asking Sondland during that lunch if it was true that Trump did not “give a s--t about Ukraine.”Describing that conversation, he said, “Ambassador Sondland agreed that the president did not ‘give a s--t about Ukraine.’ I asked why not, and Ambassador Sondland stated that the president only cares about ‘big stuff.’ I noted that there was ‘big stuff’ going on in Ukraine, like a war with Russia, and Ambassador Sondland replied that he meant ‘big stuff’ that benefits the president, like the ‘Biden investigation’ that Mr. Giuliani was pushing.”Hill told House investigators she came to realize Sondland wasn't simply operating outside official diplomatic channels, as she and others suspected, but carrying out instructions from Trump."He was being involved in a domestic political errand, and we were being involved in national security foreign policy," she testified, "and those two things had just diverged."Holmes also testified that he drafted a cable from Taylor, the top diplomat in Ukraine, to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the importance of the security aid, as it was being held up.Holmes said he didn’t know the reason for the delay, but “by this point, however, my clear impression was that the security assistance hold was likely intended by the president either as an expression of dissatisfaction that the Ukrainians had not yet agreed to the Burisma/Biden investigation or as an effort to increase the pressure on them to do so.”Asked about testimony from prior witnesses, Hill took issue with how a prior witness claimed she had reservations about the judgment of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman – another NSC official who testified against Trump this week. Instead, she said she worried that he lacked the political chops to navigate the increasingly heated conflict over the White House's strategy."I did not feel that he had the political antennae,” she said.Opening the hearing on Thursday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said lawmakers in the coming days will “determine what response is appropriate” after the recent testimony.“It will be up to us to decide, whether those acts are compatible with the office of the presidency,” Schiff said.Nunes, in his opening remarks, dismissed the accusations, saying, "So how do we have an impeachable offense here when there’s no actual misdeed and no one even claiming to be a victim?"Nunes said: "The Democrats have tried to solve this dilemma with a simple slogan: 'He got caught!' President Trump, we are to believe, was just about to do something wrong, and getting caught was the only reason he backed down from whatever nefarious thought-crime the Democrats are accusing him of almost committing."Trump on Thursday railed against the proceedings as a "phony impeachment hoax." He denied putting pressure on Ukraine and tweeted, "I never in my wildest dreams thought my name would in any way be associated with the ugly word, Impeachment!"The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
President Trump blamed congressional Democrats Saturday for the deaths of migrant children at the border, saying liberals’ “pathetic” immigration policies have encouraged foreign families to attempt the dangerous journey. “Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “They can’t. If we had a Wall, they wouldn’t even try!” House Democrats ordered Homeland Security officials this week to preserve all “evidence” related to the two deaths this month of Guatemalan children who jumped the U.S.-Mexico border with their parents, signaling an investigation next month. An 8-year-old boy, Felipe Gomez Alonzo, died on Christmas Eve after six days in Border Patrol custody. He had been treated for a cold and fever at a hospital and was released, but was readmitted hours later — and died soon thereafter. His mother in Guatemala said the boy’s father brought the child on the trip to the U.S. in the belief that gaining illegal entry would be easier with a child. Earlier this month, a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl died after being arrested for crossing the border illegally with her father. Border Patrol agents twice managed to revive her after she fell ill, but she later suffered a heart attack and liver and respiratory failure at a hospital. Mr. Trump said the two children “were very sick before they were given over to Border Patrol.” “The father of the young girl said it was not their fault, he hadn’t given her water in days,” the president tweeted. “Border Patrol needs the Wall and it will all end. They are working so hard & getting so little credit!” | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Violent clashes erupted in Washington, D.C., between protesters and police after the conclusion of the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Thursday night.The protests started as a “noise demonstration and dance party" and seemed to intensify as the night continued. Videos emerged on social media that appeared to show city police clashing with protesters throughout city streets.Protesters yelled and threw water bottles at police at the historic St. John's Church, which is near Black Lives Matter Plaza. Police made a string of arrests.SEN. RAND PAUL THANKS DC COPS FOR SAVING HIM FROM 'CRAZED MOB' AFTER RNC Metropolitan Police are confronted by protestors as police carry away a handcuffed protester along a section of 16th Street, Northwest, renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza, Thursday night, Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington, D.C., after President Donald Trump had finished delivering his acceptance speech from the White House South Lawn. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Tensions escalated at one intersection in the nation's capital when police arrived on bicycles to confront demonstrators.At least one protester was seen grabbing an officer's bike while another held up a Black Lives Matter sign in the face of a member of law enforcement -- as the crowd advanced, according to a video. A brawl ensued between protesters and police, which saw punches thrown.Video also emerged of a man dressed in blackface who appeared to be punched by a protester. Separately, a White protester was seen calling a Black officer "Uncle Tom" and a "traitor."DC MAYOR BOWSER CONDEMNS 'HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE' BEHAVIOR OF BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTERS BERATING DINERSThe violent protester ran off, and a chase ensued before an officer tried to place him in a headlock. A crowd would descend on the officer and at least one person yelled at police to "get off him."A separate video saw a handful of officers attempting to arrest a protester. It's not clear if police were arresting the same man who led officers on the previous chase.Video on social media also appeared to show a crowd chasing and jeering Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, who was escorted by D.C. police as he returned to his hotel. An officer was captured on video being shoved by a protester and was nearly knocked over. Paul appeared to help steady the officer.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHe would later thank D.C. police for saving him from a "crazed mob." | 2 |
Yesterday, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling made some Democrats nervous when he told attendees of a breakfast event that President Obama would sign a two-week debt limit increase. The nervous Democrats thought this was a sign Obama was caving on his debt limit demands. It was not. Signing a short-term debt limit deal is entirely consistent with Obama's current position on the debt limit, which, as Press Secretary Jay Carney reiterated yesterday, is that Obama will never negotiate on the debt limit ever again. What many in Washington have failed to grasp is that, if forever is Obama's timeline for not negotiating on the debt limit, then every debt limit hike that is not a full repeal of the debt limit is a "short-term" debt limit hike. One year. One day. One trillion dollars. One dollar. These are all equal debt limit hikes in the White House's eyes. This is what makes Speaker John Boehner's R-OH current pu pu platter offer such an embarrassment: it doesn't come close to matching the scope of what Obama is asking for. Another tax reform committee? Chained CPI? Keystone? These are all shiny objects that accomplish little to nothing. So what should Republicans be asking for in return for repealing the debt limit? Here are some ideas: 1. Full year delay of all of Obamacere. Even Obama's biggest media fan, Jon Stewart, can see that Obamacare is not ready for primetime. Why not delay the law for a year so the Obama administration can get its act together. 2. Take entitlements off autopilot. Liberals love to say that Congress has to raise the debt limit since they already voted for the spending driving the debt. But this is false. Mandatory spending, including spending on Obamacare, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, already makes up more than half of all federal spending. The current Congress never approved any of these spending levels, yet Democrats are demanding they take accountability for the borrowing to pay for them. If Democrats want to end the debt limit, then all of these programs should be take off auto-pilot and put on budget next to defense, farm subsidies and all other discretionary programs. 3. Repeal the individual mandate. According to the Congressional Budget Office, a one-year delay of the individual mandate would cut the debt by $35 billion. The bulk of that savings comes from less federal money spent on Medicaid and subsidies for health insurance. A full repeal would save far more money. If Obamacare is so great, Americans should not be forced to buy it? | 2 |
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is giving its privacy tools a makeover as it reels from criticisms over its data practices and faces tighter European regulations in the coming months. The changes won’t affect Facebook’s privacy policies or the types of data it gathers on users. But the company hopes its 2.2 billion users will have an easier time navigating its complex and often confusing privacy and security settings. Facebook says it also wants to give users a simpler way to access and download the data it collects on them. Wednesday’s announcement follows revelations that a Trump-affiliated consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, got data on millions of Facebook users. That included information on friends of people who had downloaded a psychological quiz app, even though those friends hadn’t given explicit consent to sharing. In addition, Facebook is also facing widespread criticism for collecting years of contact names, telephone numbers and call and text histories from Android users. The company has not said exactly what it used such data for or why it needed it. On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission said it is investigating Facebook over its privacy practices. Facebook’s chief privacy officer, Erin Egan, said in a blog post that most of the privacy updates have been in the works for “some time, but the events of the past several days underscore their importance.” Facebook also said it plans to update its privacy policy and terms of service in the coming weeks, but gave no further details. The company has tried over the years to simplify its privacy settings, yet the controls remain hard to find and use for many people. For example, Facebook announced in 2009 that it was consolidating six privacy pages and more than 30 settings on to a single privacy page. Yet mobile users still had to go to nearly 20 different places to access all of their privacy controls. Now, Facebook says they will be accessible from a single place. Facebook says it is also adding “clearer explanations” about how its privacy controls work. Chris Cox, Facebook’s chief product officer, called the new settings “the first of many steps” the company is taking to address privacy concerns. Facebook has been working on the changes in preparation for the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, which were approved two years ago and take effect May 25. The rules are designed to make it easier for consumers to give and withdraw consent for the use of their data. They apply to any company that collects data on EU residents, no matter where it is based. To comply with this, Facebook is adding a section called “access your information,” a secure way for users to manage data they’ve shared with the company, including status updates, comments and things they have searched for. That’s where people can go to delete information or download a copy. While this download was already possible, it took some time to figure out how to do it. Cox said the changes let people browse through their information in detail, without having to download it. For example, users will now be able to look up a post from a specific date in the past. Cox said that while the changes are “in line with the principle of GDPR,” there’s also a “bunch of stuff that goes above and beyond that.” Facebook also said it will propose updates to its terms of service in the coming weeks and update its privacy policy, but gave no further details. Copyright © 2022 The Washington Times, LLC. | 2 |
Published November 30, 2020 Updated 7:53PM article FILE - Dr. Scott Atlas, member of the White House's coronavirus task force, speaks at a news conference in the briefing room of the White House on Sept. 23, 2020. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s special adviser on the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Scott Atlas, formally resigned from his post on Monday, according to FOX News. “I am writing to resign from my position as Special Advisor to the President of the United States,” Atlas said in a resignation letter obtained by FOX News. “I worked hard with a singular focus—to save lives and help Americans through this pandemic,” Atlas wrote, adding that he “always relied on the latest science and evidence, without any political consideration or influence.” “As time went on, like all scientists and health policy scholars, I learned new information and synthesized the latest data from around the world, all in an effort to provide you with the best information to serve the greater public good,” Atlas wrote. “But, perhaps more than anything, my advice was always focused on minimizing all the harms from both the pandemic and the structural policies themselves, especially to the working class and the poor.” “Indeed, I cannot think of a time where safeguarding science and the scientific debate is more urgent,” Atlas said. Atlas had been criticized by health experts throughout his tenure for calling for a widespread reopening amid the surging pandemic and saying that lockdowns are “extremely harmful” to Americans. He listed among his accomplishments in his resignation letter that he “identified and illuminated early on the harms of prolonged lockdowns, including that they create massive physical health losses and psychological distress, destroy families and damage our children.” RELATED: Questions arise as COVID-19 vaccine gets closer to reality Atlas, the former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center and a fellow at Stanford’s conservative Hoover Institution, has no expertise in public health or infectious diseases. Atlas joined the White House Coronavirus Task Force in August amid ongoing tensions between the president and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, and Dr. Deborah Birx, the task force's coordinator. Many public health experts questioned Trump’s decision to bring Atlas, whose expertise is in magnetic resonance imaging and whose research has focused on factors impacting health care policy, on as a coronavirus adviser. His controversial views also prompted Stanford to issue a statement distancing itself from the faculty member, saying Atlas "has expressed views that are inconsistent with the university’s approach in response to the pandemic." “We support using masks, social distancing, and conducting surveillance and diagnostic testing,” the university said Nov. 16. “We also believe in the importance of strictly following the guidance of local and state health authorities.” “I think he’s utterly unqualified to help lead a COVID response,” said Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown University law professor who specializes in public health. “His medical degree isn’t even close to infectious diseases and public health and he has no experience in dealing with public health outbreaks.” RELATED: ‘Great Barrington Declaration’ on COVID-19 ‘herd immunity’ draws criticism from experts Gostin expressed concern that Trump was sidelining other doctors, including Birx and Fauci, because he had soured on their advice. “You want clear independent advice from people with long experience in fighting novel pandemics and he has none of those credentials,” Gostin said. Atlas found himself in hot water earlier in November after tweeting to his nearly 90,000 followers suggesting that residents of Michigan should “rise up” against COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration. “The only way this stops is if people rise up. You get what you accept. #FreedomMatters #StepUp,” the tweet, which was deleted by Twitter, read. Atlas later tweeted that he wasn’t “talking at all about violence.” “Hey. I NEVER was talking at all about violence. People vote, people peacefully protest. NEVER would I endorse or incite violence. NEVER,” Atlas tweeted. After the U.S. surpassed 6 million COVID-19 cases in August, Atlas downplayed the risk of infections in young people and agreed with Gov. Ron DeSantis that college football needed to be played this year. Atlas described fit athletes as low-risk and said football “can be done safely” using social distancing in big stadiums. Even with rigid guidelines and frequent testing which was implemented at the start of the college football season, universities have seen several outbreaks which have forced games to be postponed. Atlas also downplayed the need to test people for COVID-19 who were asymptomatic. “When you start a program of testing simply to detect positive cases among asymptomatic low-risk groups, the outcome from that is to close the schools," he said. "And the goal of testing is not to close things. The goal of testing is to protect the vulnerable while we open the schools and open the economy.” In an April op-ed in The Hill, Atlas claimed that lockdowns may have prevented the development of “natural herd immunity.” “In the absence of immunization, society needs circulation of the virus, assuming high-risk people can be isolated," he wrote. In television appearances, Atlas called on the nation to “get a grip" and argued that “there’s nothing wrong" with having low-risk people get infected, as long as the vulnerable are protected. RELATED: U.S. could soon see 'surge upon a surge' in COVID cases, says Fauci While the term “herd immunity” has been widely used in conversation about the novel coronavirus, evidence has emerged that the concept of immunity obtained through widespread infection of a population may not apply to COVID-19. Epidemiologists define the herd immunity threshold for a given virus as the percentage of the population that must be immune to ensure that its introduction will not cause an outbreak. If enough people are immune, an infected person will likely come into contact only with people who are already immune rather than spreading the virus to someone who is susceptible. A study published on July 11 by researchers at King’s College London found that antibodies detected in the human body which fight the coronavirus declined after a few weeks, leaving the possibility of herd immunity out of the question. The implications of such a study engender the possibility that future waves of the novel coronavirus could return in seasons, according to researchers. Spanish researchers say herd immunity for COVID-19 is not achievable The nation's top epidemiologists, along with Spanish health authorities, found that only 5% maintained antibodies developed from the virus. Herd immunity is usually discussed in the context of vaccination. For example, if 90% of the population (the herd) has received a chickenpox vaccine, the remaining 10% (often including people who cannot become vaccinated, like babies and the immunocompromised) will be protected from the introduction of a single person with chickenpox. Even with two promising vaccines nearly ready to release to the public, doctors and health experts say that a majority of the population will need to get the inoculation in order for herd immunity to take hold. Dr. Natasha Bhuyan, a family physician with One Medical, is optimistic about the current data related to the two vaccines, but says 60% to 80% of the population will need to get vaccinated for herd immunity to become viable. "We still need a majority of people to get the vaccine in order to reach herd immunity, and I think that as long as we can show the public the vaccine is safe and the vaccine is effective, then I think people will voluntarily get the vaccine," said Bhuyan. The Associated Press, FOX News, FOX 10 Phoenix and Austin Williams contributed to this report. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Republicans on Capitol Hill and the campaign trail expressed optimism and happiness Saturday about Iran releasing five U.S. citizens but continued raising concerns about the nuclear deal with Tehran that is expected completed this weekend and connected to the accord.“Hopeful this long ordeal for our four Americans held hostage in Iran finally appears to be over,” tweeted GOP presidential candidate and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. “Praise God! Surely bad parts of Obama's latest deal, but prayers of thanksgiving that Pastor Saeed is coming home.”The four Americans were released in an apparent prisoner-swap purportedly for as many as a dozen Iranians being detained in the United States. A fifth American was also released, but he was not part of first exchange.House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said through a spokeswoman that he was “glad” about the Americans being released but is awaiting details on the “ransom paid for their freedom.”The first four Americans released were Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, pastor Saeed Abedini and Nosratollah Khosravi, whose name had not been previously made public.They are being flown to Switzerland aboard a Swiss aircraft. And upon their arrival, they will be taken to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, for medical treatment, U.S. officials said.The fifth American is being identified as student Matthew Trevithnick, and is already on his way home, the officials said. They spoke about the prisoner exchange on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.Secretary of State John Kerry is set to announce Saturday that Iran has complied with all of the requirement on curtailing it efforts to build a nuclear weapon, in exchange for getting back $100 billion in frozen assets.Republicans and others critics of the deal say the United States and the five other world powers let Tehran off too easy, in part by failing to demand stricter inspections of nuclear-related facilities.President Obama and others in his administration have argued that reaching a perfect deal would be nearly impossible and that this deal is better than no deal with a rouge nation that poses a regional and global nuclear threat."I am very pleased that four American citizens, who were illegally imprisoned by Iran in flagrant violation of longstanding international human rights norms, have finally been released,” said GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson. "However, … president Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran is fatally flawed and gravely jeopardizes the national security interests of the American people, our ally Israel and other peaceful nations in the Middle East and around the world.”He also said releasing the roughly $100 billion to Iran and allow the country to “continue exporting terrorism around the world.”The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday announced legislation to create a commission that would allow Congress to oust a president from office, using the 25th Amendment, a day after she accused President Trump of being "in an altered state" from his coronavirus treatment. "This is not about President Trump," Pelosi maintained Friday. "He will face the judgment of the voters. But he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents."Pelosi denied that the timing of the legislation had anything to do with the election and argued that setting up a commission on presidential capacity is needed to "give some comfort to people" on the stability of the government. PELOSI QUESTIONS TRUMP'S HEALTH, SAYS 'WE'RE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT THE 25TH AMENDMENT'Trump immediately shot back and said Pelosi's effort is really to remove a future President Joe Biden."Crazy Nancy Pelosi is looking at the 25th Amendment in order to replace Joe Biden with Kamala Harris," Trump tweeted. "The Dems want that to happen fast because Sleepy Joe is out of it!!!Pelosi was joined at the Capitol by bill author Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who said the coronavirus crisis has further shown the need for a succession plan in the event the president is incapacitated."We need to act," said Raskin, who was a professor of constitutional law. “In times of chaos, we must hold fast to our Constitution,” Raskin added. “The 25th amendment is all about the stability of the presidency and the continuity of the office.”Pelosi had previewed the new legislation on Thursday, telling reporters that she would be “talking about the 25th Amendment” on Friday -- which allows for the vice president to become acting president if it is determined that the president "is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office."She questioned the state of Trump's health and his behavior since being diagnosed with COVID-19 amid an outbreak at the White House. “The public needs to know the health condition of the president," Pelosi said Thursday, demanding to know his negative test for the virus before announcing he was infected last week.Trump later responded: “Crazy Nancy is the one who should be under observation. They don’t call her Crazy for nothing!”Under the 25th Amendment, Congress, the cabinet and vice president can strip powers from a president if for some reason he or she is declared unfit under dire circumstances. But that requires a 2/3 vote of both houses.Section 4 of the 25th Amendment also states that a majority of “such other body as Congress may by law" determine if the president cannot discharge the powers and duties of his office. The 25th Amendment was ratified in 1967 and Raksin said it's time for Congress to set up this "body."REPUBLICANS BAFFLED BY PELOSI'S 25TH AMENDMENT SUGGESTION, SAY SHE WANTS TO 'STAGE A COUP'Raskin's bill, which would have to be passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the president, which would set up “the Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of the Office."The 17 members of the bipartisan commission would work with the vice president to determine whether the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” due to physical or mental incapacity. Prospectively, that commission would adjudicate the need for a transfer of power. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPRaskin introduced a similar bill in 2017 saying Trump has thrown the country into chaos. “For the security of our people and the safety of the Republic, we need to set up the ‘body’ called for in the 25th Amendment," Raskin said at the time. "The president can fire his entire Cabinet for asking the same question tens of millions of Americans are asking at their dinner tables, but he cannot fire Congress or the expert body we set up under the Constitution."While such a bill may pass the Democrat-controlled House, it would seem extremely unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate unless there was a significant development in Trump’s health. However, it introduces a new political narrative just weeks before Election Day.Trump was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last Friday, began a course of treatment, and returned to the White House Monday -- before returning to the Oval Office on Wednesday.Pelosi was asked Friday if she thought Trump has met the threshold for the 25th Amendment to be invoked."That’s not for us to decide," she said. Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report. | 2 |
A special three-judge court struck down Ohio’s congressional district map Friday, finding it was unlawfully rigged to the benefit of Republicans.The decision is the latest in a series of lower court rulings striking down district lines as unconstitutionally gerrymandered. The fate of those disputes will turn on a pair of gerrymandering cases from Maryland and North Carolina the Supreme Court is currently considering. “The court issued a meticulously detailed opinion, concluding that Ohio’s map was an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, and ordered the state to enact a new remedial plan by June 14,” said Freda Levenson of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio. “This opinion, declaring Ohio an egregiously gerrymandered state, completely validates every one of our claims and theories in every respect.” Republicans hold 12 of Ohio’s 16 congressional districts. The plaintiffs say GOP legislative aides drew the current map after the 2010 census with careful guidance from national Republicans and former House Speaker John Boehner, whose 8th district encompassed suburban Cincinnati and the state’s rural stretches on the Indiana border. Their goal, the plaintiffs charge, was to entrench a Republican majority in the state congressional delegation for a decade. A three-judge panel agreed with that proposition. Judge Karen Moore of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judges Michael Watson and Timothy Black of the Southern District of Ohio sat on the panel. Nelson and Black are Democratic appointees. Watson was appointed by former President George W. Bush. “We join the other federal courts that have held partisan gerrymandering unconstitutional and developed substantially similar standards for adjudicating such claims,” the decision reads. “We are convinced by the evidence that this partisan gerrymander was intentional and effective and that no legitimate justification accounts for its extremity.” “Performing our analysis district by district, we conclude that the 2012 map dilutes the votes of Democratic voters by packing and cracking them into districts that are so skewed toward one party that the electoral outcome is predetermined,” the decision continues. (RELATED: THE 100: Trump Installs One Hundo Judges On The Federal Bench) Demonstrators gather outside of the Supreme Court during oral arguments in Gill v. Whitford to call for an end to partisan gerrymandering on October 3, 2017. (Olivier Douliery/Getty Images) Like other federal courts, the panel said the GOP gerrymanders violate the First Amendment associational rights, since they impede the ability of Democratic voters to organize and advance their political goals. The decision imposes a demanding timetable for the state to produce new legislative maps. Ohio must submit new district lines for the court’s review by June 14. A supplemental brief detailing the process by which those lines were drawn must follow by June 21. Voters adopted a redistricting reform package during the 2018 elections. Failing a certain level of consensus in both the majority and minority parties, a bipartisan commission would lead redistricting efforts. Ohio will likely ask the Supreme Court to put Friday’s ruling on hold. Action on that request is likely in the coming days. Follow Kevin on Twitter Send tips to [email protected] Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]. | 2 |
“I ran for office because I was very critical of [Barack] Obama’s trillion-dollar deficits. Now we have Republicans hand-in-hand with Democrats offering us trillion-dollar deficits,” Paul said during a floor speech, as he predicted that “a day of reckoning” is coming. “I can’t in all good honesty, in all good faith, just look the other way because my party is now complicit in the deficits.”The deal’s passage was never in doubt: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell knew he had 71 senators ready to vote for it, and Speaker Paul Ryan had the votes locked up in the House by yesterday morning. But Rand wanted the chance to introduce an amendment, and he used the procedural prerogatives of a senator to throw up roadblocks until about 1:30 a.m., when the time allotted for debate expired.The House passed the bill just after 5:30 a.m. on a 240-186 vote, with 167 Republicans voting yes and 67 voting no. Democrats contributed 73 votes to get it across the finish line. President Trump was at the White House waiting to quickly sign it to reopen the government after what amounted to a partial seven-hour shutdown.The bill authorizes the U.S. government to spend about $500 billion more over the next two years and suspends the debt ceiling until 2019. Most of the additional spending is not offset with cuts elsewhere, which means that the $20 trillion national debt will grow significantly. Sixty percent of the new money goes to the military; the rest goes to domestic programs.This is the largest increase in federal spending since the stimulus passed during the depths of the Great Recession. Republicans almost universally opposed that bill in 2009, which cost $787 billion over 10 years, on the grounds that it would increase the debt too much. The only difference between now and then is that the economy is firing on all cylinders and doesn’t need stimulus.Rand doesn’t have a totally clean nose here. He voted in December for the tax bill that will grow the debt by more than $1 trillion over the next decade — and probably more. His pushback is that overhauling the code will generate economic growth to offset the lost revenue.Because Republicans slashed taxes and are now jacking up spending, the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget forecasts that this bill will ensure permanent trillion-dollar deficits. The projected deficit in 2019 is now $1.1 trillion, compared to $439 billion in 2015. (Don’t forget, Trump called for an additional $1.5 trillion infrastructure package during his State of the Union.) The government shut down for the second time in three weeks on Feb. 9. (Bastien Inzaurralde, Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post)-- GOP leaders are incensed at Paul, and members in both parties were perturbed that they had to burn the midnight oil. If he had fallen in line, they could have gone to bed at a reasonable hour. McConnell, who was visibly irritated when his fellow Kentuckian objected to his motion to end debate last night, might have remembered why he went all-in for Paul’s primary opponent back in 2010. John Cornyn, McConnell’s No. 2, called what Paul was doing “grossly irresponsible” and said that they wouldn’t give in to his demand for amendments: “Why reward bad behavior?” John Thune, the No. 3 in GOP leadership, called it “a colossal waste of everybody’s time” and said Paul “never gets a result.”-- But making his fellow Republicans uncomfortable was the whole point of the exercise. “Some will say, ‘You’re responsible for this, it’s all your fault.’ Well, if I’m responsible for drawing attention to the debt, so be it,” Paul said. “Somebody had to do it. I didn’t come here to be a part of someone’s club. I didn’t come up here to be liked. I didn’t come here to just say, ‘Hey guys, I’m going to be part of the club, so I’m going to do what you tell me to do.’”-- To be sure, Paul is not the only Republican lawmaker worried about the debt. Bob Corker, the retiring senator from Tennessee, accused his party of “doubling down on the irresponsible mentality in Congress of spend now, pay later.” The House Freedom Caucus, which has about three dozen members, came out strongly against the measure. The Koch political network, Heritage Action and the Club for Growth tried unsuccessfully to mobilize their supporters against the deal.-- But most GOP lawmakers have stopped caring too much about the issue. A big reason is that their base stopped caring. Polls show that the deficit has dwindled as a concern over the past few years, especially since Obama left office.-- Trump, who doesn’t mind red ink, has helped drive this transformation. He is the self-proclaimed “king of debt.” He’s driven several businesses into bankruptcy by taking out ill-advised loans on unfavorable terms. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Feb. 8 opposed a bipartisan budget deal and delayed a vote on the measure in the Senate, calling the GOP “complicit in the deficits.” (U.S. Senate)-- In many ways, Rand’s brand of Republicanism was rejected during his failed 2016 presidential campaign. The libertarian moment, which saw Paul emerge as a top-tier contender in 2013 and 2014, ended with the rise of Trump. Instead of putting up a libertarian, Republicans chose to nominate a libertine. The primary voters who backed his dad, Ron Paul, in 2012 moved on to fresher faces.The senator used his floor speech last night to call for bringing the troops home from Afghanistan, which he framed as a cost-cutting measure. This is a position Trump shared — until he took office. The president tapped into the isolationist sentiments that the Paul family had appealed to for decades with his mantra of America First, but he’s come to understand that the GOP remains at heart an internationalist party. That’s one area where Trump has moved in the direction of the elites, not the other way around.Paul worked to befriend Trump last year, but there have been signs that they’ve drifted apart. And his protest last night caught the administration off guard.-- Even as he once again finds himself a lonely voice in the wilderness, Paul has proven that any senator can make themselves heard — if they choose to speak up. “Most of the senators will tell you — they say, ‘This is the last one, I’m never voting for this again, these are terrible, this is a rotten way to run your government, I object to doing it this way … but I’m going to vote for this one because I don’t want the government to shut down,’” Paul said. “And while I don’t want the government to shut down, I also don’t want to keep it open if we’re not going to reform it.”-- What exactly is in the massive spending deal? Heather Long and Jeff Stein have a list of 12 of the most important things: “It funds the government through March 23. … Military spending jumps 10 percent. … A 10 percent increase in domestic spending. … Federal health programs get much-needed funding. … Help for Puerto Rico. . . . More tax cuts for 2017. … Extra money to fight the opioid epidemic. … The debt ceiling is raised until March 2019. … More money for GOP social priorities such as abstinence education. … The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve would be sold down …”It gives vulnerable Democratic senators several wins and takes items off the party’s 2018 “Better Deal” agenda: “The new items include $5.8 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant program; $20 billion in infrastructure spending, including rural broadband funds, with no corresponding cuts; and a special joint committee on fulfilling pension obligations, with the results to be voted on by the end of the year,” Dave Weigel reports.McConnell also tucked in two provisions that will greatly benefit colleges in Kentucky. “One provision would exempt private colleges that do not charge tuition from a new tax on their endowments, an exemption that would protect Berea College,” Danielle Douglas-Gabriel reports. “Another provision … gives the secretary of education greater authority to waive sanctions imposed on colleges and universities whose students consistently default on federal education loans. The measure would apply to public colleges in economically distressed communities, defined as a county that ranks in the lowest 5 percent of all counties in the country based on a national index … Based on those narrow parameters, education experts say the provision would most likely benefit Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College.” WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:The Washington Post's Heather Long explains why the latest drop in the stock market shouldn't worry investors. (Heather Long, Lee Powell/The Washington Post)-- Asian markets fell after the Dow’s poor performance yesterday. Emily Rauhala reports: “Markets went down hard across the Asia-Pacific region . . . with China’s Shanghai Composite Index at one point dropping more than 5 percent, as Hong Kong dipped more than 4 percent. Shanghai closed down 4.05 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 3.1 percent and Japan’s Nikkei lost 2.3 percent. Korea’s Kospi and Australia’s ASX closed down 1.9 and 0.9 respectively.“In Europe, however, the reaction was more measured, with the main stock indexes opening down sharply before slowly inching back up. The Stoxx Europe 600 index was down by 0.25 percent as midday approached while Frankfurt’s DAX was even. London’s FTSE was down just 0.33 percent after a few hours of trading . . .-- "The Dow’s 4.1 percent fall means it is now in ‘correction’ territory, or 10 percent lower than its all-time high, for the first time in two years," Thomas Heath reports. "The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has experienced a similar slide. Pullbacks of such magnitude are relatively common and usually occur over a two- to three-month period. But the jarring plunges over the past two weeks . . . are beginning to reshape sentiment on Wall Street. Some analysts are predicting darker, more volatile times ahead.” -- As of yesterday, the Dow has lost more than 40 percent of its gains during Trump’s presidency. GET SMART FAST:The Trump administration secretly offered Iran a direct channel to negotiate the release of prisoners in December. The move marked the first time the current White House has signaled willingness to engage in a prisoner swap — but Iranians have so far spurned Washington’s overture, leaving uncertain the fate of at least four American detainees. (Wall Street Journal)Syrian Kurdish fighters detained two British Islamic State militants infamous for their role in torturing and killing Western hostages. The Britons were part of a four-man group known collectively as “The Beatles” because of their British accents, and were the last two members to remain at-large. (New York Times)A new study analyzing more than 650 human brains has found overlapping patterns of genetic activity in five major psychiatric disorders — autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety. Researchers say the results draw a road map to understanding these disorders, offering clues on how to better treat them. (Amy Ellis Nutt)Meghan McCain said her father, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), has delayed his return to Washington because of the deadly flu season. The younger McCain noted her father is more susceptible to catching the flu because his “immune system is so down” from treatments for brain cancer. (Alex Horton)Facebook is now testing a “downvote” button as a potential means of flagging inappropriate comments. But a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement: “We are not testing a dislike button. We are exploring a feature for people to give us feedback about comments on public page posts. This is running for a small set of people in the U.S. only.” (TechCrunch)A Miami Beach student says she was forced to flush her pet hamster down an airport toilet after receiving “bad information” from Spirit Airlines. Spirit representatives had twice told her she could bring the animal on the plane before denying her entry at the gate. “I was scared. … She was scared. … It was horrifying trying to put her in the toilet,” said the 21-year-old, who is now considering suing the airline. (Miami Herald)Cornell’s ZBT fraternity is on probation after its pledges were revealed to be participating in a secret, fat-shaming game known as the “pig roast.” The “game” involved prospective members earning points for sleeping with overweight women on campus. It was unclear how long the contest was going on or how many people participated. (Cleve R. Wootson Jr.)The chairman of Graff Diamonds refuted Trump’s claim about getting a $1 million discount on Melania’s engagement ring. Laurence Graff said Trump was “a pleasure to do business with” but that he was given “no favours” when buying the ring, which retailed for $1.5 million. (Forbes)PERSONNEL IS POLICY:-- Senior White House officials, including Chief of Staff John Kelly, knew about abuse allegations against Rob Porter for months before this week’s reports surfaced. Josh Dawsey and Beth Reinhard report: “White House Counsel Donald McGahn knew one year ago that staff secretary Rob Porter’s ex-wives were prepared to make damaging accusations about him but allowed him to serve as an influential gatekeeper and aide to President Trump without investigating the accusations, according to people familiar with the matter. [Kelly] learned this fall about the allegations of spousal abuse and that they were delaying Porter’s security clearance amid an ongoing FBI investigation. But Kelly handed Porter more responsibilities to control the flow of information to the president. …“In January 2017, when McGahn learned of the allegations, he wanted Porter to stay put because he saw the Harvard Law-trained Capitol Hill veteran as a steadying, professional voice in the White House, according to people familiar with the matter. His view didn’t change in June when the FBI flagged some of its findings to the White House. Nor did he act in September when he learned that the domestic violence claims were delaying Porter’s security clearance, or in November when Porter’s former girlfriend contacted him about the allegations[.] … When McGahn informed Kelly this fall about the reason for the security clearance holdup, he agreed that Porter should remain and said he was surprised to learn that the 40-year-old had ex-wives.”-- White House spokesman Raj Shah declined to say when top officials first became aware of the allegations, but acknowledged they could have “better handled” them. John Wagner and Anne Gearan report: “Shah said that [Trump] only learned of the allegations from media reports on Tuesday night and that [Kelly] did not become ‘fully aware’ of the alleged abuse until Wednesday. … As he was peppered with questions, Shah did not rule out the possibility Kelly and other senior White House officials knew about the allegations [long] before they surfaced in the media. Shah said Porter, whose job included presenting Trump with classified documents, was serving in the White House with a temporary security clearance while law enforcement officials continued to conduct a comprehensive background check.”-- The current husband of Porter’s first wife, Colbie Holderness, emailed the FBI last January expressing concerns that one of Porter’s close friends was “actively working” to quash possible background check issues. CNN’s MJ Lee reports: “[Skiffington Holderness] said in an email to the FBI … that he had several conversations with Porter's friend, Bryan Cunningham. The email details those conversations, including one in which Cunningham allegedly reacted positively when Holderness said his wife was not inclined to talk to the FBI regarding Porter's background check. Cunningham, according to the email, said ‘that was good,’ she was ‘not obligated’ to speak with the FBI, and that they should ‘bury the past.’”-- “Taken together, all the grown-ups in the room protected, privileged, and covered for Rob Porter despite everything they knew about his pattern of abuse, because his career was important to them,” Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick writes. “Please stop asking why women don’t come forward. These women did. They believed that once the police, the FBI, the White House, and John Kelly knew what they knew, Porter would stop ascending in their ranks. They were wrong.”-- Dozens of White House employees are working with temporary approvals to handle sensitive information. Josh Dawsey, Matt Zapotosky and Devlin Barrett report: “People familiar with the security-clearance process said one of those White House officials with an interim approval is Jared Kushner[.] … National security lawyer Mark Zaid, who represents government employees going through the security-clearance process, said it is not necessarily sinister that dozens of White House employees lack clearance. He said the Trump White House, in particular, might be going through the clearance process slowly because those working there have not previously been in government and their extensive foreign and business ties take additional time to explore. Zaid said people often operate with interim clearances for months.”-- The White House wants to remove the No. 2 at the Department of Veterans Affairs as a “warning shot” to Secretary David Shulkin, the only Obama-era holdover in Trump’s Cabinet. Emily Wax-Thibodeaux, Lisa Rein and Josh Dawsey report: “Deputy Secretary Thomas G. Bowman, who was appointed by Trump and confirmed in August, was said to be at odds with the administration’s plan to expand health care access for veterans through private providers[.] … ‘It’s a move to knock Shulkin down a peg or two,’ said a White House official[.] … ‘The administration feels like Shulkin has been freewheeling a little too much. Rather than sticking with the administration’s position on the Veterans Choice Act, Shulkin has been working with senators who don’t agree with the White House provisions.’”-- The Office of Personnel Management issued a report stating understaffing at federal agencies is hampering services to the public. Eric Yoder reports: “The report comes just ahead of a White House budget proposal that is expected to include plans for carrying out a long-term reduction in the federal workforce, as ordered by the Trump administration last April. … OPM found personnel issues factored in 59 percent of programs on the Government Accountability Office’s ‘high-risk’ list and in 38 percent of reports by inspectors general of ‘management challenges’ within their agencies. Specifically, inadequate staff was cited as a problem in 34 percent of the former and 14 percent of latter.”WEST WING INTRIGUE:-- Kelly may have put his own credibility on the line by coming to Porter's defense this week. Philip Rucker reports: “The perception of Kelly as above politics has been critical to his success in the West Wing. Publicly, he has come to Trump’s aid at moments of crisis, while privately he has been used to kill damaging news stories … But the irony for Kelly may be that the credibility that makes him a singular asset in this White House may have been irreparably damaged by his work in it … and some White House aides worry it may be acutely painful, considering he takes personal pride in his honor as a lifelong public servant. ‘This is a man who, across the corps for 40 years, was considered to be the exemplar of moral principle and integrity,’ [said John R. Allen, a retired four-star general and close friend of Kelly’s]. ‘His values were very powerfully formed, and it’s just difficult for me to find in my memory of my service with him a flaw.’”-- Trump is lashing out at Kelly and even his close confidante Hope Hicks over their handling of the Porter allegations. Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman writes: “On Wednesday night, [Trump] vented to advisers that Kelly had not fully briefed him on Porter’s issues with women until recently, two sources told me. Trump was also not aware of the severity of the alleged abuse until yesterday, when Ivanka walked into the Oval Office and showed her father a photo published in the Daily Mail of Porter’s ex-wife with a black eye. ‘He was f---ing pissed,’ said one Republican briefed on the conversation. According to a source, Ivanka and Jared Kushner have been discussing possible chief-of-staff replacements. The problem is there’s not an obvious candidate waiting in the wings. …“The crisis also raises questions about Hope Hicks’s decision-making, and whether her romantic relationship with Porter clouded her judgment. According to a source, Hicks did not get a sign off from Trump for the White House’s initial statement defending Porter, in which Kelly was quoted calling Porter a ‘man of true integrity. … There is a sense that the Porter situation may finally push Trump to move against Kelly, according to several Republicans close to the White House. Last night, a source said, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski called Trump and urged him to fire Kelly. Hicks’s job, meanwhile, seems safe, even if the president is angry with her.”-- Trump called his former chief of staff Reince Priebus to complain about Kelly. The New York Times’s Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman report: “The idea that the president would confide grievances over Mr. Kelly with the person he pushed out to hire Mr. Kelly is yet another indication of how upside-down Mr. Trump’s world can be. In the West Wing, various characters fall in and out of favor with such rapidity that it is never entirely clear who has the president’s ear. … Mr. Trump has recently asked advisers what they think of Mick Mulvaney, who currently holds twin posts as director of the White House budget office and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as a possible chief of staff[.]”-- “A lot of [Kelly’s] defenders are fading away,” New York Times columnist Gail Collins writes. “Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta always used to be supportive, since Kelly was once his military aide. No more. The best Panetta could do in a phone interview was to suggest the new, bad version of his old friend might be the product of too much time spent with his current boss. ‘On the other hand,’ he added, ‘who the hell knows?’”-- Also silent in wake of the Porter allegations is the “family values” crowd, writes Post columnist Jennifer Rubin: “Self-described ‘values’ champions have … jettisoned any pretense to be vanguards of the culture for the sake of access to the president and influence in picking judges. The notion that they are there to protect women — ‘sacred’ women, as Kelly once said — is risible. Needless to say, if anyone in a Democratic administration allowed a character like Porter to remain in the White House after receiving evidence of his alleged violence against women, these groups would be calling for the heads of all concerned and denouncing the president for creating an atmosphere where women are not respected. Their record in enabling Trump and rationalizing support for him has made them a laughingstock.”Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman entered CBS’s “Celebrity Big Brother” house. (Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post)-- Former Trump aide Omarosa Manigault Newman tearfully dished on her time in the White House on Thursday night’s episode of “Celebrity Big Brother,” telling a fellow contestant that she was “haunted by [Trump’s] tweets every single day.” CNN’s Jennifer Hansler reports: “Manigault-Newman claimed that when she attempted to reason with [Trump] about some of his tweets, she was ‘attacked’ and denied access by ‘all of the people around him,’ including [Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump]. Manigault-Newman described the situation inside the White House as ‘bad.’ Asked whether the nation should be concerned about the administration, she nodded, adding, ‘it's not going to be OK.’”-- Manigault-Newman also told a fellow contestant who asked whether she’d vote for Trump again, “God no, never. In a million years, never.” (Helena Andrews-Dyer)-- Raj Shah, filling in for Sarah Huckabee Sanders from the podium yesterday, dismissed Manigault-Newman’s comments, saying the White House is taking the former aide’s comments “not very seriously.” “Omarosa was fired three times on ‘The Apprentice’ and this is the fourth time we let her go,” Shah said. “She had limited contact with the president while here. She has no contact now.” (John Wagner)THERE’S A BEAR IN THE WOODS:-- Steve Bannon spoke to former Trump campaign aide Carter Page about Russia when he was under FBI surveillance in January 2017 — raising the “strong possibility” that agents may have intercepted the conversation. Politico’s Kyle Cheney reports: “Page told Congress in November about the call. But it has been cast into a new light by last week’s release of a Republican memo revealing that the FBI was monitoring Page’s communications at the time. ‘If Page was using one of his standard phones, it was probably picked up,' said Elizabeth Goitein, a former Justice Department trial attorney … The significance of a possible FBI recording depends on the exact content of the conversation between Bannon and Page, about which Page has been vague. But it means the FBI's surveillance of Page … may have touched one of the highest-ranking figures in Trump's incoming administration just days before inauguration.”-- GOP members of the House Intelligence Committee are planning to construct a physical wall to separate Republican and Democratic staffers in the committee’s secure spaces. CBS News’s Olivia Victoria Gazis reports: “For now, some Republican committee members deny knowing anything about it, while strongly suggesting the division is the brainchild of the committee's chairman, Devin Nunes [R-Calif.]. ‘I'm not part of that decision,’ said Rep. Mike Conaway [R-Tex.] ‘You've got to talk to Devin. I don't know what they're trying to do one way or the other.’ ‘I swear to God I didn't know that,’ said Rep. Tom Rooney [R-Fla.], when asked about the plan. While acknowledging a wall might not be constructive for the committee's work, he said, ‘The level of trust and the level of everything down there is — it's poison. It's absolute poison down there.’”-- The Senate Intelligence Committee plans to soon release a report on vulnerabilities within the U.S. election system, the first byproduct of the panel’s Russia probe. The Wall Street Journal’s Byron Tau reports: “The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee said they hope to have it completed by March. … The report is aimed at making recommendations to state, county and local governments about how best to protect their election infrastructures in advance of the 2018 midterm elections. … The report isn’t expected to address any of the thorny questions about the extent to which Russia interfered in the 2016 election — including whether associates of [Trump] colluded with Moscow.”-- Two more government officials mentioned in the texts exchanged between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page are leaving their posts. Politico’s Josh Gerstein reports: “Mike Kortan, FBI assistant director for public affairs, is set to retire next week, an FBI spokeswoman confirmed. In addition, the chief of the Justice Department’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, David Laufman, resigned this week, a department spokesman said. Both men are discussed in text messages sent by [Strzok and Page.] … While the texts contain derogatory mentions of Trump, the messages made public thus far don’t attribute that sentiment to Kortan or Laufman, and there’s no indication that either departure is related to the recent flap.”-- Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said it may take several weeks to make public transcripts of interviews with Donald Trump Jr. and other key witnesses. A bipartisan set of aides must review the transcripts, after which the witnesses’ lawyers will also be allowed to review them. And a final review for redactions must occur before they're released. (Politico) -- “Devin Nunes is investigating me. Here’s the truth,” by Jonathan M. Winer: “[Nunes] announced last week that the next phase of his investigation of the events that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III will focus on the State Department. His apparent area of interest is my relationship with former British intelligence professional Christopher Steele and my role in material that Steele ultimately shared with the FBI.”California Democratic Assemblywoman and vocal #MeToo advocate Cristina Garcia is under investigation for allegedly groping a former male staffer. (Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post) THE #METOO MOMENT:-- California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D), who has emerged as a high-profile champion of the #MeToo movement, is currently being investigated for two allegations of sexual misconduct. The LA Times’s Melanie Mason reports: “[Two men] said Garcia made improper advances toward them. One, a former legislative staffer, said Garcia groped his back and buttocks and attempted to grab his crotch during a legislative softball game in 2014. The former staffer, Daniel Fierro, told his former boss, Assemblyman Ian Calderon [D] about the incident several weeks ago, his office said. Calderon then reported the incident to the Assembly Rules Committee. Fierro told the Times he decided to speak out because he thought Garcia's behavior was at odds with the #MeToo movement, which could harm the cause she was so closely associated with. [The second accusation was made by a lobbyist, who said] Garcia attempted to grab his genitals and made an explicit sexual proposition at a 2017 event.” Garcia denied wrongdoing and said she will participate “fully” in the investigation.-- Three former Cato Institute employees say they were sexually harassed by the think tank’s co-founder and former president, Ed Crane. Politico’s Daniel Lippman and Maggie Severns report: “One former employee said Crane asked her to take off her bra. Another said he compared her breasts to pornographic images on his computer. A third said he sent her an email on breast augmentation. Crane also settled an additional sexual harassment claim by a former employee in 2012, her lawyer confirmed . . . Crane retains the title of president emeritus at Cato and was paid more than $400,000 annually from the powerful think tank in the years after he left, but a Cato spokesperson said his consulting contract has ended and he is no longer employed by the think tank. ‘This is ridiculous,’ Crane said, when confronted with the complaints. He added that he had a stroke last year, which affected his memory.”-- Oregon state Sen. Jeff Kruse (R) bowed to pressure to resign over sexual misconduct accusations against him. Travis M. Andrews reports: “‘I continue to deny these allegations,’ Kruse said in a statement reported by Oregon media. ‘However, today I tender my resignation so my colleagues may focus on serving Oregonians without distraction and my constituents receive the fullest representation they are due.’ His resignation is effective March 15, which will allow him to finish out the legislative session. He is at least the 15th state legislator in the country to be forced from office either through resignation or expulsion in the months since the #MeToo movement got going[.]”-- Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) reiterated he has not spoken to authorities about an ongoing investigation into whether he attempted to blackmail a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair. “We’ve answered all of those questions, and you know that the answer is ‘no,’” Greitens said at a news conference. “Does anyone have any questions about the business in front of the people of Missouri?” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)-- Supermodel Kate Upton detailed her accusations of sexual misconduct against Paul Marciano, co-founder and former CEO of the clothing brand Guess. In an interview with Time, Upton said, “After the first day of shooting the Guess Lingerie campaign [on July 25, 2010], Paul Marciano said he wanted to meet with me. As soon as I walked in with photographer Yu Tsai, Paul came straight up to me, forcibly grabbed my breasts and started feeling them — playing with them actually. After I pushed him away, he said, ‘I’m making sure they’re real.’ Despite doing everything I could physically do to avoid his touch throughout the meeting, he continued to touch me in a very dominating and aggressive way[.] … At one point he forcibly grabbed the back of my head so that I could not move and started kissing my face and my neck.”-- Olympic swimmer Ariana Kukors accused her coach of sexual abuse. Will Hobson reports: “Kukors, 28, said in a news release issued late Wednesday evening by her attorneys that her former coach Sean Hutchison, 46, began sexually assaulting her when she was 16. Kukors went public with her accusations the day after officers with Homeland Security searched Hutchison’s Seattle home [for sexually explicit photos of an underage Kukors].”-- A veteran studio executive caught in the controversy between Harvey Weinstein and actress Rose McGowan, who has accused Weinstein of rape, committed suicide. Samantha Schmidt reports: “[Jill] Messick silently battled her own longtime ‘nemesis’ — depression. … Messick served as [McGowan’s] manager before taking a job at the Miramax film studio under Weinstein’s leadership. Caught in a bitter feud between McGowan and Weinstein, Messick kept a low radar in recent months. But following her death, her family released a searing statement condemning Weinstein, McGowan and the media for their portrayals of Messick, who ‘became collateral damage in an already horrific story.’”Vice President Mike Pence landed at the Gangneung Air Base in South Korea on Feb. 8, a day before the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. (Reuters)THE OLYMPICS ARE NOW UNDERWAY:-- “The Winter Olympics opened in PyeongChang on Friday night, amid bone-chilling weather but warming relations between North and South Korea,” Anna Fifield reports. “Vice President Pence and a delegation of senior North Korean officials [attended] a VIP reception before the Opening Ceremonies, and then the ceremony itself. Pence spent about five minutes at the reception, but did not have any direct encounters with North Korean envoys, led by Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s constitutional head of state, and Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un. … Pence, who entered with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, greeted others at the dinner except for North Korea’s Kim Yong Nam[.]”-- The U.S. Olympic Team has selected four-time Olympic competitor Erin Hamlin as its flag-bearer for the Opening Ceremonies, making the 31-year-old athlete the fourth luger to ever take on that role. Hamlin is currently ranked No. 7 in the world and took home silver at last year’s world championships. (Rick Maese) There are 102 events in PyeongChang this year — the most in Olympic history. Find out when and where to stream them all here. And sign up for The Washington Post's daily Olympics newsletter here.-- “As the Opening Ceremonies commence Friday with a grand spectacle … the deepening fissure between the United States and South Korean has cast a shadow over the festivities,” David Nakamura reports. “[And] foreign policy analysts said the Olympics could mark the start of a new, more complicated chapter for the alliance. On Wednesday, the North announced that Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, will participate in the Opening Ceremonies, [a] sign that Pyongyang could be serious about improving ties with Seoul. On the same day, [Vice President Pence] announced that additional, unspecified economic sanctions on the North were on the way.”-- “For all the talk of nuclear exchanges and giant buttons, there has been little realistic discussion of what a war on the Korean Peninsula might mean, how it could escalate, what commitments would be required, and what sacrifices would be demanded,” says Vox.com’s Yochi Dreazen, who covered the Iraq War from Baghdad. “So I’ve spent the past month posing those questions to more than a dozen former Pentagon officials, CIA analysts, US military officers, and think tank experts, as well as to a retired South Korean general … They’ve all said variants of the same thing: There is a genuine risk of a war on the Korean Peninsula that would involve the use of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. Several estimated that millions — plural — would die. Even more frightening, most of the people I spoke to said they believed Kim would use nuclear weapons against South Korea in the initial stages of the fighting — not just as a desperate last resort. And if all of this sounds frightening, it should. A new war on the Korean Peninsula wouldn’t be as bad as you think. It would be much, much worse.” The Pentagon and White House are planning a military parade requested by President Trump, breaking with U.S. tradition. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)PARADE PROBLEMS:-- Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he was exploring options to present to Trump on his desired military parade. “I owe him some options,” Mattis said. “We’ll put together options, and we will work everything from size to participation to cost, and when I get clear options, we’ll send those over to the White House, and I’ll go over and talk with them.” (John Wagner)-- The Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden described a military parade as “third world bulls--t.” “We prepare. We deter. We fight. Stop this conversation,” Robert James O’Neill added in his tweet. (Marwa Eltagouri)-- Dan Lamothe explains some of the logistical issues with the parade Trump envisions: “The United States has not staged anything comparable since 1991, when President George H.W. Bush presided over a national celebration of victory in the Persian Gulf War. About 8,800 U.S. troops marched, tanks and other armored vehicles rolled through Washington, and numerous aircraft flew overhead. It cost between $8 million and $12 million[.]”-- “America doesn't need to convince the world how powerful we are with a display of our most powerful weapons. That is not who we are. In fact, it makes us look weak,” former defense secretary Chuck Hagel writes for U.S. News and World Report. “Would the point [of a parade] be to thank and recognize the men and women who serve in our military? Or would it be entertainment for our president, who told French President Macron that he so enjoyed the French parade that he too wanted a grand military parade like the Bastille Day parade that he attended? Not a good reason.”THE REST OF TRUMP’S AGENDA:-- The Trump administration is considering making it more difficult for immigrants living in the United States to obtain permanent residency if they — or their American-born children — use food aids or other public benefits. Reuters’s Yeganeh Torbati reports: “The [DHS] has drafted rules … that would allow immigration officers to scrutinize a potential immigrant’s use of certain taxpayer-funded public benefits to determine if they could become a public burden. For example, U.S. officials could look at whether the applicant has enrolled a child in government pre-school programs or received subsidies for utility bills or health insurance premiums. The draft rules are a sharp departure from current guidelines, which have been in place since 1999 and specifically bar authorities from considering such non-cash benefits in deciding a person’s eligibility to immigrate to the United States or stay in the country.”-- A chemistry professor from Bangladesh who has lived in the United States for more than 30 years was granted a temporary stay of deportation. Amy B Wang and Maria Sacchetti report: “The ruling means Syed Ahmed Jamal will be allowed to remain in the country while an immigration court hears his case. The temporary stay came as a surprise to Jamal’s friends and family members, who said there had been indications that Jamal could have been deported as soon as Friday.”-- The administration wants to roll back environmental reviews of public lands. Juliet Eilperin and Michael Laris report: “The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management has finalized a set of recommendations that would overhaul the way it permits energy exploration and other activities on public land by streamlining environmental reviews, according to a document obtained by [The Post]. The Sept. 27 report — which was issued in response to a March 27 memo from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, but never publicly released — amounts to a blueprint for how the Trump administration plans to expedite extractive activities on 245 million acres of public land and 700 million acres of the mineral estate below the surface.”-- A pro-Israel charity scheduled a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago in hopes that Trump “would be able to stop by,” according to the charity’s founder. David Fahrenthold reports: “Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, who leads the [International Fellowship of Christians and Jews], said the group decided last fall to hold a gala in Palm Beach, Fla. He said they were choosing between two sites … for the March 25 event. Mar-a-Lago, he said, had a deciding advantage: the possibility of a presidential visit. ’We’re not making a political statement …’ [he said]. But, he said, ‘If there is a possibility … that the president might also come to say hello and offer greetings, then that’s an advantage. So I think that was kind of what determined it.’”THE ROAD TO NOVEMBER:-- House Democrats are planning to target more than 100 GOP-held congressional districts in this year’s midterms. NBC News’s Alex Seitz-Wald reports: “The seven new targets push Democrats even deeper into Republican territory in South Carolina, Wisconsin and Texas. And they include the Ohio seat held by the man charged with defending the GOP's majority, Rep. Steve Stivers, chairman of the [NRCC]. . . . Democrats are now fielding candidates in all but 12 of the 238 districts held by Republicans, . . . including in places like Alabama, where Democrats are competing in every single district for the first time in years. The idea is to expand the map as much as possible and hope to ride the potential wave.”-- House Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley (N.Y.) is traveling across the country to boost Democrats’ prospects for the midterms and also boost himself. Paul Kane writes: “He is raising money for candidates, traveling to their districts. This week Crowley is serving as host for the annual issues retreat[.] … Crowley is leading a group of 20 trying to forge a policy agenda that would put ‘meat on the bones’ of a vague sounding pledge from Democrats to deliver a ‘better deal’ than Trump. … But all this is part of a campaign without an actual target, at least not a spoken one. A trio of 70-somethings outrank Crowley — [Pelosi,] House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) — and none have signaled any intent to exit the stage.”-- Republicans are making gains on the generic congressional ballot — as I wrote in yesterday’s 202 — but district-by-district data is not in their favor. The Cook Political Report’s David Wasserman writes: “In the fourth quarter of 2017, 39 Republican House incumbents were outraised by at least one Democratic challenger, and private polls and special election results suggest Democrats are highly competitive even in some districts President Trump won by wide margins. At first glance, these two data trends might seem at odds with each other. How could Democrats' lead in national polls be shrinking while their odds in individual districts improve? The answer: the ‘macro’ outlook for the House (national polls) and the ‘micro’ view (district-by-district) aren't diverging; they're coming into alignment.”SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:Trump highlighted a Fox News story about Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, texting with a Russian lobbyist:Wow! -Senator Mark Warner got caught having extensive contact with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch. Warner did not want a “paper trail” on a “private” meeting (in London) he requested with Steele of fraudulent Dossier fame. All tied into Crooked Hillary.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2018
But one of Warner's Republican colleagues had already shot down the story:Trump's director of social media captured this shot:As a shutdown neared, a Republican leader said this to a Politico Magazine reporter:"At my breaking point," one House GOP chief texts me. "Our party is worthless."— Tim Alberta (@TimAlberta) February 8, 2018
Obama's former top economic aide had this to say about the deficit:I consider myself a deficit dove. I'm comfortable with 3% GDP deficits--and higher in downturns. I don't think deficit reduction should be our top priority.But, deliberately sending an essentially full employment economy into deficits of 5% to 7% of GDP is nuts.— Jason Furman (@jasonfurman) February 7, 2018
The budget debate made this 2012 tweet newly relevant:No member of Congress should be eligible for re-election if our country's budget is not balanced---deficits not allowed!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2012
Immigration activists took over Nancy Pelosi's office:The Onion satirized Pelosi's filibuster-style speech:A Post reporter translated Pelosi's letter to fellow Democrats:Dear Colleague, writes @NancyPelosi..."These are the reasons I am voting against this bill," which is full of Democratic wins.Unsaid: You do your own thing. pic.twitter.com/Yh5sEo9gze— Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) February 8, 2018
Another Post reporter noted this about the stock market losses:The Dow Jones Industrial Average just erased all of its gains since November 28, a month BEFORE the tax law passed.— Damian Paletta (@damianpaletta) February 8, 2018
From a Post columnist:Presidents don't control stock markets. But since Trump has been so fond of touting his stock market record, here's what markets have done since inauguration for him vs. during same period in Obama's presidency. Net gains was more than double at this point under Obama. pic.twitter.com/KpghsTCAmS— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) February 8, 2018
The Boston Globe's deputy Washington bureau chief analyzed the White House's handling of Rob Porter:People who don’t get the benefit of the doubt: - Those from Haiti and African nations- Family members of legal immigrants- Muslims- Dreamers too “lazy” to apply for DACA People who do get the benefit of the doubt:- A staffer accused of abusing his two ex-wives.— Matt Viser (@mviser) February 8, 2018
From Obama's former communications director:It is simply not believeable that no one in @WhiteHouse knew given 1. FBI would have flagged for DOJ who would flag for counsel’s office 2. Having an interim clearance for that long is a flag on its own. They would have asked why— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) February 9, 2018
From a #NeverTrump GOPer:In the Trump White House, Scaramucci was forced to leave faster and more abruptly for talking smack, than Rob Porter was for violently smacking women. https://t.co/QgVVZqaGY8— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) February 8, 2018
An MSNBC anchor replied to Navarro:Excellent point - After Scaramucci’s swearing incident, John Kelly wanted him OUT of a WH job & OFF the premises immediately. But General Kelly defended the integrity & honor of Rob Porter who allegedly physically abused 2 wives https://t.co/8vC0As0l1e— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) February 9, 2018
A Post reporter summed up 2018 so far:This week: spousal abuseOne week ago: the memo.two weeks ago: Trump moved to fire Mueller, against lawyer's wishesthree weeks ago: shutdown!four weeks ago: "shithole" and porn star payofffive weeks ago: "Fire and Fury" and Bannon excommunicationsix weeks ago: New Year's Day— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) February 8, 2018
An NBC correspondent marked this political anniversary:This job posting caught journalists' attention:GOOD READS FROM ELSEWHERE:-- The Atlantic, “White Women in the Rustbelt Are Turning on Trump,” by Ronald Brownstein: “Support from majorities of white, working-class women powered Trump’s midwestern wins, but those voters are souring on him in office — providing Democrats with a complicated opportunity in 2018.”-- New York Times Magazine, “When You’re a ‘Digital Nomad,’ the World Is Your Office,” by Kyle Chayka: “Telecommuting has been feasible since the days of dial-up, but the early digital nomads were pioneers, planning solo trips around the world [in] the name of escaping drudgery back home. Roam aims to make dislocation easy and glamorous, transforming digital nomadism into a mainstream, off-the-rack proposition. … Can you imagine a pair of noise-canceling headphones for geography? That’s how I started to think of Roam. When you want to, you can block out your sense of place entirely and exist in a hazy, calm, featureless space that could be anywhere. This nomadic bubble goes beyond a hotel in that it stretches around the world and is built to encompass your entire life; it promises to become your post-geographical home. Yet I found there to also be an anxiety to this hermetic placelessness, no matter how beautifully unburdened or minimalist it appears. … Living anywhere is a lot like living nowhere.”-- The Atlantic, “Why China Loves Trump,” by Benjamin Carlson: “From the very beginning, the Communist Party seems to have understood that Trump’s threats were, for the most part, merely for show. By refusing to be rattled, China has enjoyed a series of rhetorical and strategic triumphs that have enhanced its global image and increased its international influence. … China also appears to have assessed that Trump, the self-proclaimed master deal maker, would rather have a bad deal than no deal at all, and could be persuaded to compromise on almost anything in order to declare a ‘win.’ Beijing seems to have concluded that the former casino mogul, like a high-rolling gambler, can be made to keep playing the house by showering him with VIP perks. In this respect he is less shocking or threatening than commonplace: He’s simply what Chinese call a tuhao, another bumptious billionaire.” HOT ON THE LEFT: “In Tampa visit, Attorney General Jeff Sessions recommends aspirin over opioids for pain relief,” from the Tampa Bay Times: “U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has drawn jeers for suggesting that people in pain should consider over-the-counter Bufferin instead of opioids. On Wednesday, Sessions was in Tampa, touting the Trump administration’s efforts to combat drug abuse and trafficking. This time, he broadened his suggestion to aspirin. ‘I am operating on the assumption that this country prescribes too many opioids,’ Sessions said. ‘People need to take some aspirin sometimes.’ … Sessions, veering away from his prepared remarks, also made an example of Gen. John Kelly, the president’s chief of staff, whom he said refused opioids after a minor surgery. … ‘But, I mean, a lot of people — you can get through these things.’” HOT ON THE RIGHT “Bermuda becomes first jurisdiction in the world to repeal same-sex marriage,” from the Guardian: “Bermuda’s governor has signed into law a bill reversing the right of gay couples to marry, despite a supreme court ruling last year authorising same-sex marriage. Walton Brown, Bermuda’s minister of home affairs, said the legislation signed by Governor John Rankin would balance opposition to same-sex marriage on the socially conservative island while complying with European court rulings that ensure recognition and protection for same-sex couples in the territory. Bermuda’s Senate and House of Assembly passed the legislation by wide margins in December and a majority of voters opposed same-sex marriage in a referendum.” DAYBOOK:Trump has two meetings with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. Pence is in South Korea, where he attended the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. QUOTE OF THE DAY: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was asked whether he had any "misgivings" about Trump’s military parade. He replied: “I'm not paid for my feelings. I save those for my girlfriend.” (John Wagner) NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:-- It will be dry and mild in D.C. today before this weekend’s precipitation. The Capital Weather Gang forecasts: “Cloudier-than-not skies could feature a few breaks from time to time, especially in the morning, but it should remain dry. Despite grayness more often than not, temperatures do rise into comfortable, seasonably average low-to-mid-40s.”-- The Wizards lost to the Celtics in overtime 110-104. (Candace Buckner)-- Capital One Arena will undergo a $40 million renovation, which will include redesigned concession stands and modernized concourses. “The renovations will begin after the Capitals’ and Wizards’ current seasons and are expected to be completed by the fall,” Scott Allen notes.-- The Washington region’s three bids for Amazon’s second headquarters actually represent nine different proposals. Jonathan O'Connell reports: “Amazon’s preference will likely say a lot about the company it wants to be, and signal which locations have the upper hand. … All nine proposals technically meet the criteria Amazon has laid out. They all provide access to Washington’s top-notch talent pool, Metro and airports. But all carry their own challenges. Urban sites tend to be more expensive and laborious to build on, a potential drag for a company known for its impatience. Suburban or exurban locations, however, bring commuting worries about navigating the region’s notorious traffic.”-- Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) walked back comments from his transportation chief claiming Amazon would have a “blank check” for transportation incentives. “Obviously Secretary [Pete K.] Rahn misspoke,” Hogan’s communications director said. “The transportation portion of the Amazon incentive package will include targeted investments in both transit and roads that will be financed over at least 10 years. It will be funded fully and appropriately.” (Robert McCartney and Katherine Shaver)-- Metro officials anticipate further decreases in ridership and revenue next year. Martine Powers report: “Budget staff members anticipate a 2.6 percent reduction — $20 million — in revenue from passenger trips in the fiscal year that begins July 1. … The projected revenue decline puts more pressure on local jurisdictions to come up with the 3 percent increase in operating subsidies that General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld has requested, and for D.C., Maryland and Virginia to identify a source of long-term funding for the transit agency.”-- A Virginia House panel killed four bills meant to protect LGBT citizens from discrimination. The vote prompted jeers of “Shame!” from activists who packed the hearing room. (Laura Vozzella)VIDEOS OF THE DAY:Stephen Colbert attacked the White House for its handling of the Rob Porter allegations:Seth Meyers summed up another long news week:The Post fact-checked Devin Nunes's claim that Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians to get "dirt" on Trump:Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) makes a startling claim about the Russian investigation. But there's no evidence to back it up. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)House Republicans pushed a video offering their explanation for "why the FISA memo matters":Canada's Parliament sang the country's new gender-neutral national anthem:Canadian members of Parliament sang the new, gender-neutral lyrics to the country's national anthem on Feb. 7. (Reuters)And Philadelphia celebrated the Eagles' Super Bowl victory with a parade:Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, greeted fans from open top buses as they took to the streets for their victory parade on Feb. 8. (Reuters) | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! House Speaker Paul Ryan sent lawmakers packing for the holiday break early Thursday morning after a raucous, hours-long sit-in waged by congressional Democrats failed to force a vote on gun control measures.As Ryan decried the protest as a "publicity stunt" -- complete with loud chants and blankets and live-streaming -- Democrats claimed they nevertheless had made "some progress" on the issue.The House adjourned around 3:15 a.m. ET Thursday, and even as Republicans left the buildings, some Democrats stayed on the House floor repeating their chant “No bill no break!” and waving papers with the names of gun victims written in black. A core group lingered for a while on the House floor wrapped in blankets and resting on pillows.The protest finally came to an end early Thursday afternoon, hours after Republicans held a final vote on the Zika response and, save for a short upcoming session, sent lawmakers home until July 5. The sit-in lasted a total of over 25 hours.Democrats declared success in dramatizing the arguments for action to stem gun violence, despite the failure to conjure a vote."Just because they cut and run in the dark of night, just because they have left doesn't mean we are taking no for an answer," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi."We won't stop until the job is done," the Californian declared to fellow Democrats camped out in the well of the House in the early hours of the morning, saying the party had changed "the dynamic of what happens" concerning guns.House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland said the public shouldn't be happy with a Republican majority that shut down the House and disregarded "the unfinished business of the American people."Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who had participated in the civil rights sit-ins in the South in the 1960s, declared Thursday that “some progress” was made in the lawmakers’ efforts to get the attention of the nation to recognize the need for a vote on gun control legislation.“We have other bridges to cross. And when we come back in July, we start it all over again,” he added.Ironically, Lewis was also once on a terror watch list in what he said was a mix-up – and now is backing the controversial legislation to keep people on the no-fly list from getting guns.Republicans said their colleagues had accomplished nothing other than disrupting the business of the House to score political points.Pressure had been building on both sides of the Capitol in the wake of the shooting rampage at a Florida gay nightclub earlier this month that killed 49 people and injured 53 others. The assailant also died in the incident. The mass shooting followed similar tragic incidents over the past years including the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.The agitation for action caused a Senate filibuster last week and led to the chaos on the House floor that lasted well into Thursday.A burst of activity in the middle of the night, including recorded votes on some other issues such as the Zika virus, capped more than 15 straight hours of Democratic protests. The spectacle captured the attention of a Washington gridlocked on guns despite the slaughter in Orlando. Senate Democrats undertook a nearly 15-hour filibuster last week in fighting for the same cause.House Republicans used their prerogatives as the majority party to muscle through the bill funding the Zika crisis with no time for debate, overruling Democrat's objections and then moving to adjourn the House into next month as Democrats cried "Shame, Shame!"Republicans shut off the cameras in the House gallery throughout most of the protest, but Democrats used their cellphones to capture the action, and C-SPAN carried the feeds live in an unprecedented move.Ryan said the bill pushed by the Democrats to expand background checks and keep people on the no-fly list from getting guns would take away people’s constitutional rights and deprive them of due process. He noted that similar legislation was already rejected in the Senate earlier this week, along with three others bills.The protest began around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, unfolding on the House floor with little advance warning from the Democrats.By evening, 168 House Democrats — out of 188 — and 34 Senate Democrats joined the protest, according to the House minority leader's office. One after another, they spoke of the need for gun control and talked of constituents who had been killed. Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, whose husband former Rep. John Dingell is a longtime NRA supporter, won thunderous applause and a standing ovation after she talked in personal terms about her experience growing up in a home with gun violence.Scattered around the House floor were signs reading "Disarm Hate." Visitors watched from the galleries. A crowd of several hundred gun control advocates gathered outside the Capitol and cheered as Democrats addressed them.The sit-in — in which Lewis played a leading role — had the look of a 1960s-style protest, as some lawmakers sat on the floor, others in their seats. The House chamber grew increasingly chaotic as the night wore on, and some lawmakers took breaks on pillows and blankets.Republicans had staged a similar protest in 2008. Democrats controlling the House at the time turned off the cameras amid a GOP push for a vote to expand oil and gas drilling. Republicans occupied the floor, delivering speech after speech after Pelosi, then the House speaker, sent lawmakers bolting to their August recess. Pelosi at that time had ordered the cameras turned off.C-SPAN, a cable and satellite network that provides continual coverage of House and Senate floor proceedings, does not control the cameras. They're run on authorization by legislative leaders. Although the cameras were turned off Wednesday, lawmakers relied on social media to transmit video, using Facebook, Twitter and Periscope.C-SPAN broadcast live video streamed on Periscope and Facebook from lawmakers' accounts. Democrats posted the Capitol's main telephone number, which was overwhelmed, and urged constituents to call and request a vote. They also encouraged tweeting under the hashtag #NoBillNoBreak.The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Iran fired a missile – but missed – at an American drone on Thursday after the supposed Iranian attack on oil tankers, while another U.S. drone was shot down by Iran-backed rebels in Yemen in recent days.A senior U.S. official told Fox News that an MQ9 Reaper drone was fired on by the Iranians on Thursday shortly after it arrived at the scene where the MV Altair tanker sent out a distress signal amid the attacks the U.S. says were perpetrated by Iran.REP. DAN CRENSHAW DINGS EX-OBAMA AIDE BEN RHODES FOR DOUBTING US LINK OF IRAN TO TANKER ATTACKThe official said the first distress call from the MV Altair tanker, a Marshall Islands-flagged but Norwegian-owned crude oil tanker, went out at 6:12am local time. The unmanned MQ9 Reaper drone arrived 8 minutes later.Then at 6:45am local time, a missile was fired at the drone, but missed. The U.S. military said that it was a modified SA-7 fired from Iran’s mainland. It was fired on after the drone arrived on station to assist the Norwegian tanker.Officials also told Fox News that a U.S. MQ9 drone was shot down in Yemen by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in recent days.The news comes amid tensions in the region following the attack on oil tankers that put the U.S. and Iran on the brink of a direct conflict.EUROPEANS SKEPTICAL OF TRUMP'S CLAIM THAT IRAN TO BLAME IN TANKER ATTACKSecretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed Iran for the "blatant assault" on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier Thursday.In a news conference, Pompeo said: “This assessment is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping, and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication.”He charged that Iran was working to disrupt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz and this is a deliberate part of a campaign to escalate tension, adding that the U.S. would defend its forces and interests in the region, although he did not elaborate.President Trump, meanwhile, told “Fox and Friends” Friday morning that the attack had “Iran written all over it.’FEARS US WEAPONS ARE FALLING INTO THE 'WRONG HANDS' DURING CHAOTIC YEMENI WAR“[Iran is] a nation of terror and they've changed a lot since I've been president, I can tell you,” he added. — President Trump“Iran did do it and you know they did it because you saw the boat,” he said, before pointing to the video showing the Iranians removing the unexploded mine. “They're a nation of terror and they've changed a lot since I've been president, I can tell you,” he added.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPU.S. officials released a video Friday supposedly showing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the vessels.The black-and-white footage, as well as still photos released by the U.S. military’s Central Command on Friday, appeared to show the limpet mine on the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, before a Revolutionary Guard patrol boat pulled alongside the ship and removed the mine, Central Command spokesman Capt. Bill Urban said.Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report. | 2 |
WESTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) - A special election that tested President Donald Trump's clout and cost both parties millions of dollars in battleground Ohio was too close to call late Tuesday.
Trump took credit for the Republican candidate's performance, calling it "a great victory," even though the contest could be headed to a mandatory recount. The Democratic candidate, meanwhile, vowed: "We're not stopping now."
The candidates were locked in a razor-thin contest at last count. There were at least 3,367 provisional ballots left to be reviewed. That's enough for O'Connor to potentially pick up enough votes to force a recount.
The Associated Press does not declare winners in races subject to an automatic recount.
The Republican president's shadow also loomed over primary contests in four other states, none bigger than Kansas, where Trump roiled the governor's race by opposing the GOP incumbent on the eve of the election.
The day's races, like dozens before them, pitted Trump's fiery supporters against the Democratic Party's anti-Trump resistance. The results helped determine the political landscape - and Trump's standing within his own party - just before the GOP defends its House and Senate majorities in November.
Voters in Kansas, Missouri, Michigan and Washington state joined those in Ohio in Tuesday's voting.
Kansas Republicans were fighting among themselves in a battle for governor, where Secretary of State Kris Kobach was trying to unseat Gov. Jeff Colyer.
Should the polarizing Kobach win the primary, some Republican operatives fear he could lose the governor's seat to Democrats this fall. The race could become further disrupted if Kansas City-area businessman Greg Orman makes it onto the November ballot. He submitted petitions Monday with more than 10,000 signatures for what could become the most serious independent run for Kansas governor in decades.
Trump made his preference clear for Kobach.
"He is a fantastic guy who loves his State and our Country - he will be a GREAT Governor and has my full & total Endorsement! Strong on Crime, Border & Military," the president tweeted on the eve of the election. "VOTE TUESDAY!"
Republicans were hoping for Democratic discord in Kansas' 3rd Congressional District, a suburban Kansas City district where several candidates were fighting for the chance to take on Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder in November.
The five-way Democratic primary featured labor lawyer Brent Welder, who campaigned recently with self-described democratic socialists Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and ascending political star, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York congressional candidate.
Also in the race: Native American attorney Sharice Davids and former school teacher Tom Niermann.
In Ohio, the script for the special election was somewhat familiar: An experienced Trump loyalist, Balderson, was fighting a strong challenge from O'Connor, a fresh-faced Democrat, in a congressional district held by the Republican Party for more than three decades. In an election morning tweet, Trump said Balderson would make a "great congressman."
The winner takes the seat previously held by Pat Tiberi, a nine-term incumbent who resigned to take a job with an Ohio business group.
Trump himself campaigned at Balderson's side just 72 hours before Election Day, a weekend appearance to help energize his loyalists in a district the president carried by 11 percentage points.
Several voters casting ballots in suburban Westerville Tuesday, both Democrat and Republican, said they saw little difference between the two candidates.
Mike Flynn, a hospital unit coordinator from suburban New Albany northeast of Columbus, voted for Balderson as a show of support for Tiberi. Flynn, 43, said he didn't care for mudslinging on either side of the campaign.
But Trevor Moffitt, a public health doctoral student at The Ohio State University who voted for O'Connor, said he felt Balderson's attacks on Democrats went too far.
"I'm just tired of the rhetoric of 'They're the bad guys, we're the good guys,'" said Moffitt, 29. "I want to see someone who's interested in working with the other party so we can actually get something done."
It's unclear how much Trump's support helped or hurt Balderson. Described by campaign operatives as a "Whole Foods" district, the largely suburban region features a more affluent and educated voter base than the typical Trump stronghold.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a leading voice in the GOP's shrinking anti-Trump wing, once represented the district in Congress.
A t times, the race centered on Trump's tax cuts as much as the candidates.
O'Connor and his Democratic allies railed against the tax plan, casting it as a giveaway for the rich that exacerbates federal deficits and threatens Medicare and Social Security. Balderson and his Republican allies have backed away from the tax plan in recent weeks, training their fire instead on top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
O'Connor dominated Balderson on the local airwaves. His campaign spent $2.25 million on advertising compared to Balderson's $507,000, according to campaign tallies of ad spending. The Republican campaign arm and its allied super PAC were forced to pick up the slack, spending more than $4 million between them.
In Michigan, three mainstream Democrats in suburban Detroit were among those vying for a chance at retiring Republican Rep. Dave Trott's seat in November. The field included Fayrouz Saad, who would be the first Muslim woman in Congress.
And in suburban Seattle, three Democrats vied in a jungle primary for the seat held by another retiring Republican, Rep. Dave Reichert.
The field was set in two Senate contests as well.
In Missouri, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill claimed her party's nomination, while state Attorney General Josh Hawley will represent the GOP.
And in Michigan, Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow will take on military veteran and business executive John James, who won the Republican nomination. He would join Tim Scott of South Carolina as the only black Republican senators if he wins in November.
Hours before polls opened, Trump again weighed in on Twitter, casting James as "a potential Republican star."
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2 |
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday warned members of Congress that the United States’ cash reserves will likely be exhausted unless lawmakers vote to raise or suspend the debt ceiling by Oct. 18, warning that it’s not clear if the United States would be able to meet all of its financial obligations if no deal is passed by then.
If that deadline is reached, “we expect Treasury would be left with very limited resources that would be depleted quickly,” Yellen warned, adding that it is “uncertain whether we could continue to meet all the nation’s commitments after that date.”
Should the debt limit be reached without a bill passed in Congress, Yellen wrote (pdf) that there could be “substantial disruptions” to the stock market that will thereby “erode investor confidence” and increase volatility. The federal government has spent, on average, about $50 billion per day and at times has exceeded $300 billion in daily expenditures in the past year, according to her office.
“Furthermore,” the secretary added, “we know from previous debt limit impasses that waiting until the last minute can cause serious harm to business and consumer confidence, raise borrowing costs for taxpayers, and negatively impact the credit rating of the United States for years to come.”
The Bipartisan Policy Center recently projected that the Treasury will run out of cash to meet the government’s financial obligations between Oct. 15 and Nov. 4. The U.S. Capitol building exterior is seen at sunset in Washington on March 8, 2021. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)
“After running out of cash, Treasury will be unable to meet approximately 40 percent of all payments due in the several weeks that follow,” the group wrote on Sept. 24. “How Treasury would operate in such an environment is unclear. Prioritization and delayed payments are two possibilities, but substantial uncertainty exists about operationalizing them.”
Last week, the White House circulated a letter to governors stating that a U.S. default could trigger an economic recession, and analysts have warned that as many as 6 million jobs could be lost.
Yellen’s warning comes just hours after Senate Republicans blocked a measure to avert a federal default and provide funding to the government on Monday evening. All 50 GOP senators voted against the House-approved bill that combined a continuing resolution that funds the government until Dec. 3 and suspends the debt limit until the end of 2022.
In a 48–50 vote, the bill failed to clear the 60-vote filibuster hurdle needed to end debate in the upper chamber. Previously, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said his caucus won’t sign onto a debt limit hike, although earlier this month, he stated that “America must never default.”
“Bipartisanship is not a light switch: a light switch that Democrats get to flip on when they need to borrow money and switch off when they want to spend money,” the GOP leader said Monday. For weeks now, Republicans said Democrats can take unilateral action to raise the debt ceiling and finance spending Biden administration-backed bills worth trillions of dollars.
Republicans, meanwhile, have assailed a Biden-backed $3.5 trillion spending package that focuses primarily on climate and social welfare programs, saying that the package is too expensive. And over the past year, Congress passed several COVID-19-related stimulus packages worth trillions while a $1.1 trillion infrastructure Senate-passed measure is scheduled for a vote in the House later this week. Follow Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter at The Epoch Times based in New York. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Republican nominee Donald Trump was jeered by attendees at a New York white-tie charity dinner Thursday night after his speech crossed from roast-style jokes into attacks on Hillary Clinton -- though the Democratic nominee also took swipes, and both candidates got roasted by the master of ceremonies.The first outburst from members of the audience at the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner came when Trump said that Clinton was "so corrupt she got kicked off the Watergate Commission."WATCH: TRUMP JOKES ABOUT CLINTON 'PARDON'The jeers continued when Trump referenced the Clinton campaign emails leaked by Wikileaks and claimed that the former secretary of state was "pretending not to hate Catholics," an apparent reference to 2011 emails from a current Clinton campaign spokeswoman that mocked Catholics and evangelical Christians.CLINTON: IT TOOK A VILLAGE TO WRITE THESE JOKESSome members of the audience appeared to be shouting at Timothy Cardinal Dolan, who was sitting between the candidates, and asking him to take the microphone from Trump, who quickly pivoted to remembrances of attending the event with his father.Moments earlier, Trump had gotten one of the biggest cheers of the night when he joked about his wife Melania's speech at the Republican National Convention, which was found to have been partially plagiarized from an address by first lady Michelle Obama."Michelle Obama gives a speech and everyone loves it," Trump said. "My wife Melania gives the exact same speech and people get on her case and I don't get it. I don't know why."As Melania Trump rose to acknowledge the applause, her husband remarked, "I'm in trouble when I go home tonight. She didn't know about that one."Clinton also was the first one to laugh when Trump joked that she had bumped into him earlier in the night "and she very simply said `Pardon me"' -- an unsubtle reference to the Republican nominee's frequent declarations that his opponent should go to jail.Clinton, meanwhile, joked that she had taken a break from her "usual nap schedule" to attend and suggested that the audience should be pleased she's not charging her usual fee for speaking in front of potential donors.But she also got in some digs at Trump, a few of which drew scattered jeers. Clinton said she understood why Trump was leery of teleprompters because they can be difficult to follow and "I'm sure it's even harder when you're translating from the original Russian."Clinton repeatedly referenced Trump's most controversial moments from the three presidential debates. She joked that if Trump didn't like what she was saying, then he could shout 'wrong."'She added that she was surprised Trump let her go second because "I didn't think he'd be OK with a peaceful transition of power." And she said Trump "looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a four. Maybe a `5' if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair."She even took a shot at Trump's running mate, saying that "after listening to your speech, I will also look forward to listening to Mike Pence deny that you ever said it."The candidates did not greet each other or make eye contact when they entered and took their seats for the event at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, though they did shake hands at the conclusion of the roast.For his part, Dolan called his seat "the iciest place on the planet," though he later said that he was "very moved" by the candidates' interaction on the dais."They were very friendly, very uplifting, very complimentary to one another," he told Fox News outside the event. "The fact that we are together, the fact that they shook hands at the end and said, 'See ya on the campaign trail,' that's not bad."Clinton and Trump both took some early heat from the night's master of ceremonies, Alfred E. Smith IV, the event namesake's great-grandson. Smith joked that Trump approached Clinton before the event and asked how she was doing, to which Smith responded "I'm fine but now get out of the ladies' dressing room."Trump laughed at the joke, and again when Smith made another joke about the leaked video which captured Trump using vulgar language, saying while the celebrity businessman was "sitting next to a man in a robe [Cardinal Dolan], but this is not a locker room. Watch your language!"Smith also teased Clinton, noting that "titans of Wall Street" were in attendance, but told her to restrain herself from seeking donations and to "remember the children."The Al Smith Dinner, named in honor of the former New York governor and 1928 Democratic presidential nominee, benefits charities supporting needy children in the Archdiocese of New York. Smith IV announced that this year's dinner had raised approximately $6 million.Fox News' Bryan Llenas and the Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
(Pixabay) The doctor in charge of a Bay Area, Calif. trauma center said the state should end its lockdown orders after an “unprecedented” spike in suicide attempts amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’ve never seen numbers like this, in such a short period of time,” Dr. Mike deBoisblanc, head of trauma at John Muir Medical Center, told local station ABC7. “I mean, we’ve seen a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks.” He added that he thinks “it’s time” to end the state shutdown. “I think, originally, this was put in place to flatten the curve and to make sure hospitals have the resources to take care of COVID patients,” he explained. “We have the current resources to do that and our other community health is suffering.”
Trauma nurse Kacey Hansen, who has worked at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek for over three decades, said she had “never seen” so many attempts, most being young adults. “I have never seen so much intentional injury . . . it’s upsetting.”
John Muir Health said in a statement that while “there are a number of opinions on this topic, including within our medical staff,” the organization supports the state’s shelter-in-place order.
California governor Gavin Newsom is currently putting his state through a phased reopening, with counties in the Bay Area moving slower than other parts of the state. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice warned Newsom in a letter that his state’s banning of in-person worship “facially discriminates against religious exercise.”
Send a tip to the news team at NR. Recommended RNC Should Take a Lesson from Mike Pence The RNC censure resolution was morally repellent, while the former vice president took a stand for the truth. NBC's 'Cataclysmic' Olympics-Coverage Flop How can anyone feel good about these Olympics? Nikole Hannah-Jones Responds to Our 1619 and Slavery Issue She reacted with a lot of sneering and ad hominem argumentation and nothing of substance. Joe Biden Doesn’t Know What You’re Talking About To watch Biden at the lectern was to experience shock and dismay interspersed with moments of alarm and dark humor. No wonder he hides from the media. Why Were Authorities So Evasive About the Synagogue Gunman's Motive? Why were President Biden and the FBI so reluctant to say that the synagogue gunman was motivated by antisemitism and jihadism? The Afghanistan Debacle Looks Worse and Worse The more we learn about the administration’s withdrawal, the more it becomes clear that its decisions were driven by political considerations and panic. The Latest Maskless Super Bowl Marks Our Return to Normalcy This collective moment was a warning to the Covid regime that its strictures won’t stand much longer. Russian Figure-Skating Prodigy Will Compete at Olympics Despite Failed Drug Test The IOC has decided it will not hold a medal ceremony for any event in which Valieva places in the top three while the matter remains under investigation. The IRS Wants Your Picture The agency’s plans for facial recognition might be abandoned for now, but its lust for data is never satiated. Why America’s Government-Debt Problem Endures Any meaningful change requires enough Americans deciding that they really do want less government in their lives, and then acting accordingly. ‘Blame America first,’ &c. On Jeane Kirkpatrick, today’s Russia debate, Edward Snowden, Ukraine’s right to exist, and more. | 2 |
The New York Times’ decision to hire white-people obsessed Sarah Jeong as a member of its editorial board is getting a lot of virtual ink. That’s because Jeong has written a pile of hateful tweets about “whiteness” and men.
Dave Marcus at the Federalist is one of many who have exposed the double standard the paper displayed in hiring Jeong despite her discriminatory attitude towards people of a certain race. Many have called out her tweets as racist. For example, on June 14, 2014 she tweeted: “Let’s fund a study on whether killing all the white people would make black people safer.” But that’s not an isolated example. Her tweets on “whiteness” and men are a voluminous constant since at least 2013.
Jeong clearly has an unhealthy preoccupation with “white people.” It’s obsessive-compulsive, and certainly not a stable or happy way of relating to humanity. But ultimately, this is not really about Sarah Jeong or race or “gender” or any other issue du jour. Her tweets, and the hypocrisy shown by The New York Times is a symptom of a greater illness that renders people incapable of seeing individuals as real people.
This isn’t just about race, because it’s totally anti-person to reject our common humanity. Identity politics are the foundation for Jeong’s attitude, and her favorable treatment from The New York Times. Identity politics are a pathogen that spreads ill will towards fellow humans with no knowledge of them as people. We need to defeat this erroneous and unhealthy way of looking at people, and replace it with respect for our common humanity.
Sadly, people who are invested in identity politics have zero interest in achieving true civility among diverse peoples. Zero. They are invested in the perpetuation of angst and ill will because it’s become nothing more than an industry to them. One very stark example is their rejection of Martin Luther King’s most famous and poignant quote: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Instead, investors in identity politics have outright rejected the entire idea of a colorblind society. And you will not find that most famous quote inscribed anywhere on the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington D.C.
Maybe initially the idea behind identity politics was to help build awareness about how some groups were socially oppressed. But certainly not anymore. The entire perspective has morphed into just another form of oppression. Many of its proponents seem conflicted by both an attitude of supremacy as well as an inferiority complex. If ever there was a “social construct,” it exists in the morally bankrupt industry of identity politics. It’s nothing but an incoherent emotional booby trap built of anger and bitterness. Group identities have become vehicles to express blind frustrations.
Anti-Thought and Anti-Person
I think there are two common denominators in identity politics today: anti-thought and anti-person. In a recent Federalist essay, I proposed that there are really only two political camps now, and they should go by the names of pro-thought and anti-thought. I’m hereby adding a corollary: today people can choose one of two dispositions in how to live their lives: pro-person or anti-person.
Identity politics is anti-person, because its main purpose has become the sorting of people into de-humanized pigeon holes. It’s fueled by envy and hate – but always in the name of some sort of unattainable greater good. (There are unfortunate connections with totalitarian thought here.) In this intolerant utopia, the self-appointed powers that be (e.g., NYT, Jeong, anointed celebrities, bureaucrats, et al) determine who is human and who is not.
Of course, Jeong’s impulse to be a provocateur is nothing new among denizens of Twitter. More concerning is The New York Times’ decision to use her obsession with identity politics as a means of perpetuating its harmful and destructive agenda.
As an aside, I would say such obsessions also represent a retreat into solipsism, where a person is trapped in a mindset that is not able to distinguish what’s in one’s own mind from what is in the world; not being able to verify reality with anyone, because only the contents of one’s mind constitute what’s real. People who are invested so deeply in identity politics have no interest in engaging others who don’t see the world through their eyes. Everyone must think exactly as they do. And that means we can have no real conversations, no real relationships. No real expressions of thought. And no real world either.
Promotion of Bigotry
Let’s examine what a general obsession with identity politics actually does to us. And let’s also examine what bigotry really means. By openly adopting today’s mantle of identity politics with all of its inbred contradictions, media outlets such as The New York Times have adopted a generalized stance of bigotry. Because railing against an entire class of people – white, black, male, female, or whatever – ultimately means rejecting each and every individual in that supposed category, regardless of the personal experiences or human sufferings any one of them might have endured as an individual.
In the end, such agitprop brutally erases everybody’s individual identity as a human being, because it’s meant to erase our common humanity and our distinct personalities. We are only permitted to see a person in his appointed pigeon hole – whether it’s race, sex, class, etc — and we can’t balance our common humanity and our individual differences.
That’s a hideous effect, because it is that very balance that makes human relationships possible. There is no civil society in such a state of mind. And there is no society in such a state ruled by the whims of identity politics. In effect, The New York Times – through the cultivation of this attitude on its editorial board — is now openly telling us to reject all individuals as unique human persons.
This brand of identity politics also requires you to reject the uniqueness of any personality or even the capacity of a unique personality to develop. In this matrix, you are only permitted to see an individual in terms of a particular characteristic, which in turn reduces the person simply to being a piece of a blob into which group think homogenizes him or her.
I can think of few things more bigoted than being put through that process, no matter what you think your group identity is. Worse, the rejection of persons as unique individuals means that you must reject free and open human association. Instead, media in the vein of The New York Times direct your thoughts on what you may say to whom. The end result of such agitation is to regulate and dictate human relationships. This is how power-mongering totalitarians operate. It is definitely not how citizens who truly hope to live in a free and happy society operate.
A Defense Mechanism of the Embittered
Now I do understand how the bitterness of some people over their personal experiences can cause them to see “whiteness” – or some other bugaboo – as a scourge on life. I can even understand how human bitterness causes many to pre-judge people based on other characteristics such as “gender,” ethnicity, race, etc. Those who make such pre-judgements probably feel that somewhere along the line their dignity was wounded by people with that trait. In this way, identity politics cultivates uncontrolled and lawless guilt by association.
When bitterness is left to its own devices, guilt by association runs rampant. Let’s consider an example: We know a dog might distrust anybody wearing blue jeans and boots, if the dog suffered abuse by someone wearing blue jeans and boots. At a certain point, the dog can’t distinguish between jeans-wearing folks who would treat him kindly and the one who didn’t. Through some sort of stimulus-response conditioning, he becomes fixated on the jeans and boots as the object and cause of his pain.
A child might react the same way. Just like the dog, the child would likely view anybody wearing jeans and boots as guilty, untrustworthy and scary just by constant association. Through bitter and traumatic experiences, our brains turn the association into a defense mechanism. It’s very natural. We also see it in a lot of feminist women who simply feel embittered because of the way men have mistreated them in the past. All men in their minds have become dehumanized as abusers, all of them potential rapists. Worse, obsessing over it only creates a vicious cycle in which the aggrieved nurses her grudges, totally uninterested in ever letting go of them, and unable or unwilling to see any individual in the group.
And of course we see this constantly when it comes to race. I think pure bitterness probably causes folks like Ta-Nehisi Coates to be incapable of letting go of the idea that “whiteness” is the primary reason for inequality and the scourge of humanity. He has even suggested a return to the violence of the French Revolution as a solution. I actually get it. I recently heard a very sad story about how Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters suffered as a young child in the presence of racist aggression. Such trauma can imprint itself for life. And it’s very difficult for people to develop trust with those they associate with their pain. So with Waters, “whiteness” is the culprit that must be destroyed by any means necessary.
However, you don’t need to experience any actual abuse to react with such distrust and fear. People can be programmed to do so. The grievance industry in academia, Hollywood, and the media has been very busy pre-programming this trigger reaction into people, when it comes to race, sex, or any other of its preoccupations. And Jeong’s job description at The New York Times is likely a part of that very process.
The point is that when people are exposed to the same repetitious propaganda reinforced by the agitation of political correctness, they learn to be triggered into reacting against whiteness as dangerous, or maleness as toxic, or even to regard any opposite-sex relationship as “homophobic” or “heterosexist.” There’s ample evidence of this behavioral response on college campuses. But the public education establishment has been conditioning K-12 schoolchildren and even pre-schoolers to react that way.
‘What’s Focal is Causal’
As the persuasion expert Robert Cialdini notes in his book PRE-suasion: “What’s focal is causal.” That’s a very basic principle of all advertising, propaganda and thought reform campaigns. The grievance industry obsessively applies that principle. So people end up focusing on irrelevant traits that would never have occurred to them in the course of an otherwise unmolested, friendly conversation with that person.
Purveyors of identity politics are invested in the odd notion that privilege and power is entirely tied up in those characteristics. They force you to focus — focus – and focus again — on those traits and your emotions, especially your sense of guilt. Your over-awareness then makes those traits the cause of all that’s wrong with the world.
And we know for a fact that such weird changes of perception often happen as a result of undue focus on a particular characteristic. For example, without pop culture’s constant focus on hyper-skinny bodies as the only kind of beautiful, a lot of anorexics might have led otherwise normal and healthy lives.
So as identity politics shifts your focus away from people as individuals and towards people as pieces of groups, it causes modifications of your behavior, your speech, and your thoughts. And so it serves to regulate all of our social interactions and all of our associations. Let’s just stop this madness.
When Hypocrisy is Obvious
When we try to figure out the logic of The New York Times hiring an identity politics warrior, we ought not get too derailed into claiming it’s racism against white people or sexism against men. The issue is much more vast. Instead, we should shift the focus to questions that might actually point to the problem.
Did something traumatic happen to Sarah Jeong that triggered a bitterness, and then an obsession with “whiteness” and “maleness” and other issues of identity politics? Or did she develop this attitude as a pre-programmed, learned response at UC Berkeley and Harvard? Or, is she actually committed to identity politics as a cynical means to acquire power in the sort of totalitarian system that identity politics naturally builds? How about the experiences of other purveyors of identity politics?
If we focus on our bitterness and continue to wallow in it, won’t that just cause us to get more of it? Where does it all end?
If we don’t respect the individual uniqueness of all human beings, how can people have real conversations or real relationships? How can we replace identity politics with a perspective that recognizes our common humanity?
Why are purveyors of identity politics so committed to preventing open conversations and freedom of association? Why don’t purveyors of identity politics realize that cultivating bitterness in people condemns millions of individuals to social isolation and punishment? Or do they realize this and not care?
Why should one person’s immutable characteristic cancel out their entire experience as an individual human being? How is that not the essence of bigotry? How is that not pre-judging and de-humanizing a person?
In the end, isn’t identity politics really just anti-person and anti-human? And isn’t that the tragedy and irony of it all? Stella Morabito is a senior contributor at The Federalist. Her essays have also appeared in the Washington Examiner, American Thinker, Public Discourse, Human Life Review, New Oxford Review. In her previous work as an intelligence analyst, she focused on various aspects of Russian and Soviet politics, including communist media and propaganda. She has also raised three children, served as a public school substitute teacher, and homeschooled for several years as well. She has a B.A. in journalism and international relations from the University of Southern California and a Master’s degree in Russian and Soviet history, also from USC. Follow Stella on Twitter. identity politicsracismSarah JeongSexismThe New York Times | 2 |
Trump campaign officials predicted on Tuesday that the president will win at least 10% of Black voters in November and more than 40% of Hispanics, improving his performance with both traditionally Democratic voting groups since 2016. Campaign manager Bill Stepien and senior adviser Jason Miller pointed to internal data and public surveys such as the Emerson College national poll, which was conducted just after the Republican National Convention that featured many minorities in prime-time speaking slots. The Emerson survey found 19% of Black voters supporting Mr. Trump, and 37% of Hispanic voters favoring him. In 2016, Mr. Trump won 8% of Black voters and 28% of Hispanic voters. “I firmly believe that President Trump will get over 10% of the African-American votes,” Mr. Miller told reporters in a conference call. “The president’s approval rating has jumped among Black voters nine points just during the GOP convention. I also believe that President Trump will get over 40% of the Latino vote.” The president’s rising support among minorities comes as he visits embattled Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday to express support for law enforcement after a week of rioting and protests over the police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake. Asked if his visit will help racial tensions, the president replied, “I think it’s helping because I’m about law and order.” A new national poll for America First Policies to be released Wednesday, found that 51% of Americans believe the protests have stopped being about racial justice and “have become violent riots by people who hate America and want to tear down our government and radically change American culture.” Another 40% of those surveyed said the protests “are a result of years of injustice and inequality suffered by Americans who are minorities as a result of systemic racism in our police departments and in government in general.” The survey also found that the major concern among independent and Republican voters has shifted from coronavirus to rebuilding the economy, and a majority believe Mr. Trump is the right candidate to lead that effort. The group is a nonprofit supporting the president’s policies. The survey was conducted by OnMessage Inc. from Aug. 17-20, before the turmoil in Kenosha. Trump campaign officials said their internal polling shows the president either leading or within the margin of error in every battleground state that Mr. Trump needs to win reelection. They said Mr. Trump’s prospects have improved as the economy recovers and as the nation is making progress against the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Stepien said the electoral map is “leaning our way.” He said the campaign has reserved $14 million of TV air time in Minnesota for ads in a state that the president lost in 2016 by about 2 percentage points.”We’re going all in on Minnesota,” Mr. Miller said. Mr. Biden is leading in several national polls by less than 10 percentage points since the GOP convention ended last week.Mr. Stepien and Mr. Miller said, given the way they see the election shaping up, Mr. Biden would need to win Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania to win the presidency. They predicted he can’t do it. The Trump campaign also has reserved $38 million worth of TV time in Florida, and $16 million in Pennsylvania. | 2 |
Former FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday said he doesn’t recall hearing that Hillary Clinton conjured a campaign to smear President Trump as a Russian colluder.
Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee he was unaware of Clinton’s alleged role stirring up false allegations against Trump, saying he doesn’t remember a Sept. 7, 2016, referral to him from the intelligence community.
“I do not” remember the referral, Comey told the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), during the hearing.
“That doesn’t ring a bell with me,” Comey confirmed when Graham read aloud from a document released Tuesday by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.
The spy chief’s disclosure was just a single written page, but Comey said, “I don’t understand Mr. Ratcliffe’s letter well enough to comment. It’s confusing. It contains within it a statement, I think, that it’s unverified information. I really don’t know what he’s doing.”
Ratcliffe said the claim against Clinton was unproven and could be an “exaggeration or fabrication,” but that it was serious enough that then-CIA Director John Brennan briefed then-President Barack Obama.
According to the intelligence director, handwritten notes from Brennan describe the “alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016, of a proposal from one of her foreign-policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services.”
The intelligence community sent Comey “an investigative referral” two months before the 2016 election outlining the claim, Ratcliffe said.
Comey repeatedly clashed with Republican senators at the hearing and defended his work on the Russia investigation, which ultimately found no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion.
“There was no spying on the president,” he told Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).
In another series of exchanges, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) accused Comey of enjoying public attention and scolded him for a 2016 press conference, in the heat of the campaign against Trump, announcing Clinton would not face charges despite being “extremely careless” with a private e-mail server.
“You have been an equal opportunity egotist. You have tried to screw both Trump and Clinton,” Kennedy told Comey.
Comey was fired by the president in 2017 after presiding over the FBI’s early investigation of possible Trump campaign links to Russia, including the controversial use of a disputed and partially discredited dossier financed by Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee to secure surveillance warrants against Trump adviser Carter Page. | 2 |
| November 18, 2020 07:33 PM The number of reported deaths due to the coronavirus in the United States hit 250,000 Wednesday, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker. The number of deaths exceeds National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci’s spring prediction that the U.S. would confirm 240,000 deaths due to the coronavirus disease. At least 1,707 new deaths due to COVID-19 were confirmed Tuesday alone, the highest daily death toll since May 14. At this rate, CNN reported, at least one person in the U.S. is dying of COVID-19 every minute of the day. Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor at George Washington University School of Medicine, warned that the mortality rate will increase as the weeks go on because deaths lag behind the initial infection and disease progression. “On average, two to three weeks ago, we were seeing 70,000 to 80,000 [new] cases per day,” Reiner said. “Yesterday, there were about 155,000 [new] cases. So if you're alarmed at the 1,700 deaths today, two to three weeks from now, we're going to see 3,000 deaths a day.” To date, nearly 11.5 million coronavirus infections have been confirmed in the U.S. The test positivity rate has averaged near 10% over the past week, suggesting that more infections are going unconfirmed and that the virus is spreading. Pfizer and BioNTech announced their COVID-19 vaccine candidate is now 95% effective and will soon be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization. The companies said no "serious safety concerns" were observed among the 43,000 people enrolled in the trial, with only 3.8% reporting fatigue and another 2% reporting a headache. The companies said Wednesday that they “plan to submit a request within days to the FDA for an EUA based on the totality of safety and efficacy data collected to date, as well as manufacturing data relating to the quality and consistency of the vaccine.” “The study results mark an important step in this historic eight-month journey to bring forward a vaccine capable of helping to end this devastating pandemic,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said. Fauci projected that the first doses of an approved vaccine could become available to the public as early as April, USA Today reported. Front-line healthcare providers will likely get access to the vaccine first, possibly by the end of December or early January. Then, people who are most vulnerable to severe illness, such as the elderly or people with existing health problems, will get access to the shot, followed by the general public starting in April and through July. “Then, you can start talking about this umbrella or blanket of protection on society that would diminish dramatically the risk of a person being exposed or even being infected,” he said. “When so many people are protected, that’s when you get into the real herd immunity.” New York City public schools will close Thursday and shift to full-time remote learning, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday, after the city hit the 3% weekly test positivity rate threshold. "Unfortunately, this means public school buildings will be closed as of tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 19, out of an abundance of caution. We must fight back the second wave of COVID-19," the Democrat said. The controversial dinner party where Gov. Gavin Newsom was seen breaking his own coronavirus restrictions also included California Medical Association leaders. California Medical Association CEO Dustin Corcoran and CMA lobbyist Janus Norman were among those present celebrating the birthday of Jason Kinney, Newsom’s political adviser, Politico reported Wednesday. Photos of the event also surfaced this week and show none of the 12 partygoers wearing face masks, most notably the Democratic governor. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, extended a mask mandate for his state as well as a state of emergency until 2021 amid rising coronavirus cases. "It's clear based on where we're headed, we cannot afford to stop or have a gap in some of the only mitigation efforts we still have in place," Evers said. He made the call after Wisconsin reached a single-day record of 92 deaths attributed to COVID-19 on Tuesday and a single-day record of new cases, with nearly 8,000, on Wednesday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany slammed new mandates announced by several state governors that will limit the number of people who can attend Thanksgiving celebrations this year due to worrying spikes in cases. Several governors have placed states under temporary lockdowns, such as Kate Brown of Oregon and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, or imposed curfews, such as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. "I think a lot of the guidelines you're seeing are Orwellian," McEnany said Wednesday on Fox and Friends. Large groups protested the German government’s coronavirus restrictions Wednesday, leading police to use water cannons on the crowd and arrest more than 200, according to CBS News. Demonstrators decried "corona dictatorship” as lawmakers voted to amend the laws governing measures to stem the spread of the virus. | 2 |
AFP via Getty Images The Dow plummeted 6.9 percent on Thursday in its sharpest one-day decline since the start of the coronavirus as investors face the prospect of a slow perhaps painful recovery.
The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 1,861.82 points, to close at 25,128.17, while S&P 500 slid 5.9 percent, to 3,002.10. Even the Nasdaq Composite index of tech stocks, which has been less affected by the pandemic, dropped 5.3 percent, to end the day at 9,492.73.
The one-day rout marked the major averages’ worst day since March 16, when they all dropped more than 11 percent as governors started ordering restaurants to close their doors and non-essential workers to stay home.
Driving the plunge are reports of rising COVID-19 cases in states that have recently reopened their economies, including Texas, Arizona and California.
Investors were shaken by a jobs report that showed 1.54 million more jobless claims, a number that was within estimates, but stood in stark contrast to the surprise addition of 2.5 million jobs to the economic picture just last week.
The Federal Reserve fanned the flames on Wednesday with its dire predictions that things will get worse before they get better. In its first projections for the year, the Fed forecast that US GDP will slump by 6.5 percent in 2020 with a rebound of 5 percent hitting in 2021.
“We have to be honest that it’s a long road,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell cautioned during a news conference outlining the findings, while confirming that interest rates will remain unchanged.
“The same old worries came back today. Spreading of COVID-19 to new areas, worries over the economy, and a historically overbought stock market” Ryan Detrick, Senior Market Strategist at LPL Financial wrote after the closing bell. “They say the stock market is an escalator up and an elevator down, we sure saw that today.”
Thursday’s dramatic reversal felt to many like a bubble of optimism being punctured by a dose of reality.
“What was learned over the past three months is that nobody has any idea what the market will do in the short term,” mused Michael Batnick, director of research at Ritholtz Wealth Management. “We went from recession to depression to recovery to euphoria in 100 days. And now this.” | 2 |
BERLIN — A 23-year-old Tunisian man emerged as the primary suspect behind the Monday terror attack in Berlin, which killed 12 and injured 48.The man, identified as Anis A., was born in the Tunisian city of Tataouine in 1992. A refugee, he applied for asylum in Germany in April, according to Suddeutsche Zeitung. Identity documents left behind in the truck are the primary leads in the investigation. Another suspect was arrested early Wednesday morning but was quickly released. (RELATED: ISIS Officially Claims Responsibility For Berlin Christmas Market Terror Attack) Die Welt reports the man uses several different identities and also goes by Ahmed A. He lives in Berlin but spends a lot of his time in the western state of North Reine Westphalia, where police are taking “imminent measures.” He is known by police from being part of Salafist circles in Germany. (PICTURES: Central Berlin A Guarded Ghost Town As People Fear More Terror) Police originally detained a Pakistani man named Naved B. He was released Tuesday after no forensic evidence tied him to the attack. [dcquiz] Berlin has ramped up security measures following the attack. Parts of the city center are still closed off for the public, with armed police officers patrolling the area. (RELATED: Berlin Police: We Caught The Wrong Person) The Christmas market where the attack took place remains closed to the public and Berliners are on edge. “ISIS try to show that they’re here and it’s awful,” Konstantin Wendel, who works as tour guide at the church inside the market, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Five years ago, we didn’t have this threat.” The otherwise vibrant Christmas market in Berlin was deserted Tuesday. (Jacob Bojesson/TheDCNF) Police vans were lined up in central Berlin Tuesday night. (Jacob Bojesson/TheDCNF) Wendel thinks the world-famous Christmas markets make for a prime target for Islamic State, as other churches are much harder to access for terrorists. “There are always people at Christmas markets and they choose places where they have a crowd of people,” Wendel told TheDCNF. “There are a lot of churches that are guarded and that’s completely different. Two years ago, we didn’t have that situation. For example, the Dome of Berlin– it isn’t easy to bring your bags in there.” Follow Jacob on Twitter Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]. | 2 |
Senate Republicans on Tuesday revised their tax cut bill to include a repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate — a bold move that frees up more money for deeper tax cuts and takes a whack at the health care law they have repeatedly tried but failed to repeal. President Trump had been pushing the idea for weeks, eyeing the more than $300 billion in savings over the next decade that could be pumped into more tax cuts for average Americans. Republican leaders on Capitol Hill had resisted, but with little hope of getting Democrats on board and looking to rally their own troops to pass the bill, the Senate’s top brass relented. “We’re optimistic that inserting the individual mandate repeal would be helpful,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican. Democrats blasted the move, saying it adds insult to an already injurious tax cut package that delivers most of its bang to businesses. Insurers also objected, saying ending the Obamacare mandate will chase younger, healthy people out of the markets, leaving them with only older, sicker customers and thus ruin the economics of the 2010 health care law. “Republicans just can’t help themselves. They’re so determined to provide tax giveaways to the rich that they’re willing to raise premiums on millions of middle-class Americans and kick 13 million people off their health care,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat. He predicted that the bill would sour more Americans on the Republicans’ plans. But Republican leaders are counting on the move to win over wavering senators, saying the savings from nixing the mandate can be pumped back into even bigger tax cuts for the middle class. Before the mandate, the Senate plan amounts to a $1.5 trillion tax cut over 10 years, with about 60 percent going to businesses and the rest going to individual taxpayers. The plan slashes the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent and lowers the top individual rate from 39.6 percent to 38.5 percent while adjusting other individual tax brackets so they kick in at higher income thresholds. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch said including the mandate repeal allows Republicans to be even more ambitious with their plan. “By scrapping this unpopular tax from an unworkable law, we not only ease the financial burdens already associated with the mandate, but also generate additional revenue to provide more tax relief to … individuals,” Mr. Hatch said. The 20 percent corporate rate would be permanent but the new individual income tax rates would expire after 2025 under the modified outline Mr. Hatch released Tuesday evening. The new plan costs about $1.415 trillion – down from the $1.496 trillion plan rolled out last week. Mr. Hatch also announced other revisions Tuesday, including a doubling of the child tax credit from the current $1,000 to $2,000 — up from $1,650 in the first plan — and some other tweaks to individual tax rates. Another revision makes changes so more “pass-through” companies that file their taxes as individuals can claim a new 17.4 percent deduction Republicans say is designed to give a boost to small businesses. “The pass-through provisions in the chairman’s mark have been further streamlined to ensure these critical job creators have access to the resources they need to further expand, help hire new workers, and increase employee take-home pay,” Mr. Hatch said. The plan also eliminates a number of deductions, such as the one for state and local taxes paid, and uses the savings to pay for lowering the rates. With the plan bumping up against the $1.5 trillion cap set in the 2018 budget for tax cuts, lawmakers were left searching for new ways to free up money to do even more for the middle class. Enter the individual mandate plan, which the Congressional Budget Office said would save the government more than $300 billion over the next 10 years by freeing people from the obligation to have health care coverage — and the government from the responsibility of subsidizing much of that coverage. Some 13 million fewer people would have coverage in 2027 without the pressure from the mandate. Some Republicans had long pushed for the move, saying it was the natural solution to their failure this year to repeal Obamacare. Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, Pennsylvania Republican and a member of the tax-writing finance committee, said the mandate is based on a “flawed premise” that the federal government should force Americans to buy a product they might not want. “Including the repeal of the tax penalty in our pro-growth tax reform bill gives direct relief to hardworking Pennsylvanians and assists in making permanent desperately needed changes to our outdated tax code so American businesses can be globally competitive once again,” said Mr. Toomey. Democrats, though, framed the move as cutting a government benefit for average Americans in order to give corporations a tax reduction. “This is a con job on the American people and proves that Republicans’ only agenda is putting an economic double standard into black letter law,” said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. Republicans hope to move their broader bill through committee this week, with possible floor action the week after Thanksgiving, as they look to get a final package to Mr. Trump’s desk by the end of the year. The admittedly ambitious time frame comes as some Republicans view the tax overhaul effort as the party’s last real chance to give voters a reason to turn out in next year’s midterm elections, after their monthslong effort to repeal Obamacare in its entirety stalled out over the summer. The House tax bill that advanced out of the Ways and Means Committee last week did not include a repeal of the mandate, though some Republicans said they would like it to be part of the discussion as leaders prepare for a floor vote in the House this week. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, said Tuesday that the House is pushing the bill “as we have it,” though he described things as a work in progress. He said differences between the House and Senate versions can ultimately get hammered out in a bicameral conference committee once each chamber passes its respective plan. “So we are just getting this process going. We think it’s very, very important we produce this. And we feel good where we are,” Mr. Ryan said. The House plan also lowers the corporate tax rate to 20 percent immediately, while the Senate version delays it for one year. The House also includes a full repeal of the estate tax on inheritances, while the Senate doubles the exemption rate but leaves the tax in place, and partially restores part of the state and local deduction for property taxes. | 2 |
| February 21, 2020 07:10 AM The New York Times reported on Thursday that "intelligence officials warned House lawmakers last week that Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get President Trump re-elected." I'm not convinced that gives full context to the briefing. I suspect a Democratic member asked a briefer something along the lines of, "Do you assess that Russia is trying to reelect Trump?" The briefer then probably offered a hedged response in the affirmative. I believe the core of the briefing was likely situated around an assessment that Russia is preparing to ramp up efforts to undermine the election and U.S. civil society. That's very different from that which the New York Times report implies: a high-confidence national intelligence assessment that Russia is interfering to see Trump triumph over any and all of the Democratic presidential primary field. First off, any intelligence assessment that Russia is interfering to reelect Trump would require a wide depth of diverse, high-value sources. At the very least, any intelligence product offering that conclusion would be based on highly reliable human source and signal intelligence reporting from or on people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the GRU, and each Russian government/contractor arm the United States believes is engaged in the interference effort. Considering the sensitivity with which any Russian 2020 interference operation will be regarded in Moscow (which is keen to avoid new U.S. sanctions or other retaliatory measures and so will work to maintain deniability), it is unlikely that the full degree and election-outcome intent of Russia's interference campaign are yet known. At least to the degree, that is, that would allow the intelligence community to come before the assembled mass of the congressional intelligence committees and offer a high confidence assessment to that effect. There's another critical factor to consider here: Putin's strategic intent. The Russian leader has three key objectives vis-à-vis America: undermining NATO and the U.S.-led international order, usurping American leadership in the Middle East, and ensuring Russian political and energy dominance in Central and Eastern Europe. Considering that baseline, there is simply no way that Putin has decided Trump will be better for those outcomes than any and all of the Democrats trying to unseat him. Joe Biden? Likely yes, due to his longtime record of support for NATO and his former access to the highest level intelligence briefings (Biden knows what Putin is like). The rest of the Democratic field? Well, consider the contrasting records. Yes, Trump has made misguided comments with regards to his personal relationship with Putin. But he has also presided over very significant increases in U.S. and NATO defense outlays, the unified alignment of that alliance in resistance to Russian ballistic missile proliferation, more aggressive intelligence operations against Russia, and the deployment of U.S. nuclear strike capabilities specifically designed to challenge Russia's evolved strategic doctrine. The scaled nuclear development and defense spending programs here are collectively opposed by the Democratic presidential field. On Ukraine, aside from the obvious impeachment issues, Trump has provided Kyiv with lethal weapons and high-value intelligence support. Crucially, he has also provided diplomatic support against significant Franco-German pressure on President Volodymyr Zelesnky to accept a cease-fire on Russian terms. On the associated issue of energy policy, only Trump stands in favor of that economic weapon Putin most fears: fracking and expanded U.S. energy exports. In contrast, the 2020 Democratic Party is a Putin dream world on this energy issue. Similarly, Trump's strengthening of the U.S. alliances with Israel and the Sunni Arab monarchies is a major obstacle to Putin's effort to usurp America as the key international power broker in the Middle East. While Trump's abandonment of the Syrian Kurds has undermined U.S. credibility in the Middle East, he has restricted the confidence hemorrhage by retaining some U.S. military forces in Syria. The collective Democratic presidential field disagrees with Trump's approach, at least as applied to the Sunni monarchies. One final issue here? Bernie Sanders. Because the idea that Putin would prefer all the above to a president who took his honeymoon in the Soviet Union, likes many of Russia's allies, and wants to gut U.S. defense spending, end or greatly diminish U.S. alliances with the Sunni monarchies, and ban fracking? Give me a break. | 2 |
Higher costs, fewer choices, and less access to care are just some of the symptoms many Americans will suffer from as Obamacare is implemented. The Heritage Foundation's Alyene Senger explains in the January issue of Townhall Magazine. More than three years after passage of the Affordable Care Act (aka, Obamacare), most Americans still lack a good understanding of what the law does and how it will affect them. In large measure, that is due to the sheer complexity of the law and the fact that its major pieces are only now beginning to take effect. That complexity is also the root cause of many of the technical problems the federal government is facing in implementing the law, with those technical problems creating, in turn, even greater public confusion and anxiety. The politically “popular provisions” (such as, so-called “free” preventive care, covering 26-year-old “children” on their parents’ plans, and expanding Medicare prescription drug benefits) took effect first—prior to the 2012 election. But these provisions are nearly inconsequential compared to the damaging Obamacare components slated to take full effect in January 2014. That’s when a new and completely unsustainable subsidy program takes hold via the government exchanges. It’s also when Obamacare expands the broken Medicaid program to take in millions of new patients, and when Americans start paying for most of the nearly $1.8 trillion in new entitlement spending with massive tax hikes and unprecedented cuts to the Medicare program. The results of these intertwining provisions will profoundly change the U.S. health care system and will undoubtedly produce lasting negative effects for a majority of Americans, regardless of the source of their health care coverage. Many Americans will see higher costs, fewer choices for coverage and less access to doctors and hospitals.
CHANGING INSURANCE COVERAGE AS WE KNOW IT
The Exchanges
The key vehicle used by Obamacare to radically transform and standardize health insurance in the U.S. is the creation of government health insurance exchanges. These exchanges were created to sell and subsidize standardized government-approved health care plans. Most of those who acquire coverage through the exchanges will have their costs subsidized by federal taxpayers. In 34 states, the federal government will be in charge of running the exchange. Sixteen states, plus the District of Columbia, have elected to run their own state exchange. Open enrollment in the exchanges began on October 1. Coverage for enrollees kicks in beginning January 1, 2014. Standardizing Health Insurance
Plans are offered in metal tiers: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Bronze plans will have the lowest premium, but highest cost sharing, and the reverse will be true of platinum plans. Those under age 30 can also purchase so-called catastrophic plans. While there is some variance from state to state, every plan sold on the exchanges must offer a new “essential health benefits package”—an extensive level of benefits drawn from 10 different benefit categories. With these built-in benefit mandates, insurers are unlikely to offer additional benefits. Doing so would further increase the price of their products compared to their competitors. In essence, the benefit floor created by Obamacare is likely to also become a benefit ceiling. The result is that meaningful differences among health plans can be hard to come by at the benefits level. Over-Regulation of Insurance
These benefit mandates are combined with new insurance rules inside and outside the exchanges that take full effect in 2014. These include: Unrestricted guaranteed issue, meaning no one can be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition, even if they didn’t have previous coverage. (Of course, to avoid people waiting until they are sick to buy coverage, Obamacare added the infamous individual mandate to coerce healthy people to join Obamacare now.) No medical underwriting, meaning an insurer cannot vary premiums based on health condition. Community rating, which essentially forces insurers to charge younger adults artificially higher premiums by limiting the variation in premiums between the young and old. (The natural variation in medical costs runs at about 1:5. Obamacare sets the ratio at 1:3) Prohibition of annual and lifetime limits on benefits. This provision has been gradually phasing in. The limits will be fully phased out on January 1, 2014. (At that time, any waivers for plans with such limits will expire, and 4 million people in plans that got waivers will lose their existing coverage.)
These new rules and mandates create a one-size-fits-all insurance model. Unfortunately, millions of policies previously sold do not fit this model. As a result, millions of Americans have lost—or are at risk of losing their health plan. Subsidizing Coverage in the Exchange
Starting in 2014, the government will subsidize premiums for coverage purchased through the Exchange by individuals earning from 100 percent to 400 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). For individuals, that income range is between $11,490 and $45,960 in 2013. For a family of four, the income range is between $23,550 and $94,200. The subsidies are applied on a sliding scale with the lower income participants receiving higher amounts. In addition to premium subsidies, cost-sharing subsidies are available to those who purchase a silver plan in the Exchange and earn between 100 and 250 percent of FPL. These cost-sharing subsidies will offset enrollees’ out-of-pocket expenses. The heavy subsidies are expected to draw more and more people to the exchanges. In May 2013, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated 7 million people would obtain coverage through the exchanges in 2014. By 2023, the CBO projected 24 million to obtain coverage there, with 19 million receiving subsidies. The CBO estimates that together, the subsidies will cost taxpayers almost $1.1 trillion from 2014-2023. Higher Premiums and Fewer Choices
The main effect of these Obamacare provisions is a lack of competition, reduced consumer choice, and increased costs in the exchanges. Just the opposite of what the president promised. The standardization of benefits inherently limits choice but this is combined with a lack of insurer competition, further reducing choices for Obamacare consumers. A county-level analysis of insurers participating in the state exchanges shows that 17 percent of the nation’s counties will have no choice—only one insurer is offering coverage to residents there. More than a third (35 percent) of all counties have only two carriers to choose from. Another 26 percent are being offered coverage from only three carriers. Thus, three out of four counties in America will only have three insurance options through Obamacare. A lack of insurer competition not only reduces choice, it also reduces pressure on insurers to keep costs down. Obamacare’s many onerous provisions have led to significant premium increases for most consumers in a majority of states. A Heritage Foundation analysis found that 42 of the 47 states for which comparable premium data are available will see significant average premium increases—in many cases, over 100 percent— for individuals purchasing from the exchanges. A common way for insurers to mitigate premium increases is to reduce the scope of their provider networks. As a result, major hospitals are being excluded in some exchanges, and many exchange customers are finding that their doctor isn’t in their exchange plan’s network. For instance, the Los Angeles Times reports that “a major insurer in the state run market, Blue Shield of California, said its exchange customers will be restricted to 36% of its regular physician network statewide.” EXPANDING A BROKEN ENTITLEMENT
Another major piece of Obamacare is an expansion of Medicaid to individuals earning up to 138 percent of the FPL, an annual income of $15,856 in 2013. The law promises that our already broke federal government will fund the Medicaid expansion population at 100 percent for the next three years, gradually reducing reimbursement to 90 percent in 2020 and thereafter. The CBO expects a partial expansion to cost $710 billion over the next decade. Those states that have opted to expand their programs will see their Medicaid rolls start to swell in January. The administration’s fight to get the rest of the states to expand will rage on. Originally the law stated that, if a state refused to expand its Medicaid program, the federal government would take back its matching funds for the entire program. But in June 2012, the Supreme Court deemed that provision to be coercive and ruled that the federal government could not withhold all its funding to states that chose not to expand, it could only withhold the expansion funding. Prior to Obamacare, Medicaid traditionally covered low-income mothers and children, as well as low-income disabled and elderly. Obamacare’s blanket expansion includes anyone with income up to 138 percent of the FPL. If every state expands its program, as many as 25 million additional people could enroll in Medicaid by 2021—most of them childless adults. Thus far, only 25 states have agreed to the massive expansion. The rest are weighing their options. The 25 states that have not yet bought into the expansion are under intense pressure from hospital lobbyists to do so. The administration, too, shaken by the dismal enrollment figures in the exchanges, has recently stepped up its efforts to “shame” governors into expansion. Health Coverage Doesn’t Equal Access to Care
Medicaid beneficiaries already find it difficult to access care. A major reason is due to low physician participation rates. Sandra L. Decker, an economist at the National Center for Health Statistics, found that in 2011, one of three primary care physicians would not accept new Medicaid patients. And it’s no secret why. Medicaid typically reimburses doctors at rates below paid by private insurance plans. In 2008, Medicaid reimbursement was little more than half (about 58 percent) that provided by private plans. Although Obamacare provides a federal funding boost for Medicaid primary care physicians, reimbursement levels are likely to trend back down. For one thing, the federal boost is only to Medicare reimbursement levels which are still below private insurance rates—about 80 percent. For another, the increase in Medicaid reimbursements is only temporary, ending after 2014. Instead of reforming a program that is already failing the most-vulnerable in our society, Obamacare expands it, worsening the problem. PAYING FOR OBAMACARE
New Taxes, Mandates, and Fees Obamacare contains 18 specific tax hikes, mandates or penalties estimated to raise a total of $771 billion in new revenue from 2013-2022. All but four of these are already in effect, and three more will take hold in 2014. Total tax revenue from Obamacare is estimated to be almost $32 billion in 2014. Included in this list are the individual mandate and the employer mandate. The Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate as a constitutional exercise of Congress’s power to tax, yet it remains wildly unpopular. It is designed to coerce individuals into purchasing government approved health insurance or face a tax penalty. The penalty will start in 2014— based on either $95 or one percent of annual income, whichever is greater. However, nearly all those subject to pay it will pay the latter (one percent of income) amount because individuals with an annual income of only $9,500 or less would likely qualify for Medicaid or a hardship exemption. The employer mandate forces all employers with 50 or more full-time employees (defined as those working 30 hours per week) to either offer coverage the government deems affordable and adequate or pay a penalty. The penalty varies—either $2,000 per employee after the first 30 workers, or $3,000 per employee receiving subsidized coverage in the exchange, whichever is less. The Obama administration has delayed the enforcement of the employer mandate until 2015, but it was done administratively rather than through legislative action. Thus many in the business community are still confused— since the law says one thing and the administration says another. Regardless, plenty of businesses have already adapted by reducing hours for their employees to fall under the hourly threshold. The health insurer tax, one of the bigger taxes included in the law, is an annual fee on health insurance plans. This tax is based on each individual company’s share of the market and is estimated to raise $101.7 billion from 2014-2023, including $8 billion in 2014 alone. While the insurance industry is actively trying to delay the tax, it is sure to have a huge effect on premiums next year and thereafter. An actuarial analysis by the consulting firm Oliver Wyman shows that in 2014, this tax will increase premiums by 1.9 to 2.3 percent. And the impact will be far greater in later years. Another large fee to help pay for Obamacare is a reinsurance fee, which isn’t even included in the list of 18 taxes. The temporary fee is assessed on group health plans to help spread the cost of the covering those in the exchanges. The fee is going to be $63 per covered life in 2014. Like most taxes and fees, the result will likely be higher premiums. Using Medicare to Pay for Obamacare
Seniors in Medicare are also hit by the Obamacare spending spree. Obamacare includes a host of across-the-board Medicare spending cuts, totaling $41 billion in 2014 and more than $700 billion by 2022. Contrary to the way these cuts are often portrayed, they are not being used to shore up the Medicare program and are not aimed at specific instances of waste, fraud, and abuse. Seniors, access to care will be compromised if these draconian cuts take place. The Medicare Trustees project that 15 percent of all hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, and home health agencies would become unprofitable within five years. As the Trustees go on to explain: “Medicare’s payments for health services would fall increasingly below providers’ costs. Providers could not sustain continuing negative margins and would have to withdraw from serving Medicare beneficiaries or (if total facility margins remained positive) shift substantial portions of Medicare costs to their non-Medicare, non-Medicaid payers.” In fact, Obamacare’s initial Medicare payment changes are already having an effect on seniors’ access to care. UnitedHealth, the nation’s largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, announced in November that thousands of doctors would be dropped from their network thanks to lower reimbursement payments due to Obamacare. “It’s no secret that we are under substantial funding pressure from the federal government,” UnitedHealth President Austin Pittman told the Wall Street Journal. As Obamacare’s payment reductions intensify in the coming years, so will the damage they wreak among health care providers and facilities. This can only increase the severity of barriers to care confronting America’s seniors. An Experiment We Can ’t Afford
Obamacare’s new entitlements are kicking into high gear at a time when the nation rapidly approaches a fiscal crisis. The national debt has surpassed $17 trillion, and government spending is on track to exceed revenues in 2014 by 18 percent. Existing entitlement programs, desperately in need of reform, are largely to blame for this untenable situation. While the U.S. health care system certainly needed reform before Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act exacerbates pre-existing flaws and creates new problems. Americans can’t afford the cost of Obamacare or its harmful impact on access to quality health care. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has found evidence that an FBI lawyer manipulated a key investigative document related to the FBI's secretive surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser -- enough to change the substantive meaning of the document, according to multiple reports.The show-stopping development comes as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News that Horowitz's comprehensive report on allegations of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant abuse against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page will be released on Dec. 9. "That's locked," Graham said.The new evidence concerning the altered document, which pertained to the FBI's FISA court warrant application to surveil Page, is expected to be outlined in Horowitz's upcoming report. CNN first reported the news, which was largely confirmed by The Washington Post.But the Post, hours after publishing its story, conspicuously removed the portion of its reporting that the FBI employee involved worked "beneath" Peter Strzok, the FBI's since-fired head of counterintelligence. The Post did not offer an explanation for the change, which occurred shortly after midnight. Earlier this week, the DOJ highlighted a slew of anti-Trump text messages sent by Strzok when he was leading the Hillary Clinton email investigation and the probe into the Trump campaign."The person under scrutiny has not been identified but is not a high-ranking official — they worked beneath former deputy assistant director Peter Strzok, according to people familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss material that has not yet been made public," The Post wrote in its now-deleted paragraph.WAYBACK MACHINE SHOWS ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE POST'S STORY, BEFORE STEALTH DELETIONThe paper eventually added a correction to the bottom of its piece, reading, "Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated that the FBI employee being investigated for altering a document worked underneath former Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok. The employee was a low-level lawyer in the Office of General Counsel and did not report to the deputy assistant director."Nevertheless, Horowitz reportedly found that the FBI employee was involved enough in the FISA process to falsely state that he had "documentation to back up a claim he had made in discussions with the Justice Department about the factual basis" for the FISA warrant application, the Post reported. Then, the FBI employee allegedly "altered an email" to substantiate his inaccurate version of events. The employee has since been forced out of the bureau. One-time advisor of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump Carter Page was called "an agent of a foreign power" by the FBI in its 2016 FISA surveillance warrant application. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing despite more than a year of surveillance, and several holes have emerged in the FBI's FISA case. (AP) In its initial 2016 FISA warrant application, the FBI flatly called Page "an agent of a foreign power."Sources told Fox News last month that U.S. Attorney John Durham's separate, ongoing probe into potential FBI and Justice Department misconduct in the run-up to the 2016 election through the spring of 2017 has transitioned into a full-fledged criminal investigation -- and that Horowitz's report will shed light on why Durham's probe has become a criminal inquiry.FBI AGENTS MANIPULATED FLYNN FILE, AS CLAPPER ORDERED 'KILL SHOT,' FILING SAYSDurham has reportedly taken up Horowitz's findings concerning the falsified FISA document, meaning the ex-FBI lawyer who made the changes is now under criminal investigation. The Post indicated, however, that the document was not central to the legality of the FISA warrant obtained against Page.Republicans have long argued that the FBI's alleged FISA abuses, which came as the bureau aggressively pursued ultimately unsubstantiated claims of criminal links between the Trump team and Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, were politically motivated. In recent months, a series of unearthed documents has strengthened those claims.Just nine days before the FBI applied for its first FISA warrant to surveil Page, bureau officials were battling with a senior Justice Department official who had "continued concerns" about the "possible bias" of a source pivotal to the application, according to internal text messages previously obtained by Fox News.The 2016 messages, sent between Lisa Page and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, also revealed that bureau brass circulated at least two anti-Trump blog articles, including a Lawfare blog post sent shortly after Election Day that called Trump possibly "among the major threats to the security of the country."DOJ OUTLINES STRZOK 'SECURITY VIOLATIONS'; FINDS 'PARANOID' CASE AGENT NOTICED STRZOK WAS SITTING ON WEINER LAPTOPFox News is told the texts were connected to the ultimately successful Page application, which relied in part on information from British ex-spy Christopher Steele – whose anti-Trump views are now well-documented – and cited Page’s suspected Russia ties. In its warrant application, the FBI inaccurately assured the FISA court on numerous occasions that media sources independently corroborated Steele's claims, and did not clearly state that Steele worked for a firm hired by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).Much of the Steele dossier has been proved discredited or unsubstantiated, including the dossier's claims that the Trump campaign was paying hackers in the United States out of a non-existent Russian consulate in Miami, or that ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen traveled to Prague to conspire with Russians. Special Counsel Robert Mueller also was unable to substantiate the dossier's claims that Carter Page had received a large payment relating to the sale of a share of Rosneft, a Russian oil giant, or that a lurid blackmail tape involving the president existed.Despite being accused by the FBI of being a Russian agent in the FISA application, and being secretly surveilled for more than a year, Page has not been charged with any wrongdoing. He has since sued numerous actors -- including the DNC -- for defamation related to claims that he worked with Russia. Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, seen here in 2018, is alleging that the FBI also doctored documents in his case. (AP) DISPUTE ERUPTS AS BRENNAN, COMEY APPEAR TO DISPUTE WHO PUSHED THE STEELE DOSSIER"OI [Office of Intelligence] now has a robust explanation re any possible bias of the chs [confidential human source] in the package," Lisa Page wrote to McCabe on Oct. 12, 2016. "Don't know what the holdup is now, other than Stu's continued concerns."It's unclear whether the confidential source in question was Steele or another individual. "Stu" was an apparent reference to Stuart Evans, then the DOJ's National Security Division deputy assistant attorney general. In one previously unearthed and since-unredacted text message, Strzok texted Page that he was "Currently fighting with Stu for this FISA" in late 2016.Page is not the only Trump official to allege misconduct by the FBI. Last month, an explosive court filing from Michael Flynn’s legal team alleged that FBI agents manipulated official records of the former national security adviser’s 2017 interview that led to him being charged with lying to investigators. Flynn's attorneys demanded the FBI search its internal "Sentinel" system to find more evidence of allegedly doctored files.CNN'S CUOMO FAILS TO ASK EX-INTEL OFFICIALS ABOUT HIS NETWORK'S OWN BOMBSHELL REPORTNewly released text messages involving text messages between Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page revealed that Page -- who was not present for the Flynn interview -- had apparently made "edits" to the so-called "302" witness report in the case, which was key to Flynn's prosecution on a false statements charge. Page told Strzok on February 10, 2017 that she “gave my edits to Bill to put on your desk.”Horowitz told congressional lawmakers in an October letter that his investigation and ensuing report were nearing their conclusion.FBI BLAMES SYSTEM-WIDE SOFTWARE FAILURE FOR MISSING STRZOK TEXTS -- PHONE FROM MUELLER DAYS TOTALLY WIPEDThe "lengthy" draft report "concerns sensitive national security and law enforcement matters," Horowitz wrote in the letter, adding that he anticipated "the final report will be released publicly with few redactions."Horowitz noted that he did not anticipate a need to prepare or issue "separate classified and public versions of the report.""After we receive the final classification markings from the Department and the FBI, we will then proceed with our usual process for preparing a final report, including ensuring that appropriate reviews occur for accuracy and comment purposes," Horowitz wrote in the letter. "Once begun, we do not anticipate the time for that review to be lengthy."Fox News' Brooke Singman and Charles Crietz contributed to this report. | 2 |
Senator Kamala Harris speaks at the 2019 National Forum on Wages and Working People in Las Vegas, Nev., April 27, 2019. (Gage Skidmore) Thinking through the California senator’s strengths and weaknesses. So, it’s Kamala. After all the speculation about whom Biden might pick to be his running mate, he chose the woman most likely to get the nod all along, according to the betting markets.
The California senator was and is widely seen as the “safe” choice, given the constraints Biden had imposed on himself. He pledged to pick a woman, and after the George Floyd protests he seemed increasingly likely to pick an African-American woman. Harris checks both boxes, and as the only black female Democratic senator or governor in the United States, she definitely seems to be a safer pick in the middle of an economic and health crisis than a former state legislator from Georgia, the mayor of Atlanta, or a little-known House member from Florida or California. Harris was vetted somewhat by the press during her presidential campaign, and she can be a poised speaker — the kind of relentlessly on-message politician who will likely avoid any campaign-destroying gaffes.
But was Harris really the safest and smartest pick?
To win in 2020, Biden needs to turn out the moderate voters who abandoned Republicans in 2018. And with that in mind, Harris certainly comes with some risks. Republicans have been painting Biden as a stalking horse for the left wing of the Democratic party: Sure, Biden might say he opposes the Green New Deal and Medicare for All, goes the Republican message, but just you watch who’s really going to hold power. And the Democratic presidential nominee who turns 78 in November — amid a plague that is particularly deadly to the elderly — went ahead and picked a running mate who supports Medicare for All and the Green New Deal and federal legislation that would override state laws restricting late-term abortions . . . and on and on. Despite her attempts to align with the left wing of the Democratic Party on almost every matter of policy, Harris did little to generate actual enthusiasm on the left during the Democratic primary. She hemmed and hawed on Medicare for All’s politically toxic proposal to abolish private health insurance and made the preposterous claim that universal health care would not require any new taxes on the middle class. She effectively portrayed Biden as a racist for opposing forced busing in the 1970s, and then backtracked on whether she now supported new forced-busing measures.
Although naming an African-American woman is supposed to be a compassionate response to the police killing of George Floyd, Joe Biden and fellow 2020 candidate Tulsi Gabbard ripped Harris apart at the debates on criminal justice. “Biden alluded to a crime lab scandal that involved [Harris’s] office and resulted in more than 1,000 drug cases being dismissed. Gabbard claimed Harris ‘blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until she was forced to do so.’ Both of these statements are accurate,” the Sacramento Bee reported after a July 2019 Democratic debate.
At the same time, Harris is vulnerable to attacks from the right on criminal justice. Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein called on Harris to seek the death penalty in 2004 for a man who murdered police officer Isaac Espinoza with an AK-47, but Harris refused to do so. Last year, Espinoza’s widow spoke on camera about Harris for the first time in a tearful interview. “She did not call me,” Renata Espinoza told CNN. “I felt like she had just taken something from us. She had just taken justice from us.” In Harris’s 2010 campaign for California attorney general, her only statewide race against a Republican, she won by less than one point even as Democratic gubernatorial and senatorial candidates won by double digits on the same ballot.
It’s true that any running mate comes with risks, and some of the problems that dogged Harris in the Democratic presidential primary will be smaller problems in the general election. Her lackluster style on the stump won’t matter much in a campaign without real campaign events. Her tendency to be evasive and hedge on policy in interviews won’t be as much of a temptation: She can fall back on saying her agenda as vice president would be Biden’s agenda.
But the fact remains that Harris would be a heartbeat away from the presidency, and that’s why former national-security adviser Susan Rice may have been a smarter pick. Her experience in the White House could have reassured voters she’d know what to do in a crisis, and she could have aligned herself squarely with Biden on matters of policy, so there would be less worry among voters that Biden’s vice president would pursue a far-left agenda in the event that Biden can’t serve out a full term. For all the boxes Harris does check, she doesn’t check either of these. Recommended RNC Should Take a Lesson from Mike Pence The RNC censure resolution was morally repellent, while the former vice president took a stand for the truth. NBC's 'Cataclysmic' Olympics-Coverage Flop How can anyone feel good about these Olympics? Nikole Hannah-Jones Responds to Our 1619 and Slavery Issue She reacted with a lot of sneering and ad hominem argumentation and nothing of substance. Joe Biden Doesn’t Know What You’re Talking About To watch Biden at the lectern was to experience shock and dismay interspersed with moments of alarm and dark humor. No wonder he hides from the media. Why Were Authorities So Evasive About the Synagogue Gunman's Motive? Why were President Biden and the FBI so reluctant to say that the synagogue gunman was motivated by antisemitism and jihadism? The Afghanistan Debacle Looks Worse and Worse The more we learn about the administration’s withdrawal, the more it becomes clear that its decisions were driven by political considerations and panic. The Latest Maskless Super Bowl Marks Our Return to Normalcy This collective moment was a warning to the Covid regime that its strictures won’t stand much longer. Russian Figure-Skating Prodigy Will Compete at Olympics Despite Failed Drug Test The IOC has decided it will not hold a medal ceremony for any event in which Valieva places in the top three while the matter remains under investigation. The IRS Wants Your Picture The agency’s plans for facial recognition might be abandoned for now, but its lust for data is never satiated. Why America’s Government-Debt Problem Endures Any meaningful change requires enough Americans deciding that they really do want less government in their lives, and then acting accordingly. ‘Blame America first,’ &c. On Jeane Kirkpatrick, today’s Russia debate, Edward Snowden, Ukraine’s right to exist, and more. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton regained their stride in the presidential race Tuesday night, winning their respective primaries in New York — and sending a message to their rivals that their campaigns are back on track after recent stumbles.Trump, in his home state, notched what appeared to be his biggest victory yet. Speaking to cheering supporters Tuesday night at Trump Tower, he declared: “We don’t have much of a race anymore.”“[Texas] Senator [Ted] Cruz is just about mathematically eliminated,” Trump claimed. “We’re really, really rockin’.” Indeed, Cruz's poor showing left him with no mathematical chance of clinching the nomination before the Republican convention in July, though Trump could still end up short of the needed 1,237 needed to seal victory before the gathering.With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Trump had garnered 60 percent of the vote, his highest total in any state. He had claimed at least 89 of New York's 95 Republican delegates.Ohio Gov. John Kasich finished second in the state with 25 percent of the vote, leaving Cruz to finish third with 15 percent. Kasich was awarded at least three delegates, leaving Cruz in danger of getting shut out.As of Tuesday night, Trump had 845 delegates. Cruz had 559, and Kasich had 147.Cruz, who infamously panned Trump's "New York values" earlier in the primary, had been bracing for a tough showing in the Empire State and showed no signs of throwing in the towel. The Texas senator was already looking ahead, turning his attention to Pennsylvania, where he delivered a speech calling on Americans to join together to move the country forward."It is time for us to get up, shake it off and be who we were destined to be,” he said.In the Democratic race, Clinton soundly defeated Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in her adopted home state, which she represented in the Senate for eight years. Despite the Brooklyn-born Sanders’ hard-fought attempt at an upset, the former secretary of state successfully staved off that possibility Tuesday night. With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton had 58 percent to Sanders’ 42 percent.“There’s no place like home,” Clinton said at her victory rally.Clinton claimed the race for the Democratic nomination is now entering the “home stretch” and “victory is in sight.” In an apparent bid to bridge divides in the party amid an increasingly bitter primary, she directed a message to Sanders voters: “There is much more that unites us than divides us.”Clinton and Trump both were seeking rebound victories Tuesday after recent setbacks. Cruz had complicated Trump's path to the nomination by winning recent contests like Wisconsin and getting allies elected to state delegate slates. On the Democratic side, Sanders had been on a winning streak up until Tuesday – winning seven of the eight prior contests.Whether Trump and Clinton's performance Tuesday will help either wrap up the race in the coming weeks remains an open question. The campaigns head next to five Eastern states that vote next Tuesday: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware.It’s potentially friendly territory for the front-runners. But unless Trump can drive Kasich and Cruz out of the race, the billionaire businessman still may have to fight all the way to the final primary contests on June 7 – including delegate-rich California, which may end up being the deciding race – to see if he can clinch the nomination.On the Democratic side, Clinton could easily attain the necessary 2,383 delegates to win by June. The question is whether Sanders would accept it – as her tally includes the support of party insiders known as “superdelegates,” and the Sanders campaign has suggested they shouldn’t count toward that 2,383-delegate threshold.As of Wednesday morning, Clinton had 1,893 total delegates, compared with Sanders’ 1,180.Sanders also campaigned in Pennsylvania Tuesday. He hammered his campaign themes about a “rigged” economy and “corrupt” campaign finance system, while urging voters to join him in challenging the status quo.“We’re gonna win this election,” Sanders vowed. However, his senior adviser Tad Devine told the Associated Press that the campaign planned to "sit back and assess where we are" after a next week's contests.According to an Associated Press tally, Clinton won at least 135 of New York's 247 delegates. Sanders had won 104, with eight delegates outstanding.The importance of every last delegate has increased in recent weeks as Cruz has appeared to outmaneuver Trump’s campaign in the behind-the-scenes preparations for July’s convention.Cruz has been laying the groundwork for a contested convention – one in which where no candidate has the required number of delegates – by getting allies elected as delegates. That way, if voting extends to a second round, some of those pledged to Trump on the first round could peel off and support Cruz. This has heightened the pressure on Trump to clinch the nomination before the convention.A Kasich campaign memo, meanwhile, touted the Ohio governor’s chances in the upcoming state contests – and his prospects for securing delegate support in the event of a contested convention.“The next 7 days are absolutely critical," the memo concluded. "It’s now or never to stop Trump and save the Republican Party."The primary-day voting was not without its problems in New York. Voters ran into an array of polling-site glitches earlier Tuesday as they tried to cast ballots – with some locations opening late and others using broken machines.The Wall Street Journal reported that some voters waited hours to cast ballots at a site in Brooklyn, where workers apparently did not have the keys when it was supposed to open Tuesday morning. Elsewhere in the borough, voters reportedly were turned away due to technical problems.New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also responded Tuesday to reports that thousands of registered Democrats have been dropped from the rolls, especially in Brooklyn. In a statement, the mayor called for major reforms to the election board and voiced support for an audit -- which the city comptroller has ordered. “It has been reported to us from voters and voting rights monitors that the voting lists in Brooklyn contain numerous errors, including the purging of entire buildings and blocks of voters from the voting lists,” he said in a statement. “I am calling on the Board of Election to reverse that purge and update the lists again …”The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
In accepting his party’s renomination a week ago, President Obama called himself a “tested and proven” leader in a dangerous world of threats from abroad, especially from the terrorist-spawning Middle East. “The historic change sweeping across the Arab world must be defined not by the iron fist of a dictator or the hate of extremists, but by the hopes and aspirations of ordinary people who are reaching for the same rights that we celebrate here,” Mr. Obama said at the Democratic National Convention, poking fun at Republican rival Mitt Romney for saber-rattling and for being “new” to foreign policy. But a week later, with Muslim protests flaring at U.S. diplomatic posts across the Middle East and with four Americans killed in Libya, the gentler foreign policy pillar upon which Mr. Obama supports his re-election bid is in danger of toppling. As images of Muslims chanting “Death to America” evoke memories of the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979, critics are calling Mr. Obama weak. Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who lost the 2008 election to Mr. Obama, criticized the president Thursday for “feckless foreign policy” that he said is harming relations with the Middle East. “What this is all about is American weakness and the president’s inability to lead,” Mr. McCain said on NBC’s “Today” show. A Middle East analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Isobel Coleman, acknowledged the domestic political peril for Mr. Obama in the burgeoning crisis. “You’ve had, for the first time since 1979, a U.S. ambassador killed, and it demands … much more serious attention, I think, from the president,” she told reporters. “Of course, it’s also become an election issue, with the Romney campaign saying … that Obama wasn’t clear and forceful enough.” Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said on his Twitter account, “The Attacks On Our Embassies & Diplomats Are A Result Of Perceived American Weakness. Mitt Romney Is Right To Point That Out.” The president said the killings of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans will not deter his current course in the Middle East. “I want people around the world to hear me, to all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished,” Mr. Obama said Thursday at a campaign rally in Golden, Colo. “It will not dim the light of the values that we proudly present to the rest of the world. No act of violence shakes the resolve of the United States of America.” Up until now, Mr. Obama has enjoyed a clear advantage over Mr. Romney on foreign policy in polls. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey last month found that 54 percent of respondents approved of the president’s handling of foreign policy, while 40 percent disapproved. Asked who would be a better commander in chief, 45 percent said Mr. Obama and 38 percent said Mr. Romney. In 2009, after nearly eight years of war under President George W. Bush in the post-9/11 era, Mr. Obama promised a new beginning with the Arab world in a celebrated speech in Cairo. But James Carafano, a defense and foreign policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Mr. Obama’s approach to the Middle East since then has been “an abject failure.” “I can’t say right now U.S. policies contribute to the violence, but, given the state of U.S. policy, what does it matter?” Mr. Carafano said in an interview. “The notion that the Cairo speech and soft-peddling the war on terror was going to solve America’s image problem was a weird admixture of naivety and hubris. In running away from Iraq and Afghanistan, downsizing the military, and saying we need austerity in the military and a pivot to Asia, U.S. policy just feeds the al Qaeda narrative that the U.S. is a paper tiger and can be pushed away if prodded.” Mr. Carafano said the Obama administration has wasted valuable time negotiating over Iran’s nuclearization and Syria’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy rebels. “The White House response to the Arab Spring has been reactive from the get-go, doing what it has to do to get the White House out of the headlines and then just trying to put policy back on cruise control,” Mr. Carafano said. “The counterterrorism policy is an abject failure, because it has focused myopically on whacking al Qaeda leaders and not dealing the extremist movement as the global insurgency that it is; so the network is weaker, but the movement is spreading. Instead of one big Afghanistan, we are going to have lots of little ones. It should come as no surprise that extremists would use these tactics to exploit the U.S. gaps in the U.S. strategy.” Denis McDonough, a deputy national security adviser to Mr. Obama, defended the administration’s approach this week in a speech to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, saying it’s a policy based on American values. “In Egypt, Libya, Syria and all of the Arab Spring countries in transition, the United States will continue to stand for a set of principles that history shows leads to progress and opportunity,” Mr. McDonough said. “That includes the protection of universal rights, including the freedom of religion. For these transitions to succeed, and for these countries to achieve their full potential, all faiths must be respected and protected.” | 2 |
| October 18, 2021 02:24 PM The White House is contending opposition to its tax enforcement proposals, targeting amounts as small as $600, is based on banks being too lazy to deal with the extra paperwork. The tax enforcement measures are aimed at helping pay for President Joe Biden's social welfare and climate spending package. The focus is on the wealthy rather than people with small bank accounts, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki. SNAIL PACE THREATENS BIDEN SPENDING PLANS "It should not be lost on anyone that the loudest opposition to these proposals and the biggest ad spending against them is from the biggest banks, who simply do not want to be bothered by additional reporting on inflows and outflows," Psaki told reporters Monday. "I would note that the top 1% is responsible for $163 billion a year in owed but unpaid taxes," she added. "Let's be clear what this is about. It's about big banks deciding to protect the wealthiest Americans." Critics have seized on an idea floated for the tentative $2 trillion social and climate framework that would compel banks to report to the IRS deposits and withdrawals made by accounts with more than $600 in activity a year. Republicans have ripped the plan, arguing the IRS will have the "unprecedented power to spy on you." "Why should we trust that this newfound power would not be abused? Under Obama, the IRS targeted conservative groups," Republican National Committee spokesman Tommy Pigott said in an email, mentioning former President Barack Obama. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged concerns created by the tax enforcement provision. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER "If people are breaking the law and not paying their taxes, one way to track them is through the banking measure. I think $600 — but that's a negotiation that will go on as to what the amount is," she told reporters last week. | 2 |
After a night of violent protests and looting, police in Charlotte tried to assuage outrage over Tuesday’s fatal shooting of a black man by an officer, calling for calm Wednesday and saying that the version of events leading up to the shooting being cited by members of the public was based on incorrect information. Neighbors and a relative said that Keith Lamont Scott was reading a book in his car while he waited for his son to get off a school bus, but police said the 43-year-old father had a gun that he repeatedly refused to drop when ordered by officers and which was recovered at the scene of the shooting. “It’s time to change the narrative, because I can tell you from the facts that the story’s a little bit different as to how it’s been portrayed so far, especially through social media,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said Wednesday during a news conference. Tuesday’s police shooting of Mr. Scott and Friday’s fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, stoked racial tensions locally and nationally, drawing comments from the presidential nominees and the attention of the Justice Department. Protests had been peaceful in Tulsa but became destructive overnight Tuesday in Charlotte. Sixteen police officers were injured and businesses damaged and looted when protests turned violent. Violent protests began again after sundown in downtown Charlotte as demonstrators rushed police in riot gear at a downtown hotel, forcing officers to fire multiple tear gas rounds at several sites. Protesters threw some of the canisters back at the police, along with bottles and other debris. CNN reporter Ed Lavandera was tackled by a rioter while doing a live feed and interview with host Anderson Cooper; Mr. Lavandera later shrugged it off by disparaging his attacker’s football skills. The city of Charlotte said one person had been shot in the head during the protests and is on life support. But officials said the shooting was civilian-on-civilian and did not involve the police. At least one nearby store was looted, CNN’s live footage showed. Videos of the fatal shooting of Terrence Crutcher in Tulsa have provided fodder for his family to publicly contest the version of events described by police, who quickly released footage of the event and do not dispute the fact that Mr. Crutcher was unarmed. But it’s unclear whether videos of Tuesday’s shooting of Mr. Scott in Charlotte will soon become public. The black police officer who opened fire on Mr. Scott was not wearing a body camera, as Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers are required, but video from other officers’ body-worn or dashboard-mounted cameras may have captured the shooting. The North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is calling for the immediate release of the footage, stressing that a new law that will make it more difficult to release body camera footage is set to take effect in less than two weeks. “As we’ve seen elsewhere, video footage of police shootings can provide crucial evidence of what took place — especially when there are conflicting accounts from police and community members,” said Karen Anderson, executive director of North Carolina’s ACLU. “Charlotte should set an example for North Carolina by releasing footage of the shooting promptly before the obstacles imposed by the new state law take effect.” Police are reviewing multiple recordings from the scene. It’s unclear whether there is video that captured the entire incident, which began as officers responded to an apartment complex to serve a warrant on a resident. There officers encountered Mr. Scott, who officials said exited a vehicle with a handgun and refused multiple commands to drop the weapon before Officer Brently Vinson opened fire. Chief Putney said Wednesday that the police department does not intend to release video of the shooting until its investigation is complete. “Right now, we can’t release it,” the chief said, citing state law. “It would have a negative impact on the integrity of the case, and that’s not something we are going to do.” Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, appearing on CNN Wednesday afternoon, said she hopes the video can be released “as quickly as possible.” A woman claiming to be Mr. Scott’s daughter said in a video that was posted to Facebook and widely shared that her father was not armed and was holding a book, not a gun, when he was shot. Civil rights activist John Barnett said Wednesday that he has spoken with a witness who said Mr. Scott did not make any threatening moves toward police before he was shot. Mr. Barnett warned that, with different accounts of the events emerging, release of police videos might be necessary to restore calm. “Just telling us this is still under investigation is not good enough for the windows of the Wal-Mart,” he said, referring to the retail store that was looted when protests turned violent overnight. Chief Putney rebutted the claims that Mr. Scott was carrying a book, not a gun, saying that officers did not recover a book from the scene but had found a weapon. Video of police shootings has proven key to investigations of use of force in the past. A South Carolina police officer was indicted earlier this year on federal charges after bystander video showed him shooting an unarmed black man in the back as he ran away after a traffic stop. Tulsa police were quick to release video capturing Friday’s fatal shooting of Mr. Crutcher. Videos from a dashboard camera and a helicopter showing the fatal shooting of the unarmed black man were released just three days after he was killed. The videos show Mr. Crutcher walking back to his vehicle with his hands above his head just before he is shot. A lawyer for the white police officer who opened fire, Betty Shelby, said she fired because she believed Mr. Crutcher was reaching back into his vehicle for a weapon. A vial of PCP was later recovered from Mr. Crutcher’s car but no weapon, police said. Lawyers for Mr. Crutcher’s family have used police videos that captured the incident to point out what they claim is a flaw in the officer’s account. Attorney Benjamin Crump said the images show that the vehicle’s window is closed and smeared with blood. “He is not threatening to anyone,” Mr. Crump said. “How can he be reaching into the car if the window is up and there is blood on the glass?” The Tulsa video has elicited reaction from the presidential nominees. “People that choke, people that do that, maybe they can’t be doing what they’re doing,” said Republican nominee Donald Trump, referring to the officer who opened fire. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton called the contents of the video “unbearable.” The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into Mr. Crutcher’s death in Tulsa, and it is “assessing” Mr. Scott’s death, said Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch. “These tragic incidents have once again left Americans with feelings of sorrow, anger and uncertainty,” she said Wednesday. “They have once again highlighted — in the most vivid and painful terms — the real divisions that still persist in this nation between law enforcement and communities of color.” Ms. Lynch and other leaders urged those angered by the deaths to remain calm as the incidents are investigated. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! President Trump on Monday fired back at Howard Schultz, saying the former Starbucks CEO doesn’t have the “guts” to run for president after he announced he was mulling a 2020 White House bid as an independent -- and took a few shots at Trump himself.“Howard Schultz doesn’t have the ‘guts’ to run for President! Watched him on @60Minutes last night and I agree with him that he is not the ‘smartest person.’ Besides, America already has that! I only hope that Starbucks is still paying me their rent in Trump Tower!” Trump tweeted Monday morning.EX-STARBUCKS CEO HOWARD SCHULTZ 'SERIOUSLY' MULLS PRESIDENTIAL RUN, BASHES TRUMP AS 'NOT QUALIFIED' The president’s tweet comes after Schultz's interview on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” where he revealed he was “seriously thinking” about running for president in 2020 as a “centrist independent,” and challenged Trump’s fitness for office.“We’re living at a most fragile time, not only the fact that this president is not qualified to be the president, but the fact that both parties are consistently not doing what’s necessary on behalf of the American people,” Schultz said, specifically citing the national debt as “a reckless example, not only of Republicans but of Democrats, as well, as a reckless failure of their constitutional responsibility.”A fiery response from Trump was expected. When told during the interview that Trump would be tweeting about him in response, Schultz said, "I've become bored with President Trump and his tweets."Schultz, though, is taking heat from both sides amid fears from Democrats he could play the role of spoiler, especially considering Schultz described himself as a “lifelong Democrat” yet is now contemplating a run as an independent.“Howard Shultz running as an independent isn’t about bringing people together,” Tina Podlodowski, the Democratic Party chair in Schultz’s home state of Washington, said in a statement Sunday. “It’s about one person: Howard Schultz.”Neera Tanden, the president for the liberal Center for American Progress, also blasted Schultz, saying she would boycott Starbucks if he ran.“Vanity projects that help destroy democracy are disgusting,” she tweeted. “I’m not giving a penny that will end up in the election coffers of a guy who will help Trump win.”However, some of his views might also clash with a Democratic Party gearing up to unseat Trump. Some potential nominees, including Massachusetts 2020 candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren and California Sen. Kamala Harris, have endorsed single-payer health care, heavily taxing the rich or free tuition at public colleges. Schultz has criticized such proposals as unrealistic and instead emphasized expanding the economy and curbing entitlements.2020 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY GETS CROWDED"It concerns me that so many voices within the Democratic Party are going so far to the left," Schultz told CNBC last June. "I ask myself, 'How are we going to pay for all these things?' in terms of things like single-payer or people espousing the fact that the government is going to give everyone a job. I don't think that's realistic."During his “60 Minutes” interview, Schultz dodged a question about whether his potential independent run would make him a spoiler for the Democratic nominee.“I wanna see the American people win,” he said. “I wanna see America win. I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, Republican. Bring me your ideas. And I will be an independent person, who will embrace those ideas. Because I’m not, in any way, in bed with a party.”No third-party or independent candidate has won over 5 percent of the popular vote since Ross Perot in 1996. But Schultz argued that a majority of the electorate is “exhausted” with politics.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP“What we know, factually, is that over 40 percent of the electorate is either a registered Independent or currently affiliates themselves as an Independent,” he said. “Their trust has been broken. And they are looking for a better choice.”Fox News' Samuel Chamberlain contributed to this report. | 2 |
As former Vice President Joe Biden attempts to keep his failing presidential campaign afloat, he's getting a reality check about the consequences of his party's outrageous "believe all women" standards.Credibly accused of sexual assault by former Senate staffer Tara Reade, whose story has been corroborated by multiple people, Biden is quickly learning that leftist ideas about justice have little room for nuance, due process or context. But we shouldn't feel sorry for him. After all, he put himself in this corner by jumping on the guilty-until-proven-innocent bandwagon during the Kavanaugh hearings."For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you've got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she's talking about is real, whether or not she forgets facts, whether or not it's been made worse or better over time. But nobody fails to understand that this is like jumping into a cauldron," Biden told The Washington Post in September 2018.Now, facing his own accusation of sexual misconduct with much more evidence than presented against Kavanaugh (where there was none, zero corroboration from anyone and multiple criminal referrals for false allegations made against him), Biden is trying to rewrite history on his own standards of sexual abuse."What I said during the Kavanaugh hearings was that she had a right to be heard. The fact that she came forward, the presumption would be that she was telling the truth unless she wasn't telling the truth," Biden attempted to claim during an interview with MSNBC.That's now what he said and the record shows it.Since we're always being lectured by our betters in the "mainstream" media that Democrats have the best ideas and superior moral standards, we should take Biden at his word the first time by presuming Reade is telling the truth. They made the rules and should abide by them.Biden, of course, isn't the only rampant hypocrite on the issue. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stumbled all over her words this week when asked about her double standard for Biden versus Kavanaugh. She also offered excuses for his inappropriate and alleged criminal behavior."I don't need a lecture," Pelosi snapped this week during a press briefing. "There is also due process, and the fact that Joe Biden is Joe Biden."Ah, yes, due process. In Pelosi's world, due process and excuses of "Joe being Joe" only apply to Democrats. When Republicans are accused, without evidence, every aspect of their lives must be destroyed.The same can be said for Democratic Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris, whose behavior toward Justice Kavanaugh as members of the Senate Judiciary Committee was extra vile and depraved. Yet with Biden, their standards have changed since he's looking for a female running mate on the 2020 campaign trail.Democrat standards on sexual abuse allegations are clear: they only apply to political enemies, not themselves. The decades of promotion and protection of Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Chris Dodd, President Bill Clinton and now former Vice President Joe Biden proves it.As the old saying goes: If Democrats didn't have double standards, they wouldn't have any at all. | 2 |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A majority of Supreme Court justices voiced skepticism Wednesday about the legitimacy of a federal provision that prevents married gay couples from receiving a range of federal benefits, raising questions about whether the Defense of Marriage Act will stand.The court concluded arguments early Wednesday afternoon on the challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act provision that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. The hearing was the second in back-to-back gay marriage cases before the court this week, both of which have attracted intense public interest.In the two-hour hearing Wednesday, Justice Anthony Kennedy, often the decisive vote in close cases, joined the four more liberal justices in raising questions about the provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that is being challenged.Kennedy said the law appears to intrude on the power of states that have chosen to recognize same-sex marriages. Other justices said the law creates what Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called two classes of marriage, full marriage and "skim-milk marriage."Click to listen to the oral arguments.More On This... The motivation behind the 1996 federal law, passed by large majorities in Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton, was questioned repeatedly by Justice Elena Kagan. She read from a House of Representatives report explaining that the reason for the law was "to express moral disapproval of homosexuality." The quote produced an audible reaction in the courtroom.Paul Clement, representing the House Republican leadership in defending the law, said the more relevant question is whether Congress had "any rational basis for the statute." He supplied one, the federal government's interest in treating same-sex couples the same no matter where they live.Clement said the government does not want military families "to resist transfer from West Point to Fort Sill because they're going to lose their benefits." The U.S. Military Academy at West Point is in New York, where same-sex marriage is legal, and Fort Sill is in Oklahoma, where gay marriages are not legal.The law affects a range of benefits available to married couples, including tax breaks, survivor benefits and health insurance for spouses of federal employees.It also is possible the court could dismiss the case for procedural reasons, though that prospect seemed less likely than it did in Tuesday's argument over gay marriage in California.Marital status is relevant in more than 1,100 federal laws that include estate taxes, Social Security survivor benefits and health benefits for federal employees. Lawsuits around the country have led four federal district courts and two appeals courts to strike down the law's Section 3, which defines marriage.In 2011, the Obama administration abandoned its defense of the law but continues to enforce it. House Republicans are now defending DOMA in the courts.The justices chose for their review the case of Edith Windsor, 83, of New York, who sued to challenge a $363,000 federal estate tax bill after her partner of 44 years died in 2009.Windsor, who goes by Edie, married Thea Spyer in 2007 in Canada after doctors told them that Spyer would not live much longer. She suffered from multiple sclerosis for many years. Spyer left everything she had to Windsor.There is no dispute that if Windsor had been married to a man, her estate tax bill would have been zero.The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York agreed with a district judge that the provision of DOMA deprived Windsor of the constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the law.Like the Proposition 8 case from California, Windsor's lawsuit could falter on a legal technicality without a definitive ruling from the high court.The House Republicans, the Obama administration and a lawyer appointed by the court were to spend part of the hearing discussing whether the House Republican leadership can defend the law in court because the administration decided not to, and whether the administration forfeited its right to participate in the case because it changed its position and now argues that the provision is unconstitutional.If the Supreme Court finds that it does not have the authority to hear the case, Windsor probably would still get her refund because she won in the lower courts. But there would be no definitive decision about the law from the nation's highest court, and it would remain on the books.On Tuesday, the justices weighed a fundamental issue: Does the Constitution require that people be allowed to marry whom they choose, regardless of either partner's gender? That case involved California's Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage.If the justices choose to rule broadly, they could overturn Prop 8 and in doing so invalidate every other restriction on gay marriage in the country.But the justices suggested Tuesday they could decide the case without issuing a ruling that ripples through all 50 states.Several justices, including some liberals who seemed open to gay marriage, raised doubts that the case was properly before them. Such an outcome would almost certainly allow gay marriages to resume in California but would have no impact elsewhere.The justices' statement spanned the gamut. Chief Justice John Roberts said it seemed supporters of gay marriage were trying to change the meaning of the word "marriage" by including same-sex couples.Lawyers representing supporters of the California ban known as Proposition 8 argued that the court should not override the democratic process and impose a judicial solution that would redefine marriage in the some 40 states that do not allow same-sex couples to wed.Decisions in both cases are expected by June.Americans as a whole are divided on the issue. A Fox News poll released Thursday showed 49 percent of voters favor legalizing gay marriage, while 46 percent oppose it.That marks a shift since the question was first asked in 2003 -- when 32 percent said gay marriage should be legal, and 58 percent opposed it.Gay marriage has been approved in nine states -- Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Washington -- and the District of Columbia. But 31 states have amended their constitutions to prohibit same-sex marriage. North Carolina was the most recent example last May.The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2 |
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