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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
February 9, 2019
GOP Giddy as Democrats Embrace Green New Deal
Can I just say, fuck the gop. They live here, too, unfortunately. 
https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/09/gop-giddy-as-democrats-embrace-green-new-deal/
GOP Giddy as Democrats Embrace Green New Deal
February 9, 2019 at 7:47 am EST By Taegan Goddard
“Prominent Democrats have rushed to embrace the Green New Deal — and Republicans couldn’t be happier about it,” Politico reports.
“As liberal groups pressure presidential candidates and lawmakers to back the ambitious climate proposal, Republicans hope their opponents may drift so far to the left that they will be more vulnerable in 2020. Since the election of President Donald Trump — who dismisses the link between carbon emissions and rising temperatures — Republicans have mostly steered clear of climate change, but in the Green New Deal they see a chance to pivot the argument back towards economics as growing majorities accept the underlying science.”
“As liberal groups pressure presidential candidates and lawmakers to back the ambitious climate proposal, Republicans hope their opponents may drift so far to the left that they will be more vulnerable in 2020. Since the election of President Donald Trump — who dismisses the link between carbon emissions and rising temperatures — Republicans have mostly steered clear of climate change, but in the Green New Deal they see a chance to pivot the argument back towards economics as growing majorities accept the underlying science.”
February 8, 2019
My Friend, John Dingell
He approached policy with a unique blend of ferocity and tact, and he loved his constituents deeply.
4:16 PM ET
Steny Hoyer
Majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives
snip//
He had a gift for understatement. For nearly six decades, the people of Southeast Michigan voted to send John back to Congress again and again, placing their trust in him to be their voice. His constituents loved him, and so did those of us who had the honor of serving with him in Washington.
Over the years, I watched John approach policy with a unique blend of ferocity and tact. He never missed an opportunity to help auto workers and their families, who returned him to Congress a record 29 times. Nothing would stand in the way of his responsibility, he believed, to put his constituents’ interests above all else. Sometimes that meant joining with Republicans against other Democrats. “Work with them when you can, and fight them when you have to,” he’d say about his colleagues across the aisle in a show of the type of pragmatism so rare nowadays in Washington. Throughout his career, he preached civility—and practiced it religiously.
Much will be written and said in the coming days about John Dingell’s achievements. From Medicare to the Affordable Care Act, from civil rights to Wall Street reforms, his legacy is undeniable. But as I look back on his life, I will see the man whose proudest titles weren’t congressman, chairman, or dean but son, husband, father, and grandfather—and U.S. Army veteran. He saw himself primarily as a citizen and public servant. Every year, he’d come through the Capitol carrying a box of paczki—the Polish filled donuts—reminding his friends of the pride he had in his immigrant roots. He’d hand them out to members and staff and visitors alike. That was classic John, finding such joy in the act of sharing what he loved. To all our benefit, he deeply loved this country and took such joy in fighting for its future to be brighter.
It is hard to say what Congress will be like without John Dingell watching over our shoulders. Even after he retired, we were blessed by his regular company as a congressional spouse, his wonderful wife and partner, Debbie, now serving the district that John, his father, and now his wife have represented for 86 years. He’d come back often, and I’d see him talking with the freshmen, much as he did with me when I arrived, and dispensing pearls of wisdom and wit. He’d make them feel like part of something larger than their own service, because in many ways John Dingell was the living connection between the New Deal and Great Society and Democrats’ 21st-century agenda.
Sadly for our country and for all of us who served with him, John will no longer be here to share his sage and frank advice as we move through the days of uncertainty and challenge ahead. On Wednesday, I traveled to Michigan to say goodbye. For two and a half hours, I sat by his bedside; Debbie sat nearby. Before I left, I leaned over and kissed John on his forehead and whispered: “I love you—that’s not just from me, but from all of your friends in the House.”
My Friend, John Dingell
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/steny-hoyer-remembering-my-friend-john-dingell/582415/My Friend, John Dingell
He approached policy with a unique blend of ferocity and tact, and he loved his constituents deeply.
4:16 PM ET
Steny Hoyer
Majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives
snip//
He had a gift for understatement. For nearly six decades, the people of Southeast Michigan voted to send John back to Congress again and again, placing their trust in him to be their voice. His constituents loved him, and so did those of us who had the honor of serving with him in Washington.
Over the years, I watched John approach policy with a unique blend of ferocity and tact. He never missed an opportunity to help auto workers and their families, who returned him to Congress a record 29 times. Nothing would stand in the way of his responsibility, he believed, to put his constituents’ interests above all else. Sometimes that meant joining with Republicans against other Democrats. “Work with them when you can, and fight them when you have to,” he’d say about his colleagues across the aisle in a show of the type of pragmatism so rare nowadays in Washington. Throughout his career, he preached civility—and practiced it religiously.
Much will be written and said in the coming days about John Dingell’s achievements. From Medicare to the Affordable Care Act, from civil rights to Wall Street reforms, his legacy is undeniable. But as I look back on his life, I will see the man whose proudest titles weren’t congressman, chairman, or dean but son, husband, father, and grandfather—and U.S. Army veteran. He saw himself primarily as a citizen and public servant. Every year, he’d come through the Capitol carrying a box of paczki—the Polish filled donuts—reminding his friends of the pride he had in his immigrant roots. He’d hand them out to members and staff and visitors alike. That was classic John, finding such joy in the act of sharing what he loved. To all our benefit, he deeply loved this country and took such joy in fighting for its future to be brighter.
It is hard to say what Congress will be like without John Dingell watching over our shoulders. Even after he retired, we were blessed by his regular company as a congressional spouse, his wonderful wife and partner, Debbie, now serving the district that John, his father, and now his wife have represented for 86 years. He’d come back often, and I’d see him talking with the freshmen, much as he did with me when I arrived, and dispensing pearls of wisdom and wit. He’d make them feel like part of something larger than their own service, because in many ways John Dingell was the living connection between the New Deal and Great Society and Democrats’ 21st-century agenda.
Sadly for our country and for all of us who served with him, John will no longer be here to share his sage and frank advice as we move through the days of uncertainty and challenge ahead. On Wednesday, I traveled to Michigan to say goodbye. For two and a half hours, I sat by his bedside; Debbie sat nearby. Before I left, I leaned over and kissed John on his forehead and whispered: “I love you—that’s not just from me, but from all of your friends in the House.”
February 8, 2019
Posted on Fri, Feb 8th, 2019 by Jason Easley
Inauguration Committee Money Illegally Went To Donald And Ivanka Trump
New evidence shows that Trump was skimming money off of his inaugural committee by having his daughter Ivanka overcharge for hotel rooms.
ProPublica reported:
Ivanka Trump set the rates for hotel
The inaugural committee was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a day for space when the average DC hotel room rate is $250. Reporting in December 2018 revealed that it was Ivanka Trump who negotiated the contracts and set the rates with the inaugural committee. Ivanka Trump negotiated with her father’s inaugural committee a rate that was ten to one hundred times more expensive than the average for space at a hotel that she and her father own.
This is a classic example of a conflict of interest that opened the door to criminal graft.
Since Trump didn’t separate himself from his businesses after he won the election, which sent a clear signal that he and his family were looking to make money off of the presidency. There are tens of millions of dollars missing from Trump’s inaugural committee, and it looks like at least some of that money found its way into the pockets of Donald Trump and his kids.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-new-evidence-emerges-of-possible-wrongdoing-by-trump-inaugural-committee
New Evidence Emerges of Possible Wrongdoing by Trump Inaugural Committee
Inauguration Committee Money Illegally Went To Donald And Ivanka Trump
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/02/08/inauguration-committee-money-illegally-went-to-donald-and-ivanka-trump.htmlPosted on Fri, Feb 8th, 2019 by Jason Easley
Inauguration Committee Money Illegally Went To Donald And Ivanka Trump
New evidence shows that Trump was skimming money off of his inaugural committee by having his daughter Ivanka overcharge for hotel rooms.
ProPublica reported:
A spokesman confirmed that the nonprofit 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee paid the Trump International Hotel a rate of $175,000 per day for event space — in spite of internal objections at the time that the rate was far too high. If the committee is deemed by auditors or prosecutors to have paid an above-market rate, that could violate tax laws prohibiting self-dealing, according to experts.
Tax law prohibits nonprofits from paying inflated prices to entities that are owned by people who also control or influence the nonprofit’s activities.
Tax law prohibits nonprofits from paying inflated prices to entities that are owned by people who also control or influence the nonprofit’s activities.
Ivanka Trump set the rates for hotel
The inaugural committee was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a day for space when the average DC hotel room rate is $250. Reporting in December 2018 revealed that it was Ivanka Trump who negotiated the contracts and set the rates with the inaugural committee. Ivanka Trump negotiated with her father’s inaugural committee a rate that was ten to one hundred times more expensive than the average for space at a hotel that she and her father own.
This is a classic example of a conflict of interest that opened the door to criminal graft.
Since Trump didn’t separate himself from his businesses after he won the election, which sent a clear signal that he and his family were looking to make money off of the presidency. There are tens of millions of dollars missing from Trump’s inaugural committee, and it looks like at least some of that money found its way into the pockets of Donald Trump and his kids.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-new-evidence-emerges-of-possible-wrongdoing-by-trump-inaugural-committee
New Evidence Emerges of Possible Wrongdoing by Trump Inaugural Committee
February 8, 2019
TX Law Enforcement officers line the banks of the Rio Grande to wait for migrant caravan
TX Law Enforcement officers line the banks of the Rio Grande to wait for migrant caravan
By Martin Savidge and Steve Almasy, CNN
Updated 7:19 AM ET, Fri February 8, 2019
Members of the US Border Police guard the Rio Bravo, natural border between Eagle Pass, Texas and Piedras Negras, Mexico, on Thursday.
Eagle Pass, Texas (CNN)Eagle Pass, Texas, is usually a pretty quiet place. But this week, it has turned into an immigration showdown involving hundreds of law enforcement officers and a migrant caravan.
The migrants, about 1,800 of them, are being housed by the Mexican government across the Rio Grande in Piedras Negras.
The Central American immigrants want to come to the United States but US authorities are telling them to stay in Mexico while they wait through the process of seeking asylum.
The migrants began showing up Monday, arriving along the border on more than 50 buses.
In preparation for the migrants' arrivals, the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, sent 500 officers from the department of public safety to Eagle Pass, according to Mayor Ramsey English Cantu.
more...
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/08/politics/texas-border-response-migrant-caravan/index.html?ofs=fbia&fbclid=IwAR0a7reqW-TrN1XLgKCti5pfU9GaF9_UgkcLPQ1aJ5hoEVXakBKU6jvVre0
February 8, 2019
Trump campaign spent nearly $100K of donor money on law firm representing Kushner
By Morgan Gstalter - 02/08/19 02:28 PM EST
President Trump’s campaign spent nearly $100,000 of donor money to a law firm representing Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, ABC News reported Friday.
Campaign finance records from the reelection team made two payments — $55,330 and $42,574 — to the Winston & Strawn firm. A source told the outlet that the payments to Kushner’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, were for legal fees.
A Lowell spokesman and Trump campaign officials declined to comment to the outlet about the decision to use campaign money for Kushner’s legal fees.
Kushner’s net worth has been estimated at more than $300 million.The husband of Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, Kushner is a real estate mogul who earned more than $1.7 million in 2015 before working in the White House, according to The New York Times.
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/429172-trump-campaign-spent-nearly-100k-of-donor-money-on-law-firm?fbclid=IwAR1BbW20hTq_ijw79elfDA0GNz7nIqIqVnnrEjaXJQpdeJ5z7WvtJgyZaeY
Trump campaign spent nearly $100K of donor money on law firm representing Kushner
Trump campaign spent nearly $100K of donor money on law firm representing Kushner
By Morgan Gstalter - 02/08/19 02:28 PM EST
President Trump’s campaign spent nearly $100,000 of donor money to a law firm representing Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, ABC News reported Friday.
Campaign finance records from the reelection team made two payments — $55,330 and $42,574 — to the Winston & Strawn firm. A source told the outlet that the payments to Kushner’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, were for legal fees.
A Lowell spokesman and Trump campaign officials declined to comment to the outlet about the decision to use campaign money for Kushner’s legal fees.
Kushner’s net worth has been estimated at more than $300 million.The husband of Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, Kushner is a real estate mogul who earned more than $1.7 million in 2015 before working in the White House, according to The New York Times.
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/429172-trump-campaign-spent-nearly-100k-of-donor-money-on-law-firm?fbclid=IwAR1BbW20hTq_ijw79elfDA0GNz7nIqIqVnnrEjaXJQpdeJ5z7WvtJgyZaeY
February 8, 2019
Chris Wallace: 'Rich' for GOP to rail against Dem oversight after repeated Obama-era investigations
By Owen Daugherty - 02/08/19 02:38 PM EST
Video at link~
Fox News host Chris Wallace said it is “rich” that Republicans are “outraged” that Democrats are grilling Matthew Whitaker, President Trump’s acting attorney general.
Speaking during a pause in the at-times contentious hearings, Wallace said while there does not appear to be a “smoking gun” to indicate Trump is interfering in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, Democrats have the right to press Whitaker.
He added that those investigations conducted by Republicans when former President Obama held office “were all legitimate issues to investigate.”
Wallace then took a page out of Obama’s book, reiterating his famous line, “elections have consequences.”
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/429175-chris-wallace-rich-for-gop-to-rail-against-dem-oversight-after-repeated-obama
Chris Wallace: 'Rich' for GOP to rail against Dem oversight after repeated Obama-era investigations
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/429175-chris-wallace-rich-for-gop-to-rail-against-dem-oversight-after-repeated-obamaChris Wallace: 'Rich' for GOP to rail against Dem oversight after repeated Obama-era investigations
By Owen Daugherty - 02/08/19 02:38 PM EST
Video at link~
Fox News host Chris Wallace said it is “rich” that Republicans are “outraged” that Democrats are grilling Matthew Whitaker, President Trump’s acting attorney general.
Speaking during a pause in the at-times contentious hearings, Wallace said while there does not appear to be a “smoking gun” to indicate Trump is interfering in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, Democrats have the right to press Whitaker.
“On the other hand, I have to say, I do find it kind of rich that Republicans are so outraged that there would be this kind of a hearing of the other party’s president and administration,” Wallace said. “You know, it’s not like Republicans sat on their hands when Barack Obama was president. They investigated Benghazi, they investigated ‘Fast and Furious,’ they investigated the IRS.”
He added that those investigations conducted by Republicans when former President Obama held office “were all legitimate issues to investigate.”
Wallace then took a page out of Obama’s book, reiterating his famous line, “elections have consequences.”
“When Republicans have oversight of a branch of Congress or a house of Congress and they’re investigating a Democratic president, they’re going to make life difficult for them,” he said. “And now the Democrats are in control of the House and have control of these committees. That’s just the way it works.”
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/429175-chris-wallace-rich-for-gop-to-rail-against-dem-oversight-after-repeated-obama
February 8, 2019
https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/08/georgia-voters-sue-for-paper-ballots/
Georgia Voters Sue for Paper Ballots
February 8, 2019 at 12:11 pm EST By Taegan Goddard
Georgia Voters Sue for Paper Ballots
https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/08/georgia-voters-sue-for-paper-ballots/
Georgia Voters Sue for Paper Ballots
February 8, 2019 at 12:11 pm EST By Taegan Goddard
A federal appeals court upheld a judge’s ruling that said Georgia’s electronic voting system poses a “concrete risk” to secure elections, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
February 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/1093829268101042176
Ivanka Trump: I Have 'Zero Concern' the Mueller Investigation Will Implicate Anyone I Love
CYA imo.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ivanka-trump-i-have-zero-concern-the-mueller-investigation-will-implicate-anyone-i-love?ref=home
1. NO WORRIES
Ivanka Trump: I Have ‘Zero Concern’ the Mueller Investigation Will Implicate Anyone I Love
ABC News
Ivanka Trump insists she has “zero concern” that anyone close to her will be implicated when Robert Mueller draws his investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 election to a close. Speaking to ABC News’ Abby Huntsman, the president’s daughter was asked, with the Mueller investigation coming to an end: “Are you concerned about anyone in your life that you love being involved?” She responded: “I’m not. I’m really not.” Ivanka also said she “barely” knew about the potential deal for a Trump development in Moscow that has piqued Mueller’s interest. “Literally almost nothing,” Ivanka Trump said of her knowledge of the prospective deal. “We were an active business... It’s not like it’s a strange thing, as a hospitality company or a development company, to have a hotel or a property in Russia. We’re not talking about Iran. It was Russia.”
https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/1093829268101042176
February 8, 2019
https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/08/jerome-corsi-sues-roger-stone-for-defamation/
Jerome Corsi Sues Roger Stone for Defamation
February 8, 2019 at 7:25 am EST By Taegan Goddard
Jerome Corsi Sues Roger Stone for Defamation
https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/08/jerome-corsi-sues-roger-stone-for-defamation/
Jerome Corsi Sues Roger Stone for Defamation
February 8, 2019 at 7:25 am EST By Taegan Goddard
Jerome Corsi, who is listed as “Person 1” in the indictment of Roger Stone, is suing Stone, accusing him of defamation for repeatedly saying that Corsi lied.
February 8, 2019
Rosenstein Didn’t Want to Write Memo Justifying Comey’s Firing, Says McCabe
Reuters / Mike Blake
Rosenstein Didn't Want to Write Memo Justifying Comey's Firing, Says McCabe
https://www.thedailybeast.com/rosenstein-didnt-want-to-write-memo-justifying-comeys-firing-says-mccabe?ref=homeRosenstein Didn’t Want to Write Memo Justifying Comey’s Firing, Says McCabe
Reuters / Mike Blake
Rod Rosenstein privately complained that Donald Trump commanded him to write the notorious memo backing the firing of FBI director James Comey, according to Comey’s former deputy Andrew McCabe. McCabe’s new book, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, also accuses Trump of acting like a criminal mob boss and of ushering in a “strain of insanity” in American politics. On Comey, McCabe says that Rosenstein was visibly upset during a private justice department meeting on May 12, 2017 after being ordered to write the memo. “He said it wasn’t his idea. The president had ordered him to write the memo justifying the firing,” McCabe writes. Rosenstein went on to say that he was having trouble sleeping and is quoted as saying: “There’s no one here that I can trust.” Publicly, Rosenstein has voiced no regrets over the memo, saying in his testimony to Congress: “I wrote it. I believe it. I stand by it.” The memo was cited by Trump as a reason to fire Comey.
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Member since: Mon Sep 6, 2004, 09:54 PM
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