June 16, 2016

Donald Trump fundraiser to be held at Barry Goldwater's old home in Paradise Valley

An exclusive fundraiser featuring presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will take place at the landmark former home of Barry Goldwater, the five-term conservative U.S. senator from Arizona who clinched the GOP nomination for the presidency in 1964 over more moderate rivals.

Goldwater, who died in 1998 at the age of 89, built the ranch-style home in Paradise Valley in 1957. He named the house ''Be-nun-i-kin,'' which is Navajo for ''house on top of a hill.'' On Jan. 3, 1964, Goldwater officially announced his presidential intentions from the patio of the residence. He would lose to President Lyndon Johnson in a historic landslide.

Bob and Karen Hobbs, business and civic leaders who campaigned for Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election, paid $4.1 million for the property in 2000.

The location of the 2 p.m. Saturday Trump fundraiser was confirmed by someone who received an invitation and will be attending the event.

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http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/15/donald-trump-fundraiser-held-barry-goldwaters-old-home-paradise-valley/85942042/

June 16, 2016

Ryan: 'Not my plan' to rescind Trump endorsement

Source: The Hill

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said on Thursday that he has no plan to rescind his endorsement of Donald Trump despite repeatedly disavowing some of the presumptive presidential nominee’s controversial comments.

“That’s not my plan. I don’t have a plan to do that,” Ryan said. “Look, we’re going to disagree on some things. ... What we do agree on is we don’t want another Democrat in the White House.”
Ryan maintained at his weekly press conference that he believes Trump is still a better choice than presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

At the same time, Ryan reiterated that he will express his own opinion contrary to Trump's if he feels the occasion warrants it.

“If I’m asked a question, I’m going to answer it honestly. And if I’m asked a question about a proposal that I don’t agree with, I’m going to say I don’t agree with it.”

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Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/283759-ryan-not-my-plan-to-rescind-trump-endorsement

June 16, 2016

Trump Co-Chair: Support The Nominee Or ‘Shut The Hell Up’

Source: Talking Points Memo

Donald Trump’s campaign team is apparently fed up with Republicans publicly expressing reservations about their presumptive nominee.

"Either they want to get behind the presumptive nominee who will be the nominee of this party and make sure that we do everything we can to win in November or we're just asking them if they can't do that, then just shut the hell up," Trump campaign co-chair Sam Clovis said Thursday on CNN’s “New Day.” "That's what we're asking them to do."

Trump earned fresh rebukes from Republicans on Capitol Hill for his recent attacks on the “Mexican” heritage of a federal judge and for his renewed fixation on banning Muslim immigrants from the United States. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) called Trump’s comments about the judge the “textbook definition” of racism, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) worried aloud that Trump could be the party’s next Barry Goldwater.

The negative comments about Trump have sounded in statehouses, too. This week alone, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said they couldn’t stomach voting for the New York businessman.

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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sam-clovis-support-trump-or-shut-up

June 16, 2016

‘Resign in shame’: Fed-up Kansas CEO flees GOP governor’s disastrous reign

“I can’t, in good conscience, continue to give our tax money to a government that actively works against the needs of its citizens; a state that is systematically targeting the citizens in most need, denying them critical care and reducing their cost of life as if they’re simply a tax burden that should be ignored.” – Jeff Blackwood, CEO of Pathfinder Health Innovations

I’ve made the decision. As of July, I have decided that Pathfinder Health Innovations will be moving our corporate office from Kansas to Missouri.

There are a lot of things that factor into this decision. For one, the company has outgrown our current space. There are no seats left, and we have new employees coming on every month. The state of Missouri is also helping us with some tax incentives, but these are minor considerations.

More importantly, there’s a motivation of conscience that factors into it, too. It’s not so much that I’m moving the company to Missouri as I’m moving it away from Kansas.

Please note – this is a personal blog post, reflecting my views on the performance of the Kansas government, and specifically Governor Brownback. It should not be interpreted as the views of the company, our investors or employees other than me.

In recent years, Kansas has become a battleground for conservative ideals. Traditionally, Kansas was a moderate state, with the governorship switching every other election between Democratic and Republican governors. But the election of hyper-conservative Sam Brownback as governor heralded a new age of far right wing ideology.

It wasn’t just that Brownback was conservative; it was that he is seen as a tool of the Koch brothers and ALEC, a conservative think tank and lobbying organization. Brownback used his influence and funding to eliminate “moderate” republicans from the Kansas legislature and install his hand-picked conservative cronies. He couldn’t do the same with the Kansas Supreme Court, which has ruled a number of the conservative legislature’s laws as unconstitutional, so Brownback’s administration decided to threaten to cut off funding to the court system and is actively pursuing legislation to impeach the Supreme Court.

Kansas has become a test center of “trickle down” economics, espoused by economist Arthur Laffer during the Reagan years. Nowhere has there been as thorough an implementation of Laffer’s policy recommendations… and nowhere has there been as dramatic a failure of government.

Under Brownback’s direction, Kansas implemented an unprecedented tax cut in 2012, eliminating taxes for LLCs and professional firms (for full disclosure, PHI is a C Corporation) and making the largest cuts in the highest tax brackets. He shifted taxes to create a heavier burden on property and sales taxes, which typically represent a larger burden on lower income brackets. Brownback declared that this tax cut would be a “shot of adrenaline” for the Kansas economy, but the reality is that the tax cuts have had the opposite effect. Kansas lags neighboring states in job growth. For 11 of the last 12 months, Kansas has dramatically missed revenue targets, falling deeper in debt and facing another round of degraded bond ratings.

The worst part is that the burdens for the shortfalls rest on the shoulders of those who can least afford it – children and the developmentally disabled.

One of Brownback’s first actions was to close the Lawrence office for Kansas Social & Rehabilitation Services (SRS). This agency provided services for low-income children and the developmentally disabled, and access to the Lawrence office was critical for people in that community to receive services. Their only option was to try to figure out how to get transportation to the Topeka SRS office, thirty miles away. Not an easy task. The closure of the Lawrence office was supposed to save the state $400,000 per year.

At the same time, Brownback decided to pursue a personal vendetta against the Kansas Bioscience Authority, an organization created to spur the economic development of bioscience companies in Kansas. Brownback was convinced that funds were being misused, so he decided we needed to spend over $400,000 (conveniently, the same amount that could have kept the Lawrence SRS office open) on lawyers and auditors to pour over the KBA books. In the end, they found a total of $5,000 in misused funds, which the former KBA president repaid with a personal check. It all came down to priorities – pursue a personal vendetta at the expense of the disabled.

The developmentally disabled continued to suffer when Brownback’s administration pushed a program to privatize the state’s Medicaid program KanCare while at the same time refusing millions of dollars in federal support to expand Medicaid services. Now, three insurance companies administer KanCare as a profit center, and the results are dramatic – significant delays in determining eligibility, inexplicable loss of coverage, caseloads increased, providers struggling to get paid.

At the beginning of 2016, over 17,000 Medicaid applications were waiting for approval, 8,000 of which were well beyond the federally mandated 45-day threshold for processing. Pregnant women, who would have received services by default under the previous Medicaid plan in Kansas, were now waiting 4+ months for services, often exceeding the term of their pregnancy by the time services were authorized.

The funding problems got so bad that Osawatomie State Hospital’s mental health ward had to significantly cut staffing. Over 40% of their staff positions were dormant, leaving the remaining staff overworked and unprepared. This understaffing resulted in an improperly released patient murdering a 61-year-old man, and a hospital worker was raped, having to rely on other patients to save her. In January 2016, the Osawatomie State Hospital lost its certification to provide mental health services, cutting off federal funding that counted for roughly half of the hospital’s revenue. It is unclear what will happen to the patients and staff at Osawatomie State Hospital, leaving the fates of the patients in limbo.

The state’s public education system, once considered one of the best in the nation, hasn’t been spared, either. You’ll hear claims from Kansas officials that funding to education is at an all time high, but it’s just an accounting trick – they chose to shuffle money for special education and retirement funds through the schools so it could appear as an increase on the books.

Salary freezes, underfunding to the point of being ruled unconstitutional, laws allowing teachers to be imprisoned for introducing potentially “offensive” content, cuts and delays in $100 million in payments to the state-run retirement fund, and legislation specifically targeted to cripple the Kansas teacher’s union are all part of an ongoing effort to undermine the public education system in Kansas. Instead, the Brownback administration plans to offer vouchers to encourage families to send their children to private and religious schools.

To double down on these policies, Brownback is now ignoring the $250 million shortfall predicted for 2016, instead opting for headlines about closing Kansas to refugees and blaming the “liberal media” for the state’s economic woes.

In the end, I believe the goals of the Brownback administration are going exactly to plan – starve the state of resources to the point where it just makes sense to turn over critical government functions to for-profit entities.

I can’t, in good conscience, continue to give our tax money to a government that actively works against the needs of its citizens; a state that is systematically targeting the citizens in most need, denying them critical care and reducing their cost of life as if they’re simply a tax burden that should be ignored.

It’s because of these moves that I have decided to deny Kansas revenue from Pathfinder’s taxes by moving our company to Missouri. Sure, our company taxes are a drop in the bucket, but I do not, in any way, support the Brownback administration’s actions.

I believe that it is the responsibility of business owners and people with some voice in society should speak up against these destructive policies. And I believe it is far past the time that Sam Brownback and his cronies admit the damage they’ve caused to the people of Kansas and resign in the shame they deserve.

– Jeff Blackwood, CEO of Pathfinder Health Innovations

Jeff Blackwood is President and CEO of Pathfinder Health Innovations, focused on the goal to bring transformative healthcare technology to help individuals with autism lead more social lives. Jeff has also been recognized as a finalist for 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year, 2011 alum of PIPELINE, by Startup Health as Healthcare Transformer, and served as Vice President of Autism Society – the Heartland.

June 16, 2016

Kasich Says He ‘Just Can’t’ Bring Himself To Vote For Trump Despite Pledge

Source: Talking Points Memo

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) said that he has no plan to vote for Donald Trump in November, despite making a pledge to support the GOP nominee when he was running in the 2016 race.

Asked by MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough if he would stick to the pledge, Kasich called his decision not to “painful.” “I'm sorry this has happened. We'll see where it ends up. I'm not making a final decision yet but at this point I just can't do it,” the Ohio governor said.

Kasich, the last Republican contender remaining in the race before Trump emerged as the presumptive nominee, has heavily criticized the billionaire businessman’s rhetoric and policy proposals.

“The divisiveness, the division, the name calling it just doesn't go down well with me,” Kasich said last week, asking Trump to apologize to a federal judge for attacking his “Mexican” heritage.

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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-kasich-just-cant-vote-for-trump

June 16, 2016

Clinton Is Actively Vetting Elizabeth Warren As Potential Running Mate

Source: Talking Points Memo

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is actively vetting Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as a potential running mate, according to a Thursday Wall Street Journal report.

The popular, progressive Massachusetts senator, known for her strong stance on Wall Street regulation and skill at landing punches against Donald Trump, has long been floated as a smart choice vice presidential pick for the more centrist Democrat.

Warren endorsed Clinton last week after she secured the number of votes needed to clinch the Democratic nomination, and both have expressed eagerness at working together if the former secretary of state becomes president. The two met last Friday at Clinton’s home in Washington, DC, fueling rumors of a two-woman ticket.

The vetting has for now been limited to scrutinizing publicly available information, according to the Journal, and candidates have not yet been asked to submit tax returns or other personal information.

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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/hillary-clinton-actively-vetting-elizabeth-warren-potential-vp-pick

June 16, 2016

How Conservative Christian Activists Spent Decades Fomenting Anti-Gay Hate in Orlando

By Mark Joseph Stern

Following Sunday’s mass shooting at Pulse, an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, many progressives made a straightforward observation: If the gunman was not motivated directly by anti-gay activism, conservative Christian rhetoric around gay rights is both vicious and irresponsible—and the Orlando massacre could mark a moment for anti-gay advocates to reconsider the vitriol of their language. In response, and with tellingly defensive vigor, many conservatives rejected the notion that their rhetoric on LGBTQ rights might be reckless or dangerous. A statement by Matthew Franck, a National Review writer who has repeatedly compared same-sex marriage to slavery, is representative:

Christians who have resisted the redefinition of marriage, and who now want to be free to live what their faith teaches them is the truth about marriage, do not hate anyone, and legislation to protect their freedom is not “anti-LGBT” except in the minds of the intolerant enforcers of coerced conformity.

The thrust of Franck’s assertion—echoed by others—is that anti-LGBTQ have never done anything more than promote “traditional marriage,” and protect the belief that marriage is “a union of man and wife.”

Let us examine the recent historical record to ascertain the veracity of this claim. We will focus on Orlando, the scene of Sunday’s crime, and use as our anchor that city’s most famous and beloved icon: Walt Disney World.

more
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/06/15/pulse_orlando_shooting_and_conservative_christian_anti_gay_rhetoric.html?sid=5388f1c6dd52b8e4110003de&wpsrc=newsletter_tis

June 16, 2016

George Will Says Mitch Daniels is the President America Needs

Purdue has the president America needs

By George F. Will Opinion writer June 15 at 7:29 PM

Mitch Daniels, former governor of Indiana and current president of Purdue University, knows that no one in the audience is there to hear a commencement speaker. When, however, he addressed his institution’s class of 2016, it heard him distill into a few lapidary paragraphs a stance toward life that illuminates this political season.

A rite of spring in America is, Daniels noted, the dispensing of diplomas that are similar in what they announce but dissimilar in what they actually denote. They all pronounce the recipient to be a bachelor of this or a master of that. There is, however, evidence, as abundant as it is depressing, that there are enormous differences between the seriousness of the curriculums students study and the rigor with which their mastery of them is measured: “As employers have come to learn, many diplomas tell little or nothing about the holder’s readiness for work or for life.”

This matters, because diplomas often are credentials that are not credible, and because ample studies of happiness demonstrate that the most important predictor of it is, Daniels said, “earned success.” This involves sustained, difficult effort to surmount setbacks. And yet, said Daniels, perhaps the most dangerous of today’s many pernicious ideas is that “life is more or less a lottery. That we are less masters of our fate than corks floating in a sea of luck.”

Daniels spoke six days after Barack Obama told Howard University’s class of 2016: “Yes, you’ve worked hard, but you’ve also been lucky. That’s a pet peeve of mine: people who have been successful and don’t realize they’ve been lucky. That God may have blessed them; it wasn’t nothing you did.”

Nothing. Hence the progressive agenda: Government must comprehensively regulate, redistribute and generally fine-tune society in order to engineer “fairness” to counter life’s pervasive and pernicious randomness (“luck”). Obama’s words at Howard were, of course, congruent with his 2012 campaign statement that “if you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” So society did, with you contributing a bit.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mitch-danielss-one-lesson-for-success-work/2016/06/15/1167597e-3245-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html

June 16, 2016

Trump’s campaign hits a wall

By Niall Stanage - 06/16/16 06:00 AM EDT

Donald Trump’s campaign for the White House is teetering amid dismal poll numbers, racially tinged controversies and a rising chorus of criticism from within the GOP.

After knocking Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) out of the primary in May, Trump picked up momentum and made strides in unifying the party. But the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has failed to pivot to general election mode and is now in his third straight week of bad headlines.

Not surprisingly, the angst in the Republican Party is intensifying.

“I think the tailspin could be really bad — historic proportions bad,” said Tony Fratto, who served as deputy White House press secretary during former President George W. Bush’s administration. “I think it’ll be a historically bad loss. I’ve said that from the very beginning.”

A Trump spokeswoman did not respond to a request for a comment on this story, but Trump and his aides often note that the former reality TV star confounded every Beltway prediction to win the nomination in the first place. After that emphatic victory, the businessman might well believe he can repeat the same feat in a general election.

But several recent developments and polls have cast serious doubt on that theory.

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more
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/283688-trumps-campaign-hits-a-wall

June 16, 2016

Donald Trump calls her ‘Crooked Hillary,’ but his fans just say ‘b----’

GREENSBORO, N.C. — As thousands of Donald Trump supporters streamed out of an evening rally here this week, they walked past a handful of vendors from Ohio selling simple white T-shirts featuring Hillary Clinton, Monica Lewinsky and a vulgar joke. The back of the shirts read: “TRUMP THAT B----!”

One woman laughed and said to the man with her: “You have to get one!” A group of four middle-aged women pulled out their wallets and tried to bargain the vendors down from $20. One of the vendors shouted again and again: “Trump that b----! Trump that b----!” A guy walking past responded: “That’s right!”

“I’m a pretty blunt person, so it’s kind of how I feel about things,” said Amanda Feather, a 35-year-old mother of six who is a property manager in Asheboro, N.C., and bought one of the T-shirts before attending the rally with her husband and two young daughters. “I think coming from Trump it would probably be inappropriate. From a voter’s point of view, I think we have the right. .?.?. If that’s how we feel, we should have the right to say it. And I would tell it to her face if she walked up. That’s how I feel about her.”

At most of Trump’s rallies, there is a palpable hatred of Clinton in the air, and some of Trump’s strongest applause lines come when he attacks the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, calling her “crooked” and accusing her of playing “the woman’s card.”

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-calls-her-crooked-hillary-but-his-fans-just-say-b----/2016/06/15/b33e166c-330c-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html