TheNutcracker
TheNutcracker's JournalCan Bernie handle the media? Past Post: Watch him eat Chuck Toad for Brunch! (Meet the Press)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025534033Go Bernie! Sanders for President for sure! He nailed it. Ate Chuck Todd for brunch!
And Chuck Todd could not even handle him. Bernie did call out the anger on both sides and included the media in the public's displeasure. He ate Chuck Todd for Brunch!
This should be reviewed at this exciting time. This is just a taste of how well he can handle the media, and not take the bait to 'go negative', as Chuck tried in vain, to get him to do!
Go Bernie!!!! YEA!
Wow! Talk about a 'Bernie Bump'
this is just GREAT!
Thanks Bernie! I keep saying it, and don't want to stop. THANK YOU!
Bernie Sanders makes me *want* to vote again!
I saw this as a response, but it's so spot on, it should be read by all here!
He makes me want to vote again too!
Kick all things for Bernie. Voters WILL NOW ENGAGE! Finally, someone to vote for. Not hold your nose or stay home. It's happy civics time in America once again now folks!
Wow, conservative site likes Sanders, he will challenge Hillary on Wall Street. Alternative to Bush!
(seems like they don't want another Bush either. It is too much to ask them to vote for a Clinton, and now there is an alternative!)
Hillary Clinton is getting a Democrat challenger — and he’s coming at her from the far left.
Check it out:
Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed social democrat, is set to announce his candidacy for the White House on Thursday, The Huffington Post reports. Sanders, while not a declared Democrat, caucuses with the party in the Senate and is planning to make his run in its presidential primary.
The Vermont senator has strongly criticized Clinton for having a “soft” attitude towards Wall Street and being insufficiently concerned with the economic issues dear to the liberal base.
Continue Reading on dailycaller.com
Read more at http://cowboybyte.com/38105/a-socialist-is-challenging-hillary/
North Dakota Rep. Randy Boehning Outed as Gay After Voting Against Gay Rights
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2015/04/north_dakota_rep_randy_boehning_outed_as_gay_after_voting_against_gay_rights.phpBy Ben Johnson Tue., Apr. 28 2015 at 10:30 AM
Republican North Dakota state Rep. Randy Boehning voted against a measure that would've outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation three times in the past six years.
Dustin Smith is a gay 21-year-old who has received unsolicited dick pics from Boehning, 52, on the gay dating app Grindr. Smith couldn't take Boehning's hypocrisy after the last vote against gay rights earlier this month, so he went to the press.
See also:
"How can you discriminate against the person you're trying to pick up?" Smith told Inforum newspaper.
When he was confronted with the evidence, Boehning confirmed that he was trolling for men on Grindr through his alias, "Top man!"
"That's what gay guys do on gay sites, don't they?" Boehning, who is unmarried and says he also likes women, told Inforum. "That's how things happen on Grindr. It's a gay chat site. It's not the first thing you do on that site. That's what we do, exchange pics on the site."
Boehning says he voted against protecting gays against discrimination because that's what he thinks his south Fargo constituents want him to do. There's also a clause in the bill that protects those who are "perceived" as gay that he takes issue with.
Boehning believes his outing could be political payback. Before the vote on the anti-discrimination measure he says he was threatened with retaliation by unnamed people at the state Capitol who knew he was gay.
Regardless, Boehning says it's a relief to finally come out.
"The 1,000-pound gorilla has been lifted," he said. "I have to confront it at some point."
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At least he voted the way his constituents wanted, if that's true. Too many reps vote on their own beliefs, as to say they know what is best for us. Though he's still a hypocrite.
Hillary Clinton crushes Republican rivals in new poll
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hillary-clinton-crushes-republican-rivals-in-new-poll-2015-04-20
By Robert Schroeder
Apr 20, 2015
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — If the presidential election were held today, it wouldn’t even be close.
Hillary Clinton is crushing her potential Republican rivals by double digits in a new CNN/ORC International poll. The Republicans’ best showing is by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who trails the former senator and secretary of state by 14 points. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who hasn’t declared his candidacy yet, lags Clinton by 17 points. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are each 19 points behind Clinton.
Rubio and Paul have declared their candidacies, but Christie hasn’t said he’ll run.
Clinton is also the overwhelming favorite for the Democratic nomination, with nearly seven in 10 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents supporting her.
Even including the poll’s margin of error, Clinton would still have a double-digit lead on Rubio and the others. The poll was taken April 16-19 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. It was released Monday.
"We do better when we work together. Women & men, all of us across every line that is used to divide us.” - Hillary.
Democrats propose gas tax increase? Chevron, Shell, etc., first pay on10 BILLION in 1/4 profits.
Democrats propose gas tax increase? Thx! How about Chevron, Shell, etc., BEGIN to pay taxes on their 10 billion quarterly profits first?
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WASHINGTON – Democrats, contractors and unions are pressing Congress to raise the gas tax to fund the Highway Trust Fund despite opposition from key Republicans that makes any increase unlikely.
On Wednesday, Sen. Barbara Boxer, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, urged members of the Transportation Construction Coalition — a group of trade associations and construction unions — to lobby members of Congress for a long-term funding plan for the Highway Trust Fund, which is set to expire May 31.
The Highway Trust Fund is the primary source for federal highway and transit programs funding for local, state and national projects. It is funded by the federal gas tax — currently set at 18.4 cents per gallon — which hasn't been raised since 1993. In the past six years, there have been 32 short-term measures taken to maintain the fund, but Boxer endorsed raising the gas tax as a reliable long-term solution.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/15/gas-tax-highway-bill-unions-boxer/25848153/
Letter to TampaBay Times from Vote on the Pier:The Misinfo Coming from the St. Pete Mayor's office.
Waveney Ann Moore
Tampa Bay Times
Waveney Ann –
Please let me be CLEAR. I NEVER agreed to any new and improved “process” – as the Mayor outlined to a few members of our group last April.
I really wish he would stop telling people that ALL groups agreed with his plan. That is a TOTAL material misrepresentation of the facts.
In FACT – when Mayor Kriseman called me about 4 days ahead of that presentation Mr. Kirby is referring to in your story of this afternoon – to ask if I would stand beside him at his photo-op down in SpaBeach Park last April – I told him there was NO WAY I was going to represent that I supported (just by being there) something that I ABSOLUTELY did not.
Among other reasons – our conversation centered in on our group’s STRONG opposition to using ANY of the Pier funding – to develop ANYTHING on the uplands – when ALL of the funds from the TIF Funding Agreement with the County – dating back to 2009 – were SPECIFICALLY to be used from the seawall eastward – for the refurbishment of the inverted pyramid building – and the replacement of the bridge leading out to it. PERIOD. Please refer to table 2-B in the original TIF Funding Agreement with the County.
He responded to me by stating – that IF he were to take potential development on the uplands (in particular – to begin on what is today the Pelican Parking Lot) off the table – he would also be forced to remove REFURBISHMENT – as an option in the new upcoming Pier Design RFQ and RFP Process.
I CLEARLY told him that one had ABSOLUTELY ZERO to do with the other. He disagreed.
He told me that he hoped I would reconsider. I told him that it was not likely – as I feel I have a commitment to the hundreds of hard working volunteers – that had worked tirelessly to complete the largest grass roots petition drive in the City’s history – collecting more that 23,866 valid petitions from City Voters – and an additional 2,900 from voters that were just outside the City limits – to stand firmly on our position – without compromise.
In addition – let’s remember that it was not even announced by Mayor Kriseman until late summer / early fall – who HIS hand picked committee members of HIS new “Pier Selection Committee” would be. Now really – do you think ANYONE from our group would have EVER supported or approved of Mike Connors (as just one example) to even be on that committee – let alone Mayor Kriseman appointing him as chairman? PLEASE.
Mike Connors has been STRONGLY in favor of demolishing that building for as long as anyone can remember – so it did not surprise me – from watching the entire 12 hours of nonsense from up here in Safety Harbor on Friday – HOW he planned to eliminate several other viable proposals – and even TRIED to convice other committee members to not allow the most publicly popular proposal (Destination St Pete Pier) to get anywhere beyond 3RD place ranking.
Then – LATER – he tried to get them to rank – by offering up Destination to be in 2ND place – behind ALMA.
He was SO ridiculously obvious – IT WAS DISGUSTING TO WATCH!
THEN – a couple of committee members openly asked Mike Connors what would happen – if Council rejects their #1 pick – and he reluctantly THEN explained to them – the whole process must start over. It was then – and ONLY then – a few members realized the magnatude of their decision. They realized there was a VERY GOOD chance that Council WOULD NOT accept ALMA – due to the Citywide support for Destination – that was blatantly and DELIBERATELY being misrepresented by Mike Connors to achieve his agenda – resulting in the whole entire process starting over.
A couple of members also realized ALL of their time and work would go the way of a power flush – thanks to one inappropriate vote by any one of them – as a potential result of the continual prodding of their Chairperson – Mike Connors.
This is when they realized they could not make a final ranking decision Friday evening.
What this has now culminated into:
The public is OUTRAGED AND DISGUSTED to NOW realize HOW BADLY they have been lied to – regarding the Mayor’s initial promises to “listen, learn and lead” when he was running for office of Mayor. He OBVIOUSLY was not (and still is not) listening – he OBVIOUSLY has not learned anything from the last Mayor’s bully tactics – when he closed the entire Pier on May 31, 2013 – putting more than 400 full and part time employees out of work unnecessarily – and fencing it off to ready it for demolition – to make his point: That if the community did not support the LENS proposal in the upcoming 8/27/13 referendum – they would be looking at a closed down Pier – well into / or after 2018.
Well – we can all see today – how well that all worked out for him. Voters decided it was time to fire him just a couple of months later.
A TOTAL BETRAYAL of trust (now, again) by this Mayor – as handed out to City residents by his corrupt partner in this newly created Citywide crisis – Mike Connors.
There is likely NOTHING he is going to be able to say or do at this point – that is going to “change” the embarrassing nonsense that seemed to be never ending - Friday in Council Chambers.
It was nothing short of a train wreck – led by two of the City’s least respected employees (Mike Connors & Chris Ballestra) – with the Mayor DIRECTLY responsible to City residents for their deplorable actions. Isn’t it just amazing how he was nowhere around for that entire deplorable circus? And even today – he is just nowhere around. He has “spokespeople” to cover for him while he tries to figure out what his next steps could be.
If this were any business – Mike Connors would have been FIRED immediately – for the damage he as caused – by making HIS favorite choice – and HIS least favorite choice – SO obvious. He even went on in a lengthly dissertation – as to how people need to move on from that building – and that it makes no sense to renew a building that HE believes is not worth investing the money on.
This was clearly HIS opinion – and it should NOT have been a part of trying to persuade others to support HIS position.
NOW – Mayor Kriseman OWNS this mess he created. It appears he must have had a lot more confidence in Mike Connors pulling off his plan for demolishing the inverted pyramid – by TRYING DESPARATELY to put STRONGLY DISLIKED – LAST PLACE ALMA into the #1 ranking – CLEARLY AGAINST the majority of City residents that took part in SEVERAL polls over the last few weeks.
So now here we are today.
I have enlisted the services of several good attorneys over the past weekend – to put the finishing touches on – you guessed it – our next petition – that we plan to actually launch in the next few days. A DRAFT Copy – Not For Circulation (until we are ready to launch) – is attached for your review. We are now also in the process of updating our entire website – and creating the online downloadable and printable version of the Petition for our website – and preparing our 18 petition drop boxes – for deployment across the City.
Unlike the earlier petition drive I started in November of 2010 – we are beginning this very important petition drive – with much more hard earned expertise and knowledge – in addition to having literally tens of thousands of really mad City residents at this time – many have even signed up over this past weekend – to assist us in completing our new petition drive very quickly.
We have already received offers to assist us financially to get things moving even quicker this time – which is encouraging.
While it was not my original plan to do another Citywide Petition – this new Mayor – and his staff of mostly the same “bad actors” – as leftovers from the Foster administration – have left us NO CHOICE – but to proceed forward – and put the VOTERS back in charge of their downtown waterfront – finally – and once and for all.
While I DO plan to do a formal Press Release in the next couple of days – I am just too busy right now – to compose that – or schedule any press conference.
I will announce plans for that – when I have the most important aspects of our new Petition drive completed and up and running.
That is my priority. I expect that to only take a few days.
It was just VERY important – as a priority – that I clarify directly to you – the misinformation that is now apparently flowing from Mayor Kriseman’s office – through his “spokespeople”.
It CLEARLY appears that Mayor Kriseman has now lost any credibility for either himself – AND his half-baked plan of trying to push the ALMA Pier design off onto City Residents – by trying to move ALMA – from LAST to FIRST position ranking with his committee - via his appointed Committee Chair – Mike Connors. While I DO NOT believe City Council will support ALMA moving forward – IF that is the way the Selection Committee recklessly decides to rank the remaining contestants – we will all just be in for another long and protracted fight – while the closed Pier sits their as a very obvious example of ignorance and stupidity of the last Mayor’s inability to listen to his constituents!
I WILL NOT BACK DOWN. I am tired of elected (and hired) City employees blatantly and repeatedly lying – in their reckless attempts to accomplish their objectives.
St. Petersburg, Florida is NOT a monarchy – and nobody elected Rick Kriseman King. The Pier does not belong to him – it belongs to every single taxpayer of the City – so it is only appropriate that City VOTERS should select the next Pier as the centerpiece of the City’s downtown waterfront for the next 100 years.
This entire “process” – under BOTH Mayors Foster and Kriseman – CLEARLY demonstrate why City electors need more say in the future of their downtown waterfront.
Our new Petition will provide exactly that.
HOW VERY SAD – we have to go through all of this again.
Thanks Waveney Ann -
Tom Lambdon
Founder & Chairman
Email: tom@voteonthepier.com
Website: voteonthepier.com
Barney Frank drops a bombshell: How a shocking anecdote explains the financial crisis
Barney Frank has a new autobiography out. He’s long been one of the nation’s most quotable politicians. And Washington lives in perpetual longing for intra-party conflict.
So why has a critical revelation from Frank’s book, one that implicates the most powerful Democrat in the nation, been entirely expunged from the record? The media has thus far focused on Frank’s wrestling with being a closeted gay congressman, or his comment that Joe Biden “can’t keep his mouth shut or his hands to himself.” But nobody has focused on Frank’s allegation that Barack Obama refused to extract foreclosure relief from the nation’s largest banks, as a condition for their receipt of hundreds of billions of dollars in bailout money.
The anecdote comes on page 295 of “Frank,” a title that the former chair of the House Financial Services Committee holds true to throughout the book. The TARP legislation included specific instructions to use a section of the funds to prevent foreclosures. Without that language, TARP would not have passed; Democratic lawmakers who helped defeat TARP on its first vote cited the foreclosure mitigation piece as key to their eventual reconsideration.
TARP was doled out in two tranches of $350 billion each. The Bush administration, still in charge during TARP’s passage in October 2008, used none of the first tranche on mortgage relief, nor did Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson use any leverage over firms receiving the money to persuade them to lower mortgage balances and prevent foreclosures. Frank made his anger clear over this ignoring of Congress’ intentions at a hearing with Paulson that November. Paulson argued in his defense, “the imminent threat of financial collapse required him to focus single-mindedly on the immediate survival of financial institutions, no matter how worthy other goals were.”
Whether or not you believe that sky-is-falling narrative, Frank kept pushing for action on foreclosures, which by the end of 2008 threatened one in 10 homes in America. With the first tranche of TARP funds running out by the end of the year, Frank writes, “Paulson agreed to include homeowner relief in his upcoming request for a second tranche of TARP funding. But there was one condition: He would only do it if the President-elect asked him to.”
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/31/barney_frank_drops_a_bombshell_how_a_shocking_anecdote_explains_the_financial_crisis/
Patrick Murphy is most conservative member of Congress, now running against Rubio
http://www.politifact.com/florida/article/2015/mar/23/fact-checking-patrick-murphy-democratic-hopeful-su/Fact-checking Patrick Murphy, Democratic hopeful to succeed Marco Rubio
By Amy Sherman on Monday, March 23rd, 2015 at 8:00 a.m.
U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Democratic political newcomer who ousted GOP firebrand Allen West in 2012, announced Monday morning that he will run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Marco Rubio. Murphy plans to run regardless of whether Rubio makes a presidential bid or not.
"I’m running for the U.S. Senate for the same reason I ran for Congress in 2012 – Washington is full of hyper-partisan politicians who can’t, or won’t, get anything done, and Florida deserves better," Murphy said in a prepared statement. "I’m a consensus-builder who is working to boost the economy by cutting waste in government, raise the minimum wage, strengthen Social Security and Medicare, and protect the Everglades. I’ve done all of this by being an independent voice for Florida, and that’s what the Senate needs more of right now."
With Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston and former Gov. Charlie Crist both announcing that they won’t seek the seat, the only other big Democratic name known to be weighing a run is U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando.
On the Republican side, there is a long list of Republicans who are prepared to potentially run if Rubio steps aside to seek the presidency. They include state CFO Jeff Atwater and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera.
Murphy took a swipe at Rubio in his statement: "For years, Senator Rubio has put the needs of Floridians behind his presidential ambitions. We need a leader in the Senate whose eyes are firmly fixed on the people of Florida by working together to get things done. In the coming months, I look forward to meeting Floridians across the state to listen, earn their trust, and ask for their support."
Murphy, 31-year-old of Jupiter, represents Florida’s Treasure Coast, which includes parts of Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties. It’s one of the only districts in the state in which registration is closely matched between the parties. In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney won the district with 52 percent of the vote in 2012.
Murphy has built a reputation as a middle-of-the-road Democrat who’s willing to join the GOP on certain votes, including backing the Keystone XL Pipeline, which has been opposed by President Barack Obama. Congressional Quarterly determined that Murphy voted in support of Obama’s positions 49 percent of the time in 2014, and National Journal ranked him among the most conservative House Democrats. Still, he has faced attacks from GOP groups and received a 20 percent rating by the American Conservative Union.
Murphy, a Miami native and certified public accountant who worked at his father’s Coastal Construction firm, first announced he would take on tea party favorite West in 2011 when he was just 28. Murphy had switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat earlier that year.
West initially represented a swing district in Broward and Palm Beach, but after the district was redrawn, he decided to run in a more conservative district to the north, and Murphy followed him there. Murphy beat West by less than a percentage point, then beat former state Rep. Carl Domino with ease in 2014.
Here’s a look at fact-checks we’ve done involving Murphy (Here is Murphy’s overall Truth-O-Meter record.):
Attacks on Murphy’s voting record
In 2013, the National Republican Congressional Committee said Murphy "voted to keep the scandal-ridden IRS in charge of enforcing Obamacare."
It is true that Murphy joined most Democrats in opposing a bill called the "Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act of 2013." The measure would have prevented the IRS from enforcing any portion of Obamacare.
While the IRS is playing a major role in enforcing elements of the Affordable Care Act, it goes too far to say the agency is "in charge" of enforcing the health law. States, the federal Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies play key roles in enforcing and implementing various aspects of the law. We rated the NRCC’s claim Mostly False.
Meanwhile, Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group that opposes the Affordable Care Act, said Murphy voted for Obamacare in 2010 yet "reversed himself and voted to delay" the employer mandate and the individual mandate.
The problem with that claim was that Murphy wasn’t a member of Congress until 2013. AFP later acknowledged that it had confused Murphy with a similarly named Democratic member of Congress, Rep. Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania.
On the campaign trail in 2012, Murphy had said he supported the health care law, but also thought it could be improved. He criticized some of the requirements on businesses, such as the requirement for filing complicated 1099 forms which was later repealed.
Attacks on Murphy’s college days
In the bare-knuckled West-Murphy race, a West campaign ad said Murphy was trying to "hide his drunken assault of a police officer." The ad was referring to a 2003 incident in which Murphy was a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Miami. Murphy and a friend were fighting and disrupting others at a Miami Beach bar, Club Crobar, and were escorted out by security. An officer asked Murphy for his I.D., but he refused to turn over a fake New Jersey driver’s license.
Murphy was arrested for disorderly intoxication and possession of a stolen driver’s license.
When PolitiFact Florida analyzed the ad’s claims, we saw no evidence in the officer’s narrative or court records that Murphy physically assaulted a police officer. Also, Murphy wasn’t convicted -- the charge was quickly transferred to traffic court and was dismissed within months. We rated the ad’s claim Mostly False.
West also claimed that after the charges were dropped, "Murphy’s father gave the prosecutor a huge campaign donation. That referred to campaign donations made by Patrick’s father Thomas P. Murphy and his construction businesses to Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.
After the 2003 case against Murphy was dropped, his father’s companies gave $1,500 to Fernandez Rundle’s re-election campaign. Murphy’s father also gave $500 to Fernandez Rundle in 2000. But it was a stretch to call either donation "huge," particularly for his father’s firms which had given five-figure donations to the Republican Party of Florida in the past. We rated that claim Mostly False.
Murphy’s fundraising
Democrats are encouraged by Murphy’s past fundraising prowess.
more at link above!
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I hope for Alan Grayson to run. Why work for someone who opposes the democratic President more than half of the time??? And votes for Keystone??????? This is the FL Dem Party trying to get out in front, with their DINO.
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