Elizabeth Warren pledges not to give ambassadorships to wealthy donors if elected

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Friday pledged not to give ambassador posts to donors if she becomes president and said she would fill certain senior-most positions at the State Department with career ambassadors.

The promises were part of the new plan the Democratic presidential candidate unveiled aimed at the State Department. The Massachusetts Democrat wrote in Medium Post that President Donald Trump has "declared war" on the department and that it will take "a whole lot of work" to get enough qualified diplomats back into the government. She also slammed Trump for "selling swanky diplomatic posts to rich buffoons," although Trump is not the first president to appoint financial backers of his campaign to ambassador posts.

The Latest: FBI: White Supremacist James Fields sentenced to life in prison

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — The Latest on the sentencing of a man who deliberately drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally.

An avowed white supremacist who drove his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters during a white nationalist rally in Virginia has been sentenced to life in prison on hate crime charges.

James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty in March to federal hate crime charges in an attack that killed one person and injured more than two dozen others.

I didn't think Sanders releasing his tax returns was going to hurt him...

As long as they didn't show anything really shady. I now see quite a few dismissals of him because of his millions. I see even more people using his fortune and saying he is just a career politician selling out at the end like so many do.

I think we need one of our contenders to stand up for him. Maybe even Hillary Clinton on Twitter.

"Enough about his damn millions!!!"

Because we all know how sincere he was. I think that really stuck with a lot of people. How it was spun really stuck with a lot of people.

The next, and first, First Gentleman of the United States: Bruce Mann

You're ready. You've got this. I love you.

First round of debates are in the books. Who stands as your current top three?

And is there a change in your top three since before the debates?

1) Warren
2) Biden
3) Castro

Castro is a major change for me. I think over the last month he has shown me he has the depth and qualities it takes. It's really hard for me to pick a #3. I like a number of them. I'm big on Klobuchar, Buttigieg(the guy is ready), Booker, Inslee, Gillibrand and Harris(no particular order).

In my life I have never watched a primary that had so many people I thought could do the job. I think this is the best field I have ever seen in a Presidential Primary.

*In my thread title, should I have used "is" instead of "are?" I'm a grammatical train-wreck. Thanks.

Where Is Bernie Sanders' Climate Plan?

When the Sunrise Movement held the last stop on its Green New Deal tour in Washington, DC in May, Bernie Sanders was the understated star act. A crowd of 1,500 people at Howard University gave the 2020 candidate a standing ovation even before he began his stump speech about the climate crisis. The Vermont Senator’s speech to a younger generation of activists echoed his typical 2016 and 2020 platform points, calling for the elimination of trillions in oil and gas industry tax breaks and creating worker protections under a Green New Deal.

Following Sanders’ act was the newest star in the progressive movement, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who obliquely criticized a campaign advisor for former Vice President Joe Biden, who told Reuters that Biden would look for a “middle ground” solution to climate change. “I will be damned if the same politicians who refused to act then are going to try to come back today and say we need to find a middle-of-the-road approach to save our lives,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Only two weeks later, Biden released a climate change plan that bumped up his position on the environmental group Greenpeace’s scorecard, from near-failing to a “B”, mostly on the strength of the plan’s commitment to clean energy investments, path to net-zero emissions, and international leadership. He joined six other candidates who have now released a detailed platform explaining their vision for climate change, including Elizabeth Warren, Beto O’Rourke, John Delaney, Michael Bennett, John Hickenlooper, and Jay Inslee, who’s centered his campaign around the issue.

The notable exception in this group? Bernie Sanders, one of the frontrunners who still hasn’t released his own plan. This fact hasn’t gone unnoticed by Greenpeace or other climate activists agitating for a robust policy discussion, especially with climate ranking as a leading concern among Democratic primary voters.

I've got a plan to ensure that a sitting president can be held accountable for committing a crime.

Castro had a really good night last night. He was also excellent at the She the People Forum.

I've now been well introduced to his thoughts on housing and immigration. Both of which I find to be second to none.

I'm taking a minute to post the outline to his thought and proposals on immigration. I like them a lot. Later I will follow up with some of his thoughts on housing. It's a breath of fresh air to listen to how well thought out on the issue he is.

People First Immigration

Putting People First

One of my strongest memories of my grandmother is the way she would tell my twin brother, Joaquin, and me about how she came to this country as a child after being separated from her dying mother. Even as a seventy-year-old woman, when she recounted those moments, she would cry like the seven-year-old girl she was when it happened, sobbing that she never got to say goodbye. I see her image in the children at our borders today.

Today, the photos and videos of immigrant children crying for their parents haunt our collective conscience. Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy is responsible for children as young as infants being taken away from their parents, caged, and even “lost” in the foster care system. In federal detention, several immigrant children whose parents have presented their families for the sanctuary of asylum have even died. We are heartbroken. We are outraged.


It’s time for an immigration policy that puts people first.

This moment demands that of us. And in order to meet the challenge, we must not only expand our political will, but also our moral imagination. We must remember what immigration means to our national identity, and who we want to be as a country.

1

Reforming our Immigration System

Establish an inclusive roadmap to citizenship for undocumented individuals and families who do not have a current pathway to legal status, but who live, work, and raise families in communities throughout the United States.

Provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and those under Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure, through the Dream and Promise Act of 2019, and defend and expand DACA, TPS, and DED protections, and re-institute the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program during the legislative process.

Revamp the visa system and strengthen family reunification through the Reuniting Families Act, reducing the number of people who are waiting to reunite with their families but are stuck in the bureaucratic backlog.

Eliminate the backlog of 4.4 million people waiting for visas to reunite with their families.

Recaptures immigrant visas lost to bureaucratic delay since 1992 and rolls over future unused visas to the following year.

Allow spouses and minor children of permanent residents to immediately reunite with their families in the United States.

Eliminate per-country limits for all visas, ending the decades-long wait time for citizens of certain countries to immigrate to the
United States.

Provide relief to orphans and widows, allowing them to continue to wait in line after the death of a sponsoring relative.

Allow for equal treatment of all stepchildren under the visa system.

Reduce wait-times for certain children of veterans from the Philippines that fought in World War II.

Eliminate discrimination for LGBT families in bi-national same-sex relationships under the visa system.

Terminate the three and ten year bars, which require undocumented individuals—who otherwise qualify for legal status—to leave the United States and their families behind for years before becoming citizens.

Rescind Trump’s discriminatory Muslim and Refugee Ban, other harmful immigration-related executive orders, racial profiling of minority communities, and expanded use of denaturalization as a frequently used course of action through the USCIS Denaturalization Task Force.

Increase refugee admissions, reversing cuts under Trump, and restoring our nation to its historic position as a moral leader providing a safe haven for those fleeing persecution, violence, disaster, and despair. Adapt these programs to account for new global challenges like climate change.

End agreements under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and other such agreements between federal immigration enforcement agencies and state and local entities that erode trust between communities and local police and end ICE detainers.

Allow all deported veterans who honorably served in the armed forces of the United States to return to the United States and end the practice of deporting such veterans.

Strengthen labor protections for guest workers and end exploitative practices which hurt residents and guest workers, provide work authorization to spouses of participating individuals, and ensure guest workers have a fair opportunity to become residents and citizens through the Agricultural Worker Program Act.

Protect victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking, ensuring these individuals are not subject to detention, deportation, or legal reprisal following their reporting these incidents.

2

Creating a Humane Border Policy

Repeal Section 1325 of Immigration and Nationality Act, which applies a criminal, rather than civil, violation to people apprehended when entering the United States. This provision has allowed for separation of children and families at our border, the large scale detention of tens of thousands of families, and has deterred migrants from turning themselves in to an immigration official within our borders. The widespread detention of these individuals and families at our border has overburdened our justice system, been ineffective at deterring migration, and has cost our government billions of dollars.

Effectively end the use of detention in conducting immigration enforcement, except in serious cases. Utilize cost-effective
and more humane alternatives to detention, which draw on the successes of prior efforts like the Family Case Management
Program. Ensure all individuals have access to a bond hearing and that vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant
women, and members of the LGBTQ community are not placed in civil detention.

Eliminate the for-profit immigration detention and prison industry, which monetizes the detention of migrants and children.

End immigration enforcement raids at or near sensitive locations such as schools, hospitals, churches, and courthouses.

Reconstitute the US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) by splitting the agency in half and re-assigning enforcement functions within the Enforcement and Removal Operations to other agencies, including the Department of Justice. There must be a thorough investigation of ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Justice’s role in family separation policies instituted by the Trump administration.

Reprioritize Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to focus its efforts on border-related activities including drug and human trafficking, rather than law enforcement activities in the interior of the United States. Extend Department of Justice civil rights jurisdiction to CBP, and adopt best practices employed in law enforcement, including body-worn cameras and strong accountability policies.

End wasteful, ineffective and invasive border wall construction and consult with border communities about repairing environmental and other damage already done. Properly equip our ports of entry, investing in infrastructure, staff, and technology to process claims and prevent human and drug trafficking.

End asylum “metering” and the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, ensuring all asylum seekers are able to present their claims to U.S. officials.

Create a well-resourced and independent immigration court system under Article 1 of the Constitution, outside the Department of Justice, to increase the hiring and retention of independent judges to adjudicate immigration claims faster.

Increase access to legal assistance for individuals and families presenting asylum claims, ensuring individuals understand their rights and are able to make an informed and accurate request for asylum. Guarantee counsel for all children in the immigration enforcement system.

Protect victims of domestic and gang violence, by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that prohibited asylum claims on the basis of credible fear stemming from domestic or gang violence.

3

Establishing a 21st Century 'Marshall Plan' for Central America

Prioritize high-level diplomacy with our neighbors in Latin America, a region where challenges in governance and economic development have consequences to migration to the United States, U.S. economic growth, and regional instability.

Ensure higher standards of governance, transparency, rule-of-law, and anti-corruption practice as the heart of U.S. engagement with Central America, rejecting the idea that regional stability requires overlooking authoritarian actions.

Enlist all actors in Central America to be part of the solution by restoring U.S. credibility on corruption and transparency and encouraging private sector, civil society, and local governments to work together – rather than at cross purposes – to build sustainable, equitable societies.

Bolster economic development, superior labor rights, and environmentally sustainable jobs, allowing individuals to build a life in their communities rather than make a dangerous journey leaving their homes

Ensure regional partners are part of the solution by working with countries in the Western Hemisphere to channel resources to address development challenges in Central America, including through a newly constituted multilateral development fund focused on sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Central America.

Target illicit networks and transnational criminal organizations through law enforcement actions and sanctions mechanisms to eliminate their ability to raise revenue from illegal activities like human and drug trafficking and public corruption.

Re-establish the Central American Minors program, which allows individuals in the United States to petition for their minor children residing in Central America to apply for resettlement in the U.S. while their applications are pending.

Increase funding for bottom-up development and violence prevention programs, including the Inter-American Foundation, to spur initiatives that prevent violence at the local level, support public health and nutrition, and partner with the private sector to create jobs.

Julian Castro

Castro at the She the People Forum: 23rd to 39th minute

My mother, a party loyalist, was somewhat shocked by two things last night.

My mother has worked on campaigns. Been on the board of Planned Parenthood. Ran for a house seat in an extremely red district and lost. Been a state delegate. Etc. About ten years ago she somewhat changed how she was doing things. She started devoting more of her time to her business in order to get set for retirement. She was over sixty when she made that decision. She went from giving small amounts of money and a lot of her time to giving a lot more money and less of her time. It's a decision all of us have to make if we are lucky. She supports the DNC and like me thinks Perez was a great move.

So when I met up with her this morning of course we talked about the debate. She started by asking my thoughts. I simply thought they all did pretty well and represented us well. I think Castro was excellent. She agreed and really liked Castro.

So what was it that shocked her? Elizabeth Warren and Beto O'Rourke.

Elizabeth Warren: She said that she has seen Warren in committee meetings and other places and loves her but she never viewed Warren as a Presidential campaigner. She laid some of that off on white men who she thought would never go for Warren. After seeing Warren last night she now has a completely different opinion. She thinks Warren is the whole package. Missing nothing. From the thoughts she is presenting to her mannerisms. She is very excited about Warren. She donated to her immediately after the debate last night.

Beto O'Rourke: My mother donated to his senate campaign but knows very little about him. More an issue of time for her than anything else. How much time do you have to learn about a seat in Texas when you are trying to flip seats in your own community where you can have the greatest impact and run a business. What my mother did know about him is the legend that comes before him. His charisma. How inspirational he is. Almost Kennedy like. A leader. This morning she said she didn't get it. She said it seemed as though he had no charisma, didn't see any leadership qualities, and wasn't inspired. Thought he looked uncomfortable. She was a bit taken back by all of the hype around who he was going to be as a candidate. She wasn't really slamming him. She was simply saying he wasn't the person she thought he was going to be. Sometimes hype can really hurt.

She was really impressed by the candidates. She did also point out Booker who she really likes. She is a very happy Democrat this morning. She has no clue who she will be voting for in our primary. She really likes Warren. She liked her before last night. Last night Warren passed her electability test. I have a feeling there are a lot of people out there thinking the same thing this morning.