Trump, who still insists--without any evidence whatsoever-- that over 3 million undocumented immigrants voted in the last election, has demanded something truly authoritarian and frightening. As one Secretary of State put it, this is “worthy of a Third World country”:

President Trump would be able to dispatch Secret Service agents to polling places nationwide during a federal election, a vast expansion of executive authority, if a provision in a Homeland Security reauthorization bill remains intact.

This was a rider that the House GOP snuck into the bill and passed—presumably at the request of #DementiaDonnie. Elections officials are none too happy about this. There is not only no basis for this new authority, but, as the Secretary of State from Massachusetts put it, he is rightfully worried that Trump will use it to have “federal agents showing up in largely Hispanic areas”.

Under current law, Secret Service can protect the president and federal officials while voting, but cannot provide law enforcement. The rider to the bill, according to the Secret Service, is innocuous and will only add “clarifying language” to their role.

However, a bipartisan coalition of 19 secretaries of state and elections commissioners don’t see it that way, and have written a letter to Senate leaders demanding that it be taken out of the bill.

To obtain a firearm license, a person must provide the police with a valid reason for wanting to own each firearm, and each one is listed on their license. Self defence has not been a valid or legal reason to own a firearm since 1968.

Anyone who has been sentenced to more than 3 years in prison is prohibited from obtaining a firearm license for life. Prison sentences for illegal possession of a firearm range from a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, to a maximum of 14 years, with an unlimited fine. Crimes were created by these acts, include ‘trespassing with a firearm,’ which leads to punishment regardless of why the person was trespassing, or whether the firearm was loaded.

Consequently, in the UK gun ownership stands at around 6.5 guns per 100 people, compared to 101 guns per 100 in the US. After the 1997 laws were passed, gun amnesties encouraged people to hand in weapons, and the government purchased 162,000 guns and 700 tons of ammunition from citizens, costing them $200m.

Once owning a handgun is illegal, it means that anyone who owns one is a criminal. The minimum sentence of 5 years for possession of a firearm discourages criminals from using guns when committing crimes. A Londoner is as likely as a New Yorker to be robbed in the street, but the New Yorker is 54 times more likely to be killed in the process.

The Duterte administration has created a 600-person terror watchlist that includes a top UN human rights investigator.

The Philippines' Department of Justice filed the list in a Manila court last month seeking approval for calling the individuals terrorists, according to Reuters. Once declared a terrorist, the government can surveil and monitor funds more closely.

The list included UN Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, a Philippine investigator who specializes in the rights of indigenous peoples, alongside leaders from the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).

Tauli-Corpuz was listed as a senior member of the NPA, and told Reuters the accusation was “baseless, malicious and irresponsible.”

The man who has cheated on all three of his wives, proudly claims to be able to grab women by their pussies, and has been known to pay hush money to the porn stars he sleeps with, is now leading an administration that wants to encourage schools to emphasize “the benefits of avoiding sex.”

Lol. My god.

Abstinence-only sex education doesn’t merely emphasize “the benefits of avoiding sex.” It straight up refuses to give you information that will help you stay healthy and happy in the long run. It lies to you. It is a misinformation campaign with the end goal being that people only have heterosexual sex within the confines of marriage for the sake of having American Christian babies.

US. President Donald Trump will support a modest set of fixes to gun laws, stepping back from some of the more sweeping changes he had considered after the country’s latest mass school shooting, senior officials told reporters on Sunday.

Opting for a plan the administration officials described as “pragmatic,” Trump backs legislation proposed in Congress aimed at providing more data for the background check system – a database of people who are not legally allowed to buy guns.

More contentious proposals, such as raising the minimum age for buying guns to 21 from 18, or requiring background checks for guns bought at gun shows or on the internet, will be studied by a commission headed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the officials said.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren warned Sunday that a banking bill under consideration -- with the support of several Democrats -- would increase the chance of a financial crisis.

"Frankly, I just don't see how any senator can vote to weaken the regulations on Wall Street banks," the Massachusetts senator told CNN's Jim Acosta on "State of the Union."

BOSTON (AP) - Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval (deh-VAL') Patrick says a 2020 run for the White House is on his "radar screen" - the firmest indication yet that the political confidant of Barack Obama is weighing a White House bid.

Patrick's musings are already casting a light on the strengths and vulnerabilities of his legacy as governor.

His strengths include the rollout of the state's landmark 2006 health care law and passage of his $1 billion, 10-year life sciences initiative.

Patrick's stumbles included turmoil at the state Department of Children and Families and a disastrous effort to transition to Obama's federal health care law.

We would hardly urge Democratic strategists to abandon Obama-to-Trump voters. However, Obama-to-nonvoters are a relatively liberal segment of the country who have largely been ignored. They are mostly young and nonwhite, and they represent an important part of the Democratic Party’s demographic future. Given the likelihood that many Obama-to-Trump voters will remain in Republican ranks, it is hard to imagine how Democrats can win elections if this group remains on the sidelines.

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So who were the Obama-to-nonvoters? Fifty-one percent were people of color, compared with 16 percent of Obama-to-Trump voters and 34 percent of Obama-to-Clinton voters. Twenty-three percent of Obama-to-nonvoters were under 30, compared with 11 percent of Obama-to-Trump voters and 10 percent of Obama-to-Clinton voters. More than 60 percent of Obama-to-nonvoters make less than $50,000 a year, compared with 45 percent of Obama-to-Clinton voters and 52 percent of Obama-to-Trump voters.

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Democratic strategists should recognize that Obama-to-Trump voters do not represent the future of their party. Obama-to-Trump voters diverge from the Democratic Party on many core issues, and in any case they are not particularly loyal Democrats: Less than one third of Obama-to-Trump voters supported Democrats down-ballot in 2016, and only 37 percent identify as Democrats.
In stark contrast, Obama-to-nonvoters share the progressive policy priorities of Democrats, and they strongly identify with the Democratic Party. Four out of every five Obama-to-nonvoters identify as Democrats, and 83 percent reported they would have voted for a Democrat down-ballot. A similar share of Obama-to-nonvoters said that they would have voted for Mrs. Clinton had they turned out to vote. In short, while reclaiming some Obama-to-Trump voters would be a big help to Democratic prospects, re-energizing 2012 Obama voters who stayed home is a more plausible path for the party going forward.