Monday, June 13, 2016
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Clinton may defeat herself
The Hill's Congress Blog ^ | June 10, 2016 | Robert Davis
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, presumptive Democratic nominee, theoretically should have little difficulty defeating Donald Trump. He smashed the old political paradigm, casting aside political niceties and engaging in the politics of fear and smear. Trump arguably is both a bully and duplicitous, hardly a role model. He has historically high unfavorable poll ratings with women, Hispanics and other minorities. His attacks on the Hispanic federal judge overseeing a civil suit against Trump University likely will send his negatives even higher. Trump faces daunting demographic obstacles and an Electoral College stacked against him. However, Clinton may be Democrats’ Achilles heel. She is an opposition researcher’s dream.
As a Republican TV ad states, Clinton embodies all that many Americans, Republicans and Sanders’ supporters alike, view as being wrong with politics. Early 20th century pundit HL Mencken wrote of the stereotypical political hack: “There is in him … no shadow of principle or honor. It is moral by his code to get into office by false pretenses. … It is moral to change convictions overnight. Anything is moral … to keep [his] place at the trough. … Power is the commodity he has for sale.” This summarizes negative perceptions of Clinton. She arguably is a denizen of a decadent establishment, having no core principles other than her sense of political entitlement and belief she is above the rules.
Trump aims to make Clinton politically toxic and drive up her unfavorable poll ratings. He doubtless wants to make her so politically radioactive that many Sanders’ supporters will sit out the election rather than support her. Trump knows he cannot win over millennials and young women, but likely hopes they will be so disillusioned with Clinton that many will not vote. He will aggressively seek further inroads among blue collar workers at Clinton’s expense.
Trump used the National Enquirer to smear Sen. Ted Cruz’s reputation, accusing Cruz’s father of complicity in the JFK assassination. Trump already is using the Enquirer to attack Clinton. He will use every means, fair and foul, to send her negative poll ratings into the stratosphere. Clinton has provided him ample ammunition.
Trump is already exploiting the 26 May State Department Inspector General’s (IG) report on Clinton’s private server and email. The report stated Clinton did not seek approval for her server and would not have received it if she had. It said she violated the Federal Records Act, as well as Freedom of Information Act rules. The IG added that her use of a private server placed classified information at risk.
There allegedly were some 2100 classified emails, including 22 containing Top Secret Special Access Program data. Clinton reportedly sent 104 classified emails. Former CIA Directors Gates, Hayden, and Morrell opined that Clinton jeopardized national security. Trump will accuse Clinton of placing herself, once again, above the law.
Trump will repeat Sanders’ allegations that Clinton is beholden to Wall Street. Hillary and former President Bill Clinton
reportedly earned over $150 million in speaker fees after he left the White House. All of the Clinton campaigns have had corporate backing. Trump is accusing Clinton of selling herself to the highest bidder.
The Clinton Foundation has received some $2 billion in donations. Expect Trump to accuse Clinton of betraying the public trust. The money, in the speaker fees and Foundation scandals, came from Wall Street, corporations and foreign donors. Bill Clinton and the Foundation reputedly received $100 million from Persian Gulf countries. Trump undoubtedly will charge that corporate and foreign money influenced Clinton’s decisions at the State Department.
Trump is accusing Bill Clinton of raping Juanita Broderick in the late 1970s. The Enquirer, whose owner is Trump’s friend, named 36 women whom it alleges were subjects of Bill Clinton’s sexual misbehavior. Trump is lambasting Clinton as her husband’s “enabler,” who orchestrated defamatory attacks on these women.
Expect Trump to re-litigate all of the Clinton scandals, including the cattle futures scandal, Troopergate, Travelgate, Whitewater, Vince Foster, Filegate, and Monica Lewinsky. Dredging up 1990s scandals may have little influence on older Americans’ votes. However, this is new terrain for millennials.
Clinton is the perfect foil for Trump. She remains the favorite to win the White House, barring a criminal referral or indictment regarding her private server or the Clinton Foundation and alleged influence peddling. However, Trump is evidently hoping the maladroit Clinton campaign will self-destruct faced with relentless attacks. Engaging in gutter politics, Trump hopes to destroy Clinton, knowing he cannot merely defeat her politically. Of course, he may self-destruct himself before he can implement this strategy.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, presumptive Democratic nominee, theoretically should have little difficulty defeating Donald Trump. He smashed the old political paradigm, casting aside political niceties and engaging in the politics of fear and smear. Trump arguably is both a bully and duplicitous, hardly a role model. He has historically high unfavorable poll ratings with women, Hispanics and other minorities. His attacks on the Hispanic federal judge overseeing a civil suit against Trump University likely will send his negatives even higher. Trump faces daunting demographic obstacles and an Electoral College stacked against him. However, Clinton may be Democrats’ Achilles heel. She is an opposition researcher’s dream.
As a Republican TV ad states, Clinton embodies all that many Americans, Republicans and Sanders’ supporters alike, view as being wrong with politics. Early 20th century pundit HL Mencken wrote of the stereotypical political hack: “There is in him … no shadow of principle or honor. It is moral by his code to get into office by false pretenses. … It is moral to change convictions overnight. Anything is moral … to keep [his] place at the trough. … Power is the commodity he has for sale.” This summarizes negative perceptions of Clinton. She arguably is a denizen of a decadent establishment, having no core principles other than her sense of political entitlement and belief she is above the rules.
Trump aims to make Clinton politically toxic and drive up her unfavorable poll ratings. He doubtless wants to make her so politically radioactive that many Sanders’ supporters will sit out the election rather than support her. Trump knows he cannot win over millennials and young women, but likely hopes they will be so disillusioned with Clinton that many will not vote. He will aggressively seek further inroads among blue collar workers at Clinton’s expense.
Trump used the National Enquirer to smear Sen. Ted Cruz’s reputation, accusing Cruz’s father of complicity in the JFK assassination. Trump already is using the Enquirer to attack Clinton. He will use every means, fair and foul, to send her negative poll ratings into the stratosphere. Clinton has provided him ample ammunition.
Trump is already exploiting the 26 May State Department Inspector General’s (IG) report on Clinton’s private server and email. The report stated Clinton did not seek approval for her server and would not have received it if she had. It said she violated the Federal Records Act, as well as Freedom of Information Act rules. The IG added that her use of a private server placed classified information at risk.
There allegedly were some 2100 classified emails, including 22 containing Top Secret Special Access Program data. Clinton reportedly sent 104 classified emails. Former CIA Directors Gates, Hayden, and Morrell opined that Clinton jeopardized national security. Trump will accuse Clinton of placing herself, once again, above the law.
Trump will repeat Sanders’ allegations that Clinton is beholden to Wall Street. Hillary and former President Bill Clinton
reportedly earned over $150 million in speaker fees after he left the White House. All of the Clinton campaigns have had corporate backing. Trump is accusing Clinton of selling herself to the highest bidder.
The Clinton Foundation has received some $2 billion in donations. Expect Trump to accuse Clinton of betraying the public trust. The money, in the speaker fees and Foundation scandals, came from Wall Street, corporations and foreign donors. Bill Clinton and the Foundation reputedly received $100 million from Persian Gulf countries. Trump undoubtedly will charge that corporate and foreign money influenced Clinton’s decisions at the State Department.
Trump is accusing Bill Clinton of raping Juanita Broderick in the late 1970s. The Enquirer, whose owner is Trump’s friend, named 36 women whom it alleges were subjects of Bill Clinton’s sexual misbehavior. Trump is lambasting Clinton as her husband’s “enabler,” who orchestrated defamatory attacks on these women.
Expect Trump to re-litigate all of the Clinton scandals, including the cattle futures scandal, Troopergate, Travelgate, Whitewater, Vince Foster, Filegate, and Monica Lewinsky. Dredging up 1990s scandals may have little influence on older Americans’ votes. However, this is new terrain for millennials.
Clinton is the perfect foil for Trump. She remains the favorite to win the White House, barring a criminal referral or indictment regarding her private server or the Clinton Foundation and alleged influence peddling. However, Trump is evidently hoping the maladroit Clinton campaign will self-destruct faced with relentless attacks. Engaging in gutter politics, Trump hopes to destroy Clinton, knowing he cannot merely defeat her politically. Of course, he may self-destruct himself before he can implement this strategy.
Trump Challenges Hillary: Stop Your Support for Refugee Program, Give the Money to Inner City Kids!
Breitbart ^ | June 10, 2016 | Julia Hahn
Donald Trump is calling on Hillary Clinton “to replace her support for increased refugee admissions… with a new job program for our inner cities.” Clinton “wants a 500% increase in Syrian refugees to come into our country,” Trump said at Friday’s Faith and Freedom Summit.
Clinton’s plan to resettle 65,000 Syrian migrants would cost U.S. taxpayers over $42 billion over the course of the migrants’ lifetimes, based on projections from Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Rector.
Trump said that rather than using taxpayer funds to import foreign migrants from terror-prone regions, Clinton should instead use the funds to help struggling Americans who are living in our inner cities.
“We have to take care of the people who are here,” Trump explained. “We have to temporarily stop this whole thing with what’s going on with refugees, where we don’t know where they come from… We have to take a rest. We have to take a time out. We have to use the money to take care of our poorest Americans and work with them, so they can come out of this horrible situation that they’re in.”(continued)
Donald Trump is calling on Hillary Clinton “to replace her support for increased refugee admissions… with a new job program for our inner cities.” Clinton “wants a 500% increase in Syrian refugees to come into our country,” Trump said at Friday’s Faith and Freedom Summit.
Clinton’s plan to resettle 65,000 Syrian migrants would cost U.S. taxpayers over $42 billion over the course of the migrants’ lifetimes, based on projections from Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Rector.
Trump said that rather than using taxpayer funds to import foreign migrants from terror-prone regions, Clinton should instead use the funds to help struggling Americans who are living in our inner cities.
“We have to take care of the people who are here,” Trump explained. “We have to temporarily stop this whole thing with what’s going on with refugees, where we don’t know where they come from… We have to take a rest. We have to take a time out. We have to use the money to take care of our poorest Americans and work with them, so they can come out of this horrible situation that they’re in.”(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Breaking: Hillary Clinton Sent Information Marked Classified!
The Observer/Fox News ^ | 06/11/16 10:15a | By Austin Bay
Fox News proves that emails marked 'Confidential' were among those stored and forwarded by former Secretary of State.
Once again Hillary’s been caught lying about her criminal mishandling of classified national security information. Recall that Ms. Clinton swears none of the emails which passed through her off-the-record email server system was ever marked classified.
Fox News gets the credit. In an exclusive report published June 11, Fox News revealed that one of Ms. Clinton’s emails had a “portion marking” that identified the specific information contained in the “portion” as being classified. That means the information was sensitive and was legally protected.
The information had the lowest level of classification, Confidential. It discussed a phone call with the president of Malawi, Joyce Banda. Fox News included an information-rich screen shot of the email.
Let’s take a quick trip through the email. The original email with the classified information marking was sent on April 8, 2012, when Clinton was still the Secretary of State.
The original email has an uncomfortable typo, given Benghazi, where people died then Hillary lied. The sender, Monica Hanley, clearly meant time “windows” but, well, here’s the typo. Should the 7:30 AM time window not work for Clinton “we will find other widows that work for you tomorrow.”
Hanley cc’d Huma Abedin, one of Clinton’s chief accomplices.
Follow the trail of evidence: Clinton appears right there in the email thread, responding on April 8, 2012 at 10:37 pm. “7:30 works for me,” Clinton writes, confirming she has an available time “widow” for a phone call whose purpose is classified CONFIDENTIAL.
Fox News proves that emails marked 'Confidential' were among those stored and forwarded by former Secretary of State.
Once again Hillary’s been caught lying about her criminal mishandling of classified national security information. Recall that Ms. Clinton swears none of the emails which passed through her off-the-record email server system was ever marked classified.
Fox News gets the credit. In an exclusive report published June 11, Fox News revealed that one of Ms. Clinton’s emails had a “portion marking” that identified the specific information contained in the “portion” as being classified. That means the information was sensitive and was legally protected.
The information had the lowest level of classification, Confidential. It discussed a phone call with the president of Malawi, Joyce Banda. Fox News included an information-rich screen shot of the email.
Let’s take a quick trip through the email. The original email with the classified information marking was sent on April 8, 2012, when Clinton was still the Secretary of State.
The original email has an uncomfortable typo, given Benghazi, where people died then Hillary lied. The sender, Monica Hanley, clearly meant time “windows” but, well, here’s the typo. Should the 7:30 AM time window not work for Clinton “we will find other widows that work for you tomorrow.”
Hanley cc’d Huma Abedin, one of Clinton’s chief accomplices.
Follow the trail of evidence: Clinton appears right there in the email thread, responding on April 8, 2012 at 10:37 pm. “7:30 works for me,” Clinton writes, confirming she has an available time “widow” for a phone call whose purpose is classified CONFIDENTIAL.
(Excerpt) Read more at observer.com ...
Should Men Always Pay for Dates?
Acculturated ^ | June 10, 2016
I’ve recently had occasion to think about dating and its attendant rituals for a piece in this magazine, and so my eye was caught, the other week, by an article in the New York Post that suggested that one of the institution’s foremost traditions might be undergoing some change.
“Cheap Bros Have Found a New Way to Get Out of Paying for Dates,” the headline read. In the fashion of a modern-day fable, the piece quotes three young women who had gone out with three young men. Each guy paid for his date’s dinner or drinks, as guys who go out with women are generally expected to do. Each then used Venmo, the peer-to-peer payment app, to request that his date reimburse her share after the fact.
The women were outraged and contemptuous. “I do not have time for scrubs,” one said, speaking for all. They had expected to be treated, not treated as debtors.
I know, I know: a trend piece does not a trend make. The quirks of a few often get mistaken for the habits of many. Recall one of the genre’s preëminent cautionary tales, the 2014 Times piece that announced the return of the monocleas a men’s fashion item but failed to find more than one dude who would actually cop to wearing one, which is still one more monocle-wearing dude than I’ve ever seen. So the Post’s Venmo exposé may be just another report about a thing that isn’t a thing. But should it be one?
I confess that my sympathies are split here. On the one hand, voluntarily paying for your date’s three-dollar drink, as one of the men in question did, only to demand reimbursement the next day is an act of pure pettiness. The Post fails to mention which emojis were used to call in that particular debt, but let’s assume we’re looking at the tequila-sunrise glass paired with the smiley face with a dollar bill for eyes and tongue, the better to add insult to injury.
On the other hand, requesting repayment through Venmo underscores the absurdity of the consensus that, when it comes to the transaction known as the heterosexual date, men must bear the full financial burden, and thus wield full purchasing power. You might argue that, because women tend to spend more on personal preparation, it’s only fair that men should bear the cost of the event itself. Really, though, that’s looking at things through the wrong end of the telescope. If it’s taken for granted that the costs of the date are to be assumed by only one person, that person may feel himself entitled to whatever he considers to be a good return on his investment. A guy who seeks recourse through Venmo the morning after is a guy who doesn’t think he got his money’s worth the night before.
I’ve recently had occasion to think about dating and its attendant rituals for a piece in this magazine, and so my eye was caught, the other week, by an article in the New York Post that suggested that one of the institution’s foremost traditions might be undergoing some change.
“Cheap Bros Have Found a New Way to Get Out of Paying for Dates,” the headline read. In the fashion of a modern-day fable, the piece quotes three young women who had gone out with three young men. Each guy paid for his date’s dinner or drinks, as guys who go out with women are generally expected to do. Each then used Venmo, the peer-to-peer payment app, to request that his date reimburse her share after the fact.
The women were outraged and contemptuous. “I do not have time for scrubs,” one said, speaking for all. They had expected to be treated, not treated as debtors.
I know, I know: a trend piece does not a trend make. The quirks of a few often get mistaken for the habits of many. Recall one of the genre’s preëminent cautionary tales, the 2014 Times piece that announced the return of the monocleas a men’s fashion item but failed to find more than one dude who would actually cop to wearing one, which is still one more monocle-wearing dude than I’ve ever seen. So the Post’s Venmo exposé may be just another report about a thing that isn’t a thing. But should it be one?
I confess that my sympathies are split here. On the one hand, voluntarily paying for your date’s three-dollar drink, as one of the men in question did, only to demand reimbursement the next day is an act of pure pettiness. The Post fails to mention which emojis were used to call in that particular debt, but let’s assume we’re looking at the tequila-sunrise glass paired with the smiley face with a dollar bill for eyes and tongue, the better to add insult to injury.
On the other hand, requesting repayment through Venmo underscores the absurdity of the consensus that, when it comes to the transaction known as the heterosexual date, men must bear the full financial burden, and thus wield full purchasing power. You might argue that, because women tend to spend more on personal preparation, it’s only fair that men should bear the cost of the event itself. Really, though, that’s looking at things through the wrong end of the telescope. If it’s taken for granted that the costs of the date are to be assumed by only one person, that person may feel himself entitled to whatever he considers to be a good return on his investment. A guy who seeks recourse through Venmo the morning after is a guy who doesn’t think he got his money’s worth the night before.
Saturday, June 11, 2016
At Richmond rally, Trump rips McAuliffe's rights restoration order (felons can vote)
Richmond Times-Dispatch ^ | 6/11/16 | Jim Nolan
At Richmond rally, Trump rips McAuliffe's rights restoration order
By JIM NOLAN Richmond Times-Dispatch | Posted: Friday, June 10, 2016 9:30 pm
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump brought his campaign to Richmond on Friday night, and ripped Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s order restoring the rights of more than 200,000 felons who have served their time.
“We’ve got to win this state of Virginia,” Trump said early in his remarks at the Richmond Coliseum.
“This whole thing with the prisoners (is) not sounding too good, right?
Where murderers can vote and all these people can vote, I don’t think so,” he said. “ I don’t know; doesn’t sound good.
“Hopefully the court will act quickly — 200,000 people and many of these people, look, it’s not supposed to be the way it works, folks.” GOP leaders in the state legislature have filed suit in the state Supreme Court to block the Democratic governor’s order, which they say exceeds his authority under the state constitution.
Republicans also charge that McAuliffe’s motive is to speed registration of thousands of new voters to help his friend, Hillary Clinton, win Virginia in November. McAuliffe says his action was not politically motivated and that it was the right thing to do.
Trump and Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, are stepping up their efforts in Virginia, one of a handful of swing states that are likely to determine the outcome of the Nov. 8 election.
Trump is embarking on a week of visits to swing states, including Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and North Carolina. Clinton’s Virginia campaign terms this her Virginia Kickoff Weekend, with phone banks and voter registration events in Richmond, Alexandria, Norfolk, Staunton, Fredericksburg, Blacksburg and Winchester.
“We love you, Richmond, and we love you, Virginia,” said Trump, who touted his Trump Winery in Albemarle County and his golf course in Loudoun County.
“Over the next five months, I’m going to be here a lot,” Trump said.
“You’re going to be so sick of me in Virginia. You’re going to say, ‘Please don’t come back. Please don’t come back,’” he said.
During his stump speech, Trump derided President Barack Obama as “incompetent,” termed Clinton “crooked,” and called Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., “Pocahontas.” Warren has said she has Native American heritage.
Trump said he would “love it” if Clinton chose Warren as her running mate, calling Warren “one of the worst senators in the entire United States.” Trump’s rally at the Coliseum was his third stop in Virginia on Friday.
He first met with key members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., at the Williamsburg Inn, then held a fundraiser at the Richmond International Airport for high-dollar donors, who put up $25,000 per couple, $10,000 per photo or $2,700 to be at the “VIP Roundtable” for access to the reality TV celebrity and billionaire.
At the Richmond Coliseum, Trump supporters toted signs that read: “The Silent Majority Stands with Trump” — though some would-be supporters may have been distracted by a weekend trip to the beach, high school graduations or the Tim McGraw concert at Altria Theater.
Security was heavy, with Richmond Police, State Police and the U.S. Secret Service congregated at every curve of the Coliseum, inside and out.
Obama, who endorsed Clinton this week, carried Virginia in 2008 and in 2012. Clinton has the backing of the state’s top-tier Democrats, including McAuliffe, who led Clinton’s 2008 bid for the Democratic nomination; and Sens. Timothy M. Kaine and Mark R. Warner, both touted as potential running mates for Clinton.
At the Coliseum on Friday, Trump picked up the endorsement of state Sen. Richard H. Black, R-Loudoun, who had been a key backer of Sen. Ted Cruz’s Virginia campaign.
The rally drew vocal but limited numbers that occupied about two-thirds of the floor in the Coliseum and left a number of seating sections on the lower level unoccupied.
Black, a Vietnam veteran, met in April with Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom Black sees as a protector of minority Christians.
Black said Friday that if Clinton, a former secretary of state, were elected, she would “stack the U.S. Supreme Court with Marxists like you’ve never seen before.”
Corey Stewart, a Prince William County supervisor who heads Trump’s Virginia campaign and is seeking the GOP nomination for governor in 2017, made reference to the private email scandal that has dogged Clinton.
“No one is more qualified to go to prison,” said Stewart, referring to Obama’s endorsement of Clinton as the most qualified candidate to run for the White House.
Many high-profile Republicans have recently criticized Trump for arguing that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel has a conflict of interest in presiding over cases against Trump University because of his Mexican heritage. The judge was born in Indiana.
At the Richmond rally Friday night, Trump said he is “the least racist person that you’ve ever seen.”
Before Trump’s event, a handful of Richmond-area Democrats held a brief rally of their own outside the Coliseum, where they denounced Trump as misogynistic and a threat to women’s health due to his views against abortion.
“Donald Trump has consistently diminished the role, the authority, the intellect, the character of women,” said Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond.
A group of Democratic protesters stood behind a fence and chanted as Trump fans walked toward the arena. The group held signs reading “Trump’s agenda: Punish women.”
“For the health and safety of all Virginia women, we must repudiate Mr. Trump and the Virginia GOP’s dangerous views,” said Del. Jennifer L. McClellan, D-Richmond.
“Trump has said that without the women’s card, Hillary would not be a viable person to even run a city council,” said Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, who is running for Congress in the 4th District.
“Dismissing the most qualified candidate in history because she is a woman may be outlandish for everyone else, but not for Donald Trump.” Trump stayed for 20 minutes after speaking, signing autographs on “Make America Great Again” hats and Trump campaign signs.
“I think he’s the man for the country” said Chesterfield resident John Gunsolley, 42, an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention from the 7th District, who was among the hundreds hoping to press flesh with the candidate.
“We need a change in Washington, and Hillary doesn’t provide that.” Nicole O’Keefe and her family came away with a Trump autograph, and confidence that Trump, in her estimation, means what he says.
“He really wants to make America great again — he really does,” she said.
“He says what middle-class America is totally feeling, about politicians, Washington. You just can’t trust them.”
Not everyone in attendance was persuaded Trump will get the chance to “make America great again.”
“He spent too much time attacking other people rather than saying his vision,” said Stephanie Jarrett, 22, who came from Fairfax County with two girlfriends to see Trump.
Jarrett, a Republican who previously supported Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said she was disappointed in the size of the crowd. She said that once supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., unite behind Clinton, the turnout for Democrats will carry them to victory.
“He won’t win,” Jarrett said of Trump. “But he’s my candidate, and he attracts so much attention it’s just exciting,” she observed, a ’70s rock blared in the emptying Coliseum. “It’s a Trump epidemic.”
At Richmond rally, Trump rips McAuliffe's rights restoration order
By JIM NOLAN Richmond Times-Dispatch | Posted: Friday, June 10, 2016 9:30 pm
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump brought his campaign to Richmond on Friday night, and ripped Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s order restoring the rights of more than 200,000 felons who have served their time.
“We’ve got to win this state of Virginia,” Trump said early in his remarks at the Richmond Coliseum.
“This whole thing with the prisoners (is) not sounding too good, right?
Where murderers can vote and all these people can vote, I don’t think so,” he said. “ I don’t know; doesn’t sound good.
“Hopefully the court will act quickly — 200,000 people and many of these people, look, it’s not supposed to be the way it works, folks.” GOP leaders in the state legislature have filed suit in the state Supreme Court to block the Democratic governor’s order, which they say exceeds his authority under the state constitution.
Republicans also charge that McAuliffe’s motive is to speed registration of thousands of new voters to help his friend, Hillary Clinton, win Virginia in November. McAuliffe says his action was not politically motivated and that it was the right thing to do.
Trump and Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, are stepping up their efforts in Virginia, one of a handful of swing states that are likely to determine the outcome of the Nov. 8 election.
Trump is embarking on a week of visits to swing states, including Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and North Carolina. Clinton’s Virginia campaign terms this her Virginia Kickoff Weekend, with phone banks and voter registration events in Richmond, Alexandria, Norfolk, Staunton, Fredericksburg, Blacksburg and Winchester.
“We love you, Richmond, and we love you, Virginia,” said Trump, who touted his Trump Winery in Albemarle County and his golf course in Loudoun County.
“Over the next five months, I’m going to be here a lot,” Trump said.
“You’re going to be so sick of me in Virginia. You’re going to say, ‘Please don’t come back. Please don’t come back,’” he said.
During his stump speech, Trump derided President Barack Obama as “incompetent,” termed Clinton “crooked,” and called Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., “Pocahontas.” Warren has said she has Native American heritage.
Trump said he would “love it” if Clinton chose Warren as her running mate, calling Warren “one of the worst senators in the entire United States.” Trump’s rally at the Coliseum was his third stop in Virginia on Friday.
He first met with key members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., at the Williamsburg Inn, then held a fundraiser at the Richmond International Airport for high-dollar donors, who put up $25,000 per couple, $10,000 per photo or $2,700 to be at the “VIP Roundtable” for access to the reality TV celebrity and billionaire.
At the Richmond Coliseum, Trump supporters toted signs that read: “The Silent Majority Stands with Trump” — though some would-be supporters may have been distracted by a weekend trip to the beach, high school graduations or the Tim McGraw concert at Altria Theater.
Security was heavy, with Richmond Police, State Police and the U.S. Secret Service congregated at every curve of the Coliseum, inside and out.
Obama, who endorsed Clinton this week, carried Virginia in 2008 and in 2012. Clinton has the backing of the state’s top-tier Democrats, including McAuliffe, who led Clinton’s 2008 bid for the Democratic nomination; and Sens. Timothy M. Kaine and Mark R. Warner, both touted as potential running mates for Clinton.
At the Coliseum on Friday, Trump picked up the endorsement of state Sen. Richard H. Black, R-Loudoun, who had been a key backer of Sen. Ted Cruz’s Virginia campaign.
The rally drew vocal but limited numbers that occupied about two-thirds of the floor in the Coliseum and left a number of seating sections on the lower level unoccupied.
Black, a Vietnam veteran, met in April with Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom Black sees as a protector of minority Christians.
Black said Friday that if Clinton, a former secretary of state, were elected, she would “stack the U.S. Supreme Court with Marxists like you’ve never seen before.”
Corey Stewart, a Prince William County supervisor who heads Trump’s Virginia campaign and is seeking the GOP nomination for governor in 2017, made reference to the private email scandal that has dogged Clinton.
“No one is more qualified to go to prison,” said Stewart, referring to Obama’s endorsement of Clinton as the most qualified candidate to run for the White House.
Many high-profile Republicans have recently criticized Trump for arguing that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel has a conflict of interest in presiding over cases against Trump University because of his Mexican heritage. The judge was born in Indiana.
At the Richmond rally Friday night, Trump said he is “the least racist person that you’ve ever seen.”
Before Trump’s event, a handful of Richmond-area Democrats held a brief rally of their own outside the Coliseum, where they denounced Trump as misogynistic and a threat to women’s health due to his views against abortion.
“Donald Trump has consistently diminished the role, the authority, the intellect, the character of women,” said Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond.
A group of Democratic protesters stood behind a fence and chanted as Trump fans walked toward the arena. The group held signs reading “Trump’s agenda: Punish women.”
“For the health and safety of all Virginia women, we must repudiate Mr. Trump and the Virginia GOP’s dangerous views,” said Del. Jennifer L. McClellan, D-Richmond.
“Trump has said that without the women’s card, Hillary would not be a viable person to even run a city council,” said Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, who is running for Congress in the 4th District.
“Dismissing the most qualified candidate in history because she is a woman may be outlandish for everyone else, but not for Donald Trump.” Trump stayed for 20 minutes after speaking, signing autographs on “Make America Great Again” hats and Trump campaign signs.
“I think he’s the man for the country” said Chesterfield resident John Gunsolley, 42, an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention from the 7th District, who was among the hundreds hoping to press flesh with the candidate.
“We need a change in Washington, and Hillary doesn’t provide that.” Nicole O’Keefe and her family came away with a Trump autograph, and confidence that Trump, in her estimation, means what he says.
“He really wants to make America great again — he really does,” she said.
“He says what middle-class America is totally feeling, about politicians, Washington. You just can’t trust them.”
Not everyone in attendance was persuaded Trump will get the chance to “make America great again.”
“He spent too much time attacking other people rather than saying his vision,” said Stephanie Jarrett, 22, who came from Fairfax County with two girlfriends to see Trump.
Jarrett, a Republican who previously supported Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said she was disappointed in the size of the crowd. She said that once supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., unite behind Clinton, the turnout for Democrats will carry them to victory.
“He won’t win,” Jarrett said of Trump. “But he’s my candidate, and he attracts so much attention it’s just exciting,” she observed, a ’70s rock blared in the emptying Coliseum. “It’s a Trump epidemic.”
Media Gives Clinton Total Pass on $12,000 Armani Jacket, But Pounded Palin in ’08!
Mediate ^ | June 8th, 2016 | Joe Concha
The time was eight years ago. The scene: An Alaska consignment shop. Reporters far and wide ran to the Land of the Midnight Sun to do what reporters do: Go straight to the source, get the facts. This was a huge story, one of national importance, after all…
CBS News Headline: Just one week before the 2008 election:
Palin’s Consignment Shop’s Owner Speaks
The CBS News reporter sent was Julie Chen. Her pointed questions included:
“So how long has Governor Palin shopped at your store?”
“What does she usually buy at your store?”
“And does she also shop for her entire family there?”
“What is the price range of your women’s wear?”
“And how much does Governor Palin typically spend at your store?”
“And would you say your clothes look much different than what we’ve been seeing her wear on the campaign trail?”
The time was eight years ago. The scene: An Alaska consignment shop. Reporters far and wide ran to the Land of the Midnight Sun to do what reporters do: Go straight to the source, get the facts. This was a huge story, one of national importance, after all…
CBS News Headline: Just one week before the 2008 election:
Palin’s Consignment Shop’s Owner Speaks
The CBS News reporter sent was Julie Chen. Her pointed questions included:
“So how long has Governor Palin shopped at your store?”
“What does she usually buy at your store?”
“And does she also shop for her entire family there?”
“What is the price range of your women’s wear?”
“And how much does Governor Palin typically spend at your store?”
“And would you say your clothes look much different than what we’ve been seeing her wear on the campaign trail?”
(Excerpt) Read more at mediaite.com ...
First U.S. testing of a man-carrying drone planned for later this year in Nevada (looks like a TH-55)
ZME Science ^ | June 8, 2016 | Elaine Kauh
First U.S. testing of a man-carrying drone planned for later this year in Nevada
Alexandru Micu June 8, 2016
The Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems has granted permission to Chinese drone company EHang to test its on-demand, passenger-carrying aerial vehicle inside state boundaries. This marks the first time a passenger-carrying drone has ever been tested anywhere in the United States.
Chinese company EHang received testing rights for its EHang 184 model inside the state of Nevada on Monday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The vehicle is an autonomous human sized drone, which EHang was very happy to hail as the future of personal transport at the CES 2016 conference in Las Vegas. The company already produces a consumer model known as the “Ghost Drone,” which lead some to believe that the 184 is more of a marketing tool for their regular product.
Well, the vehicle certainly is eye-catching.
First U.S. testing of a man-carrying drone planned for later this year in Nevada
Alexandru Micu June 8, 2016
The Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems has granted permission to Chinese drone company EHang to test its on-demand, passenger-carrying aerial vehicle inside state boundaries. This marks the first time a passenger-carrying drone has ever been tested anywhere in the United States.
Chinese company EHang received testing rights for its EHang 184 model inside the state of Nevada on Monday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The vehicle is an autonomous human sized drone, which EHang was very happy to hail as the future of personal transport at the CES 2016 conference in Las Vegas. The company already produces a consumer model known as the “Ghost Drone,” which lead some to believe that the 184 is more of a marketing tool for their regular product.
Well, the vehicle certainly is eye-catching.
(Excerpt) Read more at zmescience.com ...
Friday, June 10, 2016
Trump is a voice for the victims of the social-justice warriors!
The New York Post ^ | June 9, 2016 | David Kaufman
Conventional wisdom — at least as defined by MSNBC — dictates that Donald Trump has offended so many potential voters that Hillary Clinton is virtually guaranteed to sweep into the White House in a tide of progressive, populist unity.
But what if Trump’s outrageousness truly captures America’s current cultural climate — and Clinton’s carefully curated “kumbaya” coalition is actually the outlier?
It’s not so crazy. And in fact, it’s a climate liberals should recognize: Trump is doing what Democrats have long claimed to do by giving voice to the voiceless.
And as much as Trump might alienate and appall, his iconoclastic campaign aligns with what many across America are already thinking. It’s a stark (if, for many, disheartening) reading of the nation’s social barometer.
But one that Clinton ignores at her own — and her party’s — peril.
According to a series of recent studies, “racial anxiety” more than economic uncertainty is the key driver of potential Trump support. Polls by both The Washington Post and Hamilton College political scientist Philip Klinkner reveal that more than 40 percent of Trump fans believed white peoples’ struggles resulted from “preferences for blacks and Hispanics.”
But it’s about more than race. Trump is speaking for a large segment of Americans who’ve been silenced by an over-reaching identity-politics industry....
Conventional wisdom — at least as defined by MSNBC — dictates that Donald Trump has offended so many potential voters that Hillary Clinton is virtually guaranteed to sweep into the White House in a tide of progressive, populist unity.
But what if Trump’s outrageousness truly captures America’s current cultural climate — and Clinton’s carefully curated “kumbaya” coalition is actually the outlier?
It’s not so crazy. And in fact, it’s a climate liberals should recognize: Trump is doing what Democrats have long claimed to do by giving voice to the voiceless.
And as much as Trump might alienate and appall, his iconoclastic campaign aligns with what many across America are already thinking. It’s a stark (if, for many, disheartening) reading of the nation’s social barometer.
But one that Clinton ignores at her own — and her party’s — peril.
According to a series of recent studies, “racial anxiety” more than economic uncertainty is the key driver of potential Trump support. Polls by both The Washington Post and Hamilton College political scientist Philip Klinkner reveal that more than 40 percent of Trump fans believed white peoples’ struggles resulted from “preferences for blacks and Hispanics.”
But it’s about more than race. Trump is speaking for a large segment of Americans who’ve been silenced by an over-reaching identity-politics industry....
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Obama Administration Looks to Cement Ethnic Divides With Language Mandate
The Daily Signal ^ | June 8, 2016 | Mike Gonzalez
The Obama administration seems to live in a parallel reality, oblivious to the racial animus that has become the hallmark of late-stage Obama and to the ethnic strife that wreaks havoc on the rest of the world. Inside its own Platonic cave, the thinking is: Over half the world is polyglot, so why not us?
Its latest policy statement, issued jointly late last week by the departments of Education and Health and Human Services, advises states to instruct early childhood students in home languages different from English, and to help them retain separate cultural attachments.
The administration warns that “not recognizing children’s cultures and languages as assets” may be hurting them with school work. “Over half the world’s population is estimated to be bilingual or multilingual,” the statement lectures almost plaintively.
The answer is to celebrate and preserve the differences of dual language learners, or children who speak a different language at home.
The policy statement calls for a range of practices, from creating curricula and educational systems that “support children’s home language development,” to urging states to hire more teachers who “speak the language and/or share the cultural background of children who are DLLs [dual language learners] in the community.”
States must move with alacrity because these children will soon make up a “sizable proportion of the workforce” and their linguistic and cultural assets will be needed in an “evolving global economy.”
“The growing diversity of our nation’s children requires that we shift the status quo,” says the statement, in order to “build a future workforce that is rich in diversity, heritage, cultural tradition, and language.”
Tolerance and respect are not sufficient—early childhood programs must “embrace and celebrate their diversity.”
The Obama administration seems to live in a parallel reality, oblivious to the racial animus that has become the hallmark of late-stage Obama and to the ethnic strife that wreaks havoc on the rest of the world. Inside its own Platonic cave, the thinking is: Over half the world is polyglot, so why not us?
Its latest policy statement, issued jointly late last week by the departments of Education and Health and Human Services, advises states to instruct early childhood students in home languages different from English, and to help them retain separate cultural attachments.
The administration warns that “not recognizing children’s cultures and languages as assets” may be hurting them with school work. “Over half the world’s population is estimated to be bilingual or multilingual,” the statement lectures almost plaintively.
The answer is to celebrate and preserve the differences of dual language learners, or children who speak a different language at home.
The policy statement calls for a range of practices, from creating curricula and educational systems that “support children’s home language development,” to urging states to hire more teachers who “speak the language and/or share the cultural background of children who are DLLs [dual language learners] in the community.”
States must move with alacrity because these children will soon make up a “sizable proportion of the workforce” and their linguistic and cultural assets will be needed in an “evolving global economy.”
“The growing diversity of our nation’s children requires that we shift the status quo,” says the statement, in order to “build a future workforce that is rich in diversity, heritage, cultural tradition, and language.”
Tolerance and respect are not sufficient—early childhood programs must “embrace and celebrate their diversity.”
(Excerpt) Read more at dailysignal.com ...
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Donald Trump’s Advice to Panicked Republicans: Man Up!
MSN News ^ | 8 June 2016 | CARL HULSE
Donald J. Trump has some advice for panicked Republicans in Washington who are melting down over his most incendiary statements:
Man up.
“Politicians are so politically correct anymore, they can’t breathe,”Mr. Trump said in an interview Tuesday afternoon as fellow Republicans forcefully protested his ethnically charged criticism of a federal judge overseeing a lawsuit against the defunct Trump University.
“The people are tired of this political correctness when things are said that are totally fine,” he said during an interlude in a day of exceptional stress in the Trump campaign. “It is out of control. It is gridlock with their mouths.”
Donald J. Trump has some advice for panicked Republicans in Washington who are melting down over his most incendiary statements:
Man up.
“Politicians are so politically correct anymore, they can’t breathe,”Mr. Trump said in an interview Tuesday afternoon as fellow Republicans forcefully protested his ethnically charged criticism of a federal judge overseeing a lawsuit against the defunct Trump University.
“The people are tired of this political correctness when things are said that are totally fine,” he said during an interlude in a day of exceptional stress in the Trump campaign. “It is out of control. It is gridlock with their mouths.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
The incredible crushing despair of the white working class
The Washington Post's Wonkblog ^ | June 7, 2016 | Christopher Ingraham
Americans today say they are generally optimistic about their futures, according to Gallup polling. But one group in particular -- poor white Americans -- has a shockingly dismal view of what the future holds for them. And this pessimism among poor whites goes a long way toward explaining the strange political moment we find ourselves in, one in which Donald Trump surged to the top of the Republican primary ticket by tapping into a deep vein of racial anxiety among the nation's working class.
Carol Graham, a happiness researcher at the Brookings Institution, recently analyzed Gallup's data on life satisfaction and found that when it comes to their outlook on the future, the most desperate groups are poor and near-poor whites.
Gallup asks people to rate their current lives on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst possible life they could be living and 10 is the best. Crucially, they also ask people to imagine what their lives will look like five years in the future.
Among the poor, whites are the demographic group least likely to imagine a better future for themselves, Graham found. Poor Hispanics were about 30 percent more likely to imagine a better future than poor whites. The difference for poor blacks was even larger: They were nearly three times as likely to imagine a better future than poor whites....
Americans today say they are generally optimistic about their futures, according to Gallup polling. But one group in particular -- poor white Americans -- has a shockingly dismal view of what the future holds for them. And this pessimism among poor whites goes a long way toward explaining the strange political moment we find ourselves in, one in which Donald Trump surged to the top of the Republican primary ticket by tapping into a deep vein of racial anxiety among the nation's working class.
Carol Graham, a happiness researcher at the Brookings Institution, recently analyzed Gallup's data on life satisfaction and found that when it comes to their outlook on the future, the most desperate groups are poor and near-poor whites.
Gallup asks people to rate their current lives on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst possible life they could be living and 10 is the best. Crucially, they also ask people to imagine what their lives will look like five years in the future.
Among the poor, whites are the demographic group least likely to imagine a better future for themselves, Graham found. Poor Hispanics were about 30 percent more likely to imagine a better future than poor whites. The difference for poor blacks was even larger: They were nearly three times as likely to imagine a better future than poor whites....
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Goldman Crushes Democrat's Dreams: Shows Obamacare Has Cost "A Few Hundred Thousand Jobs"
Zero Hedge ^ | Jun 8, 2016 | Tyler Durden
We suspect Lloyd Blankfein will be receiving a call from The White House (or Treasury) very soon as Goldman Sachs' economists did the unthinkable in the age of political correctness - while investigating the state of under-employment in America, the smartest people in the room found that ObamaCare has led to a rise in involuntary part-time employment, estimating that "a few hundred thousand workers" have been forced to cut hours and has "created disincentives for full-time employment."
Goldman's Jan Hatzius explains that they find mixed evidence to support the theory that the employer mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has contributed to the elevated level of involuntary part-time work.
We suspect Lloyd Blankfein will be receiving a call from The White House (or Treasury) very soon as Goldman Sachs' economists did the unthinkable in the age of political correctness - while investigating the state of under-employment in America, the smartest people in the room found that ObamaCare has led to a rise in involuntary part-time employment, estimating that "a few hundred thousand workers" have been forced to cut hours and has "created disincentives for full-time employment."
Goldman's Jan Hatzius explains that they find mixed evidence to support the theory that the employer mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has contributed to the elevated level of involuntary part-time work.
Their research into the relative slack in the labor force notes that...Our estimates of the effect by industry do show signs of an effect, particularly among the sectors that had the greatest gaps in required health insurance coverage prior to implementation of the mandate, but the relationship is weak.
It is possible that the level of involuntary part-time workers could be a few hundred thousand higher than it would be otherwise as a result of the mandate, which is a small share of the 6.4 million workers employed part-time involuntarily, but potentially a much larger share of the “underemployment gap”.
As Goldman concludes...The share of workers who would like to work full-time but are only able to find part-time work for economic reasons has declined much more slowly than the unemployment rate, raising the possibility that structural factors could be keeping the involuntary part-time rate elevated (Exhibit 1). If true, this would suggest that there is currently even less slack remaining in the labor market than we have assumed.
One potential explanation of the structural rise in the ratio of share of part-time to full-time employment is the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
In principle, the ACA should increase part-time employment as a share of total employment, from both the demand and supply side.
- On the demand side, some employers that do not offer health insurance coverage for full-time employees may seek to avoid penalties by relying on part-time labor instead.
- On the supply side, the ACA potentially creates disincentives for full-time employment, as it increases the implicit tax on marginal low- and middle- income earnings by reducing subsidies as incomes rise. It also loosens the link between employment and health insurance coverage - coverage can now be purchased more easily away from one’s employer - which may allow some who previously worked full-time for the offered health benefits to now work part-time instead. However, these supply-side effects should not be contributing to the elevated level of involuntary part-time work.
There goes Blankfein's invite to Hillary's inauguration.Overall we believe that the evidence suggests that the ACA has at least modestly elevated involuntary part-time employment.
While the effect is hard to quantify given the apparently loose relationship just noted, we would estimate that a few hundred thousand workers might be working part-time involuntarily as a result of the ACA. We reach this estimate by multiplying the difference between the actual and estimated involuntary part-time workers in the five sectors most affected by the ACA mandate by total employment in those sectors. We can reach a similar estimate by dividing the sectors into two groups weighted equally by total employment, and subtracting the difference between actual and estimated involuntary part-time employment in the less-affected group by the difference in the more affected group. These admittedly rough measures fall in the middle of the few academic studies on the topic, and suggest that while the effect of the ACA employer mandate is small compared to the total number of the 6.4 million workers employed part-time for economic reasons, it could constitute a more significant share of the estimated remaining “underemployment gap.”
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