May 28, 2016

Sanders calls for ouster of Gov. Malloy and Barney Franks

Here is the link to the letter:


(Turns out it was more than a link!)




http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Sanders-calls-for-Malloy-s-ouster-from-7950728.php

A lawyer for the Vermont senator sent a four-page letter Friday to convention officials challenging the credentials of Malloy to serve as co-chairman of the platform committee.

The letter singled-out Malloy and former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, who was tapped as co-chairman of the rules committee for the July convention in Philadelphia.

“Gov. Malloy and Mr. Frank have both been aggressive attack surrogates for the Clinton campaign,” wrote Brad Deutsch, the legal counsel for the Sanders campaign. “Their criticisms of Senator Sanders have gone beyond the dispassionate ideological disagreement and have exposed a deeper professional, political and personal hostility toward the Senator and his Campaign.”

___________________________________________

And here is the Barney Frank interview that Sanders lawyer is referring to.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2016/03/barney_frank_is_not_impressed_by_bernie_sanders.html

May 28, 2016

Tad Devine, top Bernie advisor, was "instrumental in the creation of the superdelegate process."

And yet the Sanders campaign can't stop complaining about how the system was "rigged." Why did you rig the system, Tad Devine?

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/superdelegates-center-democratic-nomination-fight-again

The superdelegates became part of the Democratic nominating process in 1982 to ensure the Democratic party has input on who the nominee is. They wanted to prevent another election like 1972’s when George McGovern won the Democratic nomination, but lost every state minus one.

Ironically, Tad Devine, Sanders’ top adviser, who was instrumental in the creation of the superdelegate process, defended their existence.

“It’s pretty hard to win a nomination in a contested race and almost impossible to win without the superdelegeates,” Devine said in 2008 in an interview on NPR.

May 28, 2016

Before Bernie called for breaking up the banks, he called for seizing family-owned wealth --

specifically, for breaking up the great wealth owned by the Rockefeller family.

If Bernie had won the nomination, this would be one of the many revelations in the general election -- one that middle of the road independents and most Democrats (except those on the farthest left) would strongly object to.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2853720/fri_june_28_1974_bennington_banner/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/bernie-sanders-radical-past-how-the-vermont-230255076.html

Sanders’ second main theme in his 1974 Senate race was what the Bennington Banner called his “own pet issue,” the “incredible economic power of the Rockefeller family.” As a presidential candidate and member of Congress, Sanders has assailed the influence billionaires and megadonors hold over American politics and media. However, his plan for the Rockefellers went much further, with Sanders implying he would push to have the family’s fortune used to fund government programs. In a 1974 press release, Sanders said “the incredible wealth and power of this family must be broken up.” The Rockefellers’ billions should be “used to create a decent standard of living for all people” by being redirected toward government social programs for the elderly or lower taxes.

Sanders was in the middle of running on an anti-Rockefeller platform in August 1974 when reports began to emerge that President Ford planned to nominate Nelson Rockefeller to be his vice president after the impeachment and resignation of President Nixon. Sanders was apoplectic and sent a letter to Ford urging him to pick someone else because “the Rockefellers are already the richest and most powerful family in the world.” Sanders warned that the appointment “could be the beginning of a virtual Rockefeller family dictatorship over the nation.” Rockefeller was officially nominated about a week later and went on to become vice president.

May 27, 2016

So are Bernie and the Don never going to release their taxes?

Yes, I know Bernie released a single year, but that's never been the standard, ever since 1976. At the very least, every candidate should be expected to release at least a few years.

Hillary and Bill have publicly released 30 years worth, including eight returns last summer.

May 26, 2016

Forbes: OIG email report vindicates Clinton

http://www.forbes.com/sites/charlestiefer/2016/05/25/state-department-report-on-email-vindicates-clinton-rather-than-nails-her/#1d862c442c7d

By Charles Tiefer, Professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, author of "Veering Right: How the Bush Administration Subverts the Law for Conservative Causes"

The report released Wednesday . . . does not add any new serious charges or adverse facts. And, it shows she was less out of line with her predecessors, notably Colin Powell, than has been charged. Powell’s handling of his email was so similar, in fact, that when House Republicans drag this issue through hearings up to Election Day, Powell should be called as a witness – a witness for Clinton. To put it differently, she is having a double standard applied to her. Here are five key aspects of the report.

SNIP

Third, where the report does add to our knowledge, is about Colin Powell, who served from 2001-2005. Powell did all his email business on a private account. All of his emails on official business were apparently in a private account. It is not clear why a great deal of what is said against Clinton’s emails, could not be said against Powell’s. Moreover, Powell’s similar practices can hardly be blamed on his being a novice about security. He not only had been Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he had been National Security Adviser. He had jurisdiction over all the intelligence agencies. Since Powell, with unimpeachable security credentials, felt fine using private email for official business, why are we climbing all over Clinton? It is, to be blunt, a double standard.

Fourth, the big criticism in the report is regarding the failure to print and file email in a retrievable way. But as the report shows, the Office of the Secretary of State has rarely succeeded in doing that. They either always have better things to do, or it is not a high enough priority, or there are technical difficulties, or turnover. Very likely a stingy Congress does not want to hire enough personnel to have crews doing that throughout the government. In any event, they rarely get that done. Since that is a general problem, why pin it particularly on Clinton?

Fifth . . . Note how she is not labeled as violating any statute, but rather, a real mouthful of mush – “the Department’s policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act.” So we are talking about obscure, dull, bureaucratic policies. Not a criminal statute. Not even a civil statute – just the bureaucratic policies.

May 26, 2016

WA State superdelegates strongly favor the Export-import Bank that Bernie opposes,

and Hillary's win in the primary -- in which almost three times as many Dems participated compared to the caucuses -- will confirm their decisions to give their convention votes to Hillary.

The Export-Import bank was set up by FDR as a part of the new deal, to help US companies compete overseas, since other countries have similar banks. It returns a profit to the Treasury every year. Bernie is the SOLE Senate progressive or Democrat to join with the tea party in trying to end this public bank.

And every President since FDR, Democrat and Republican, has supported the Export-Import bank.

Because of the importance of the Export-Import Bank to the WA State economy, our superdelegates have a strong reason to support Hillary. And now the primary voters have chosen Hillary, too.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Sanders-doesn-t-fully-understand-agency-that-6875387.php

Sen. Bernie Sanders was the only Democratic caucus member in the Senate to oppose renewal of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, marked for extinction in 2015 by such right-wing groups as the Club for Growth, Heritage Foundation and various fronts for the Koch Brothers.

SNIP

"The Ex-Im Bank is a vital tool that has assisted hundreds of Washington state companies, large and small -- from agriculture to aerospace to electronics and wine making," Gov. Jay Inslee said Monday.

SNIP

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who sits with Sanders on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, was sharply critical of Sanders without naming her colleague: "I was proud to stand up and fight back against the misguided attempts to shut down the bank, and hurt local workers and small businesses, and I will keep working to make sure that those who want to kill jobs and hurt the economy in Washington by closing the bank don't win this critical debate."

SNIP

Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., added: "It's disappointing to hear some lawmakers disparage a program that helps hundreds of small- and middle-market businesses in our state -- and at no cost to taxpayers."

The Export Import Bank is an antithesis of corporate welfare. It runs at a profit, returning more than $650 million to the U.S. Treasury in 2014.

May 25, 2016

WA state's 17 super delegates can now argue that Hillary Clinton was the clear winner of the primary

in which almost three times as many WA Democrats participated as in the less inclusive, less representative caucuses.

So today's primary may be more important than a mere "beauty contest."

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/politics-government/election/article79692542.html

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/wash-primary1/

Sanders dominated the precinct caucuses in March, and those results were finalized in recent congressional district caucuses, giving Sanders 74 delegates to Clinton’s 27.

That doesn’t include the state’s 17 Democratic superdelegates, who are not bound by the primary vote. Most of the superdelegates, including Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, have endorsed Clinton, angering many Sanders backers, who say the superdelegates should back the caucus winner.

Todd Donovan, a professor of political science at Western Washington University, said the results could lead to more talk of whether caucuses are the best way to pick presidential favorites in the state. “They really kind of distort reality,” he said, adding that primaries “are probably a better snapshot.”

About 230,000 Democrats participated in the March precinct caucuses. As of Tuesday, more than 660,000 Democratic votes had been counted in the primary.


http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/senator-patty-murray-urged-to-change-her-super-delegate-vote---protest-launched-by-kelley-whitty-300271059.html

" I would ask the super delegates from the state of Washington to respect the wishes of their people in their state and the votes they have cast," said Senator Bernie Sanders in a National Press Club in Washington, DC. on May 1, 2016. On the same day, Senator Patty Murray stated at the King County convention, " When we get to the Democratic Convention in July Super-delegates will not overturn what the count of the regular vote is."

May 25, 2016

In WA's primary today Hillary has won all the largest counties, and is doing well

overall, too.

With more than 650,000 votes counted, she's leading by more than 7%.
In the March caucuses, about 230,000 voters participated and Bernie won about 3 to 1.

This happened in 2008, too. She lost by more than 36% to Obama in the caucuses, but a few weeks later she lost by less than 6% in the primary.

http://www.king5.com/elections

May 24, 2016

African American Valedictorian barred from his own high school graduation

because he has a beard.

Apparently this high school doesn't realize that their rule could be in violation of the Civil Rights Act.

http://labor-employment-law.lawyers.com/employment-discrimination/your-work-related-appearance-what-are-your-rights.html

An employer’s policy might still be discriminatory, even if the employer didn’t intend to discriminate. In a “disparate impact” case, a seemingly neutral policy is discriminatory if it has a disproportionate impact on employees in a particular class. For example, a policy that requires male employees to be clean shaven might have a disproportionately negative effect on African American employees, who are more likely to have a skin sensitivity to shaving. In this situation, the employer must be able to show that its requirement is related to the job and consistent with business necessity. If, for example, the employer’s policy is based simply on the owner’s preference for clean-shaven employees, that’s not a good enough reason to justify a policy that has a discriminatory effect.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/valedictorian-barred-high-school-graduation-article-1.2643541

Things got hairy at a Louisiana high school graduation when the valedictorian was not allowed to participate because he took a stand over his goatee.

Andrew Jones was the head of his class at Amite High School, but education officials said what’s on his chin violated the policy against facial hair, according to WWLTV.

The 4.0 student had worn his beard for four years, but he and 13 others were told that they had to shave after arriving at their graduation ceremony Wednesday night.

Jones, who was set to given an address at the event, refused because the rule had never been enforced before, so his cap and gown were taken away.

SNIP

May 24, 2016

Brother Cornel West: "Brother Bernie and Brother Trump are authentic human beings"

https://twitter.com/cornelwest





http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/22/cornel-west-barack-obama_n_3635614.html