August 20, 2016

HHS Fires Back At McConnell For Claiming O'Care Funds Could Be Used On Zika

Source: Talking Points Memo

By TIERNEY SNEED Published AUGUST 20, 2016, 10:47 AM EDT

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services fired back at the suggestion by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that the agency was wasting money on Obamacare outreach that could be used on Zika funding.

"The last person who should criticize HHS for not being focused on Zika is the Senate Republican leader who has refused to compromise in order to get a clean, bipartisan funding bill to the President’s desk," an HHS spokesperson said in a statement to TPM Friday evening. The statement was in response to a letter McConnell sent to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell Friday hounding her on reports of a new outreach campaign for Obamacare enrollment.

In the letter, McConnell demanded details of an outreach campaign to boost Obamacare enrollment reported by the New York Times, while asking why the agency "believes that such funds would be better spent propping up the failed Obamacare exchanges than other important public health priorities - such as preventing the spread of Zika."

According to the HHS, Affordable Care Act outreach is funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The agency said the funding cannot be used on Zika-related activities, particularly as the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health are not permitted to dip into CMS' funds.

-snip-



Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/hhs-response-to-mcconnell-zika-letter

August 20, 2016

Manafort's Lobbying Firm Hires Outside Counsel To Look Into Ukraine Activities

Source: Associated Press

By JEFF HORWITZ, CHAD DAY Published AUGUST 20, 2016, 10:03 AM EDT'

WASHINGTON (AP) — The sudden resignation Friday of Donald Trump's campaign chairman put renewed emphasis on revelations about his past work on behalf of Ukraine's pro-Russian political leaders, including his firm's role directing a covert Washington lobbying operation that would have required him under federal law to disclose his efforts to the Justice Department.

Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign amid scrutiny of his Ukrainian work — but others involved in the once-secret influence campaign remain working for Trump in senior roles, including Manafort's deputy Rick Gates.

The Associated Press reported Manafort's connection to the lobbying effort Wednesday. On Thursday, the AP reported that it had obtained emails revealing further details: Gates directed an unregistered influence campaign that included attempts to gain positive press coverage for Ukrainian officials, sway U.S. legislators, gather political intelligence and undercut American public sympathy for the imprisoned rival of Ukraine's then-president.

Meanwhile, new documents released by Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators appear to link the lobbying work the men directed in the U.S. to handwritten entries in ledgers listing $12.7 million in cash payments alongside Manafort's name. Some of that money was listed as paid to Manafort through two founding members of the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, a Brussels-based nonprofit whose lobbying efforts Manafort and Gates oversaw.

-snip-

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/manafort-lobbying-firms-hire-outside-counsel-to-look-into-ukraine-activities

August 20, 2016

An investigation into Donald Trump's holdings revealed a web of opaque financial relationships...

Source: New York Times

An investigation into Donald Trump's holdings revealed a web of opaque financial relationships, and more than $650 million in debt

Saturday, August 20, 2016 10:32 AM EDT

On the campaign trail, Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has sold himself as a businessman who has made billions of dollars and is beholden to no one.

But an investigation by The New York Times into the financial maze of Mr. Trump’s real estate holdings in the United States reveals that companies he owns have at least $650 million in debt — twice the amount than can be gleaned from public filings he has made as part of his bid for the White House. The Times’s inquiry also found that Mr. Trump’s fortunes depend deeply on a wide array of financial backers, including one he has cited in attacks during his campaign.

For example, an office building on Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, of which Mr. Trump is part owner, carries a $950 million loan. Among the lenders: the Bank of China, one of the largest banks in a country that Mr. Trump has railed against as an economic foe of the United States, and Goldman Sachs, a financial institution he has said controls Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, after it paid her $675,000 in speaking fees.

Real estate projects often involve complex ownership and mortgage structures. And given Mr. Trump’s long real estate career in the United States and abroad, as well as his claim that his personal wealth exceeds $10 billion, it is safe to say that no previous major party presidential nominee has had finances nearly as complicated.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/21/us/politics/donald-trump-debt.html?emc=edit_na_20160820&nlid=57435284&ref=cta&_r=0

August 20, 2016

Black Panelists Beat Down Trump Supporter’s Claim That He’s ‘On the Cutting Edge of Civil Rights’

Anderson Cooper got together quite the panel to talk about Donald Trump‘s appeals to black voters this week.

Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany was on hand to back up her candidate’s claims that his presidency would be great for black people. She started off by telling Bakari Sellers, “You might think a 27.2% poverty rate among African American individuals … is a good thing but –”

“Kayleigh, when did you hear us say that?” interrupted an exasperated-sounding Angela Rye. “That’s not fair. Kayleigh, can you retract that? Kayleigh? That’s not fair.”

McEnany kept trucking along, ignoring Rye’s interjections of, “Kayleigh!” Instead, she claimed that Trump was positive in his appeals to voters of color and, in fact, “was on the cutting edge of civil rights” because he allowed black and Jewish people into his club in Florida. McEnany said he even brought a suit against other club owners who didn’t allow minorities into their clubs, but Rye reminded her that happened after he was sued for housing discrimination.

more + video:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/black-panelists-beat-down-trump-spoxs-claim-that-hes-on-the-cutting-edge-of-civil-rights/

August 20, 2016

Christian activist fears she’ll never be able to use a public restroom again if Target boycott fails

BRAD REED
19 AUG 2016 AT 14:54 ET

Christian activists’ boycott of Target hasn’t exactly been a rousing success so far, as the company this week announced that it’s spending $20 million to expand its available restroom options while at the same time remaining inclusive toward transgender people.

Right Wing Watch notices that Christian activist Sandy Rios is so scared that the boycott of Target will be a flop that she fears she’ll never be able to use a public restroom again.

“If we do not keep the pressure on Target, this will quickly — we know how major corporations are, they are scared to death of anything that isn’t politically correct — this will spread like wildfire, we will not be able to go to the bathroom anywhere,” she told Breitbart’s Alex Marlow. “What’s at stake is all the other companies around this country that will just cave, they just will.”

While this sounds dire, it’s likely that most people will simply get used to having transgender people in their restrooms without getting upset by it. That said, it’s unlikely that Sandy Rios will be taking any family road trips in the near future if she’s seriously too scared to use a public bathroom.

Listen to the full clip below.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/christian-activist-fears-shell-never-be-able-to-use-a-public-restroom-again-if-target-boycott-fails/

August 20, 2016

Trump advisor: Maybe a ‘backdrop of a burning car’ would reach black voters better

SARAH K. BURRIS
19 AUG 2016 AT 20:37 ET

Donald Trump surrogate former Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) had some trouble explaining away his candidate’s latest statements about African Americans while speaking to a Michigan rally.

Trump told a predominantly white rally crowd in a 93 percent white town that black Americans have been decimated by Democrats and he’ll win 95 percent of their vote. Trump is currently polling lowest among African-American voters. The internet quickly erupted with outrage and mockery.

“He’s polling right now at 2 percent with African-American voters,” CNN host Brianna Keilar said. “Is that the right way to attract a voting block that obviously favors Hillary Clinton much more than him?”

Kingston maintained that the campaign’s internal polls show Trump doing better than two percent. “But the reality is he’s going there and he’s taking it to them. He’s giving them a proposal. He’s saying, ‘You know what? I’m interested, I went to Milwaukee, I’m here tonight, I want to talk to you,'” he said. At his speech in the Milwaukee suburbs, Trump slammed the black protesters in Milwaukee protesting in the streets.

Keilar jumped in, “I have to stop you because you said he’s going there. He’s not, he’s in Diamondale, which is 93 percent white. When he was in Milwaukee the other day, it was part of Milwaukee that wasn’t dealing — I mean he, it’s almost completely white”

-snip-

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/trump-advisor-maybe-backdrop-of-a-burning-car-would-reach-black-voters-better/

August 20, 2016

Donald Trump appeals to the paranoid fantasies of the ‘FEMA camps’ crowd

NEWSWEEK
20 AUG 2016 AT 08:35 ET

When Donald Trump says he expects this presidential election (the one he looks increasingly likely to lose) will be “rigged,” he’s not just throwing out an empty phrase: The Republican is actually dog-whistling to a deeply paranoid subset of his supporters.

Paranoia is nothing new in American politics, but some in the current paranoiac generation—weaned on The X-Files and distrustful of institutions like the U.S. government (with many having nothing better to do with their gun collections than take aim at the occasional rabbit)—seem to be taking their beliefs to new heights. According to them, President Barack Obama soon will institute martial law and cancel or nullify the election in November, after which his Federal Emergency Management Agency will disarm and herd all the anti-abortion, religious-right, gun-owning, home-schooling folks into secret “FEMA camps” that his administration has spent years preparing.

Obama’s election in 2008 led to an explosion in hate groups spouting such ideas, and as their numbers have swelled some of their beliefs have gone mainstream, stoked by broadcasters like Michael Savage, Alex Jones and Glenn Beck; right-wing filmmakers; and a host of websites featuring screaming headlines such as: “UPDATE: All Armed Americans to Be Detained in FEMA Camps Starting In 2017!??!”

Taking their cue from the popularity of such thinkers and theorists, some American politicians can’t resist adding their official encouragement to the discussion. Among those joining Trump is Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who last year gave credence to the rumor that the Department of Defense was preparing to invade his state during a training exercise called Jade Helm.

It is now possible to meet Americans who have made major life decisions—such as leaving homes and jobs and yanking children out of school—based on the belief that it is only a matter of time before their own government comes to get them. A Florida radio host has been exhorting people to join colonies of conservatives in Central America before the U.S. government rounds them up. At the Republican Convention in Cleveland, I met martial law conspiracy theory believers who were convinced that only Trump stands between them and one of the secret FEMA camps, those with the electronically operated turnstiles that rotate in, not out.

-snip-

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/donald-trump-appeals-to-the-paranoid-fantasies-of-the-fema-camps-crowd/

August 20, 2016

WaPo Editorial: Which ‘wrong thing’ does Trump regret saying, exactly?

By Editorial Board August 19 at 9:26 PM

DONALD TRUMP, you may have heard, reshuffled his staff and began sending signals that he would be more presidential. That was not a few days ago — it was four months ago.

As the candidate closed in on the Republican nomination, Mr. Trump’s new national campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, assured Republican National Committee members that the billionaire had been playing a “part” and would soon adopt a more balanced “persona.” The promised pivot did not happen, of course. Now Mr. Manafort is gone after another personnel shake-up, and Mr. Trump and his new staff are again signaling a pivot.

“Sometimes, in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing,” Mr. Trump said Thursday. “I have done that, and .?.?. I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain.”

It’s unlikely Mr. Trump can suppress his instinct to bully and disparage over the remaining 81 days of the presidential campaign. It’s certain he would not do so over four years of a presidential term. His record to date leaves no doubt about his character — confirmed even Thursday, when he immediately undercut his supposed apology by adding, “Sometimes I can be too honest.”

Too honest about what?

-snip-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/which-wrong-thing-does-trump-regret-saying-exactly/2016/08/19/6662ee20-6648-11e6-8b27-bb8ba39497a2_story.html?utm_term=.98b6a8182d80&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

August 20, 2016

Trump is the Churchillian leader we need - By Jerry Falwell Jr.

By Jerry Falwell Jr. August 19 at 9:36 PM
Jerry Falwell Jr. is president of Liberty University.

In the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, American voters were forced to choose between a liberal Democrat and weak establishment Republicans. Democrats won both times. In the 2010 and 2014 midterms, tired of the leftist agenda, voters sent an unmistakable message to Washington: Republicans took control of the Senate and filled more seats in the House than at any time since 1929. Still, nothing changed. In 2016, we have a clear choice. This moment is historic because Donald Trump is not another establishment Republican.

We have lived through nearly eight years of weak leadership from a president who did not sign the charter to create the Islamic State but whose policies had the intended or unintended effect (we will be debating that for decades) of breathing life into the lungs of the terrorist group. President Obama and Hillary Clinton most definitely signaled to Islamic State leaders that they had no intention of seriously challenging them, or even of calling radical Islamic terrorism by its name. Instead, Obama and Clinton pulled our troops out of Iraq, drew and then quickly erased a red line in Syria and tried to convince us that unverifiable pinpoint drone strikes (after leaflet warnings) would win the war against the Islamic State.

All of this was enabled by a feckless establishment Republican Congress.

The policies of Obama and Clinton have made the world unstable and unsafe and created a world stage eerily similar to that of the late 1930s. We could be on the precipice of international conflict like nothing we have seen since World War II. Obama and Clinton are the Neville Chamberlains of our time. The deal to make $150 billion available to Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world and a nation committed to the destruction of Israel, clearing the way for Iran to become a nuclear power, reminds me of Chamberlain’s deal with Hitler in 1938, when the British prime minister declared “peace for our time.”

-snip-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jerry-falwell-jr-trump-is-the-churchillian-leader-we-need/2016/08/19/b1ff79e0-64b1-11e6-be4e-23fc4d4d12b4_story.html?utm_term=.2c33765236a4&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

August 20, 2016

Win or lose, Trumpism may be here to stay in the GOP

By Karen Tumulty and Robert Costa August 19 at 8:18 PM

The latest shake-up in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has jolted the Republican establishment out of denial to a new realization: Whatever happens to their nominee in November, Trumpism may well endure as a source of ferment in their party.

Until this week, it had been possible for party elders to convince themselves that Trump might prove to be a passing storm in their ranks rather than a portent of climate change. But to their dismay, the party standard-bearer has now signaled that he intends to go for broke in the final stretch of the campaign.

Trump’s decision to ditch his establishment-bred campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, in favor of Breitbart News executive Stephen Bannon, who shares Trump’s scorched-earth approach to politics and his worldview, is perhaps the most overt example of the businessman’s closing strategy.

Theirs is an amorphous alternative to traditional conservatism — often associated with the “alt right” movement — that is leery of liberal immigration, multiculturalism, military involvement overseas and free trade. Its critics also accuse the alt right of flirting with white supremacism, anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance.

-snip-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/win-or-lose-trumpism-may-be-here-to-stay-in-the-gop/2016/08/19/66eaa974-661f-11e6-8b27-bb8ba39497a2_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1