Jose Garcia
Jose Garcia's JournalSenate confirms Larsen to federal appeals court
Source: The Hill
Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan Larsen, who made the short list for the vacant Supreme Court seat now held by Justice Neil Gorsuch, was confirmed to the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday.
The Senate confirmed Larsen by a vote of 60-38 with the support of eight Democrats: Sens. Tom Carper (Del.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) and Mark Warner (Va.).
Outside groups had raised concerns over whether Larsen would be an independent check on the executive branch.
Alliance for Justice pointed to a 2006 guest column in the Detroit News in which she argued that then-President George W. Bush had the authority to disregard a law Congress passed prohibiting the U.S. government from allowing torture.
Read more: http://thehill.com/regulation/358235-senate-confirms-larsen-to-federal-appeals-court
Pelosi moves to muzzle Trump impeachment talk
Source: Politico
Nancy Pelosi offered a forced smile recently when asked on MSNBC about a Tom Steyer-sponsored ad calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment.
“That’s a great ad,” Pelosi said twice, before rushing to plug the Democrats’ “Better Deal” economic agenda as the TV hit wrapped up.
Pelosi played it off, but privately she was peeved. She told lawmakers at a Democratic leadership meeting soon after that she had reached out to the Democratic megadonor to tell him that his $10 million ad campaign was a distraction. (A source close to Steyer says he hasn’t spoken with Pelosi since the ad launched.)
Pelosi is eager to show her party can govern — in contrast to the chaos surrounding Trump — and believes that a reputation as the “No Drama Democrats” is key to taking back the House in 2018 and whisking her backing into the speaker’s chair.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/01/trump-impeachment-talk-pelosi-244336?cid=apn
Thousands attended protest organized by Russians on Facebook
Source: The Hill
Thousands of Americans attended a march last November organized by a Russian group that used social media to interfere in the 2016 election.
The demonstration in New York City, which took place a few days after the election, appears to be the largest and most successful known effort to date pulled off by Russian-linked groups intent on using social media platforms to influence American politics.
Sixteen thousand Facebook users said that they planned to attend a Trump protest on Nov. 12, 2016, organized by the Facebook page for BlackMattersUS, a Russian-linked group that sought to capitalize on racial tensions between black and white Americans. The event was shared with 61,000 users.
As many as 5,000 to 10,000 protesters actually convened at Manhattan's Union Square, where they then marched to Trump Tower, according to media reports at the time.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/technology/358025-thousands-attended-protest-organized-by-russians-on-facebook
Notre Dame ending no-cost contraceptive coverage
Source: Notre Dame ending no-cost contraceptive coverage
The University of Notre Dame is reportedly ending its free contraceptive coverage after the Trump administration rolled back an ObamaCare requirement that employers include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans.
The Catholic university will stop the coverage starting on Jan. 1, 2018, according to The South Bend Tribune.
Coverage will end for students on the university's health-care plan on Aug. 14, 2018.
Employees in the past had been able to get contraceptives and contraceptive services at no cost through a third party. This allowed Notre Dame to continue its religious opposition to contraceptives while still meeting the ObamaCare requirement, according to the South Bend Tribune.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/358029-notre-dame-ending-no-cost-contraceptive-coverage
GOP Rep. Jeb Hensarling to retire after end of current term
Source: The Hill
House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) announced Tuesday that he will retire at the end of his term, according to the Dallas Morning News.
"Today I am announcing that I will not seek reelection to the U.S. Congress in 2018. Although service in Congress remains the greatest privilege of my life, I never intended to make it a lifetime commitment, and I have already stayed far longer than I had originally planned," Hensarling said.
Hensarling, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, will be forced to step down after three terms leading the panel due to GOP rules.
Talk of Hensarling's possible retirement has started to pick up.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/358040-gop-rep-jeb-hensarling-to-retire-after-end-of-current-term-report
House of Cards Suspends Production on Season 6
Source: Variety
“House of Cards” has suspended production on Season 6, in light of recent sexual assault allegations leveled against star Kevin Spacey, Variety has confirmed.
“MRC and Netflix have decided to suspend production on ‘House of Cards’ season six, until further notice, to give us time to review the current situation and to address any concerns of our cast and crew,” said the companies in a statement.
Yesterday the companies announced that the sixth season would be the last for the series, which was currently in production in Baltimore. “Media Rights Capital and Netflix are deeply troubled by last night’s news concerning Kevin Spacey,” they said in a statement. Netflix and MRC also said that they had sent executives to Baltimore Monday to meet with cast and crew after actor Anthony Rapp (“Star Trek: Discovery”) told Buzzfeed in an interview that Spacey had sexually assaulted him when Rapp was 14 years old.
Spacey is not currently on set for “House of Cards.” He issued an apology for his “deeply inappropriate drunken behavior,” that was widely criticized given that he also used it to come out as a gay man.
Read more: http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/house-of-cards-season-six-production-suspended-1202603446/
Scofflaw Political Groups Are Ignoring FEC Fines
In July 2016, the Federal Election Commission slapped the 60 Plus Association with a $50,000 fine, charging that it hadn’t revealed its donors as legally obliged.
The penalty — along with fines assessed to two other politically active nonprofit groups likewise connected to billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch — represented one of the most decisive decisions this decade at an FEC best known for intramural bickering and ideological gridlock. Government reformers rejoiced.
But 15 months later, the Virginia-based 60 Plus Association has only paid one-tenth of its fine. Chairman Jim Martin says the senior advocacy group, which backs “free enterprise, less government” while supporting conservative politicians, has no plans to pay more. The FEC, meanwhile, isn’t forcing the 60 Plus Association’s compliance — or anything close.
The 60 Plus Association has plenty of debt-dodging company: More than 160 political committees and similar groups together owe the government more than $1.3 million worth of unpaid fines, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of Federal Election Commission and U.S. Treasury records since 2000.
more: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/30/scofflaw-political-groups-are-ignoring-fec-fines-215760
Rubio will vote against GOP tax plan if child tax credit isnt expanded
Source: McClatchy
WASHINGTON
Republicans in Congress are poised to release legislation soon that would revamp the nation’s tax code for the first time since Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
But Sen. Marco Rubio is insisting that a child tax credit he’s championed for years must be part of the package, or else he’ll vote against the plan. Rubio and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, are proposing an increase in the nation’s child tax credit to at least $2,000 per child, up from the current limit of $1,000 per child.
“I’m not going to vote for an increase on the middle class,” Rubio said. “But we’re not going to get to that point. We’re not that crazy around here.”
Rubio has been working with President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka for months on the plan, and she was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for to pitch the plan with a group of Republicans including Rubio.
Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/news/politics-government/article180900801.html
New poll brings bad news for Guadagno, Christie, Trump (and a boost for Booker)
The latest poll in the New Jersey governor's race shows Democrat Phil Murphy leading Republican Kim Guadagno by 16 percentage points heading into the final days of the campaign.
The Suffolk University/USA Today Network survey, released Monday, also showed the approval rating of outgoing Gov. Chris Christie's approval rating — already the least popular governor in state history — has dropped another 2 percentage points.
Here's a closer look at the poll, which also examined President Donald Trump's approval rating in the state, what Democrats think of U.S. Sen. Cory Booker running for president, whether U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez should resign if he's convicted in his corruption trial, and more:
The governor's race
The survey shows 49 percent of likely New Jersey voters supporting Murphy, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany and ex-Goldman Sachs banking executive, in the Nov. 7 election to succeed Christie.
more: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/10/murphy_leads_guadagno_christies_rating_drops_in_ne.html#incart_river_index
New poll brings bad news for Guadagno, Christie, Trump (and a boost for Booker)
The latest poll in the New Jersey governor's race shows Democrat Phil Murphy leading Republican Kim Guadagno by 16 percentage points heading into the final days of the campaign.
The Suffolk University/USA Today Network survey, released Monday, also showed the approval rating of outgoing Gov. Chris Christie's approval rating — already the least popular governor in state history — has dropped another 2 percentage points.
Here's a closer look at the poll, which also examined President Donald Trump's approval rating in the state, what Democrats think of U.S. Sen. Cory Booker running for president, whether U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez should resign if he's convicted in his corruption trial, and more:
The governor's race
The survey shows 49 percent of likely New Jersey voters supporting Murphy, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany and ex-Goldman Sachs banking executive, in the Nov. 7 election to succeed Christie.
more: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/10/murphy_leads_guadagno_christies_rating_drops_in_ne.html#incart_river_index
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