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Is Threat of Emergency Powers to Override Power of the Purse Impeachable?
“While establishment Democrats are eyeing various legal challenges to the possibility that Trump will declare a national emergency to get around Congress not agreeing on as much funding for a border wall as he would like, the most direct remedy is impeachment. A Bill of Impeachment could consist of articles including for (1) violating Article 1, Section 7 of the United States Constitution: ‘All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives…’ (2) Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution: ‘No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law…’ (3)…
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Scrutinizing Trump, and Pelosi and Schumer on Border
“The border enforcement apparatus needs to be reduced, not enhanced. This means no more wall funding to Trump and no more surveillance technologies to the border as Democratic leadership such as Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Shumer insist. They both amount to the same thing: a reinforcement of an apparatus of exclusion. The issue of people arriving to our border is correctly a ‘humanitarian’ one, and they need to be treated like refugees, not criminals. A long-term answer to this from a U.S. policy perspective requires a much more holistic conversation — which includes an honest discussion of free trade and…
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Senate Job One: Attack First Amendment Rights of Israel Critics
The bill is a top legislative priority for AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee]. In the previous Congress, that measure was known as S.170, and it gives state and local governments explicit legal authority to boycott any U.S. companies which themselves are participating in a boycott against Israel. As the Intercept reported last month, 26 states now have enacted some version of a law to punish or otherwise sanction entities which participate in or support the boycott of Israel, while similar laws are pending in at least 13 additional states.
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Dirty Populists
When the state apparatus is eviscerated, governance can become more informal, policy more personalized, executive power more dominant, and loyalty to the leader more important. Trump has installed family members as official and unofficial advisers, placed senior aides in agencies to monitor loyalty, and issued more executive orders in his first year than any president in a half-century.”
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Bernie Sanders Maintains Support Among Delegates
“If there’s a Sanders 2020 presidential campaign, as now appears likely, it’s clear that he can count on support from a large majority of the people who were his delegates at the national convention. These are local leaders and activists who know how to organize effectively in their communities around the country.”
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Syria: Will the U.S. Government Actually Get Out?
“Neocons in the administration such as John Bolton want to keep troops in Syria, supposedly to force the withdrawal of Iran, but in reality as part of an effort to fragment the country. It remains to be seen if they will undercut or reverse Trump’s decision.”
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“Congress Must Investigate Kavanaugh’s Lies Because the Courts Will Not”
“A core tenet of American democracy is that no person, no matter how powerful, is above the law — not a president or a judge on the Supreme Court. Because the courts will not police themselves by investigating the 83 ethics complaints filed against Brett Kavanaugh based on his testimony to the Senate, Congress must do so. As I wrote in September, I believe there is strong evidence that Kavanaugh committed perjury in his testimony to obtain his initial appointment to the D.C. Circuit and he lied repeatedly in his testimony in September to obtain confirmation to the Supreme Court.”
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Senate Passes Left-Right Criminal Justice Reform
“The expanded programming in the federal prison system is of course a good idea, but the bill’s provisions are too limited and not necessarily evidence-based. The bill calls for $75 million per year in programming, which is not a lot given that the system holds 180,000 prisoners. Also, programming participation and incentives are prioritized for ‘low-risk’ prisoners, whereas research shows that it’s more effective to target ‘high-risk’ individuals.”
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Examining Yellow Vest Demands
A significant and recurring complaint concerned the matter of health care. France has long had the best public health program in the world, but this is being steadily undermined to meet the primary need of capital: profit. In the past few years, there has been a growing government campaign to encourage, and finally to oblige people to subscribe to a ‘mutuelle,’ that is, a private health insurance, ostensibly to fill ‘the gaps’ not covered by France’s universal health coverage.
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Sanders Delegates Vote to Relaunch Organization
Former Bernie Sanders delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention have voted to reactivate the independent Bernie Delegates Network. In nationwide balloting that concluded on Tuesday, the final tally was 408 “yes” and 23 “no” in response to this question: “Do you favor a relaunch of the independent Bernie Delegates Network in 2019?”
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“With a tiny staff, it has managed to place on the air and in newspapers, points of view otherwise excluded from the national debate.”
Howard Zinn