thehuffingtonpost--2020-02-13--Senate Votes To Limit War With Iran

Senate Votes To Limit War With Iran

WASHINGTON ― More than one month after President Donald Trump ordered a missile strike that resulted in the death of a top Iranian general , the Senate passed a measure that would limit him from engaging in further hostilities against the country without first getting approval from Congress .
On Thursday , eight Republicans joined all Democrats and Independents in voting to advance a resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine ( D-Va. ) that would end “ hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran or any part of its government or military ” unless explicitly authorized .
It required only a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ While the President does and must always have the ability to defend the United States from imminent attack , the executive power to initiate war stops there .
An offensive war requires a congressional debate and vote .
This should not be a controversial proposition , ” Kaine , a top proponent of reasserting Congress ’ role in the war-making process , said in a floor speech ahead of the vote .
While Trump is almost certain to veto the measure , Kaine argued that it could still send a message to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on such actions that might bring the country to the brink of war .
Trump ’ s decision to order a drone strike against top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani at Iraq ’ s Baghdad airport last month ratcheted up tensions in the region and threatened to pull the U.S. into another bloody war in the Middle East .
Iran initially responded with missile strikes on military bases that house U.S. troops in Iraq , but has since held off on further retaliation , at least for now .
But questions have arisen about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the attack , which warned of a vague “ imminent ” attack on U.S. troops in the region .
Most Republicans vehemently opposed Kaine ’ s war powers resolution , warning that it would send a signal to Iran ’ s leadership that the U.S. was not prepared to defend itself abroad in the future .
On Thursday , they offered a number of amendments seeking to undermine it or gut it entirely , including one from Sen. Tom Cotton ( R-Ark . )
that would have created an exemption for military forces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ foreign designated terrorist groups .
But Democrats successfully defeated the amendments with the help of Republicans , including ― Sens .
Lamar Alexander of Tennessee , Bill Cassidy of Louisiana , Susan Collins of Maine , Lisa Murkowski of Alaska , Todd Young of Indiana , Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky ― who also bucked their party on the final vote on Kaine ’ s resolution .
The House passed its own identical resolution forbidding the president from attacking Iran unless there ’ s an imminent threat or Congress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ technical issue , it will likely have to approve the Senate version before Congress can send it to Trump ’ s desk .

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WASHINGTON ― More than one month after President Donald Trump ordered a missile strike that resulted in the death of a top Iranian general, the Senate passed a measure that would limit him from engaging in further hostilities against the country without first getting approval from Congress.
On Thursday, eight Republicans joined all Democrats and Independents in voting to advance a resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) that would end “hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran or any part of its government or military” unless explicitly authorized. It required only a simple majority to clear the chamber.
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“While the President does and must always have the ability to defend the United States from imminent attack, the executive power to initiate war stops there. An offensive war requires a congressional debate and vote. This should not be a controversial proposition,” Kaine, a top proponent of reasserting Congress’ role in the war-making process, said in a floor speech ahead of the vote.
While Trump is almost certain to veto the measure, Kaine argued that it could still send a message to the president and potentially influence future decisions on such actions that might bring the country to the brink of war.
Trump’s decision to order a drone strike against top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani at Iraq’s Baghdad airport last month ratcheted up tensions in the region and threatened to pull the U.S. into another bloody war in the Middle East. Iran initially responded with missile strikes on military bases that house U.S. troops in Iraq, but has since held off on further retaliation, at least for now. But questions have arisen about the administration’s initial rationale for the attack, which warned of a vague “imminent” attack on U.S. troops in the region.
Most Republicans vehemently opposed Kaine’s war powers resolution, warning that it would send a signal to Iran’s leadership that the U.S. was not prepared to defend itself abroad in the future. On Thursday, they offered a number of amendments seeking to undermine it or gut it entirely, including one from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) that would have created an exemption for military forces deemed to be engaging in operations targeting foreign designated terrorist groups.
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But Democrats successfully defeated the amendments with the help of Republicans, including ― Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Todd Young of Indiana, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky ― who also bucked their party on the final vote on Kaine’s resolution.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-02-13--Ruth Bader Ginsburg Didn’t Kill The ERA; These Girls Are Handling It

Courtesy of Generation Ratify Members of Generation Ratify and other young activists who are fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment .
There ’ s a new generation fighting for an old cause : Young women descended on the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Wednesday looking to rally support for the Equal Rights Amendment , which would finally codify women ’ s rights in the Constitution .
The co-founder of an activist group called Generation Ratify , Yeshigeta was with about 60 other high school and college students from all over the country .
They were from groups like GenZ Girl @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DC Teens Action , with organizing help from Platform women .
And the girls ― plus three boys and one nonbinary teen ― were there to talk to senators about the ERA .
One problem : The amendment they ’ re fighting for was just pronounced dead by some , thanks to remarks on Monday by Supreme Court justice and longtime women ’ s rights advocate Ruth Bader Ginsburg about the potential need to start from scratch to get it added to the Constitution .
“ Whether what we do will make a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , adding , “ It ’ s important we try.
” She mentioned they had printed out packets with talking points for all the members of the group , most of them first-timers at this sort of thing .
Women have been trying to get the ERA over the finish line for nearly a century , since the amendment was first conceived in 1923 .
The process has been halting , to put it mildly .
The amendment passed Congress with wide majorities in 1972 .
The path to ratification ― requiring passage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solid as a flurry of states got on board .
Then , a backlash .
Dire warnings from anti-feminists about the abandonment of housewives , women getting drafted and gay marriage sent the process into a morass of misinformation and panic .
( An amendment would simply state that no one should be discriminated against on the basis of sex ; interpretations would have to be worked out in the courts and Congress . )
Only 35 states had ratified the ERA by 1982 , a deadline imposed on the process by Congress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what was needed to amend the constitution .
Then , just a few years ago , activists started pushing again to get the remaining three states needed to ratify the amendment .
And , it worked .
Earlier this year , Virginia became the 38th state to ratify , clearing the hurdle needed to amend the Constitution .
Even Ginsburg , a champion of women ’ s rights , said in a talk Monday that probably the best path forward for the ERA would be to go back to the beginning and restart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s not running this show .
The House is continuing to press forward with a bill that would eliminate the deadline .
Although the chances of the Senate voting to do the same are slim , young activists are hopeful .
But the resistance to the amendment had little to do with the deadline .
They were told that the ERA was a no-go because it would legalize abortion .
It ’ s already legal , of course .
Conservative Senate staffers also seemed anxious that a prohibition on sex discrimination would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weren ’ t really informed on the issue .
“ Not a lot of people know what the ERA is , ” said Couture .

Members of Generation Ratify and other young activists who are fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment. Courtesy of Generation Ratify
There’s a new generation fighting for an old cause: Young women descended on the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Wednesday looking to rally support for the Equal Rights Amendment, which would finally codify women’s rights in the Constitution.
“I’m missing a math quiz today,” said Belan Yeshigeta, a 16-year-old student from Arlington, Virginia, who called in sick to come to Washington on a school day.
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The co-founder of an activist group called Generation Ratify, Yeshigeta was with about 60 other high school and college students from all over the country. They were from groups like GenZ Girl Gang, Girl Up, Period and DC Teens Action, with organizing help from Platform women. And the girls ― plus three boys and one nonbinary teen ― were there to talk to senators about the ERA.
The amendment just this month cleared the threshold needed for ratification and inclusion in the Constitution. At least some people think it did.
One problem: The amendment they’re fighting for was just pronounced dead by some, thanks to remarks on Monday by Supreme Court justice and longtime women’s rights advocate Ruth Bader Ginsburg about the potential need to start from scratch to get it added to the Constitution.
But the ERA isn’t actually dead yet. On Thursday, the House passed a bill that would eliminate the deadline for ratification.
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And young activists aren’t ready to give up.
“Whether what we do will make a difference is unknown,” Yeshigeta said, adding, “It’s important we try.” She mentioned they had printed out packets with talking points for all the members of the group, most of them first-timers at this sort of thing.
Women have been trying to get the ERA over the finish line for nearly a century, since the amendment was first conceived in 1923. The process has been halting, to put it mildly. The amendment passed Congress with wide majorities in 1972. The path to ratification ― requiring passage in three-fourths of state legislatures ― looked solid as a flurry of states got on board.
Then, a backlash. Dire warnings from anti-feminists about the abandonment of housewives, women getting drafted and gay marriage sent the process into a morass of misinformation and panic. (An amendment would simply state that no one should be discriminated against on the basis of sex; interpretations would have to be worked out in the courts and Congress.)
Only 35 states had ratified the ERA by 1982, a deadline imposed on the process by Congress. That was three states short of what was needed to amend the constitution.
For decades, the ERA was considered dead.
Then, just a few years ago, activists started pushing again to get the remaining three states needed to ratify the amendment. And, it worked. Earlier this year, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify, clearing the hurdle needed to amend the Constitution.
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But there’s a problem: that deadline. Opponents of the amendment, including Donald Trump’s Justice Department, say the ratification process ended in 1982. The DOJ has come out against the current push.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks during a discussion on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington on Feb. 10. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Even Ginsburg, a champion of women’s rights, said in a talk Monday that probably the best path forward for the ERA would be to go back to the beginning and restart the whole ratification process.
Virginia’s ratification came long after the deadline had passed, Ginsburg said in a talk at Georgetown University. “I’d like it to start over,” she said.
But Ginsburg’s not running this show. The House is continuing to press forward with a bill that would eliminate the deadline. Although the chances of the Senate voting to do the same are slim, young activists are hopeful.
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“The Senate is having a bit of a values crisis,” is how Yeshigeta, the high schooler, put it.
She and her peers met with about 14 Senate offices on Wednesday. No lawmakers attended, but Yeshigeta and her classmate and co-founder Rosie Couture spoke to staffers in each office.
Opposition to the ERA, they reported, mostly fell along party lines.
But the resistance to the amendment had little to do with the deadline. They were told that the ERA was a no-go because it would legalize abortion. It’s already legal, of course. Conservative Senate staffers also seemed anxious that a prohibition on sex discrimination would mean rights for transgender people; they weren’t really informed on the issue. “Not a lot of people know what the ERA is,” said Couture.
That was heartening in a way, said Yeshigeta: “It does kind of show, if we are able to educate enough people, it’s definitely going to happen.”
“I’m not as optimistic,” Couture countered.
Yeshigeta, like many ERA supporters, remains confident they will get it done.
The ERA has “been hanging on for dear life for so long,” she said. “I’m glad we’ll be part of the generation to see it through."


thehuffingtonpost--2020-02-13--Trump Tells Gov. Cuomo To Drop New York State Lawsuits Against Him

President Donald Trump demanded Gov .
Andrew Cuomo ( D-N.Y. ) drop all New York State lawsuits against him prior to a meeting between the two on Thursday to discuss the suspension of travel programs that would benefit immigrants , along with other New Yorkers .
“ He must understand that National Security far exceeds politics , ” Trump said a week after the Department of Homeland Security announced it was suspending New York residents from participating in Trusted Traveler Programs such as Global Entry that make it easier to return to the U.S. from foreign trips .
The move @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ Green Light Law , ” which allows undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses and participate in the TTP .
“ New York must stop all of its unnecessary lawsuits & harassment , start cleaning itself up , and lower taxes , ” he tweeted .
I ’ m seeing Governor Cuomo today at The White House .
He must understand that National Security far exceeds politics .
New York must stop all of its unnecessary lawsuits & harrassment , start cleaning itself up , and lowering taxes .
Build relationships , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) February 13 , 2020 Before the afternoon meeting at the White House , Cuomo said he planned to tell Trump that he would allow federal authorities access to the DMV database for those applying for TTP .
Cuomo said the access would be granted on a case-by-case basis , where the state would give federal authorities information of only those who have already “ given all sorts of background information , ” CNN reported .
“ DHS claimed they wanted this information to determine qualifications @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a sham because they just want access to undocumented immigrants ’ personal information , and as the governor said , we are never going to give them that , ” Dani Lever , Cuomo ’ s communications director , told CNN .
In a statement after their meeting , Cuomo ’ s team disclosed few details but said the governor reiterated “ our willingness to allow federal officials access to DMV records only for individuals applying to the Trusted Travel Program.
” New York Attorney General Letitia James said the state York will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suspend the travel programs .
James also reminded the president that it is her ― not the governor ― who files the lawsuits .
When you stop violating the rights and liberties of all New Yorkers , we will stand down .
Until then , we have a duty and responsibility to defend the Constitution and the rule of law .
BTW , I file the lawsuits , not the Governor .
https : //t.co/tsOLeEgiQp — NY AG James ( @ NewYorkStateAG ) February 13 , 2020 As of last fall , Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ congressional , executive branch and state officials related to his business , campaign , inauguration and presidency dealings , The New York Times reported .
Eight of those are New York state investigations into the Trump ’ s family tax schemes , potential underpaid taxes , misuse of charitable assets and the role of Trump ’ s children in his businesses , among others .
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez ( D-N.Y. ) said in a tweet that Trump “ is publicly admitting that he is holding Global Entry for New Yorkers hostage in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his family ’ s lawbreaking behavior .
”

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President Donald Trump demanded New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) drop all of New York state’s lawsuits against him prior to a meeting between the two on Thursday to discuss the suspension of travel programs that would benefit immigrants, along with other New Yorkers.
“He must understand that National Security far exceeds politics,” Trump said a week after the Department of Homeland Security announced it was suspending New York residents from participating in Trusted Traveler Programs such as Global Entry that make it easier to return to the U.S. from foreign trips. The move was in response to New York passing the “Green Light Law,” which allows undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses.
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Trump implied that the suspension could be lifted with a quid pro quo.
“New York must stop all of its unnecessary lawsuits & harassment, start cleaning itself up, and lower taxes,” he tweeted.
I’m seeing Governor Cuomo today at The White House. He must understand that National Security far exceeds politics. New York must stop all of its unnecessary lawsuits & harrassment, start cleaning itself up, and lowering taxes. Build relationships, but don’t bring Fredo! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 13, 2020
Before the afternoon meeting at the White House, Cuomo said he planned to tell Trump that he would allow federal authorities access to the DMV database for those applying for the TTP. Cuomo said the access would be granted on a case-by-case basis, where the state would give federal authorities information on only those who have already “given all sorts of background information,” CNN reported.
“DHS claimed they wanted this information to determine qualifications for the TTP, but it is a sham because they just want access to undocumented immigrants’ personal information, and as the governor said, we are never going to give them that,” Dani Lever, Cuomo’s communications director, told CNN.
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In a statement after their meeting, Cuomo’s team disclosed few details but said the governor reiterated “our willingness to allow federal officials access to DMV records only for individuals applying to the Trusted Travel Program.”
Update from Cuomo's office on TTP situation. pic.twitter.com/dzE9zGQgK3 — Ivan Pereira (@IvanPer4) February 13, 2020
New York Attorney General Letitia James said the state will sue the administration over the decision to suspend the travel programs. James also reminded the president that it is she ― not the governor ― who files the lawsuits.
When you stop violating the rights and liberties of all New Yorkers, we will stand down.
Until then, we have a duty and responsibility to defend the Constitution and the rule of law.
BTW, I file the lawsuits, not the Governor. https://t.co/tsOLeEgiQp — NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) February 13, 2020
As of last fall, Trump was juggling 30 different investigations by various congressional, executive branch and state officials related to his business, campaign, inauguration and presidency dealings, The New York Times reported. Eight of those are New York state investigations into Trump’s family tax schemes, potential underpaid taxes, misuse of charitable assets and the role of Trump’s children in his businesses, among other matters.
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) said in a tweet that Trump “is publicly admitting that he is holding Global Entry for New Yorkers hostage in exchange for dropping lawsuits against him and his family’s lawbreaking behavior.”
“This is corrupt, illegal, and authoritarian,” she added.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-02-13--John Kelly: Vindman Was Right To Report Trump's 'Questionable' Ukraine Dealings

“ He did exactly what we teach them to do from cradle to grave , ” Kelly said during a speech Monday at Drew University in Morristown , New Jersey , according to The Atlantic .
“ He went and told his boss what he just heard.
” Vindman , an expert on Ukrainian affairs , was one of several National Security Council officials to listen in on Trump ’ s notorious July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky .
He testified during the House ’ s impeachment inquiry in November that he was so disturbed by Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic rival Joe Biden that he reported it to the NSC ’ s top lawyer .
Trump removed Vindman and his twin brother , Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman , from the NSC last week , just days after the Senate voted to acquit the president .
Trump also fired Gordon Sondland , another impeachment witness who had served as the U.S. ambassador to the European Union .
Kelly told the audience Monday that Vindman was rightly disturbed by Trump ’ s call with Zelensky and acted as a good soldier by flagging it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to condition U.S. military aid to Ukraine on an investigation into Biden marked a major shift in U.S. foreign policy and probably sounded like “ an illegal order ” to Vindman .
“ We teach them , ‘ Don ’ t follow an illegal order .
And if you ’ re ever given one , you ’ ll raise it to whoever gives it to you that this is an illegal order and then tell your boss , ’ ” Kelly said , per The Atlantic .
After Kelly served as the homeland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump tapped him to replace Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff .
He held that position until he resigned in January 2019 .
Tensions between Kelly and Trump were widely reported during his tenure as chief of staff .
The retired U.S. Marine Corps general once reportedly called the White House a “ miserable place to work.
” Kelly didn ’ t appear to hold back much during his appearance at Drew University on Monday .
He condemned Trump ’ s infamous claim in 2015 while running for president that migrants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ rapists ” and drug dealers .
“ In fact , they ’ re overwhelmingly good people , ” Kelly said Monday .
“ They ’ re not all rapists and they ’ re not all murderers , and it ’ s wrong to characterize them that way .
I disagreed with the president a number of times.
” He also hit out at Trump ’ s decision to intervene in the case of Eddie Gallagher , a Navy SEAL who was convicted of posing with the corpse of a teenage fighter for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demoted Gallagher for his actions , but Trump reversed it .
“ The idea that the commander-in-chief intervened there , in my opinion , was exactly the wrong thing to do , ” Kelly said .
“ Had I been there , I think I could have prevented it.
” Though he ’ s tried to distance himself from some of the Trump administration ’ s most controversial policies since resigning , Kelly helped implement some of them during his time in office .
For instance , he supported the notorious family separation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crossed into the U.S. from their children at the border .
He has also come under fire for protecting then-White House aide Rob Porter in the face of domestic violence allegations made by his ex-wives ― and for just being an all-around jerk .
“ When I terminated John Kelly , which I couldn ’ t do fast enough , he knew full well that he was way over his head , ” the president wrote .
“ He came in with a bang , went out with whimper.
” When I terminated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t do fast enough , he knew full well that he was way over his head .
Being Chief of Staff just wasn ’ t for him .
He came in with a bang , went out with a whimper , but like so many X ’ s , he misses the action & just can ’ t keep his mouth shut , .
— Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) February 13 , 2020 ... .which he actually has a military and legal obligation to do .
His incredible wife , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of respect for , once pulled me aside & said strongly that “ John respects you greatly .
When we are no longer here , he will only speak well of you.
” Wrong !
— Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) February 13 , 2020

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Former White House chief of staff John Kelly praised Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a key witness in the impeachment case against Donald Trump, for reporting the president’s “questionable” Ukraine dealings to his superiors last summer.
“He did exactly what we teach them to do from cradle to grave,” Kelly said during a speech Monday at Drew University in Morristown, New Jersey, according to The Atlantic. “He went and told his boss what he just heard.”
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Vindman, an expert on Ukrainian affairs, was one of several National Security Council officials to listen in on Trump’s notorious July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He testified during the House’s impeachment inquiry in November that he was so disturbed by Trump’s efforts to get Zelensky to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden that he reported it to the NSC’s top lawyer.
Trump removed Vindman and his twin brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, from the NSC last week, just days after the Senate voted to acquit the president. Trump also fired Gordon Sondland, another impeachment witness who had served as the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.
Kelly told the audience Monday that Vindman was rightly disturbed by Trump’s call with Zelensky and acted as a good soldier by flagging it. He said Trump’s decision to condition U.S. military aid to Ukraine on an investigation into Biden marked a major shift in U.S. foreign policy and probably sounded like “an illegal order” to Vindman.
“We teach them, ‘Don’t follow an illegal order. And if you’re ever given one, you’ll raise it to whoever gives it to you that this is an illegal order and then tell your boss,’” Kelly said, per The Atlantic.
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After Kelly served as the homeland security secretary for about seven months, Trump tapped him to replace Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff. He held that position until he resigned in January 2019.
Tensions between Kelly and Trump were widely reported during his tenure as chief of staff. The retired U.S. Marine Corps general once reportedly called the White House a “miserable place to work.”
Kelly didn’t appear to hold back much during his appearance at Drew University on Monday. He condemned Trump’s infamous claim in 2015 while running for president that migrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico are “rapists” and drug dealers.
“In fact, they’re overwhelmingly good people,” Kelly said Monday. “They’re not all rapists and they’re not all murderers, and it’s wrong to characterize them that way. I disagreed with the president a number of times.”
He also hit out at Trump’s decision to intervene in the case of Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL who was convicted of posing with the corpse of a teenage fighter for the self-described Islamic State. The Navy demoted Gallagher for his actions, but Trump reversed it.
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“The idea that the commander-in-chief intervened there, in my opinion, was exactly the wrong thing to do,” Kelly said. “Had I been there, I think I could have prevented it.”
Though he’s tried to distance himself from some of the Trump administration’s most controversial policies since resigning, Kelly helped implement some of them during his time in office. For instance, he supported the notorious family separation policy that split up parents who illegally crossed into the U.S. from their children at the border.
He has also come under fire for protecting then-White House aide Rob Porter in the face of domestic violence allegations made by his ex-wives ― and for just being an all-around jerk.
Trump lashed out at Kelly in a series of tweets Thursday morning, accusing his former chief of staff of being unable to “keep his mouth shut.”
“When I terminated John Kelly, which I couldn’t do fast enough, he knew full well that he was way over his head,” the president wrote. “He came in with a bang, went out with whimper.”
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When I terminated John Kelly, which I couldn’t do fast enough, he knew full well that he was way over his head. Being Chief of Staff just wasn’t for him. He came in with a bang, went out with a whimper, but like so many X’s, he misses the action & just can’t keep his mouth shut,. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 13, 2020
....which he actually has a military and legal obligation to do. His incredible wife, Karen, who I have a lot of respect for, once pulled me aside & said strongly that “John respects you greatly. When we are no longer here, he will only speak well of you.” Wrong! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 13, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-02-13--The Big Roadblock For Bernie Sanders' Agenda

While differences between candidates could manifest themselves in plenty of ways in office , any Democratic president would have an extremely tough time actually enacting systemic changes like Medicare for All .
Lost in all of these health care debates between presidential contenders is that the resulting health care policies would probably all look very similar , regardless of which person wins .
Every Republican and most Democrats in Congress publicly oppose Medicare for All .
And while those numbers have certainly been shifting , there is almost certainly a critical mass of Democrats who would join Republicans to block @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House ― let alone the Senate , where Republicans are likely to retain the majority , or at least be a vote or two away from it .
“ You got ta get 218 votes on the floor of the House to do anything .
And then you ’ ve got ta figure out a way to get , you know , theoretically , 60 votes in the Senate , ” Rep. Dan Kildee ( D-Mich. ) , the chief deputy whip of the Democratic caucus , told HuffPost on Thursday , speaking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bills in the House and the filibuster-proof majority in the Senate .
Voters may understand that part .
President Donald Trump had to reckon with the realities of governing when , after passing an Obamacare repeal dozens of times when there was a Democratic president in control of the White House , Republicans couldn ’ t repeal the law when it came time to do it for real .
Anyone who thinks electing Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-Vt. ) president means that Medicare for All would become law has an unrealistic view of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just health care .
Every component of his agenda that requires Congress would be a tough slog .
But what even more sophisticated voters might not understand is how resigned some of the most liberal voices in Congress are to their inability to get items like Medicare for All .
Ocasio-Cortez ― one of the most outspoken advocates for Medicare for All ― said she thought voters understood there was an “ inherent check ” on the president ’ s ability to actually change things like our health care system .
And she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actually an argument for someone like Sanders , as he ’ d be able to push Democrats and resulting changes further left .
Ocasio-Cortez stressed that just getting a public option for health care wasn ’ t the left ’ s ultimate goal .
But she also said she wasn ’ t here to railroad other members with differing viewpoints on health care ― she just thinks it helps to have a president who has a more ambitious platform than Congress so that Democrats could stretch what ’ s possible .
There are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 435 in the “ Medicare for All Caucus , ” but those numbers also seem to include lawmakers who support a buy-in option for Medicare , rather than eliminating private insurance entirely .
And Democrats have consistently shown a deference to the most vulnerable and moderate members ― the so-called “ majority makers.
” Whether Underwood likes our “ framing agenda ” or not , she ’ s in a tough district to support Medicare for All .
She represents the western suburbs of Chicago , which has a Partisan Voting Index score @ @ @ @ @ @ @ holding seats in districts like that may preclude supporting Medicare for All .

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WASHINGTON ― It’s no exaggeration to say the biggest flashpoint in the Democratic presidential race thus far has been health care ― namely, whether the United States should adopt “Medicare for All” ― but there’s a reality that hardly anyone is talking about: Congress.
While differences between candidates could manifest themselves in plenty of ways in office, any Democratic president would have an extremely tough time actually enacting systemic changes like Medicare for All. Lost in all of these health care debates between presidential contenders is that the resulting health care policies would probably all look very similar, regardless of which person wins.
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Every Republican and most Democrats in Congress publicly oppose Medicare for All. And while those numbers have certainly been shifting, there is almost certainly a critical mass of Democrats who would join Republicans to block a single-payer health care system in the House ― let alone the Senate, where Republicans are likely to retain the majority, or at least be a vote or two away from it.
“You gotta get 218 votes on the floor of the House to do anything. And then you’ve gotta figure out a way to get, you know, theoretically, 60 votes in the Senate,” Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), the chief deputy whip of the Democratic caucus, told HuffPost on Thursday, speaking of the majority vote threshold to pass bills in the House and the filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
“I don’t think that means we don’t have big ideas that candidates put out and pursue them,” Kildee continued. “But yeah, we have to make sure that we’re not creating some sort of an expectation that electing a president means that the entire agenda is just sort of self-actualizing.”
“You gotta get 218 votes on the floor of the House to do anything. And then you’ve gotta figure out a way to get, you know, theoretically, 60 votes in the Senate.” - Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.)
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Voters may understand that part. President Donald Trump had to reckon with the realities of governing when, after passing an Obamacare repeal dozens of times when there was a Democratic president in control of the White House, Republicans couldn’t repeal the law when it came time to do it for real.
Anyone who thinks electing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) president means that Medicare for All would become law has an unrealistic view of lawmaking. And it’s not just health care. Every component of his agenda that requires Congress would be a tough slog. But what even more sophisticated voters might not understand is how resigned some of the most liberal voices in Congress are to their inability to get items like Medicare for All.
“A president can’t wave a magic wand and pass any legislation they want,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told HuffPost this week.
Ocasio-Cortez ― one of the most outspoken advocates for Medicare for All ― said she thought voters understood there was an “inherent check” on the president’s ability to actually change things like our health care system. And she argued that the realities of governing were actually an argument for someone like Sanders, as he’d be able to push Democrats and resulting changes further left.
But Ocasio-Cortez is also realistic about how far even a President Sanders could actually move Congress.
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“The worst-case scenario? We compromise deeply and we end up getting a public option. Is that a nightmare? I don’t think so,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez stressed that just getting a public option for health care wasn’t the left’s ultimate goal. But she also said she wasn’t here to railroad other members with differing viewpoints on health care ― she just thinks it helps to have a president who has a more ambitious platform than Congress so that Democrats could stretch what’s possible.
Anyone who thinks electing Bernie Sanders president means that "Medicare for All" would become law has an unrealistic view of lawmaking. Joe Raedle via Getty Images
What’s possible, at least in the near term for any Democratic president, seems extremely limited.
There are currently more than 70 members out of 435 in the “Medicare for All Caucus,” but those numbers also seem to include lawmakers who support a buy-in option for Medicare, rather than eliminating private insurance entirely. And Democrats have consistently shown a deference to the most vulnerable and moderate members ― the so-called “majority makers.”
“The gauge for how far we can go on some of these issues is around the 40 people that have given us the majority,” Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), a former presidential candidate himself, told HuffPost on Thursday.
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“This whole system is built on everyone operating in their own self-interest, and nobody knows their self-interest better than they do,” Ryan said of the Democrats who beat Republicans to take the majority.
Those Democrats, even the ones who may personally believe in Medicare for All, seem to be very cautious about getting too far in front of their constituents.
Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), who beat incumbent Republican Leonard Lance in 2018 despite Lance voting against the GOP health care bill, chose his words carefully when HuffPost asked him about Medicare for All.
“You know where the consensus in the [Democratic] Caucus is ― it’s around improving the Affordable Care Act,” Malinowski said.
And Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), who took down former Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) in 2018, essentially refused to say whether she supported Medicare for All, insisting that supporting or opposing it wasn’t a binary choice.
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When HuffPost pressed her on whether Medicare for All was her ultimate ambition, she said her end goal was to ensure that “every American has access to high-quality health care in this country.”
And when we pushed further ― mentioning that “access to care” was a favorite talking point of former House Speaker Paul Ryan’s ― Underwood said she would “really like to not be included in this piece, because there’s some kind of framing agenda.”
Whether Underwood likes our “framing agenda” or not, she’s in a tough district to support Medicare for All. She represents the western suburbs of Chicago, which has a Partisan Voting Index score of R+5. And the realities of holding seats in districts like that may preclude supporting Medicare for All.
But according to Progressive Caucus co-chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), there are many Democrats who personally support Medicare for All and just feel it’s unrealistic and politically damaging to advocate for it.
“If we’re electing Bernie Sanders, we can get there.” - Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.)
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Jayapal would have a very good sense of support for Medicare for All; she’s the primary sponsor of the most prominent single-payer bill in Congress.
She did say she thought a Sanders presidency would help significantly with the potentially poor politics of Medicare for All. “If we’re electing Bernie Sanders, we can get there,” Jayapal said.
And other Democrats suggested that Sanders would represent a sort of tipping point because he could accomplish much of his agenda through executive orders.
“A lot of the right-wing, extreme, very hateful policy agenda of the current administration was done through the executive office,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said.
But Tlaib did say that the “transformative change” happens outside of Congress. And she seemed to understand that something as big as Medicare for All would be a long road.
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That seems to be the consensus from progressives in Congress.
As Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) put it, Democrats are still years away from reaching a critical mass on Medicare for All. And he noted that there would be “tremendous resistance” to enacting much of what Sanders and other progressives in Congress want.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-02-13--Influential Nevada Union Declines To Endorse In Democratic Caucus

“ We are going to endorse our goals ― what we ’ re doing , that ’ s what we ’ re going to endorse , ” the union ’ s secretary-treasurer Geoconda Argüello-Kline said at a press conference in Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon .
“ We ’ re not going to endorse a political candidate.
” The union ’ s three top policy goals are making sure that “ one job is enough ” for every worker to afford their livelihood ; protection of the union ’ s “ choices ” to maintain its own health care plan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States .
The nonendorsement is sure to be a source of relief for Sens .
Bernie Sanders ( I-Vt. ) and Elizabeth Warren ( D-Mass . )
, whose support for “ Medicare for All ” is at odds with the union .
The union said the bilingual candidate scorecard it distributed to members , which is critical of Sanders and Warren ’ s Medicare for All plans , is as close to an endorsement as the union will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ implicit acknowledgment of the unique relationship with Biden , he was the only candidate Argüello-Kline mentioned by name during her prepared remarks .
“ We respect every single candidate right now .
We know they are great people , ” she said .
“ We know Vice President Biden for many years .
We know he ’ s been our friend.
” Biden is due to visit the union ’ s Culinary Training Academy in North Las Vegas on Saturday .
But Argüello-Kline and union spokeswoman Bethany Khan denied on Thursday that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden , noting that any of the Democratic candidates is free to visit the academy .
In addition , the nonendorsement creates an opening for other moderate contenders with whom the union is more aligned on health care policy .
Former South Bend , Indiana , Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar ( D-Minn. ) won second and third places in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday , potentially setting the stage to replace Biden as the moderate alternative to Sanders .
The endorsement of Culinary Union , which counts among its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nevada , is highly coveted by Democratic presidential candidates .
The union boasts a legendary turnout operation that helped hand the state ’ s caucuses to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and kept the state in the Democratic column in the general election , even as many traditional party strongholds fell to Donald Trump .
The Culinary Union ’ s endorsement announcement follows two days of tensions between the union and Sanders ’ campaign revolving around the union ’ s objection to his Medicare for All plan .
The union is one of several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because it would mean forgoing private plans they have fought years to win in favor of an expanded public coverage program .
It emerged late on Tuesday that the union ’ s scorecard ― a caucusgoer education flyer it sent to its members ― stated that Sanders ’ single-payer health care plan would “ end Culinary Healthcare ” and “ require Medicare for All.
” Its characterization of Warren ’ s Medicare for All plan , which would split the transition away from private coverage into a separate bill and has provisions designed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ generous plans , was slightly less negative .
Sanders supporters fumed about the campaign materials , calling them misleading because they did not feature information about how Medicare for All would reduce out-of-pocket costs relative to the current plan and increase union leverage for non-health-care matters .
Their apparent protestations backfired however , when the union accused Sanders partisans of “ viciously ” attacking its members in a public statement .
Khan , the union spokesperson , told HuffPost she had personally received numerous nasty phone calls .
Many of the messages directed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and some included racist , sexist and xenophobic rhetoric directed at the union ’ s majority-female , ethnically diverse membership , according to Khan .
Sanders found his own way to tout his friendship with the union without directly addressing the controversy .
He tweeted a message of support on Thursday for the union in its ongoing contract fight with a Las Vegas hospital .
Asked by a reporter whether the tweet was enough , Argüello-Kline changed the subject to the union ’ s overall relationship with Sanders , noting that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health care center .
“ We respect Sen. Sanders , ” she said .

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The powerful Culinary Workers Union Local 226 announced on Thursday that it would not be endorsing a Democratic presidential candidate ahead of the Nevada caucuses on Feb. 22.
“We are going to endorse our goals ― what we’re doing, that’s what we’re going to endorse,” the union’s secretary-treasurer Geoconda Argüello-Kline said at a press conference in Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon. “We’re not going to endorse a political candidate.”
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The union’s three top policy goals are making sure that “one job is enough” for every worker to afford their livelihood; protection of the union’s “choices” to maintain its own health care plan; and immigration reform that provides a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
The nonendorsement is sure to be a source of relief for Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), whose support for “Medicare for All” is at odds with the union. The union said the bilingual candidate scorecard it distributed to members, which is critical of Sanders and Warren’s Medicare for All plans, is as close to an endorsement as the union will provide.
It is also likely a disappointment to former Vice President Joe Biden, who would be a natural choice for a union heavily composed of the working-class voters of color who form Biden’s base.
In what was perhaps an implicit acknowledgment of the unique relationship with Biden, he was the only candidate Argüello-Kline mentioned by name during her prepared remarks.
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“We respect every single candidate right now. We know they are great people,” she said. “We know Vice President Biden for many years. We know he’s been our friend.”
Biden is due to visit the union’s Culinary Training Academy in North Las Vegas on Saturday. But Argüello-Kline and union spokeswoman Bethany Khan denied on Thursday that the appearance reflected any kind of partiality to Biden, noting that any of the Democratic candidates is free to visit the academy.
The union has held seven town halls for its members to hear from presidential candidates. Sanders addressed the union’s members on Dec. 10.
In addition, the nonendorsement creates an opening for other moderate contenders with whom the union is more aligned on health care policy. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) won second and third places in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, potentially setting the stage to replace Biden as the moderate alternative to Sanders.
The endorsement of Culinary Union, which counts among its members 60,000 casino and hotel workers across Nevada, is highly coveted by Democratic presidential candidates. The union boasts a legendary turnout operation that helped hand the state’s caucuses to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and kept the state in the Democratic column in the general election, even as many traditional party strongholds fell to Donald Trump.
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The Culinary Union’s endorsement announcement follows two days of tensions between the union and Sanders’ campaign revolving around the union’s objection to his Medicare for All plan. The union is one of several labor groups opposed to Medicare for All because it would mean forgoing private plans they have fought years to win in favor of an expanded public coverage program.
Geoconda Argüello-Kline, head of the Culinary Union, speaks at an election rally in October 2018. The union is a key part of the Democratic Party infrastructure in Nevada. Ethan Miller/Getty Images
It emerged late on Tuesday that the union’s scorecard ― a caucusgoer education flyer it sent to its members ― stated that Sanders’ single-payer health care plan would “end Culinary Healthcare” and “require Medicare for All.” Its characterization of Warren’s Medicare for All plan, which would split the transition away from private coverage into a separate bill and has provisions designed to be more accommodating to unions with generous plans, was slightly less negative.
Sanders supporters fumed about the campaign materials, calling them misleading because they did not feature information about how Medicare for All would reduce out-of-pocket costs relative to the current plan and increase union leverage for non-health-care matters.
Their apparent protestations backfired however, when the union accused Sanders partisans of “viciously” attacking its members in a public statement. Khan, the union spokesperson, told HuffPost she had personally received numerous nasty phone calls. Many of the messages directed at the union were mean-spirited and profane, and some included racist, sexist and xenophobic rhetoric directed at the union’s majority-female, ethnically diverse membership, according to Khan.
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Sanders’ rivals, including Warren, rushed to express solidarity with the union on Wednesday evening, seeking the moral high ground against a candidate with sterling pro-labor credentials.
Sanders found his own way to tout his friendship with the union without directly addressing the controversy. He tweeted a message of support on Thursday for the union in its ongoing contract fight with a Las Vegas hospital.
Asked by a reporter whether the tweet was enough, Argüello-Kline changed the subject to the union’s overall relationship with Sanders, noting that he had addressed the union and toured its health care center. “We respect Sen. Sanders,” she said.
Pressed to elaborate on the invective that Sanders supporters had directed at the union, Argüello-Kline again demurred.
“I don’t like to focus on that right now. I would like to focus on our goals,” she said. “Our focus should be ‘one job is enough.’”
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In a statement following the union’s press conference on Thursday, Sanders nonetheless condemned “online harassment.”
“Harassment of all forms is unacceptable to me, and we urge supporters of all campaigns not to engage in bullying or ugly personal attacks,” Sanders said. “Our campaign is building a multi-generational, multi-racial movement of love, compassion, and justice.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-02-13--Instagram’s Biggest Meme Accounts Are Running Sponcon For Mike Bloomberg

On Wednesday evening , more than a dozen of the biggest meme accounts on Instagram shared screenshots of direct-message conversations with the former New York City mayor .
In those posts , which are approved and paid for by Bloomberg ’ s campaign , he appears to make fun of himself for being old , rich and out of touch .
“ Can you make a meme that lets the younger generation know I ’ m the cool candidate ?
” the 77-year-old billionaire appears to write in one DM conversation .
“ Please fax it over before the markets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ running these ads for Bloomberg have more than 60 million followers .
The memes are a joke , but they ’ re also emblematic of a campaign that ’ s spending extraordinary amounts of money to win support and gloss over his controversial record as mayor of New York City , during which he aggressively enforced stop-and-frisk policing and arresting marijuana users .
The same night the sponsored Instagram posts went up , the Associated Press surfaced remarks that Bloomberg made in 2008 blaming the end of “ redlining ” — a discriminatory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s economic collapse .
But at least one memer apparently declined the campaign ’ s proposition .
Josh Ostrovsky , the man behind the Instagram account @ thefatjewish ( which has 11 million followers ) , left a comment on another user ’ s post claiming he had refused to run a Bloomberg ad for political reasons : “ They asked me to do it , I said no .
I grew up in New York City so I can tell you firsthand , Bloomberg is a colossal shitbag , ” he wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through stop and frisk policies to his hardline anti-marijuana stance , dude is a total hoe , ” added Ostrovsky , who was raised in Manhattan ’ s Upper West Side and briefly attended New York University while Bloomberg was mayor .
Bloomberg ’ s sponsored content blitz is a first among presidential candidates , marking a rare blend of political and influencer marketing .
It comes on the heels of a Daily Beast report on the former New York City mayor ’ s plans to pay popular social media figures to boost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Meme 2020 , a new digital media firm , to orchestrate the stunt , The New York Times reported .
Its cost remains unclear .
The meme barrage is also a transparent attempt to make a joke out of Bloomberg ’ s exorbitant campaign spending , which dwarfs that of his competitors , including fellow billionaires Donald Trump and Tom Steyer .
Since joining the race in late November , Bloomberg has funneled more than $ 300 million of his own fortune into political advertising , and recently announced his intention to double @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first time Bloomberg ’ s team has tried to use shock humor for political purposes .
During a Democratic debate in January , for which Bloomberg did not qualify , his team sent out a series of bizarre tweets from the official @ Mike2020 account .
One post featured a picture of four meatballs with Bloomberg ’ s face photoshopped onto one and a caption that read , “ Test your political knowledge : SPOT THE MEATBALL THAT LOOKS LIKE MIKE.
” Bloomberg has also been trying to court young voters on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than $ 500,000 , once again blowing other candidates ’ spending out of the water .
There , his ads focus on climate change , gun safety and attacking Trump .
The account @ lushsux took a jab at the billionaire by posting a photoshopped DM conversation transcribing recently leaked audio in which Bloomberg made bigoted remarks about racial profiling .
“ Ninety-five percent of your murders — murderers and murder victims — fit one M.O .
You can just take the description , Xerox it and pass it out to all the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 16 to 25 .
That ’ s true in New York , it ’ s true in virtually every city , ” Bloomberg appears to write to the influencer .

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Mike Bloomberg is trying to meme his way to the Democratic nomination for president, one sponsored Instagram post at a time.
On Wednesday evening, more than a dozen of the biggest meme accounts on Instagram shared screenshots of direct-message conversations with the former New York City mayor. In those posts, which are approved and paid for by Bloomberg’s campaign, he appears to make fun of himself for being old, rich and out of touch.
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“Can you make a meme that lets the younger generation know I’m the cool candidate?” the 77-year-old billionaire appears to write in one DM conversation. “Please fax it over before the markets close.” Collectively, the meme accounts running these ads for Bloomberg have more than 60 million followers.
The memes are a joke, but they’re also emblematic of a campaign that’s spending extraordinary amounts of money to win support and gloss over his controversial record as mayor of New York City, during which he aggressively enforced stop-and-frisk policing and arresting marijuana users. The same night the sponsored Instagram posts went up, the Associated Press surfaced remarks that Bloomberg made in 2008 blaming the end of “redlining” — a discriminatory housing practice — for that year’s economic collapse.
Now, he’s using his colossal wealth to buy exposure online — and many influencers are helping him do it.
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But at least one memer apparently declined the campaign’s proposition. Josh Ostrovsky, the man behind the Instagram account @thefatjewish (which has 11 million followers), left a comment on another user’s post claiming he had refused to run a Bloomberg ad for political reasons: “They asked me to do it, I said no. I grew up in New York City so I can tell you firsthand, Bloomberg is a colossal shitbag,” he wrote.
“From the subjugation of minorities through stop and frisk policies to his hardline anti-marijuana stance, dude is a total hoe,” added Ostrovsky, who was raised in Manhattan’s Upper West Side and briefly attended New York University while Bloomberg was mayor.
Bloomberg reportedly approached @FATJEW, who has 11M followers, but he refused:
“I grew up in New York City so I can tell you firsthand, Bloomberg is a colossal shitbag. From the subjugation of minorities through stop and frisk policies to his hardline anti-marijuana stance...” pic.twitter.com/DXaJ9DgmTZ — Jesselyn Cook (@JessReports) February 13, 2020
Bloomberg’s sponsored content blitz is a first among presidential candidates, marking a rare blend of political and influencer marketing. It comes on the heels of a Daily Beast report on the former New York City mayor’s plans to pay popular social media figures to boost his popularity. His campaign partnered with Meme 2020, a new digital media firm, to orchestrate the stunt, The New York Times reported. Its cost remains unclear.
The meme barrage is also a transparent attempt to make a joke out of Bloomberg’s exorbitant campaign spending, which dwarfs that of his competitors, including fellow billionaires Donald Trump and Tom Steyer. Since joining the race in late November, Bloomberg has funneled more than $300 million of his own fortune into political advertising, and recently announced his intention to double that figure.
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In one sponsored DM post, @fuckjerry, which has nearly 15 million followers, tells Bloomberg it will cost “like a billion dollars” to post a meme for him, to which Bloomberg replies, “What’s your venmo?”
In another, after the 3.5-million-follower page @kalesalad pushes back against a similar request to post a meme, Bloomberg counters, “I’ll give you a billion dollars.”
Bloomberg’s campaign did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
This isn’t the first time Bloomberg’s team has tried to use shock humor for political purposes. During a Democratic debate in January, for which Bloomberg did not qualify, his team sent out a series of bizarre tweets from the official @Mike2020 account. One post featured a picture of four meatballs with Bloomberg’s face photoshopped onto one and a caption that read, “Test your political knowledge: SPOT THE MEATBALL THAT LOOKS LIKE MIKE.”
Another tweet, which was later deleted, said, “When choosing your candidate, remember...Mike can fit nine D batteries in his mouth at one time.”
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Bloomberg has also been trying to court young voters on Snapchat, where he has spent more than $500,000, once again blowing other candidates’ spending out of the water. There, his ads focus on climate change, gun safety and attacking Trump.
By Thursday morning, Instagrammers were using Bloomberg’s own meme against him.
The account @lushsux took a jab at the billionaire by posting a photoshopped DM conversation transcribing recently leaked audio in which Bloomberg made bigoted remarks about racial profiling. “Ninety-five percent of your murders — murderers and murder victims — fit one M.O. You can just take the description, Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops. They are male, minorities, 16 to 25. That’s true in New York, it’s true in virtually every city,” Bloomberg appears to write to the influencer.
“Bro I am worth $61.8 billion dollars. I do not give a single fuck if I have to pay each and every American directly to vote for me,” Bloomberg is shown saying in another fake, unsponsored conversation with @neighborhoodguymemes.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-02-13--'Bunch Of Thugs': W.Va. Governor Refuses To Apologize For Insult To Girls' Basketball Team

ASSOCIATED PRESS West Virginia Governor Jim Justice delivers his annual State of the State address in the House Chambers at the state capitol , Wednesday , Jan. 8 , 2020 , in Charleston .
Jim Justice , high school basketball coach and Republican governor of West Virginia , is refusing to take back the insult he slung at his team ’ s rivals after a Tuesday evening game , despite calls to apologize from within his own party .
“ They ’ re a bunch of thugs , ” he said of the girls ’ basketball team from Woodrow Wilson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which is significantly more diverse than its rival .
The team is also coached by two black men .
Justice ’ s team hails from the primarily white Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg , West Virginia .
He began coaching there long before taking office in 2017 .
Other high school coaches told WLOS , a local ABC affiliate , that the governor ’ s comments went too far , particularly for a kids ’ team .
Justice ’ s GOP challenger for the governorship , Woody Thrasher , also called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ definition of a thug is clear ― it means violence , bullying , and disorderly conduct , ” he said in a statement .
“ And we , as West Virginians , should have zero tolerance for this kind of behavior .
Anyone that would accuse me of making a racial slur is totally absurd.
” The governor ’ s insult came after a scuffle between a Greenbrier East fan and Woodrow Wilson assistant coach Gene Nabors during a timeout , leading head coach Brian Nabors to take his team off the floor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between high school rivals that began with a Greenbrier player elbowing a Woodrow Wilson player in the face , local news outlets reported .
“ From what I had seen , a Greenbrier East parent had been taunting Woodrow Wilson players throughout the night and the assistant coach for Woodrow Wilson came over to this parent and confronted him and basically it was on from there , ” Anderson told the outlet .
“ There was a lot of jawing going back and forth and then everything basically erupted.
” The game was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minutes left on the clock .
Asked about the incident afterward , Justice said : “ They ’ re a bunch of thugs .
The whole team left the bench , the coach is in a fight , they walked off the floor , they called the game.
” “ They don ’ t know how to behave and at the end of the day , you got what you got , ” he said .
When the Register-Herald , a newspaper in Beckley , called Justice to ask if he understood the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thug , ” he replied , saying racism “ wouldn ’ t never even enter my mind .
”

“First of all, I would tell them that I’m really sorry if I’ve done anything that has offended them,” Justice told WCHS, a local ABC affiliate, about the people who were offended. “But secondly, I would just say this, Barack Obama used that term.”
“If we need to use another term, we would say ― you know, if I could take it back, surely I would take it back because, you know, I never dreamed it would bother anyone,” he concluded.
The governor’s insult came after a scuffle between a Greenbrier East fan and Woodrow Wilson assistant coach Gene Nabors during a timeout, which led head coach Brian Nabors to take his team off the floor. It had been a tense game between high school rivals that began with a Greenbrier East player elbowing a Woodrow Wilson player in the face, local news outlets reported.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-02-13--Yusef Salaam Of The Exonerated Five: Pay Attention To 2020 Candidates’ ‘Track Record’

After the exoneration , things began to normalize a bit .
But the problem was that it wasn ’ t met with the same tsunami of fanfare that you saw when the case first came out in 1989 .
In those first few weeks [ in 1989 ] , over 400 articles came out , viciously , to make sure we got a conviction .
When we found out we were innocent , it was just a blip .
We need to understand how we have more power as a people to hold people accountable .
We have the power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sure they keep our issues at the forefront .
That ’ s one of the things I look for : When they say , “ This is what I ’ m planning , ” show me you ’ ve done something like this in the past .
I think it would be a tremendous step if we reform the 13th Amendment .
The fact we have that still , as a part of the founding documents of this country — it says something very covert about what ’ s been going on .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ system , what is the makeup of people ?
How is it that the overwhelming [ disproportionate amount ] are people of color ?
It ’ s a tricky thing .
... Those like myself who have been able to get our rights back , so now we can be part of it again — but when we participate in the process , there ’ s a whole lot of trickery going on .
You go to different polling areas , things aren ’ t working — all these layers make it a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Every effort has been made to cause us to want to give up .
But I say , don ’ t give up .
I say , never give up .
Your participation in the process is so important .

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Yusef Salaam, who was one of the five Black and brown teenagers wrongfully accused and imprisoned for the 1989 rape of a white woman in Central Park, is taking a look at presidential candidates’ track records on criminal justice as he considers who to support in 2020.
Salaam, whose story was explored in Ava DuVernay’s Netflix series “When They See Us” last year, was convicted at age 15 and spent nearly seven years in prison. He and the other teens falsely accused were only exonerated in 2002, over a decade after they were first imprisoned.
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Now a 45-year-old father of 10 living in the Atlanta, Georgia, metro area, Salaam spends much of his time as a public speaker, namely around criminal justice issues. As someone who was directly impacted by the ways the U.S. criminal justice system disproportionately targets Black people, he wants to see reforms from the “top-down,” as he put it, starting with the federal level.
“The biggest thing I’m looking for is their track record,” Salaam said of the 2020 Democratic candidates for president, declining to name any particular candidate he’s supporting outright. “If they have any past dealings with the criminal justice system, that tells us a lot.”
“In Black and brown communities, we’ve always seen situations where people promise us the world, then take office and give us nothing,” Salaam added.
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Read the interview below for more from Salaam on what changes he’d like to see in the U.S. criminal justice system today and how DuVernay’s series changed his life.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Yusef Salaam speaks, surrounded by (from left) Korey Wise, Raymond Santana Jr., Antron McCray and Kevin Richardson at the BET Awards -- June 23, 2019. Kevin Winter via Getty Images
Last year Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us” Netflix series came out and made major waves — how has the public response to the series been for you?
It definitely did a lot to bring us back into the front of society and bring [out] the issues of the criminal justice system and the problems we’ve been facing. It’s done a lot to provide a platform for us to talk about the issues in a real and powerful way.
It was probably 90% accurate, one of the best retellings of our story. … The idea, for instance, was to understand everybody in the community — anyone — was a suspect. I got arrested in front of my building, but many people when I came home from prison — it was a ghost town. People were getting picked up and taken off to prison.
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You were wrongly accused in 1989 at 15 years old, released in 1997 and only exonerated in 2002. What was your life like after your release?
I had completed prison and parole, and kind of resigned my life to, “Okay, I guess this is it. I guess we’ll be fighting and not have anything to help us fight, other than our voice.”
After the exoneration, things began to normalize a bit. But the problem was that it wasn’t met with the same tsunami of fanfare that you saw when the case first came out in 1989. In those first few weeks [in 1989], over 400 articles came out, viciously, to make sure we got a conviction. When we found out we were innocent, it was just a blip.
My mother testified and used the words: “When we were found to be innocent, it was a whisper.”
It was very difficult. We fought the system for 12 years just to win our lawsuit [in 2014]. The Ken Burns film [“The Central Park Five” documentary] gave us a tremendous opportunity to get our voices back. They were able to hear from us and understand the impact of why it was so devastating.
[Ava DuVernay’s series] changed everything. That really positioned us back in society in a very powerful way. We get people sending us love and respect and honor from all around the globe. It’s a really overwhelming, psychosocial redemption to be placed back into society knowing you’re seen as a valuable piece of society ... as opposed to being a person hiding in plain sight.
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“The Central Park jogger case ... It’s famous, but it’s just one in a can of worms of cases just like it.”
What do you think your experience says about the criminal justice system in the U.S.?
I think the Central Park jogger case has to be looked at as a microcosm of a macrocosm of cases just like that. It’s famous, but it’s just one in a can of worms of cases just like it. … Things like that are markers for us to understand how bad we’re doing as a result of our system.
If they got it wrong this time — how many other times have they got it wrong?
With the Innocence Project, you see 300+ people found innocent through new [DNA] evidence — some people doing almost 40 years in prison and then found to be innocent. It’s telling us we have to reevaluate what the American criminal justice system is all about.
Why do we have the overwhelming [disproportional number] of people there are people of color? It’s a huge problem.
This is a big year for bringing potential change at the federal level on criminal justice, with the 2020 presidential election. What do you think of the Democratic candidates?
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I haven’t put my full support behind anyone in particular yet, but I do like people that speak to the marginalized, the downtrodden ... and not just those at the top. ... But I’m not gonna put a name out there.
We need to understand how we have more power as a people to hold people accountable. We have the power to vote people into office and make sure they keep our issues at the forefront. That’s one of the things I look for: When they say, “This is what I’m planning,” show me you’ve done something like this in the past.
Speaking of candidates’ records on criminal justice, what do you think of former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg running for president? As mayor, Bloomberg’s administration spent years fighting the civil lawsuit by the Five and defended the actions of police and officials in the case. The Five settled with the city in 2014, a year after Bloomberg left office.
I don’t know that I have too much more to say about him running. His record speaks for itself.
At a December campaign event, Bloomberg was asked his stance regarding the Central Park jogger case and how New York City police handled it. “I really have no idea,” Bloomberg said, and later added, when pressed: “I’ve been away from it for so long, I just really can’t respond because I just don’t remember.” What do you think of Bloomberg’s response?
I think when we have the opportunity to have smartphones in front of us … we know what’s happening. It’s unfortunate that sometimes you hear people think things that doesn’t really make sense.
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I don’t think that’s genuine. I think he needs to put forth a better response than that.
Yusef Salaam, left, with Kevin Richardson and Raymond Santana at a rally with supporters in New York, after a hearing in their lawsuit against the city, Jan. 17, 2013. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Are there particular policy changes you’d like to see in terms of criminal justice reforms?
I think it would be a tremendous step if we reform the 13th Amendment. The fact we have that still, as a part of the founding documents of this country — it says something very covert about what’s been going on. As we look at the criminal justice system, what is the makeup of people? How is it that the overwhelming [disproportionate amount] are people of color?
We have great books. “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander lays out the fact that here you abolish slavery, then created different laws to really keep it going. This is the new Jim Crow system: Slavery is abolished, but you get punished for a crime, they can turn you back into a slave.
You have a huge push of people saying, “We should never forget, we should have reparations” — then people at the top are saying, “You should forget, slavery is already over.”
This Black History Month, HuffPost is covering stories through a lens of “We belong here,” how Black American life is integral to U.S. politics and culture. How does that resonate with you?
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I know that we belong here. I know that Black life is integral to the American experience. … We were taken from our countries and brought here, and robbed of the ability to be us in our totality.
If we have participated in building this country, for free, then there should never, ever be a question as to whether we should be included or not. It should be fact.
How do you think the way the criminal justice system treats people, disproportionately Black and brown people, sends a message about their belonging? For instance, the U.S. disenfranchises many people in prison and some even after they’ve served their time.
It’s a tricky thing. ... Those like myself who have been able to get our rights back, so now we can be part of it again — but when we participate in the process, there’s a whole lot of trickery going on. You go to different polling areas, things aren’t working — all these layers make it a difficult process to be part of. Every effort has been made to cause us to want to give up. But I say, don’t give up. I say, never give up. Your participation in the process is so important.
One of many examples is the census. When it’s taken, those people in prison are not counted as citizens of places they came from, but of towns where they’re warehoused. That’s a huge, huge problem. That’s not a true representation of the citizenship in that place.
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The other thing is, when they come out of prison, getting your voting rights back. If you’ve paid your debt to society, there should be every effort to restore those people back to a place that makes them whole. But there’s been every effort to make them not whole, still broken. To feel like they don’t matter.
What would you want people to know about your experience of the criminal justice system?
Everything is building you to become the person you are to be. When you think about struggle, the person who is guiding the ship can never become a skilled person on the seas unless you hit rough waters, to understand how to navigate in the future.
For young people part of the mass incarceration agenda, a lot of this is teaching us how to fight, not just tomorrow but eons from now: How do we sustain a positive outlook of how we survive in this country?
You weren’t inherently a slave, you’ve been taught that — just like people put into a poor situation, taught you’re supposed to be poor. There’s people who took out a red marker and said, “We’re gonna disallow people from coming into this neighborhood.”
The government can fix every social ill that is out there, by tomorrow.
Is there anything you haven’t said that you want people to know, particularly going into this 2020 election year?
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-02-13--Tom Steyer Really Is Everywhere In South Carolina

‘ He Has The Respect To Come To Chester ’ They also don ’ t have financial restrictions , because @ @ @ @ @ wealth , whereas Biden ’ s campaign finances have been more volatile .
Biden raised @ @ @ @ @ campaign so far in the last quarter of 2019 at $ 22.7 million , but @ @ @ @ @ names in the field .
His campaign went on the airwaves in South Carolina for @ @ @ @ @ with plans to spend more in the coming weeks .
Not Just Another Rich Guy @ @ @ @ @ take Black voters for granted .
While not explicitly saying it , Steyer especially wants @ @ @ @ @ Biden is taking them for granted .
On the debate stage in New Hampshire last @ @ @ @ @ Biden to disavow the support of state Sen. Dick Harpootlian — who is in hot @ @ @ @ @ s Legislative Black Caucus for making comments about Govan advising Steyer .

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CHESTER, S.C. — It was 9:30 a.m., the day before the New Hampshire primary, when Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer leaned in close to the African American man sitting across from him at a diner and asked, “Would you say we’re still fighting the Civil War?”
“I do,” said Steyer, a California billionaire and liberal activist, remarking on the Confederate symbols he’d seen along the roads of South Carolina.
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As his fellow Democratic presidential candidates made their closing arguments in New Hampshire, Steyer had the state of South Carolina to himself. Steyer received 0.3 percent of the vote in Iowa, and he finished in sixth in New Hampshire.
South Carolina and Nevada are the places the billionaire activist hopes will put him on the map. Though he’s still considered a long shot to win, two polls that showed Steyer in second and third place in South Carolina made people sit up and take notice.
Even if he doesn’t win, Steyer could stand in the way of former Vice President Joe Biden winning in a total blowout. Biden has long bet that South Carolina will be his firewall.
If Steyer succeeds, he could alter the course of the Democratic primary.
Two weeks out from South Carolina’s Feb. 29 primary, Steyer was at once a familiar face and a complete unknown to patrons at Gene’s Restaurant, a popular diner in this small, majority-African American city.
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Presidential Candidate Tom Steyer greets residents at Gene's Restaurant in Chester, South Carolina, over breakfast. Tara Golshan/HuffPost
For months, Steyer’s campaign has blanketed the airwaves in South Carolina, spending $14 million in TV and radio ads in the state. Loretta Brown, a 67-year-old Chester resident, said she gets two or three brochures from the Steyer campaign every week. Asia Turner, a 21-year-old college student from Chester, didn’t even know Biden was running, but she’d heard of Steyer from his yard signs.
They just didn’t know much else about him.
That sentiment was true everywhere Steyer went during his weekend swing through the state. Those who came to his campaign events wanted to see if he lived up to his commercials in person — and most left feeling he does.
“Tom’s the real deal,” Camilla Gill, 55, from Winnsboro, South Carolina, said leaving a block party Steyer had thrown in her hometown. Gill said she didn’t know about Steyer, other than seeing his television ads — “every show on WISTV, WLTX, he has a commercial,” she said — and she had been wavering between Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Steyer’s campaign closed down the town’s main street Sunday night, with games for the kids, hip performances and a free meal. One speech from Steyer and Gill was sold.
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“I didn’t even know him ... and I’m actually going to vote this week — I’m going to do the early vote because he can beat Donald Trump,” Gill said.
For the last week, Steyer has made headlines as the man who could make a dent in Biden’s support in South Carolina. He has a message of raising the minimum wage to $22 an hour, taxing the rich and talking about structural racism in America. His wife, Kat, has relocated to the state capital Columbia for the final three weeks of the campaign in the state.
Beating Biden would be a tall order in South Carolina, where the former vice president still leads the rest of the Democratic field by 12 percentage points. Biden skipped his own election night party in New Hampshire on Tuesday and flew to South Carolina instead.
“I hope you love me as much as I love you guys,” Biden told supporters at his party in Columbia that night.
Biden knows he can’t take their love for granted. With his disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa and fifth-place showing in New Hampshire, many people who once believed Biden was the best candidate to take on President Donald Trump say they are now looking at other candidates.
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“I listen to him talk on the TV on his commercials and he’s caring and wants to do something and for him come to Winnsboro, a small town like this, that’s important.” - South Carolina Steyer backer Deborah Plair
The next two voting states ― Nevada and South Carolina ― are totally different than the first two. They’re bigger and significantly more diverse. South Carolina’s Democratic electorate historically has been around 60% nonwhite — and party watchers say it could approach 70% this year. Biden has consistently polled better with communities of color than many of his competitors, and it’s these voters he hopes will prove his doubters wrong.
But Steyer also sees an opening.
“Our internal data suggests that a Biden slide is particularly useful to us,” a Steyer aide told HuffPost.
‘He Has The Respect To Come To Chester’
Democratic presidential hopeful Tom Steyer speaks, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, at an NAACP rally at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. Meg Kinnard/Associated Press
Steyer’s campaign has close to 100 staffers in the state, including alumni from the Obama and Clinton campaigns. He received press attention last week for paying one of his endorsers, the influential chair of the state’s Black Legislative Caucus, Rep. Jerry Govan (D), more than $40,000 to advise his campaign for four months of work.
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But Steyer has already racked up some notable supporters in the state, including Edith Childs, the former South Carolina lawmaker that Barack Obama credited with his 2008 presidential campaign slogan “Fired Up. Ready To Go.” Biden has tried to co-opt the slogan; his campaign offices in the state have “Fired Up. Ready For Joe” posters up.
On Monday night, at a Steyer town hall in Rock Hill, Childs herself had a different chant to rev up Steyer’s supporters: “He’s fired up, and Trump has got to go.”
Two other members of the South Carolina Legislature’s Black Caucus endorsed Steyer that night: state Reps. John King and Annie McDaniel, both of whom had previously supported Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).
“He’s the only one that I did not have to educate or teach about the things that are happening in the African American community and communities of color and poor communities,” King said, explaining his endorsement. “He was already there.”
Voters at Steyer’s events are impressed for the same reason: He’s been coming to their small towns.
“He has the respect to come to Chester,” Millie McCullough, a 63-year-old resident of the city said. “Where are the other ones? Even with our own senators and representatives, when we know they’re here, they’re already gone.”
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McCullough, who is Black, said she doesn’t feel the same attention from the other Democratic candidates.
“If you are in Iowa or New Hampshire, what’s there? I’m not trying to offend you, but we are not there,” she said.“They are not looking at us.”
This kind of face-to-face campaigning is crucial to winning elections in South Carolina, where trust and familiarity go a long way. At the block party in Winnsboro, Deborah Plair, 60-year-old who was volunteering for Steyer at the event, said the same.
“I listen to him talk on the TV on his commercials and he’s caring and wants to do something, and for him come to Winnsboro, a small town like this, that’s important,” Plair said.
Steyer is pouring millions into South Carolina to get in front of people’s faces with his message. And his ads are everywhere ― on TV, in newspapers, on the radio, on billboards and in mailers.
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They also don’t have financial restrictions, because of Steyer’s personal wealth, whereas Biden’s campaign finances have been more volatile. Biden raised the biggest haul of his campaign so far in the last quarter of 2019 at $22.7 million, but still fell behind the biggest names in the field. His campaign went on the airwaves in South Carolina for the first time last week with plans to spend more in the coming weeks.
But Steyer argues his rise is more about message than money.
He likes to tell voters that he has a theory for how Democrats, namely Hillary Clinton, lost the 2016 election: They didn’t show up where they needed to.
“If you don’t show up you lose,” Steyer said in Winnsboro.
Not Just Another Rich Guy
Steyer prefaces almost everything he says in South Carolina, whether a stump speech or sitting across a resident at a diner, with “I’m from California.”
He’s clearly not from around here, and he’s willing to admit it, but he then tries to convince people that his message is for here. That he gets it.
There are some topics on which he doesn’t go into specifics unless he’s asked: He’s not for Medicare For All, and instead supports adding a public option to the Affordable Care Act. He doesn’t support making public universities tuition-free, but does for two-year colleges, nor does he want to cancel student debt.
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But left on his own, Steyer ticks through a list. He wants to go further than all other Democrats on minimum wage: $22 an hour. He wants to talk about structural racism in every part of society: education — with a focus on historically Black colleges and universities — the environment and housing, even if it’s “awkward” coming from a white man.
“The way I’ve always done climate and the way that I will do climate — start with environmental justice, start with Black and brown communities where people can’t breathe without getting asthma,” he said at his town hall in Rock Hill. “And if you turn on the tap water and mix up some lemonade you get sick.”
This speech convinces those in the room.
“He wants to raise minimum wage, make everything even, not a race-type situation, he understands rural areas, he understands HBCUs, he started from the bottom up, he wasn’t born into money,” Gill said. “So he knows how working class America is.”
There isn’t much about Steyer’s upbringing that screams “working-class America.” His father was a big-name attorney and Steyer went to the prestigious Buckley School and Phillips Exeter Academy, then Yale, then Stanford. He worked at Goldman Sachs, in private equity, and eventually started an investment firm in San Francisco where he made billions.
And while Steyer acknowledges that people see him as very wealthy, his stump speech glosses over that wealth with a simple statement: “I started a business.”
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That business was a billion-dollar hedge fund management company. And while Steyer’s name was probably unknown to most in the United States before his presidential run, he was a well known Democratic donor — and once even was floated as a possible Hillary Clinton administration Cabinet appointee.
Steyer often says that Democrats take Black voters for granted. While not explicitly saying it, Steyer especially wants to make it seem like Biden is taking them for granted. On the debate stage in New Hampshire last week, he called on Biden to disavow the support of state Sen. Dick Harpootlian — who is in hot water with the state’s Legislative Black Caucus for making comments about Govan advising Steyer.
Harpootlian also famously said in the 1980s: “I don’t want to buy the Black vote. I just want to rent it for a day” — a comment that remains among the most infamous political gaffes to come out of the state.
Biden refused to engage with Steyer, saying only he had talked to Harpootlian about the incident, and he had apologized. Days later in South Carolina, Steyer acted as if it hadn’t happened. Asked about Biden directly on Monday, he said he wouldn’t comment on his competitors.
Sitting at a corner booth at Gene’s Restaurant in Chester with town Mayor Angela Douglas on Monday morning, Steyer tried to order an English muffin. He gets offered buttered toast, before the two of them begin talking about a police-involved shooting that happened in town last November.
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Steyer, eyes widened with concern, asked: “What race?”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-02-13--Feds Investigating Yale, Harvard Over Unreported Foreign Funding

NEW HAVEN , Conn. ( AP ) — The U.S. Education Department is investigating foreign gifts made to Harvard and Yale as part of a broader review of international money flowing to American universities , officials said .
The department said Wednesday it is reviewing whether the Ivy League schools potentially failed to report hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts and donations from countries including Saudi Arabia , Iran and China .
The department previously opened investigations at Georgetown University and Texas A & M as part of a campaign to scrutinize foreign funding and to improve reporting by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we dig , the more we find that too many are underreporting or not reporting at all .
We will continue to hold colleges and universities accountable and work with them to ensure their reporting is full , accurate , and transparent , as required by the law , ” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said .
A Yale spokeswoman , Karen Peart , said the university was reviewing the department ’ s request for records of certain gifts and contracts and preparing to respond to it .
In Yale ’ s case , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks that the university may have failed to report at least $ 375 million in foreign gifts and contracts .
It said in a letter to Yale that the university appeared not to have reported a single foreign source gift or contract in 2014 , 2015 , 2016 and 2017 despite having a significant presence abroad .
At Harvard , a professor was charged last month with lying about his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program and concealing payments he received from the Chinese government for research .
The Education Department noted the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is concerned Harvard “ may lack appropriate institutional controls over foreign money ” and may have failed to report fully all foreign gifts and contracts .
The department said its enforcement efforts since July have prompted the reporting of approximately $ 6.5 billion in previously undisclosed foreign money .
It said $ 3.6 billion of that was reported by 10 schools : Cornell University , Yale , the University of Colorado Boulder , the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , the University of Chicago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ University , Texas A & M , and Carnegie Mellon University .

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — The U.S. Education Department is investigating foreign gifts made to Harvard and Yale as part of a broader review of international money flowing to American universities, officials said.
The department said Wednesday it is reviewing whether the Ivy League schools potentially failed to report hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts and donations from countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran and China.
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The department previously opened investigations at Georgetown University and Texas A&M as part of a campaign to scrutinize foreign funding and to improve reporting by universities.
“Unfortunately, the more we dig, the more we find that too many are underreporting or not reporting at all. We will continue to hold colleges and universities accountable and work with them to ensure their reporting is full, accurate, and transparent, as required by the law,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said.
A Yale spokeswoman, Karen Peart, said the university was reviewing the department’s request for records of certain gifts and contracts and preparing to respond to it.
A Harvard spokesman, Jonathan Swain, said it is reviewing the notice and preparing a response.
Federal law requires U.S. colleges to report contracts and donations from foreign sources totaling $250,000 or more.
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In Yale’s case, the department said it discovered in recent weeks that the university may have failed to report at least $375 million in foreign gifts and contracts. It said in a letter to Yale that the university appeared not to have reported a single foreign source gift or contract in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 despite having a significant presence abroad.
At Harvard, a professor was charged last month with lying about his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program and concealing payments he received from the Chinese government for research. The Education Department noted the arrest in its announcement Wednesday and said it is concerned Harvard “may lack appropriate institutional controls over foreign money” and may have failed to report fully all foreign gifts and contracts.