shareblue--2020-02-29--Experts worry new voting machines are just as vulnerable to hacking as older models

In the rush to replace insecure , unreliable electronic voting machines after Russia 's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race , state and local officials have scrambled to acquire more trustworthy equipment for this year ’ s election , when U.S. intelligence agencies fear even worse problems .
But instead of choosing simple , hand-marked paper ballots that are most resistant to tampering because paper can not be hacked , many are opting for pricier technology that computer security experts consider almost as risky as earlier discredited electronic systems .
Called ballot-marking devices , the machines have touchscreens for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they print out paper records that are scanned by optical readers .
South Carolina voters will use them in Saturday ’ s primary .
The most pricey solution available , they are at least twice as expensive as the hand-marked paper ballot option .
They have been vigorously promoted by the three voting equipment vendors that control 88 % of the U.S. market .
Some of the most popular ballot-marking machines , made by industry leaders Election Systems & Software and Dominion Voting Systems , register votes in bar codes that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s a problem , researchers say : Voters could end up with printouts that accurately spell out the names of the candidates they picked , but , because of a hack , the bar codes do not reflect those choices .
Because the bar codes are what ’ s tabulated , voters would never know that their ballots benefited another candidate .
Even on machines that do not use bar codes , voters may not notice if a hack or programming error mangled their choices .
A University of Michigan study determined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mock election notified poll workers when the names on their printed receipts did not match the candidates they voted for .
ES & S rejects those scenarios .
Spokeswoman Katina Granger said the company ’ s ballot-marking machines ’ accuracy and security “ have been proven through thousands of hours of testing and tens of thousands of successful elections.
” Dominion declined to comment for this story .
Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. voters will be using ballot-marking machines this year , compared with less than 2 % in 2018 , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ technology .
Pivotal counties in the crucial states of Pennsylvania , Ohio , and North Carolina have bought ballot-marking machines .
So have counties in much of Texas , as well as California ’ s Los Angeles County and all of Georgia , Delaware , and South Carolina .
The machines ’ certification has often been streamlined in the rush to get machines in place for presidential primaries .
Ballot-marking devices were not conceived as primary vote-casting tools but as accessible options for people with disabilities .
Critics see them as vulnerable to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DefCon hacker convention in Las Vegas , it took tinkerers at the `` Voting Village '' not even eight hours to hack two older ballot-marking devices .
Tampering aside , some of the newer ballot-marking machines have stumbled badly in actual votes .
That happened most spectacularly in November when ES & S ’ s top-of-the-line ExpressVote XL debuted in a Pennsylvania county .
Even without technical troubles , the new machines can lead to longer lines , potentially reducing turnout .
Voters need more time to cast ballots and the machine ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to limit how many they purchase .
“ There are a huge number of reasons to reject today 's ballot-marking devices — except for limited use as assistive devices for those unable to mark a paper ballot themselves , ” says Doug Jones , a University of Iowa computer scientist who co-authored the voting technology history “ Broken Ballots.
” But election officials see ballot-marking devices as improvements over paperless touchscreens , which were used by 27 % of voters in 2018 .
They like them because the touchscreens are familiar to voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been using for nearly two decades , and officials can use one voting method for everyone .
Michael Anderson , elections director for Pennsylvania ’ s Lebanon County , said “ voters want it.
” The county offers voters both machine- and hand-marked ballots .
`` When we give them a paper ballot , the very first thing they say to us is , ‘ We ’ re going back in time , ’ ” he said .
New York State election commission co-chair Douglas Kellner was an early critic of paperless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confident in a ballot-marking device , the ImageCast Evolution by Dominion , certified for use in his state .
He said safeguards built into the machines and security protocols make a hack of the Image Evolution “ extraordinarily unlikely.
” But Jones is among experts who think today ’ s ballot-marking devices undermine the very idea of retaining a paper record that can be used in audits and recounts .
It ’ s an idea supported by a 2018 National Academies of Sciences report that favors hand-marked paper ballots tallied by optical scanners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used them in the past two presidential elections and will do so again in November .
One state , Colorado , is banning bar codes from ballot-marking voting machines beginning in 2021 .
Election administrators who reject hand-marked paper ballots as antiquated , inconvenient or unwieldy have few options beyond ballot-marking devices .
That ’ s because the $ 300 million voting equipment and services industry is so insular and entrenched .
The industry faces virtually no federal regulation even though election technology was designated critical infrastructure in January 2017 .
Federal certification @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years old and voluntary .
The leading vendors have resisted publicly disclosing third-party penetration testing of their systems .
” It ’ s a self-reinforcing system that keeps it frozen in a place in the past , ” said Eddie Perez , a former product development director for Hart InterCivic , the No .
3 voting equipment company , now with the OSET Institute , a nonprofit that promotes reliable voting solutions .
“ They don ’ t want to make any changes in the equipment unless they absolutely have to.
” The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bills that would , among other things , require a voter-verifiable paper trail and require bulletproof postelection audits .
Republicans say the federal government should not impinge on states ’ authority to oversee elections .
Northampton County , on Pennsylvania ’ s eastern edge , mirrored the state ’ s choice in 2016 by voting for Donald Trump after twice choosing Barack Obama .
Last Election Day , it became ground zero in the debate over ballot-marking devices .
First , a programming misconfiguration prevented votes cast for one of three candidates in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the bar codes used to count the vote .
Only absentee ballot votes registered for the candidate , said the county executive , Lamont McClure .
The other problem was miscalibrated touchscreens , which can “ flip ” votes or simply make it difficult to vote for one ’ s desired candidate due to faulty screen alignment .
They were on about one-third of the county ’ s 320 machines , which cost taxpayers $ 8,250 each .
One poll judge called the touch screens “ garbage.
” Some voters , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public records request , said their votes were assigned to the wrong candidates .
Others worried about long lines in future elections .
Voters require triple the time on average to navigate ES & S ballot-marking machines compared to filling out hand-marked ballots and running them through scanners , according to state certification documents .
ES & S said its employees had flubbed the programming and failed to perform adequate preelection testing of the machines or adequately train election workers , which would have caught the errors .
Election commissioners were livid , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a refund because they are appointees .
“ I feel like I ’ ve been played , ” commissioner Maudeania Hornik said at a December meeting with ES & S representatives .
She later told the AP she had voted for the devices believing they would be more convenient than hand-marked paper ballots , especially for seniors .
“ What we worry is , what happens the next time if there 's a programming bug — or a hack or whatever — and it 's done in a way that 's not obvious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commissioner and Lehigh University computer scientist .
ES & S election equipment has failed elsewhere .
Flawed software in ballot-marking devices delayed the vote count by 13 hours in Kansas ’ largest county during the August 2018 gubernatorial primary .
Another Johnson County , this one in Indiana , scrapped the company ’ s computerized voter check-in system after Election Day errors that same year caused long lines .
“ I don ’ t know that we ’ ve ever seen an election computer — a voting computer — whose software was done @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Duncan Buell , a University of South Carolina computer scientist who has found errors in results produced by ES & S electronic voting machines .
Voting integrity activists have sued , seeking to prevent the further use in Pennsylvania of the ExpressVote XL .
Grassroots organizations including Common Cause are fighting to prevent their certification in New York State .
ES & S defends the machine .
In a Dec. 12 filing in a Pennsylvania lawsuit , company executive Dean Baumer said the ExpressVote XL had never been compromised and said breaches of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” ES & S lobbied hard in Pennsylvania for the ExpressVote XL , though not always legally .
After ES & S won a $ 29 million contract in Philadelphia last year in a hasty procurement , that city ’ s controller did some digging .
She determined that ES & S ’ vice president of finance had failed to disclose , in a mandatory campaign contribution form , activities of consultants who spent more than $ 400,000 , including making campaign contributions to two commissioners involved in awarding the contract .
ES @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 2.9 million penalty as a result .
It said the executive ’ s failure to disclose was “ inadvertent.
” The Philadelphia episode contradicts claims by ES & S officials , including by CEO Tom Burt in Jan. 8 testimony to a congressional committee , that the company does not make campaign contributions .
Public records show ES & S contributed $ 25,000 from 2014-2016 to the Republican State Leadership Committee which seeks GOP control of state legislatures .
ES & S has also paid for trips to Las Vegas of an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials , including from South Carolina , New York City , and Dallas County , Texas , according to records shared with the AP from a Freedom of Information request .
Philadelphia paid more than twice as much for its ExpressVote XL machines per voter ( $ 27 ) as what Allegheny County , home to Pittsburgh , disbursed ( $ 12 ) for hand-marked paper ballots and scanners — plus ballot-markers for the disabled — from the same vendor .
Allegheny County ’ s elections board rejected ballot-marking devices as too risky @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vice chair , state judge Kathryn Hens-Greco , regretted during a September hearing having to award ES & S the county ’ s business at all given its behavior in Philadelphia and elsewhere .
But no other vendor offered a hand-marked option with enough ballot-configuration flexibility for the county ’ s 130 municipalities .
While cybersecurity risks can ’ t be eliminated , Hens-Greco said , the county would at least have “ the ability to recover ” from any mischief : a paper trail of hand-marked ballots .

In the rush to replace insecure, unreliable electronic voting machines after Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, state and local officials have scrambled to acquire more trustworthy equipment for this year’s election, when U.S. intelligence agencies fear even worse problems.
But instead of choosing simple, hand-marked paper ballots that are most resistant to tampering because paper cannot be hacked, many are opting for pricier technology that computer security experts consider almost as risky as earlier discredited electronic systems.
Called ballot-marking devices, the machines have touchscreens for registering voter choice. Unlike touchscreen-only machines, they print out paper records that are scanned by optical readers. South Carolina voters will use them in Saturday’s primary.
The most pricey solution available, they are at least twice as expensive as the hand-marked paper ballot option. They have been vigorously promoted by the three voting equipment vendors that control 88% of the U.S. market.
Some of the most popular ballot-marking machines, made by industry leaders Election Systems & Software and Dominion Voting Systems, register votes in bar codes that the human eye cannot decipher. That’s a problem, researchers say: Voters could end up with printouts that accurately spell out the names of the candidates they picked, but, because of a hack, the bar codes do not reflect those choices. Because the bar codes are what’s tabulated, voters would never know that their ballots benefited another candidate.
Even on machines that do not use bar codes, voters may not notice if a hack or programming error mangled their choices. A University of Michigan study determined that only 7% of participants in a mock election notified poll workers when the names on their printed receipts did not match the candidates they voted for.
ES&S rejects those scenarios. Spokeswoman Katina Granger said the company’s ballot-marking machines’ accuracy and security “have been proven through thousands of hours of testing and tens of thousands of successful elections.” Dominion declined to comment for this story.
Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. voters will be using ballot-marking machines this year, compared with less than 2% in 2018, according to Verified Voting, which tracks voting technology.
Pivotal counties in the crucial states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina have bought ballot-marking machines. So have counties in much of Texas, as well as California’s Los Angeles County and all of Georgia, Delaware, and South Carolina. The machines’ certification has often been streamlined in the rush to get machines in place for presidential primaries.
Ballot-marking devices were not conceived as primary vote-casting tools but as accessible options for people with disabilities.
Critics see them as vulnerable to hacking. At last year’s DefCon hacker convention in Las Vegas, it took tinkerers at the “Voting Village” not even eight hours to hack two older ballot-marking devices.
Tampering aside, some of the newer ballot-marking machines have stumbled badly in actual votes. That happened most spectacularly in November when ES&S’s top-of-the-line ExpressVote XL debuted in a Pennsylvania county.
Even without technical troubles, the new machines can lead to longer lines, potentially reducing turnout. Voters need more time to cast ballots and the machine’s high costs have prompted election officials to limit how many they purchase.
“There are a huge number of reasons to reject today’s ballot-marking devices — except for limited use as assistive devices for those unable to mark a paper ballot themselves,” says Doug Jones, a University of Iowa computer scientist who co-authored the voting technology history “Broken Ballots.”
But election officials see ballot-marking devices as improvements over paperless touchscreens, which were used by 27% of voters in 2018. They like them because the touchscreens are familiar to voters, looking and feeling like what they have been using for nearly two decades, and officials can use one voting method for everyone.
Michael Anderson, elections director for Pennsylvania’s Lebanon County, said “voters want it.” The county offers voters both machine- and hand-marked ballots.
“When we give them a paper ballot, the very first thing they say to us is, ‘We’re going back in time,’” he said.
New York State election commission co-chair Douglas Kellner was an early critic of paperless electronic voting machines. But he is confident in a ballot-marking device, the ImageCast Evolution by Dominion, certified for use in his state. He said safeguards built into the machines and security protocols make a hack of the Image Evolution “extraordinarily unlikely.”
But Jones is among experts who think today’s ballot-marking devices undermine the very idea of retaining a paper record that can be used in audits and recounts. It’s an idea supported by a 2018 National Academies of Sciences report that favors hand-marked paper ballots tallied by optical scanners. Some 70% of U.S. voters used them in the past two presidential elections and will do so again in November.
One state, Colorado, is banning bar codes from ballot-marking voting machines beginning in 2021.
Election administrators who reject hand-marked paper ballots as antiquated, inconvenient or unwieldy have few options beyond ballot-marking devices. That’s because the $300 million voting equipment and services industry is so insular and entrenched.
The industry faces virtually no federal regulation even though election technology was designated critical infrastructure in January 2017. Federal certification guidelines for voting machine design are 15 years old and voluntary. The leading vendors have resisted publicly disclosing third-party penetration testing of their systems.
”It’s a self-reinforcing system that keeps it frozen in a place in the past,” said Eddie Perez, a former product development director for Hart InterCivic, the No. 3 voting equipment company, now with the OSET Institute, a nonprofit that promotes reliable voting solutions. “They don’t want to make any changes in the equipment unless they absolutely have to.”
The Republican-controlled Senate has refused to take up bills that would, among other things, require a voter-verifiable paper trail and require bulletproof postelection audits. Republicans say the federal government should not impinge on states’ authority to oversee elections.
Northampton County, on Pennsylvania’s eastern edge, mirrored the state’s choice in 2016 by voting for Donald Trump after twice choosing Barack Obama. Last Election Day, it became ground zero in the debate over ballot-marking devices.
The county’s new ExpressVote XLs failed doubly.
First, a programming misconfiguration prevented votes cast for one of three candidates in a judge’s race from registering in the bar codes used to count the vote. Only absentee ballot votes registered for the candidate, said the county executive, Lamont McClure. The other problem was miscalibrated touchscreens, which can “flip” votes or simply make it difficult to vote for one’s desired candidate due to faulty screen alignment. They were on about one-third of the county’s 320 machines, which cost taxpayers $8,250 each.
One poll judge called the touch screens “garbage.” Some voters, in emails obtained by the AP in a public records request, said their votes were assigned to the wrong candidates. Others worried about long lines in future elections.
Voters require triple the time on average to navigate ES&S ballot-marking machines compared to filling out hand-marked ballots and running them through scanners, according to state certification documents.
ES&S said its employees had flubbed the programming and failed to perform adequate preelection testing of the machines or adequately train election workers, which would have caught the errors.
Election commissioners were livid, but unable to return the machines for a refund because they are appointees.
“I feel like I’ve been played,” commissioner Maudeania Hornik said at a December meeting with ES&S representatives. She later told the AP she had voted for the devices believing they would be more convenient than hand-marked paper ballots, especially for seniors.
“What we worry is, what happens the next time if there’s a programming bug — or a hack or whatever — and it’s done in a way that’s not obvious?” said Daniel Lopresti, a commissioner and Lehigh University computer scientist.
ES&S election equipment has failed elsewhere. Flawed software in ballot-marking devices delayed the vote count by 13 hours in Kansas’ largest county during the August 2018 gubernatorial primary. Another Johnson County, this one in Indiana, scrapped the company’s computerized voter check-in system after Election Day errors that same year caused long lines.
“I don’t know that we’ve ever seen an election computer — a voting computer — whose software was done to a high standard,” said Duncan Buell, a University of South Carolina computer scientist who has found errors in results produced by ES&S electronic voting machines.
Voting integrity activists have sued, seeking to prevent the further use in Pennsylvania of the ExpressVote XL. Grassroots organizations including Common Cause are fighting to prevent their certification in New York State.
ES&S defends the machine. In a Dec. 12 filing in a Pennsylvania lawsuit, company executive Dean Baumer said the ExpressVote XL had never been compromised and said breaches of the machine “are a practical impossibility.”
ES&S lobbied hard in Pennsylvania for the ExpressVote XL, though not always legally.
After ES&S won a $29 million contract in Philadelphia last year in a hasty procurement, that city’s controller did some digging. She determined that ES&S’ vice president of finance had failed to disclose, in a mandatory campaign contribution form, activities of consultants who spent more than $400,000, including making campaign contributions to two commissioners involved in awarding the contract. ES&S agreed to pay a record $2.9 million penalty as a result. It said the executive’s failure to disclose was “inadvertent.”
The Philadelphia episode contradicts claims by ES&S officials, including by CEO Tom Burt in Jan. 8 testimony to a congressional committee, that the company does not make campaign contributions.
Public records show ES&S contributed $25,000 from 2014-2016 to the Republican State Leadership Committee which seeks GOP control of state legislatures.
ES&S has also paid for trips to Las Vegas of an “advisory board” of top elections officials, including from South Carolina, New York City, and Dallas County, Texas, according to records shared with the AP from a Freedom of Information request.
Philadelphia paid more than twice as much for its ExpressVote XL machines per voter ($27) as what Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, disbursed ($12) for hand-marked paper ballots and scanners — plus ballot-markers for the disabled — from the same vendor.
Allegheny County’s elections board rejected ballot-marking devices as too risky for all but disabled voters. Its vice chair, state judge Kathryn Hens-Greco, regretted during a September hearing having to award ES&S the county’s business at all given its behavior in Philadelphia and elsewhere.
But no other vendor offered a hand-marked option with enough ballot-configuration flexibility for the county’s 130 municipalities.
While cybersecurity risks can’t be eliminated, Hens-Greco said, the county would at least have “the ability to recover” from any mischief: a paper trail of hand-marked ballots.


shareblue--2020-02-29--US expands travel restrictions over coronavirus day after Trump called criticism a 'hoax'

The U.S. is banning travel to Iran in response to the outbreak of the new coronavirus and elevating travel warnings to regions of Italy and South Korea .
Vice President Mike Pence announced the new restrictions and warnings as Donald Trump said 22 people in the U.S. have been stricken by the new coronavirus and that additional cases are “ likely.
” Trump added that he was considering additional restrictions , including closing the U.S. border with Mexico in response to the virus ' spread .
“ We want to lower the amount of travel to and from the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the secretary of health and human Services .
`` This is a basic containment strategy.
” Trump provided an update on the virus after the first reported U.S. death Saturday , of a woman he described as being in her late 50s and having a high medical risk .
Robert Redfield , director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there was “ no evidence of link to travel ” in the case of the woman who died .
Trump said healthy Americans should be able to recover if they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tried to reassure Americans and global markets spooked by the virus threat .
On Friday , health officials confirmed a second case of coronavirus in the U.S. in a person who did n't travel internationally or have close contact with anyone who had the virus .
The U.S. has a total of about 60 confirmed cases .
But Trump encouraged Americans not to alter their daily routines , saying “ there ’ s no reason to panic at all.
” He added he was n't altering his routine either .
“ You ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in this whole very vast country .
I think we ’ ll be in very good shape.
” Trump spoke a day after he denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a “ hoax '' cooked up by his political enemies .
Speaking at a rally in South Carolina he accused Democrats of “ politicizing ” the coronavirus threat and boasted about preventive steps he 's ordered in an attempt to keep the virus that originated in China from spreading across the United States .
Those steps include barring entry by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China .
“ They tried the impeachment hoax .
...
This is their new hoax , ” Trump said of Democratic denunciations of his administration 's coronavirus response .
Trump said Saturday he was not trying to minimize the threat of the virus .
“ Again , the hoax was used in respect to Democrats and what they were saying , '' he said .
Some Democrats have said Trump could have acted sooner to bolster the U.S. response to the virus .
Democratic and Republican lawmakers also have said his request for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against the virus is n't enough .
They 've signaled they will provide substantially more funding .
Trump said Democrats want him to fail and argued that steps he 's taken so far have kept cases to a minimum and prevented virus deaths in the U.S .

The U.S. is banning travel to Iran in response to the outbreak of the new coronavirus and elevating travel warnings to regions of Italy and South Korea.
Vice President Mike Pence announced the new restrictions and warnings as Donald Trump said 22 people in the U.S. have been stricken by the new coronavirus and that additional cases are “likely.” Trump added that he was considering additional restrictions, including closing the U.S. border with Mexico in response to the virus’ spread.
“We want to lower the amount of travel to and from the most impacted areas,” said Alex Azar, the secretary of health and human Services. “This is a basic containment strategy.”
Trump provided an update on the virus after the first reported U.S. death Saturday, of a woman he described as being in her late 50s and having a high medical risk. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there was “no evidence of link to travel” in the case of the woman who died.
Trump said healthy Americans should be able to recover if they contract the new virus, as he tried to reassure Americans and global markets spooked by the virus threat.
On Friday, health officials confirmed a second case of coronavirus in the U.S. in a person who didn’t travel internationally or have close contact with anyone who had the virus. The U.S. has a total of about 60 confirmed cases.
But Trump encouraged Americans not to alter their daily routines, saying “there’s no reason to panic at all.”
He added he wasn’t altering his routine either. “You’re talking about 22 people right now in this whole very vast country. I think we’ll be in very good shape.”
Trump spoke a day after he denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a “hoax” cooked up by his political enemies. Speaking at a rally in South Carolina he accused Democrats of “politicizing” the coronavirus threat and boasted about preventive steps he’s ordered in an attempt to keep the virus that originated in China from spreading across the United States. Those steps include barring entry by most foreign nationals who had recently visited China.
“They tried the impeachment hoax. … This is their new hoax,” Trump said of Democratic denunciations of his administration’s coronavirus response.
Trump said Saturday he was not trying to minimize the threat of the virus.
“Again, the hoax was used in respect to Democrats and what they were saying,” he said.
Some Democrats have said Trump could have acted sooner to bolster the U.S. response to the virus. Democratic and Republican lawmakers also have said his request for an additional $2.5 billion to defend against the virus isn’t enough. They’ve signaled they will provide substantially more funding.
Trump said Democrats want him to fail and argued that steps he’s taken so far have kept cases to a minimum and prevented virus deaths in the U.S.


shareblue--2020-02-29--Race to replace disgraced Rep. Duncan Hunter turns into GOP slugfest

GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter 's resignation from Congress last month after pleading guilty to a corruption charge unleashed a GOP slugfest over the vacancy in one of the party 's few remaining House seats in California .
Most of the action in the 50th District involves two Republican heavyweights : former Rep. Darrell Issa , who is seeking a return to Congress after leaving his seat in a neighboring district two years ago , and Carl DeMaio , a well-known San Diego radio host and political commentator .
Both have questioned the other 's loyalty to Donald Trump and called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ faced backlash , including from some Republican supporters , for an advertisement that included references to headlines noting the sexual orientation of DeMaio , who is gay .
Critics said it amounted to gay-baiting .
The headlines were from media outlets , and Issa said the ad was meant to draw attention to DeMaio 's failures on issues .
`` I think it ’ s an illustration of how civil wars are the nastiest wars , '' said Jack Pitney , a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College .
The 50th is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conservative district in a state where Republicans hold just six of 53 House seats .
And for almost 40 years , a Hunter represented the area east of San Diego — Duncan Hunter Sr. served 28 years and was followed by his son , a combat Marine who held the seat for 11 years .
Hunter Sr. , still widely revered in the district , has endorsed Issa .
His son faces sentencing March 17 .
Under California election rules , the top two vote-getters in the March 3 primary advance to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
There are four Republicans running , and it 's expected the votes among them will be divided such that the only Democrat in the field , 31-year-old former Obama administration official Ammar Campa-Najjar , will advance and face one of them in November .
Campa-Najjar lost a close race to Hunter in 2018 .
It 's been an expensive battle for Issa and DeMaio .
Issa has spent about $ 2.7 million and has about $ 1.4 million cash on hand , while DeMaio has spent about $ 2 million and had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the end of February , according to the Federal Election Commission .
Issa , a car alarm magnate , was for years the wealthiest member of Congress .
He built a national reputation and became a GOP darling when he chaired the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and emerged as the chief congressional antagonist to then-President Barack Obama .
After narrowly winning reelection in 2016 , Issa , 66 , decided not to run again two years later in the seaside 49th District where Democrats had been gaining ground for years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ open seat , part of a Democratic sweep of seven GOP seats in California .
DeMaio , a former San Diego city councilman , said Issa `` fled '' the 49th , but Issa said he retired to accept Trump 's nomination to be director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency .
Issa 's confirmation languished in the Senate for a year .
He then withdrew and in September entered the race for Hunter 's seat .
The animosity between Issa and DeMaio , 45 , was evident from the start .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ DeMaio held a dueling news conference yards away .
The candidates share similar agendas that support Trump 's stands on issues such as stricter immigration enforcement and gun rights .
But each has tried to make voters believe the other is not truly in step with Trump , who has not endorsed either candidate .
A new Issa TV ad alleges DeMaio encouraged people to vote Libertarian in the 2016 election and called Trump a `` pig '' on his radio show .
DeMaio responded with his own ad pointing out that Issa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to investigate alleged ties between between Trump ’ s campaign and Russia .
The ad calls Issa `` another Mitt Romney , lying to you , betraying President Trump . ''
Romney , a Utah senator , was the only Republican to vote to convict Trump in the Senate impeachment trial .
The San Diego Union-Tribune , the largest local newspaper , is fed up with both candidates .
It said a `` general election without this pair ’ s vitriol would be a blessing , '' and endorsed Republican state Sen. Brian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more focused on serving the district where they have long lived .
Issa and DeMaio do n't live in the district .
Rae Moore , a Democratic voter , hopes the infighting will help flip the district .
She said DeMaio and Issa have had their time in politics .
“ We need regular , normal people , '' said Moore , a lifelong resident of Lakeside , a Western-style town that welcomes people with a sign topped by a cowboy on a bucking bronco .
Leslie Lacher , 63 , said keeping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and she believes Issa is the best choice .
She noted DeMaio fell short in his bids in 2012 for San Diego mayor and in 2014 for the 52nd Congressional District , and led a failed effort to repeal a state gas tax increase in 2018 .
“ I want somebody strong , '' Lacher said .
“ I want somebody who can win . ''
Brittany Markham , 32 , said the district needs DeMaio .
The stay-at-home mom described him as an `` outsider kinda like Trump who can get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Newton , 43 , said the slugfest has her head spinning about who would be best to replace Hunter , a former schoolmate she always supported .
She liked how Hunter and his father were involved in the community .
`` I 'd like to think we have to have someone out there who still cares as much as the Hunters did , '' she said .

GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter’s resignation from Congress last month after pleading guilty to a corruption charge unleashed a GOP slugfest over the vacancy in one of the party’s few remaining House seats in California.
Most of the action in the 50th District involves two Republican heavyweights: former Rep. Darrell Issa, who is seeking a return to Congress after leaving his seat in a neighboring district two years ago, and Carl DeMaio, a well-known San Diego radio host and political commentator.
Both have questioned the other’s loyalty to Donald Trump and called the other a liar. Issa recently faced backlash, including from some Republican supporters, for an advertisement that included references to headlines noting the sexual orientation of DeMaio, who is gay. Critics said it amounted to gay-baiting.
The headlines were from media outlets, and Issa said the ad was meant to draw attention to DeMaio’s failures on issues.
“I think it’s an illustration of how civil wars are the nastiest wars,” said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College.
The 50th is an outlier in California, a strongly conservative district in a state where Republicans hold just six of 53 House seats. And for almost 40 years, a Hunter represented the area east of San Diego — Duncan Hunter Sr. served 28 years and was followed by his son, a combat Marine who held the seat for 11 years.
Hunter Sr., still widely revered in the district, has endorsed Issa. His son faces sentencing March 17.
Under California election rules, the top two vote-getters in the March 3 primary advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. There are four Republicans running, and it’s expected the votes among them will be divided such that the only Democrat in the field, 31-year-old former Obama administration official Ammar Campa-Najjar, will advance and face one of them in November. Campa-Najjar lost a close race to Hunter in 2018.
It’s been an expensive battle for Issa and DeMaio. Issa has spent about $2.7 million and has about $1.4 million cash on hand, while DeMaio has spent about $2 million and had more than $724,000 cash on hand by the end of February, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Issa, a car alarm magnate, was for years the wealthiest member of Congress. He built a national reputation and became a GOP darling when he chaired the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and emerged as the chief congressional antagonist to then-President Barack Obama.
After narrowly winning reelection in 2016, Issa, 66, decided not to run again two years later in the seaside 49th District where Democrats had been gaining ground for years. Democrat Mike Levin easily won the open seat, part of a Democratic sweep of seven GOP seats in California.
DeMaio, a former San Diego city councilman, said Issa “fled” the 49th, but Issa said he retired to accept Trump’s nomination to be director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. Issa’s confirmation languished in the Senate for a year. He then withdrew and in September entered the race for Hunter’s seat.
The animosity between Issa and DeMaio, 45, was evident from the start. On the day Issa announced his candidacy DeMaio held a dueling news conference yards away.
The candidates share similar agendas that support Trump’s stands on issues such as stricter immigration enforcement and gun rights. But each has tried to make voters believe the other is not truly in step with Trump, who has not endorsed either candidate.
A new Issa TV ad alleges DeMaio encouraged people to vote Libertarian in the 2016 election and called Trump a “pig” on his radio show. DeMaio responded with his own ad pointing out that Issa in 2017 supported calling a special prosecutor to investigate alleged ties between between Trump’s campaign and Russia. The ad calls Issa “another Mitt Romney, lying to you, betraying President Trump.”
Romney, a Utah senator, was the only Republican to vote to convict Trump in the Senate impeachment trial.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, the largest local newspaper, is fed up with both candidates. It said a “general election without this pair’s vitriol would be a blessing,” and endorsed Republican state Sen. Brian Jones and Campa-Najjar, saying both are more focused on serving the district where they have long lived. Issa and DeMaio don’t live in the district.
Rae Moore, a Democratic voter, hopes the infighting will help flip the district. She said DeMaio and Issa have had their time in politics.
“We need regular, normal people,” said Moore, a lifelong resident of Lakeside, a Western-style town that welcomes people with a sign topped by a cowboy on a bucking bronco.
Leslie Lacher, 63, said keeping the district in Republican hands is paramount, and she believes Issa is the best choice. She noted DeMaio fell short in his bids in 2012 for San Diego mayor and in 2014 for the 52nd Congressional District, and led a failed effort to repeal a state gas tax increase in 2018.
“I want somebody strong,” Lacher said. “I want somebody who can win.”
Brittany Markham, 32, said the district needs DeMaio. The stay-at-home mom described him as an “outsider kinda like Trump who can get things done.”
Hair stylist Danielle Newton, 43, said the slugfest has her head spinning about who would be best to replace Hunter, a former schoolmate she always supported. She liked how Hunter and his father were involved in the community.
“I’d like to think we have to have someone out there who still cares as much as the Hunters did,” she said.


shareblue--2020-02-29--Utah's new abortion bill would force women to pay for ultrasounds they don't need

If a freshman GOP state senator has his way , Utah will be placing yet another barrier in the path of people seeking an abortion .
Utah already has a number of burdensome requirements designed to prevent people from obtaining an abortion .
The state mandates that patients receive `` counseling '' intended to discourage them from getting the abortion and imposes a 72-hour waiting period , for example .
Now , state Sen. Steve R. Christiansen has introduced a bill that would force medical professionals to perform an ultrasound on any pregnant person seeking an abortion .
The medical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ images in the ultrasound and force the mother to listen to what the bill authors call a `` fetal heartbeat , '' misleading terminology that has been called out time and again by doctors .
Christiansen 's bill would also force people to pay for the ultrasound unless they get one done at one of the state 's four crisis pregnancy centers .
The Salt Lake Tribune notes that most , if not all , of these centers explicitly oppose abortion .
Currently , the Utah Department of Health provides free ultrasounds to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to voluntarily have one , but in making them mandatory , the bill would get rid of the free ultrasounds .
Karrie Galloway , president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Utah , said , `` This bill increases not only the cost burden , but also adds additional logistical and time burdens because it requires every patient to have two visits — one for the ultrasound and a second 72 hours later for the abortion . ''
When asked to explain his reasoning and whether mandating such a procedure would be a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professional , Christiansen provided a written statement saying , `` Just as is the case with the bill after which mine is patterned in Kentucky , the mother would have the right to turn her head and ask that the volume be reduced . ''
Christiansen is correct that this bill is patterned after Kentucky 's invasive ultrasound mandatory ultrasound law , but his statement failed to answer the question of whether this is a good use of a medical professional 's time .
That might be because it is n't .
Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Ethics that ultrasounds prior to abortion are `` not medically necessary and can add to the cost of the abortion procedure , '' and `` given that 57 percent of patients in a recent large study did not want to view the ultrasound , one might conclude that required viewing interferes with the shared decision making model typical in the patient-physician relationship . ''
Abortion rights advocates argue that bills such as Utah 's forced ultrasound bill are n't about health at all ; instead , they say the laws are about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an abortion .
Lauren Simpson of Alliance for a Better Utah pointed out that under Utah law , `` a woman already has the option to watch an ultrasound and listen to that cardiac rhythm if she chooses .
[ ... ] The sole purpose of this bill is to punish women for making the deeply complicated and personal decision to have an abortion.
`` A panel of Utah legislators recently made this very clear by advancing yet another bill that would make it a felony to perform an abortion in the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Sen. Dan McCay , says the solution is simply that women who want an abortion would have to travel to other states .
If Utah were to pass this ultrasound law , it would join Kentucky , Louisiana , Texas , and Wisconsin as states that not only require ultrasounds but force the medical professional to describe it .
In the end , it 's just another requirement that adds to the time and expense it takes to get an abortion in the state .
There are only a handful of locations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and those facilities are subject to elaborate and unnecessary restrictions , including physical plant regulations and surprise inspections with no regard for patient privacy .
These locations are clustered and 97 % of all counties in Utah have no abortion facilities .
Hurdles placed on abortion in the state may push women to seek abortion later in pregnancy , which is more expensive and more difficult generally .
If someone is n't able to obtain an abortion in Utah — or any other state with these sorts of restrictions — they must go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dollars , thanks to travel costs , missed work , and the price of the procedure .
Women seeking later abortions end up visiting multiple providers , as many initially turn them away , according to a study published in Perspective on Sexual and Reproductive Health .
The same study shows that costs increases dramatically — later abortions tend to cost $ 1500 more .
Transportation costs can increase five-fold , and navigating insurance coverage is much more difficult .
People seeking abortions who ca n't cover all the added costs wo n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an effect that 's arguably the intention of Utah 's latest proposed law .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

If a freshman GOP state senator has his way, Utah will be placing yet another barrier in the path of people seeking an abortion.
Utah already has a number of burdensome requirements designed to prevent people from obtaining an abortion.
The state mandates that patients receive “counseling” intended to discourage them from getting the abortion and imposes a 72-hour waiting period, for example.
Now, state Sen. Steve R. Christiansen has introduced a bill that would force medical professionals to perform an ultrasound on any pregnant person seeking an abortion.
The medical professional would be required to describe the images in the ultrasound and force the mother to listen to what the bill authors call a “fetal heartbeat,” misleading terminology that has been called out time and again by doctors.
Christiansen’s bill would also force people to pay for the ultrasound unless they get one done at one of the state’s four crisis pregnancy centers. The Salt Lake Tribune notes that most, if not all, of these centers explicitly oppose abortion.
Currently, the Utah Department of Health provides free ultrasounds to anyone seeking an abortion if they choose to voluntarily have one, but in making them mandatory, the bill would get rid of the free ultrasounds.
Karrie Galloway, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Utah, said, “This bill increases not only the cost burden, but also adds additional logistical and time burdens because it requires every patient to have two visits — one for the ultrasound and a second 72 hours later for the abortion.”
When asked to explain his reasoning and whether mandating such a procedure would be a worthwhile use of time for the medical professional, Christiansen provided a written statement saying, “Just as is the case with the bill after which mine is patterned in Kentucky, the mother would have the right to turn her head and ask that the volume be reduced.”
Christiansen is correct that this bill is patterned after Kentucky’s invasive ultrasound mandatory ultrasound law, but his statement failed to answer the question of whether this is a good use of a medical professional’s time.
That might be because it isn’t.
Dr. Jennifer Russo wrote in the AMA Journal of Ethics that ultrasounds prior to abortion are “not medically necessary and can add to the cost of the abortion procedure,” and “given that 57 percent of patients in a recent large study did not want to view the ultrasound, one might conclude that required viewing interferes with the shared decision making model typical in the patient-physician relationship.”
Abortion rights advocates argue that bills such as Utah’s forced ultrasound bill aren’t about health at all; instead, they say the laws are about making it harder for people to obtain an abortion.
Lauren Simpson of Alliance for a Better Utah pointed out that under Utah law, “a woman already has the option to watch an ultrasound and listen to that cardiac rhythm if she chooses. […] The sole purpose of this bill is to punish women for making the deeply complicated and personal decision to have an abortion. ”
A panel of Utah legislators recently made this very clear by advancing yet another bill that would make it a felony to perform an abortion in the state. A Republican sponsor of the bill, Sen. Dan McCay, says the solution is simply that women who want an abortion would have to travel to other states.
If Utah were to pass this ultrasound law, it would join Kentucky, Louisiana, Texas, and Wisconsin as states that not only require ultrasounds but force the medical professional to describe it.
In the end, it’s just another requirement that adds to the time and expense it takes to get an abortion in the state.
There are only a handful of locations that provide abortions in the state, and those facilities are subject to elaborate and unnecessary restrictions, including physical plant regulations and surprise inspections with no regard for patient privacy.
These locations are clustered and 97% of all counties in Utah have no abortion facilities.
Hurdles placed on abortion in the state may push women to seek abortion later in pregnancy, which is more expensive and more difficult generally. If someone isn’t able to obtain an abortion in Utah — or any other state with these sorts of restrictions — they must go out of state and spend thousands of dollars, thanks to travel costs, missed work, and the price of the procedure.
Women seeking later abortions end up visiting multiple providers, as many initially turn them away, according to a study published in Perspective on Sexual and Reproductive Health.
The same study shows that costs increases dramatically — later abortions tend to cost $1500 more. Transportation costs can increase five-fold, and navigating insurance coverage is much more difficult.
People seeking abortions who can’t cover all the added costs won’t be able to obtain the procedure, an effect that’s arguably the intention of Utah’s latest proposed law.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-03-01--Pete Buttigieg to drop out of presidential race

Democrat Pete Buttigieg is ending his campaign for president .
Three people with knowledge of Buttigieg ’ s decision tell @ @ @ @ @ informing campaign staff .
They were not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity .
@ @ @ @ @ speak Sunday night in South Bend , Indiana .
Buttigieg rose to the field 's @ @ @ @ @ notch enough wins in the critical early states necessary to keep his bid moving forward @ @ @ @ @ War veteran and former mayor of South Bend , Indiana , defied expectations in a @ @ @ @ @ months while becoming the first openly gay top contender for a major party nomination .
@ @ @ @ @ onto the scene with a blitz of national media a year ago and impressive fundraising @ @ @ @ @ a next-generation message of urgency on pressing issues while preaching a message of hope and @ @

Democrat Pete Buttigieg is ending his campaign for president.
Three people with knowledge of Buttigieg’s decision tell The Associated Press he is informing campaign staff. They were not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
His campaign says Buttigieg will speak Sunday night in South Bend, Indiana.
Buttigieg rose to the field’s top tier but failed to notch enough wins in the critical early states necessary to keep his bid moving forward.
The millennial, Afghan War veteran and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, defied expectations in a field of better-known candidates for months while becoming the first openly gay top contender for a major party nomination.
“Mayor Pete” burst onto the scene with a blitz of national media a year ago and impressive fundraising. He leaned hard into a next-generation message of urgency on pressing issues while preaching a message of hope and inclusion.


shareblue--2020-03-01--GOP's turn to the right is driving away West Coast voters

In the early 1990s , the population of Bend was around 25,000 and leaned Republican .
A lumber mill operated in the Oregon high-desert town along the banks of a scenic river .
Today , the lumber mill is an REI outdoor recreation store .
The population has quadrupled .
And for the first time in memory , the number of registered Democrats in Deschutes County recently eclipsed the number of Republicans .
The transformation shows how demographic shifts and the GOP 's tack further to the right are helping push the party into a nosedive along the West Coast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California went for was George H.W .
Bush .
For both Oregon and Washington , it was Ronald Reagan .
Now , Republicans are struggling to hold seats in Congress , statehouses , and city councils up and down the coast .
California , Washington , and Oregon will hold their presidential primaries on March 3 , March 10 , and May 19 respectively , and which Democratic candidates they favor will become clear .
But this much is certain : In November , none of the three states is apt to go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little hope Republicans will claw back much ground in other contests .
Political districts have flipped in population centers , from San Diego in the south to Seattle in the north .
`` There is no way out , '' Chris Vance , a former Washington state Republican Party chairman and legislator , said in a telephone interview .
In San Diego , by the U.S.-Mexico border , each of the nine city council districts now has more registered Democrats than registered Republicans , including one that until recently leaned strongly Republican .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Los Angeles , was 80 % white and a GOP stronghold .
Today , Orange County is mostly Hispanic and Asian , with many displeased by Republicans ' hard stance on immigration .
In 2018 , voters there dealt a stunning defeat to a two-term GOP congresswoman .
The California GOP wound up losing six other U.S. House seats that year , leading a former Republican leader in the state to declare : `` The California Republican Party is n't salvageable at this time . ''
Democrats also hold the California governor 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ almost complete control of the Legislature .
In Seattle , tens of thousands of tech employees have flooded into the city and its suburbs , hired by Amazon , Microsoft , Google , and Facebook .
The influx of highly educated workers over the past decade helped fuel a population boom that made many communities much more diverse and affluent , and turned them away from the GOP and toward Democrats .
The result : The GOP has lost all the statehouse seats it once held in Seattle 's eastern suburbs .
Vance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white voters , particularly women , from the GOP on the party 's turn toward more fundamentalist values under Trump .
Vance himself abandoned the party in 2017 after an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate as the Republican candidate .
`` This was the party of nerdy , wonky , tweedy capitalists who cared about economic growth .
Now it is the party of populists : alt-right , let 's keep the immigrants out , truck- and rifle-populists , '' Vance said .
`` That works in Mississippi and Arkansas and stuff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Seattle area . ''
Washington Gov .
Jay Inslee , among a line of Democratic governors dating back to 1985 , faces no significant GOP challenge as he seeks a third term in November .
Both of Washington ’ s U.S. senators are Democrats , and seven of its 10 U.S. House members belong to the party .
Democrats hope to expand their majorities in the Legislature , where they hold a 28-21 edge in the Senate and a 57-41 advantage in the House .
And Democrats in Oregon — who already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seats and four of five U.S. House seats — wield supermajorities in the Legislature , and are gunning for more seats .
One of them is the House seat representing Bend , currently held by moderate Republican Rep. Cheri Helt .
Challenging her is Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Jason Kropf , whose treasurer is a veteran political fundraiser .
After the demise of the timber industry , Bend became a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts and beer lovers .
The town of roughly 100,000 is arrayed along the Deschutes River and below the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ highest number of breweries per capita in America .
`` Bend is full of beautiful , very fit , beer-swilling jocks , '' said James Foster , professor emeritus of political science at Oregon State University-Cascades in Bend .
The shifting demographic has made Bend , and Deschutes County , `` much more moderate '' than in the past , he said .
In 2018 , about 4,100 more people moved to the county than moved out , with two-thirds arriving from 11 California counties — 10 of which are predominantly Democratic — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Portland , according to a new study by the Oregon Employment Department .
The growth of registered Democrats `` could be a reflection of the political party affiliation of the new residents , rather than longtime locals shifting their party affiliation , '' said economist Damon Runberg , who prepared the study .
Republican lawmakers in Oregon are so fed up with Democratic dominance that they began a boycott of the Legislature this week in an attempt to kill a bill aimed at stemming global warming .
Helt bucked the move by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also formed a group , Move Oregon 's Border for a Greater Idaho .
It is collecting signatures to make rural Oregon counties part of conservative Idaho .
`` I understand they 're looking at Idaho fondly , '' Idaho Gov .
Brad Little said on Fox News last week .
`` But there 's a lot of governmental hurdles and legal hurdles that would have to be jumped before they could ever do that . ''

In the early 1990s, the population of Bend was around 25,000 and leaned Republican. A lumber mill operated in the Oregon high-desert town along the banks of a scenic river.
Today, the lumber mill is an REI outdoor recreation store. The population has quadrupled. And for the first time in memory, the number of registered Democrats in Deschutes County recently eclipsed the number of Republicans.
The transformation shows how demographic shifts and the GOP’s tack further to the right are helping push the party into a nosedive along the West Coast.
The last Republican presidential candidate that California went for was George H.W. Bush. For both Oregon and Washington, it was Ronald Reagan. Now, Republicans are struggling to hold seats in Congress, statehouses, and city councils up and down the coast.
California, Washington, and Oregon will hold their presidential primaries on March 3, March 10, and May 19 respectively, and which Democratic candidates they favor will become clear.
But this much is certain: In November, none of the three states is apt to go for Donald Trump, and there is little hope Republicans will claw back much ground in other contests.
Political districts have flipped in population centers, from San Diego in the south to Seattle in the north.
“There is no way out,” Chris Vance, a former Washington state Republican Party chairman and legislator, said in a telephone interview.
In San Diego, by the U.S.-Mexico border, each of the nine city council districts now has more registered Democrats than registered Republicans, including one that until recently leaned strongly Republican.
In 1980, Orange County, near Los Angeles, was 80% white and a GOP stronghold. Today, Orange County is mostly Hispanic and Asian, with many displeased by Republicans’ hard stance on immigration. In 2018, voters there dealt a stunning defeat to a two-term GOP congresswoman.
The California GOP wound up losing six other U.S. House seats that year, leading a former Republican leader in the state to declare: “The California Republican Party isn’t salvageable at this time.”
Democrats also hold the California governor’s office, both U.S. Senate seats and almost complete control of the Legislature.
In Seattle, tens of thousands of tech employees have flooded into the city and its suburbs, hired by Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. The influx of highly educated workers over the past decade helped fuel a population boom that made many communities much more diverse and affluent, and turned them away from the GOP and toward Democrats.
The result: The GOP has lost all the statehouse seats it once held in Seattle’s eastern suburbs.
Vance blames the area’s exodus of college-educated white voters, particularly women, from the GOP on the party’s turn toward more fundamentalist values under Trump. Vance himself abandoned the party in 2017 after an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate as the Republican candidate.
“This was the party of nerdy, wonky, tweedy capitalists who cared about economic growth. Now it is the party of populists: alt-right, let’s keep the immigrants out, truck- and rifle-populists,” Vance said. “That works in Mississippi and Arkansas and stuff, but it does not work in the Seattle area.”
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, among a line of Democratic governors dating back to 1985, faces no significant GOP challenge as he seeks a third term in November. Both of Washington’s U.S. senators are Democrats, and seven of its 10 U.S. House members belong to the party. Democrats hope to expand their majorities in the Legislature, where they hold a 28-21 edge in the Senate and a 57-41 advantage in the House.
And Democrats in Oregon — who already hold the governorship, both U.S. Senate seats and four of five U.S. House seats — wield supermajorities in the Legislature, and are gunning for more seats.
One of them is the House seat representing Bend, currently held by moderate Republican Rep. Cheri Helt. Challenging her is Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Jason Kropf, whose treasurer is a veteran political fundraiser.
After the demise of the timber industry, Bend became a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts and beer lovers. The town of roughly 100,000 is arrayed along the Deschutes River and below the Cascade Range, with one of the highest number of breweries per capita in America.
“Bend is full of beautiful, very fit, beer-swilling jocks,” said James Foster, professor emeritus of political science at Oregon State University-Cascades in Bend.
The shifting demographic has made Bend, and Deschutes County, “much more moderate” than in the past, he said.
In 2018, about 4,100 more people moved to the county than moved out, with two-thirds arriving from 11 California counties — 10 of which are predominantly Democratic — and from the liberal bastions of Seattle and Portland, according to a new study by the Oregon Employment Department.
The growth of registered Democrats “could be a reflection of the political party affiliation of the new residents, rather than longtime locals shifting their party affiliation,” said economist Damon Runberg, who prepared the study.
Republican lawmakers in Oregon are so fed up with Democratic dominance that they began a boycott of the Legislature this week in an attempt to kill a bill aimed at stemming global warming. Helt bucked the move by remaining in the capitol.
Some Republicans also formed a group, Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho. It is collecting signatures to make rural Oregon counties part of conservative Idaho.
“I understand they’re looking at Idaho fondly,” Idaho Gov. Brad Little said on Fox News last week. “But there’s a lot of governmental hurdles and legal hurdles that would have to be jumped before they could ever do that.”


shareblue--2020-03-02--Here's what's really at stake on Super Tuesday

A whopping 1,357 delegates are up for grabs this Super Tuesday — March 3 — as citizens in 14 states , American Samoa , and Democrats living overseas will head to the polls to decide which Democrat should take on Donald Trump in November .
To put that number of delegates in perspective , a total of 154 delegates have been awarded in the Iowa and Nevada caucuses and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries combined .
A candidate needs to win 1,991 pledged delegates in order to become the nominee at the Democratic convention .
Thus far , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delegates , leading the rapidly dwindling Democratic field .
Former Vice President Joe Biden has 53 delegates , followed by Pete Buttigieg ( 26 ) , Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( 8 ) , and Sen. Amy Klobuchar ( 7 ) .
No other candidates have earned any delegates .
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not compete in the first four states .
Buttigieg and Klobuchar dropped out of the race after Saturday 's South Carolina primary and both are expected to endorse Biden on Monday night .
On Super Tuesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delegates at stake are California , with 415 , and Texas , with 228 .
The other states voting on Tuesday are : As in previous contests , candidates will need to obtain 15 % of the vote either statewide or in congressional districts in order to qualify for delegates .
While California has the most available delegates , the state will take days , if not weeks , to process and count all the ballots .
In California , voters can mail in their ballots on Super Tuesday , meaning election officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ several days later .
The majority of states will likely announce results late Tuesday night or on Wednesday .
The day with the second-most delegates at stake will be April 28 when Connecticut , Delaware , Maryland , New York , Pennsylvania , and Rhode Island hold their primaries .
States and territories will continue to hold primaries and caucuses through June 6 , when the U.S. Virgin Islands primary takes place .
Democrats will officially vote for the nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee on July 13 through 16 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Foundation .

A whopping 1,357 delegates are up for grabs this Super Tuesday — March 3 — as citizens in 14 states, American Samoa, and Democrats living overseas will head to the polls to decide which Democrat should take on Donald Trump in November.
To put that number of delegates in perspective, a total of 154 delegates have been awarded in the Iowa and Nevada caucuses and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries combined.
A candidate needs to win 1,991 pledged delegates in order to become the nominee at the Democratic convention.
Thus far, Sen. Bernie Sanders has gained 60 pledged delegates, leading the rapidly dwindling Democratic field. Former Vice President Joe Biden has 53 delegates, followed by Pete Buttigieg (26), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (8), and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (7).
No other candidates have earned any delegates. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not compete in the first four states.
Buttigieg and Klobuchar dropped out of the race after Saturday’s South Carolina primary and both are expected to endorse Biden on Monday night.
On Super Tuesday, the two states with the most delegates at stake are California, with 415, and Texas, with 228. The other states voting on Tuesday are:
North Carolina (110 delegates at stake)
Virginia (99)
Massachusetts (91)
Minnesota (75)
Colorado (67)
Tennessee (64)
Alabama (52)
Oklahoma (37)
Arkansas (31)
Utah (29)
Maine (24)
Vermont (16)
Democrats living abroad (13)
American Samoa (6)
As in previous contests, candidates will need to obtain 15% of the vote either statewide or in congressional districts in order to qualify for delegates.
While California has the most available delegates, the state will take days, if not weeks, to process and count all the ballots. In California, voters can mail in their ballots on Super Tuesday, meaning election officials will not have all the ballots until several days later.
The majority of states will likely announce results late Tuesday night or on Wednesday.
The day with the second-most delegates at stake will be April 28 when Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island hold their primaries.
States and territories will continue to hold primaries and caucuses through June 6, when the U.S. Virgin Islands primary takes place.
Democrats will officially vote for the nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee on July 13 through 16.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-03-02--GOP lawmaker: Senate should be able to ignore impeachments it doesn't like

Sen. Kevin Cramer ( R-ND ) wants to change Senate rules to make it so that an impeachment trial is no longer automatic when the House impeaches a president .
His reasoning ?
Trials `` derail Senate legislative activity . ''
Cramer announced on Monday that he had submitted some `` final thoughts on the impeachment trial '' of Donald Trump for the congressional record .
In his lengthy statement , he first reiterated his belief that the House of Representatives did not prove its case against Trump .
Next , Cramer suggested a reevaluation of current rules that require @ @ @ @ @ @ @ articles of impeachment , especially when they are — in his view — `` entirely partisan . ''
`` While I agree such an enormous responsibility should elicit our undivided attention , it seems illogical to automatically grant primacy to impeachment articles , especially those as flawed as the ones presented by House Democrats , '' he wrote .
He noted that `` impeachment articles brought by the House completely derail Senate legislative activity .
We are unable to consider legislation , nominations , or conduct any floor activity . ''
Cramer likened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ argued such a change would be no different from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell 's unprecedented decision to block the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland .
McConnell refused to allow a vote on Garland 's nomination for 293 days so that Trump would get to fill Antonin Scalia 's Supreme Court seat with a more conservative nominee .
`` The Senate was well within its right to decide the timing and consideration , or lack thereof , of this constitutional obligation to consider judicial nominations , '' Cramer argued , `` and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
Three presidents have been impeached in U.S. history .
All three were given Senate trials .
Cramer voted to acquit Donald Trump on both impeachment counts last month , after repeatedly voting against allowing fact witnesses to testify during Trump 's impeachment trial .

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) wants to change Senate rules to make it so that an impeachment trial is no longer automatic when the House impeaches a president. His reasoning? Trials “derail Senate legislative activity.”
Cramer announced on Monday that he had submitted some “final thoughts on the impeachment trial” of Donald Trump for the congressional record. In his lengthy statement, he first reiterated his belief that the House of Representatives did not prove its case against Trump.
Next, Cramer suggested a reevaluation of current rules that require immediate trials if the House votes for articles of impeachment, especially when they are — in his view — “entirely partisan.”
“While I agree such an enormous responsibility should elicit our undivided attention, it seems illogical to automatically grant primacy to impeachment articles, especially those as flawed as the ones presented by House Democrats,” he wrote.
He noted that “impeachment articles brought by the House completely derail Senate legislative activity. We are unable to consider legislation, nominations, or conduct any floor activity.”
Cramer likened impeachment trials to Supreme Court confirmations and argued such a change would be no different from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s unprecedented decision to block the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland.
McConnell refused to allow a vote on Garland’s nomination for 293 days so that Trump would get to fill Antonin Scalia’s Supreme Court seat with a more conservative nominee.
“The Senate was well within its right to decide the timing and consideration, or lack thereof, of this constitutional obligation to consider judicial nominations,” Cramer argued, “and the same should be true of impeachment trials.”
Three presidents have been impeached in U.S. history. All three were given Senate trials.
Cramer voted to acquit Donald Trump on both impeachment counts last month, after repeatedly voting against allowing fact witnesses to testify during Trump’s impeachment trial.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-03-02--Trump keeps boasting about how he's handling coronavirus as US death toll climbs

The death toll from the COVID-19 disease rose to six on Monday , hours after Donald Trump complained that he 's not getting enough credit for his response to the new virus .
Public health officials in Washington State on Monday said four more people have died due to illness linked to the novel coronavirus — a sign that the virus is spreading despite the steps Trump and U.S. officials have taken to stop it .
Just hours before the new deaths were announced , Trump attacked Democrats for not lauding his moves to thwart a pandemic .
`` I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closed the Country down to China many weeks ahead of what almost everyone recommended , '' Trump tweeted Monday morning .
`` Saved many lives .
Dems were working the Impeachment Hoax .
They didn ’ t have a clue !
Now they are fear mongering .
Be calm & vigilant ! ''
It follows the same line of braggadocious comments Trump has made for days , as the COVID-19 disease continued to spread .
On Friday , one day before the U.S. announced the first death linked to COVID-19 disease , Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was being criticized rather than lauded for his response .
`` So , the Coronavirus , which started in China and spread to various countries throughout the world , but very slowly in the U.S. because President Trump closed our border , and ended flights , VERY EARLY , is now being blamed , by the Do Nothing Democrats , to be the fault of 'Trump , ' '' Trump tweeted .
`` The Do Nothing Democrats were busy wasting time on the Immigration Hoax , & anything else they could do to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while I was busy calling early BORDER & FLIGHT closings , putting us way ahead in our battle with Coronavirus , '' Trump added .
`` Dems called it VERY wrong ! ''
Trump 's language about COVID-19 disease has so far differed from public health experts , who are issuing warnings about a community outbreak .
Trump has falsely called the virus outbreak a `` hoax , '' and has accused Democrats of politicizing the public health crisis .
Democrats , for their part , criticized Trump for his administration 's initial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whistleblower reported that public health officials responding to cases of COVID-19 disease were not given proper training nor protective gear .
Meanwhile , Dr. Anthony Fauci , the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who is helping control the spread of COVID-19 disease , told NBC 's Richard Engel on Monday that COVID-19 disease has `` now reached outbreak proportions and likely pandemic proportions . ''
And , after complaining about not getting praise for his leadership on the virus response , Trump spent the rest of Monday endorsing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sending 22 tweets about GOP candidates he 's backing .
Trump has not yet offered condolences to the families of those who have died from the virus .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

The death toll from the COVID-19 disease rose to six on Monday, hours after Donald Trump complained that he’s not getting enough credit for his response to the new virus.
Public health officials in Washington State on Monday said four more people have died due to illness linked to the novel coronavirus — a sign that the virus is spreading despite the steps Trump and U.S. officials have taken to stop it.
Just hours before the new deaths were announced, Trump attacked Democrats for not lauding his moves to thwart a pandemic.
“I was criticized by the Democrats when I closed the Country down to China many weeks ahead of what almost everyone recommended,” Trump tweeted Monday morning. “Saved many lives. Dems were working the Impeachment Hoax. They didn’t have a clue! Now they are fear mongering. Be calm & vigilant!”
It follows the same line of braggadocious comments Trump has made for days, as the COVID-19 disease continued to spread.
On Friday, one day before the U.S. announced the first death linked to COVID-19 disease, Trump was attacking Democrats and wondering why he was being criticized rather than lauded for his response.
“So, the Coronavirus, which started in China and spread to various countries throughout the world, but very slowly in the U.S. because President Trump closed our border, and ended flights, VERY EARLY, is now being blamed, by the Do Nothing Democrats, to be the fault of ‘Trump,'” Trump tweeted.
“The Do Nothing Democrats were busy wasting time on the Immigration Hoax, & anything else they could do to make the Republican Party look bad, while I was busy calling early BORDER & FLIGHT closings, putting us way ahead in our battle with Coronavirus,” Trump added. “Dems called it VERY wrong!”
Trump’s language about COVID-19 disease has so far differed from public health experts, who are issuing warnings about a community outbreak.
Trump has falsely called the virus outbreak a “hoax,” and has accused Democrats of politicizing the public health crisis.
Democrats, for their part, criticized Trump for his administration’s initial response to the disease, after a whistleblower reported that public health officials responding to cases of COVID-19 disease were not given proper training nor protective gear.
Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who is helping control the spread of COVID-19 disease, told NBC’s Richard Engel on Monday that COVID-19 disease has “now reached outbreak proportions and likely pandemic proportions.”
And, after complaining about not getting praise for his leadership on the virus response, Trump spent the rest of Monday endorsing Republican candidates for reelection on Twitter, sending 22 tweets about GOP candidates he’s backing.
Trump has not yet offered condolences to the families of those who have died from the virus.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-03-02--GOP resumes attacks on Biden one day after his South Carolina win

A top GOP senator on Sunday announced new actions in a Republican-led investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter — less than 24 hours after the elder Biden 's primary victory in South Carolina .
According to CBS News , Sen. Ron Johnson ( R-WI ) sent a letter to his colleagues on Sunday , saying he wanted to subpoena witnesses related to Hunter Biden 's role at the Ukrainian oil company Burisma .
Johnson , chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee , and Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley ( R-IA ) initially launched the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump at the height of his impeachment inquiry .
The probe is focused on a long-debunked conspiracy regarding the Bidens and the former vice president 's push in 2014 to have Ukraine 's previous prosecutor general , Viktor Shokin , ousted for corruption .
Trump and his allies claim Biden only wanted Shokin fired because the prosecutor was investigating Burisma , where Hunter Biden was a board member .
But ousting Shokin was in fact a U.S. goal — one backed by a number of Republican senators including Johnson himself — as Shokin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and was slow-walking the Burisma probe .
Ukraine 's new prosecutor general has also said the Bidens did nothing wrong .
Trump was impeached in December over his efforts to force Ukraine to investigate Biden .
Multiple officials testified under oath in the related inquiry that Trump withheld crucial aid and dangled the possibility of a White House visit to pressure Ukrainian leaders to announce a probe into Biden .
Democrats argued that Trump had abused the office of the presidency for personal political gain in seeking those investigations .
They said Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in his reelection bid and that an investigation could hurt Biden 's quest for the Democratic nomination .
Johnson 's sudden announcement of more actions on his Biden probe has naturally drawn scrutiny , given its timing .
Biden handily won South Carolina 's Democratic primary on Saturday , garnering a whopping 48.4 % of the vote there , with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders coming in a distant second , at 19.9 % .
Current national polling also shows that , if the election were held today , Biden would have the biggest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aggregate showing Biden would beat Trump nationally by 5.4 % .
Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-VT ) has a slightly smaller edge over Trump according to RealClearPolitics , with an average 4.9 % advantage .
In a curious twist , as Washington Post senior political reporter Aaron Blake noted Monday , `` Republican members of Congress have n't sent one tweet or press release mentioning Burisma or Hunter Biden since Feb. 7 , per [ congressional aggregation site ] Legistorm . ''
Johnson 's announcement on Sunday was likely the first mention of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In his letter to colleagues on Sunday , Johnson announced his desire to issue subpoenas as part of his own investigation into Biden and tried to fend off criticism by saying that the investigation is `` intended to discover and prevent disinformation , not advance it . ''
`` Gathering all of the relevant information is necessary to determine not only whether any wrongdoing occurred , but also if wrongdoing did not occur , '' Johnson , the chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security , said in his letter to his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up in the Ukraine scandal in October , according to a Post report published that month .
That report revealed that Johnson had met with former Ukrainian diplomat Andrii Telizhenko in July 2019 to discuss , according to Telizhenko , the `` DNC issue '' — an apparent reference to another investigation Trump wanted Ukraine to open , based on a long-debunked conspiracy theory .
`` I was in Washington , and Sen. Johnson found out I was in D.C. , and staff called me and wanted to do a meeting with me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , 'Sure , I 'll come down the Hill and talk to you , ' '' Telizhenko told the Post .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

A top GOP senator on Sunday announced new actions in a Republican-led investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter — less than 24 hours after the elder Biden’s primary victory in South Carolina.
According to CBS News, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) sent a letter to his colleagues on Sunday, saying he wanted to subpoena witnesses related to Hunter Biden’s role at the Ukrainian oil company Burisma.
Johnson, chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) initially launched the investigation in November to back up Donald Trump at the height of his impeachment inquiry.
The probe is focused on a long-debunked conspiracy regarding the Bidens and the former vice president’s push in 2014 to have Ukraine’s previous prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin, ousted for corruption.
Trump and his allies claim Biden only wanted Shokin fired because the prosecutor was investigating Burisma, where Hunter Biden was a board member.
But ousting Shokin was in fact a U.S. goal — one backed by a number of Republican senators including Johnson himself — as Shokin was part of Ukraine’s corruption problem and was slow-walking the Burisma probe.
Ukraine’s new prosecutor general has also said the Bidens did nothing wrong.
Trump was impeached in December over his efforts to force Ukraine to investigate Biden. Multiple officials testified under oath in the related inquiry that Trump withheld crucial aid and dangled the possibility of a White House visit to pressure Ukrainian leaders to announce a probe into Biden.
Democrats argued that Trump had abused the office of the presidency for personal political gain in seeking those investigations. They said Trump believed Biden would be a tough opponent in his reelection bid and that an investigation could hurt Biden’s quest for the Democratic nomination.
Johnson’s sudden announcement of more actions on his Biden probe has naturally drawn scrutiny, given its timing.
Biden handily won South Carolina’s Democratic primary on Saturday, garnering a whopping 48.4% of the vote there, with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders coming in a distant second, at 19.9%.
Current national polling also shows that, if the election were held today, Biden would have the biggest lead over Trump, with a RealClearPolitics aggregate showing Biden would beat Trump nationally by 5.4%. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has a slightly smaller edge over Trump according to RealClearPolitics, with an average 4.9% advantage.
In a curious twist, as Washington Post senior political reporter Aaron Blake noted Monday, “Republican members of Congress haven’t sent one tweet or press release mentioning Burisma or Hunter Biden since Feb. 7, per [congressional aggregation site] Legistorm.”
Johnson’s announcement on Sunday was likely the first mention of the former vice president since then.
In his letter to colleagues on Sunday, Johnson announced his desire to issue subpoenas as part of his own investigation into Biden and tried to fend off criticism by saying that the investigation is “intended to discover and prevent disinformation, not advance it.”
“Gathering all of the relevant information is necessary to determine not only whether any wrongdoing occurred, but also if wrongdoing did not occur,” Johnson, the chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, said in his letter to his colleagues.
Johnson himself was notably caught up in the Ukraine scandal in October, according to a Post report published that month.
That report revealed that Johnson had met with former Ukrainian diplomat Andrii Telizhenko in July 2019 to discuss, according to Telizhenko, the “DNC issue” — an apparent reference to another investigation Trump wanted Ukraine to open, based on a long-debunked conspiracy theory.
“I was in Washington, and Sen. Johnson found out I was in D.C., and staff called me and wanted to do a meeting with me. So I reached out back and said, ‘Sure, I’ll come down the Hill and talk to you,'” Telizhenko told the Post.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-03-02--GOP senators ask for more CDC funds after voting previously to cut them

Several Republican senators facing tough reelection races are now clamoring for more federal funds to deal with the new coronavirus outbreak .
But just a few years ago , those same lawmakers voted to repeal Obamacare , which would have slashed $ 1 billion in funds for the CDC 's Prevention and Public Health Fund , including hundreds of millions set aside `` for detecting and responding to infectious diseases and other public health threats . ''
Last week , Sen. Thom Tillis ( R-NC ) said that $ 2.5 billion proposed by the Trump administration to deal with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down payment . ''
Earlier in the month , Sen. Cory Gardner ( R-CO ) wrote a letter to congressional appropriators requesting `` sufficient funding for both current and potential future efforts '' to deal with outbreaks .
In response to questions about the coronavirus outbreak , Sen. Joni Ernst ( R-IA ) bragged on Friday about the size of the CDC budget , saying Congress `` actually increased Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health funding over the past number of years . ''
Sen. Martha McSally ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ask the CDC to reimburse states and cities for efforts to deal with the coronavirus outbreak .
Yet all four of these senators , along with most Republicans in the Senate and Congress , voted in 2017 to take $ 1 billion away from the CDC 's Prevention and Public Health Fund when they voted to repeal Obamacare .
That same year , the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials warned of `` dire consequences '' if the fund were to be eliminated , saying core public health programs would cease to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At the time , the senators defended their votes to repeal Obamacare and eliminate funds for the Prevention and Public Health Fund , with Ernst saying Obamacare was `` not sustainable , '' McSally calling it the `` wrong approach , '' Gardner calling it `` simply unacceptable , '' and Tillis claiming his vote was part of an `` obligation '' to fix a broken health care system .
Ernst , Tillis , and Gardner were senators when they voted to do away with the Prevention and Public Health Fund , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House .
Both the House and Senate versions of the repeal tried to eliminate the fund .
The House-backed bill passed by a 217-213 vote , with support from only Republicans .
The repeal bill failed in a 49-51 vote in the Senate , with all 49 votes in support of the repeal coming from Republicans .
No Democrats in the House or Senate voted for the repeal .
All four of these senators face tight reelection races in their respective states .
Polls in North Carolina , Arizona , and Colorado show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Gardner , respectively .
In December , Ernst held a 47 % to 41 % lead over her likely Democratic challenger , Theresa Greenfield .
Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate , meaning Democrats would need to flip at least four seats in order to gain control of the chamber .
Democrats are also eyeing Maine , where Republican Sen. Susan Collins is seeking reelection , while Republicans hope to oust Sen. Doug Jones from his seat in Alabama .
On Sunday , the World Health Organization reported 87,137 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ caused by the new coronavirus .
The CDC has confirmed 43 cases in the United States , resulting in two confirmed deaths .
In late February , the CDC issued a warning for communities to prepare for the spread of the outbreak .
The warning came less than a day after Donald Trump claimed the outbreak was `` under control . ''
The Trump administration has tried to downplay concerns about the outbreak , despite the warnings from experts about the spread of the virus .
The new coronavirus causes respiratory illness , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and shortness of breath .
The CDC recommends people avoid touching their eyes , nose , and mouth ; avoid close contact with people who are sick ; clean and disinfect frequently touched objects regularly ; and wash hands regularly as the best preventive techniques , just as with any other flu .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

Several Republican senators facing tough reelection races are now clamoring for more federal funds to deal with the new coronavirus outbreak.
But just a few years ago, those same lawmakers voted to repeal Obamacare, which would have slashed $1 billion in funds for the CDC’s Prevention and Public Health Fund, including hundreds of millions set aside “for detecting and responding to infectious diseases and other public health threats.”
Last week, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said that $2.5 billion proposed by the Trump administration to deal with the coronavirus outbreak “may just be a down payment.”
Earlier in the month, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) wrote a letter to congressional appropriators requesting “sufficient funding for both current and potential future efforts” to deal with outbreaks.
In response to questions about the coronavirus outbreak, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) bragged on Friday about the size of the CDC budget, saying Congress “actually increased Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health funding over the past number of years.”
Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) went so far as to ask the CDC to reimburse states and cities for efforts to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
Yet all four of these senators, along with most Republicans in the Senate and Congress, voted in 2017 to take $1 billion away from the CDC’s Prevention and Public Health Fund when they voted to repeal Obamacare.
That same year, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials warned of “dire consequences” if the fund were to be eliminated, saying core public health programs would cease to exist if the Republican-backed bill became law.
At the time, the senators defended their votes to repeal Obamacare and eliminate funds for the Prevention and Public Health Fund, with Ernst saying Obamacare was “not sustainable,” McSally calling it the “wrong approach,” Gardner calling it “simply unacceptable,” and Tillis claiming his vote was part of an “obligation” to fix a broken health care system.
Ernst, Tillis, and Gardner were senators when they voted to do away with the Prevention and Public Health Fund, and McSally was a member of the House. Both the House and Senate versions of the repeal tried to eliminate the fund.
The House-backed bill passed by a 217-213 vote, with support from only Republicans. The repeal bill failed in a 49-51 vote in the Senate, with all 49 votes in support of the repeal coming from Republicans. No Democrats in the House or Senate voted for the repeal.
All four of these senators face tight reelection races in their respective states.
Polls in North Carolina, Arizona, and Colorado show Democratic challengers leading Tillis, McSally, and Gardner, respectively. In December, Ernst held a 47% to 41% lead over her likely Democratic challenger, Theresa Greenfield.
Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, meaning Democrats would need to flip at least four seats in order to gain control of the chamber. Democrats are also eyeing Maine, where Republican Sen. Susan Collins is seeking reelection, while Republicans hope to oust Sen. Doug Jones from his seat in Alabama.
On Sunday, the World Health Organization reported 87,137 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The CDC has confirmed 43 cases in the United States, resulting in two confirmed deaths.
In late February, the CDC issued a warning for communities to prepare for the spread of the outbreak. The warning came less than a day after Donald Trump claimed the outbreak was “under control.”
The Trump administration has tried to downplay concerns about the outbreak, despite the warnings from experts about the spread of the virus.
The new coronavirus causes respiratory illness, with symptoms that include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The CDC recommends people avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth; avoid close contact with people who are sick; clean and disinfect frequently touched objects regularly; and wash hands regularly as the best preventive techniques, just as with any other flu.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.