shareblue--2020-08-18--Democratic convention to highlight broad support for Biden — even from Republicans

Joe Biden and the Democrats are highlighting the party 's inclusive `` big tent '' Monday night as their 2020 National Convention gets underway with a lineup that features as many former Republican governors as `` democratic socialists '' — along with former first lady Michelle Obama .
Beyond diversity , the first national political convention of the coronavirus era will be unique for its logistical challenges .
The all-virtual affair will be the first without a central meeting place or cheering throngs .
Republicans face the same challenge next week .
Democrats abandoned their plans for an in-person gathering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic .
And as the four-day convention begins , it 's unclear whether the program , which consists of both live speeches and prerecorded videos , can generate the same level of excitement and momentum as past gatherings .
The unprecedented gathering will also test the bonds of the diverse Biden-Harris coalition , disparate factions who have clashed in the past but are , at least for now , united by a deep desire to defeat Donald Trump this fall .
`` The theme tonight is , 'We the People ' — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not , 'We the Black People , ' not , 'We White People , ' not , 'We Republicans , ' but 'We the People , '' said Biden campaign co-chair , Rep. Cedric Richmond ( D-LA ) .
`` There are a bunch of people out there , silent Biden voters , Republicans that want to vote for Biden or will be voting for Biden , and it 's important to let them know they 're not alone . ''
The question of how difficult it will be to actually vote is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Democrats and some Republicans are openly concerned that Postal Service changes will make it hard for voters to be sure their mail-in ballots are received in time and counted .
The former vice president is opening the week in a stronger position than Trump , who has struggled to expand his political coalition under the weight of his turbulent leadership and prolonged health and economic crises .
But 78 days before votes are counted , history is not on Biden 's side .
Just one incumbent president has been defeated in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Biden , a 77-year-old lifelong politician , is on the wrong end of an enthusiasm gap .
His supporters consistently say they 're motivated more by opposition to Trump , who is 74 , than excitement about Biden .
Democrats hope to shift that dynamic beginning with the convention .
Biden will accept the nomination Thursday night in a mostly empty ballroom in his home state of Delaware .
Sen. Kamala Harris , the first black woman on a national ticket , speaks Wednesday night .
Michelle Obama , whom Gallup determined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last year , is delivering the keynote address .
She is following a collection of elected officials and ordinary Americans that highlight extraordinary political and racial diversity .
The scheduled Monday speakers include plenty of Democratic politicians : Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina , who is the highest ranking African American in Congress ; New York Gov .
Andrew Cuomo ; Michigan Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer ; Alabama Sen. Doug Jones ; Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto , and two former presidential contenders : Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Vermont Sen. Bernie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ four high-profile Republicans featured on the convention 's opening night : former Ohio two-term Gov .
John Kasich , California businesswoman Meg Whitman , former New Jersey Gov .
Christine Whitman , and former New York Congresswoman Susan Molinari .
While united by their disdain for Trump , the speakers represent dramatically different visions for America .
Kasich , who speaks before Sanders , opposed abortion rights and fought labor unions while in office .
Sanders , a self-described democratic socialist , wants to end the private health insurance market in favor of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plan that Biden says is too liberal .
Biden 's team also is highlighting several average Americans , such as Kristin Urquiza , who lost her father to COVID-19 .
With no live audience , the Democrats were forced to get creative to generate a sense of enthusiasm .
The campaign is hosting drive-in viewing stations in six states , much like drive-in movies , where viewers watch on a big screen from the safety of their vehicles .
There are also many online watch parties featuring celebrities and elected officials to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be impossible to engage the total viewership on the first night .
Broadcast TV networks plan to show the final hour each night live , cable news will show both hours and many viewers will stream the event from Biden 's website or on social media .
The speakers will outline Biden 's plans and positive vision for America , which will `` stand in stark contrast to the lack of leadership and the chaos we 're seeing from Donald Trump , '' said Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield .
`` The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden , it 's not about Donald Trump . ''
Yet Trump is ensuring he 'll be a part of the political conversation .
He was making two swing-state campaign appearances on Monday , first in Minnesota and then in Wisconsin , which was to be the location for the Democrats ' convention before the coronavirus outbreak .
Trump said he had `` no choice '' but to campaign during the Democratic convention in order to address voters in the face of what he described as hostile news media .
`` I have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time not to , '' Trump said on `` Fox and Friends . ''
Because of their overwhelming opposition to Trump , there appears to be far less tension among the Democrats ' often-competing factions heading into the 2020 convention than many predicted earlier in the year .
Just six months ago , political operatives were openly contemplating the prospect of a contested convention in which none of the Democratic candidates had a clear delegate majority going in .
Even if there is leftover resentment between wings of the party , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an opportunity for public infighting .
Key votes on the party platform already have taken place by mail ballot .
The details , expected to be approved overwhelmingly , were hammered out in Zoom meetings .
Without approximately 4,800 Democratic delegates from across the country gathering on the same convention hall floor , as is tradition , the opportunity for a genuine convention debate over the direction of the party has been eliminated .

Joe Biden and the Democrats are highlighting the party’s inclusive “big tent” Monday night as their 2020 National Convention gets underway with a lineup that features as many former Republican governors as “democratic socialists” — along with former first lady Michelle Obama.
Beyond diversity, the first national political convention of the coronavirus era will be unique for its logistical challenges. The all-virtual affair will be the first without a central meeting place or cheering throngs. Republicans face the same challenge next week.
Democrats abandoned their plans for an in-person gathering in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, because of the pandemic. And as the four-day convention begins, it’s unclear whether the program, which consists of both live speeches and prerecorded videos, can generate the same level of excitement and momentum as past gatherings.
The unprecedented gathering will also test the bonds of the diverse Biden-Harris coalition, disparate factions who have clashed in the past but are, at least for now, united by a deep desire to defeat Donald Trump this fall.
“The theme tonight is, ‘We the People’ — not, ‘We the Democrats,’ not, ‘We the Black People,’ not, ‘We White People,’ not, ‘We Republicans,’ but ‘We the People,” said Biden campaign co-chair, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA). “There are a bunch of people out there, silent Biden voters, Republicans that want to vote for Biden or will be voting for Biden, and it’s important to let them know they’re not alone.”
The question of how difficult it will be to actually vote is also sure to get attention Monday night. Democrats and some Republicans are openly concerned that Postal Service changes will make it hard for voters to be sure their mail-in ballots are received in time and counted.
The former vice president is opening the week in a stronger position than Trump, who has struggled to expand his political coalition under the weight of his turbulent leadership and prolonged health and economic crises. But 78 days before votes are counted, history is not on Biden’s side. Just one incumbent president has been defeated in the last four decades.
Polls also suggest that Biden, a 77-year-old lifelong politician, is on the wrong end of an enthusiasm gap. His supporters consistently say they’re motivated more by opposition to Trump, who is 74, than excitement about Biden. Democrats hope to shift that dynamic beginning with the convention.
Biden will accept the nomination Thursday night in a mostly empty ballroom in his home state of Delaware. Sen. Kamala Harris, the first black woman on a national ticket, speaks Wednesday night.
Michelle Obama, whom Gallup determined was the nation’s most admired woman last year, is delivering the keynote address. She is following a collection of elected officials and ordinary Americans that highlight extraordinary political and racial diversity.
The scheduled Monday speakers include plenty of Democratic politicians: Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, who is the highest ranking African American in Congress; New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo; Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; Alabama Sen. Doug Jones; Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, and two former presidential contenders: Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
However, there are also four high-profile Republicans featured on the convention’s opening night: former Ohio two-term Gov. John Kasich, California businesswoman Meg Whitman, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman, and former New York Congresswoman Susan Molinari.
While united by their disdain for Trump, the speakers represent dramatically different visions for America.
Kasich, who speaks before Sanders, opposed abortion rights and fought labor unions while in office. Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, wants to end the private health insurance market in favor of “Medicare for All,” a plan that Biden says is too liberal.
Biden’s team also is highlighting several average Americans, such as Kristin Urquiza, who lost her father to COVID-19.
With no live audience, the Democrats were forced to get creative to generate a sense of enthusiasm.
The campaign is hosting drive-in viewing stations in six states, much like drive-in movies, where viewers watch on a big screen from the safety of their vehicles. There are also many online watch parties featuring celebrities and elected officials to make the experience more interactive.
It will be impossible to engage the total viewership on the first night. Broadcast TV networks plan to show the final hour each night live, cable news will show both hours and many viewers will stream the event from Biden’s website or on social media.
The speakers will outline Biden’s plans and positive vision for America, which will “stand in stark contrast to the lack of leadership and the chaos we’re seeing from Donald Trump,” said Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield. “The convention tonight, it’s about Joe Biden, it’s not about Donald Trump.”
Yet Trump is ensuring he’ll be a part of the political conversation.
He was making two swing-state campaign appearances on Monday, first in Minnesota and then in Wisconsin, which was to be the location for the Democrats’ convention before the coronavirus outbreak.
Trump said he had “no choice” but to campaign during the Democratic convention in order to address voters in the face of what he described as hostile news media.
“I have to work. I don’t have the time not to,” Trump said on “Fox and Friends.”
Because of their overwhelming opposition to Trump, there appears to be far less tension among the Democrats’ often-competing factions heading into the 2020 convention than many predicted earlier in the year. Just six months ago, political operatives were openly contemplating the prospect of a contested convention in which none of the Democratic candidates had a clear delegate majority going in.
Even if there is leftover resentment between wings of the party, the convention’s online forum doesn’t provide an opportunity for public infighting. Key votes on the party platform already have taken place by mail ballot. The details, expected to be approved overwhelmingly, were hammered out in Zoom meetings.
Without approximately 4,800 Democratic delegates from across the country gathering on the same convention hall floor, as is tradition, the opportunity for a genuine convention debate over the direction of the party has been eliminated.


shareblue--2020-08-17--15 high-profile Republicans who want Joe Biden to win the White House

At least 15 high-profile Republicans will back Democrat Joe Biden over Donald Trump in the presidential election in November .
On Monday , four former GOP officials are set to address the Democratic National Convention in support of Biden : former Ohio Gov .
John Kasich , former New Jersey Gov .
Christine Todd Whitman , former Rep. Susan Molinari of New York , and former California Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman .
Also on Monday , former Trump administration Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor released a testimonial video for Republican Voters Against Trump backing Biden .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frequent claims of nearly universal support within his party , a significant number of Republicans say they plan to vote for the Democratic nominee this November .
Here are 15 of the most notable former Republican officials and candidates who are crossing over to support Biden : Former 2016 Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina said in June that she will vote for Biden .
`` As citizens , our vote is more than a check on a box .
You know , it 's a statement about where we want to go , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actually is real leadership that can unify the country , '' she told the Atlantic magazine .
`` I am encouraged that Joe Biden is a person of humility and empathy and character .
I think he 's demonstrated that through his life .
And I think we need humility and empathy everywhere in public life right now .
And I think character counts . ''
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in California in 2010 and chaired the Republican National Committee 's Victory 2008 effort .
George @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gutierrez shared a tweet last week urging `` fellow Never Trump Republicans '' to `` put our money where our mouth is and work for Biden/Harris 2020 . ''
Gutierrez , a former chairman and CEO of Kellogg 's , added that this was `` the battle cry for all Republicans who put # CountryOverParty . ''
Former Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska told the Omaha World-Herald on Friday that he is backing Biden because `` Donald Trump has done great disservice and damage to this country , the institutions of governance '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he has used his office for his own personal gains . ''
Hagel also served as secretary of defense under Barack Obama .
Former Sen. Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire told New England Cable News in January that he is now a registered independent `` who left the party in protest of Donald Trump . ''
He noted that he had served with Biden for 12 years , observing , `` I know him well .
I like him .
I respect him .
...
I trust him . ''
Former Ohio Gov @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Times on Monday that he backs Biden because `` I had always been hopeful , even after the convention and after the election , that perhaps we would see a change in the president , but we just never have .
I happen to think it 's the soul of our country that is being damaged , and that 's what I 'm concerned about . ''
Kasich also served as a member of the House of Representatives for nine terms and ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Dan Quayle , Bill Kristol , endorsed Biden in March .
He helped found Republican Voters Against Trump and has urged other Republicans to follow his lead .
`` Donald Trump is not up to the job of president .
He is particularly unsuited to lead the nation in a context of twin public health and economic crises .
He ca n't be trusted not to throw the country into a crisis of democracy and legitimacy during the forthcoming election campaign , and he should n't be entrusted with the powers of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' he said in July .
Former Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois endorsed Biden in January , telling a local paper that he has seen a variety of presidents of both parties .
`` Although I have n't agreed with every one of them on every issue , each one of those people , except for Nixon , distinguished themselves in a way that made our country proud , '' he said .
`` And this president has not done that . ''
LaHood also served as transportation secretary under Obama .
Former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ endorsed Biden in June as part of the 43 Alumni for Biden super PAC , lamenting that Trump `` would use the military against our own people . ''
Former Rep. Susan Molinari of New York is set to endorse Biden on Monday .
George W. Bush 's Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Biden in June , calling Trump a chronic liar .
`` I could n't vote for him in 2016 .
I certainly can not in any way support President Trump this year , '' he observed .
Anthony Scaramucci @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communications director , told CNN of Biden in March , `` Of course I 'll campaign for him , we got ta beat Trump .
C'mon , it 's ridiculous .
You know , and your viewers know , how crazy Trump is . ''
Miles Taylor , Trump 's former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff , endorsed Biden on Monday , saying he `` saw firsthand how dangerous Trump is for America . ''
Former Sen. John Warner of Virginia told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in March that he was backing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as `` thoroughly tested . ''
Former Gov .
Bill Weld of Massachusetts said in October that he would vote for Biden over Trump `` in a heartbeat . ''
The Libertarian Party 2016 vice presidential nominee unsuccessfully challenged Trump in the 2020 GOP primaries .
Former Gov .
Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey is set to endorse Biden on Monday .
She also served as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under George W. Bush .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

At least 15 high-profile Republicans will back Democrat Joe Biden over Donald Trump in the presidential election in November.
On Monday, four former GOP officials are set to address the Democratic National Convention in support of Biden: former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, former Rep. Susan Molinari of New York, and former California Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman.
Also on Monday, former Trump administration Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor released a testimonial video for Republican Voters Against Trump backing Biden.
They are not alone. Despite Trump’s frequent claims of nearly universal support within his party, a significant number of Republicans say they plan to vote for the Democratic nominee this November.
Here are 15 of the most notable former Republican officials and candidates who are crossing over to support Biden:
Carly Fiorina
Former 2016 Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina said in June that she will vote for Biden. “As citizens, our vote is more than a check on a box. You know, it’s a statement about where we want to go, and I think what we need now actually is real leadership that can unify the country,” she told the Atlantic magazine. “I am encouraged that Joe Biden is a person of humility and empathy and character. I think he’s demonstrated that through his life. And I think we need humility and empathy everywhere in public life right now. And I think character counts.”
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in California in 2010 and chaired the Republican National Committee’s Victory 2008 effort.
Carlos Gutierrez
George W. Bush’s Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez shared a tweet last week urging “fellow Never Trump Republicans” to “put our money where our mouth is and work for Biden/Harris 2020.” Gutierrez, a former chairman and CEO of Kellogg’s, added that this was “the battle cry for all Republicans who put #CountryOverParty.”
Chuck Hagel
Former Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska told the Omaha World-Herald on Friday that he is backing Biden because “Donald Trump has done great disservice and damage to this country, the institutions of governance” and “has been corrupt in how he has used his office for his own personal gains.” Hagel also served as secretary of defense under Barack Obama.
Gordon Humphrey
Former Sen. Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire told New England Cable News in January that he is now a registered independent “who left the party in protest of Donald Trump.” He noted that he had served with Biden for 12 years, observing, “I know him well. I like him. I respect him. … I trust him.”
John Kasich
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich told the New York Times on Monday that he backs Biden because “I had always been hopeful, even after the convention and after the election, that perhaps we would see a change in the president, but we just never have. I happen to think it’s the soul of our country that is being damaged, and that’s what I’m concerned about.”
Kasich also served as a member of the House of Representatives for nine terms and ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016.
Bill Kristol
The former chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle, Bill Kristol, endorsed Biden in March. He helped found Republican Voters Against Trump and has urged other Republicans to follow his lead. “Donald Trump is not up to the job of president. He is particularly unsuited to lead the nation in a context of twin public health and economic crises. He can’t be trusted not to throw the country into a crisis of democracy and legitimacy during the forthcoming election campaign, and he shouldn’t be entrusted with the powers of the presidency for another four years,” he said in July.
Ray LaHood
Former Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois endorsed Biden in January, telling a local paper that he has seen a variety of presidents of both parties. “Although I haven’t agreed with every one of them on every issue, each one of those people, except for Nixon, distinguished themselves in a way that made our country proud,” he said. “And this president has not done that.”
LaHood also served as transportation secretary under Obama.
Rosario Marin
Former treasurer of the United States Rosario Marin endorsed Biden in June as part of the 43 Alumni for Biden super PAC, lamenting that Trump “would use the military against our own people.”
Susan Molinari
Former Rep. Susan Molinari of New York is set to endorse Biden on Monday.
Colin Powell
George W. Bush’s Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Biden in June, calling Trump a chronic liar. “I couldn’t vote for him in 2016. I certainly cannot in any way support President Trump this year,” he observed.
Anthony Scaramucci
Anthony Scaramucci, Donald Trump’s former White House communications director, told CNN of Biden in March, “Of course I’ll campaign for him, we gotta beat Trump. C’mon, it’s ridiculous. You know, and your viewers know, how crazy Trump is.”
Miles Taylor
Miles Taylor, Trump’s former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff, endorsed Biden on Monday, saying he “saw firsthand how dangerous Trump is for America.”
John Warner
Former Sen. John Warner of Virginia told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in March that he was backing Biden. He praised his former colleague as “thoroughly tested.”
Bill Weld
Former Gov. Bill Weld of Massachusetts said in October that he would vote for Biden over Trump “in a heartbeat.” The Libertarian Party 2016 vice presidential nominee unsuccessfully challenged Trump in the 2020 GOP primaries.
Christine Todd Whitman
Former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey is set to endorse Biden on Monday.
She also served as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under George W. Bush.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-08-17--Former Trump Homeland Security official endorses Biden: He 'will protect the country'

A former top official at the Department of Homeland Security under Donald Trump on Monday endorsed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden , saying both in a video and in an op-ed published in the Washington Post that another four years of Trump would be `` terrifying '' and `` unthinkable . ''
Miles Taylor , who served as chief of staff at Homeland Security before leaving in 2019 , described some of Trump 's actions in office , including regularly dismissing intelligence on potential threats to the United States because they did n't interest him , and said Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Homeland Security for his own political purposes and to fuel his own agenda . ''
Taylor that Trump purposely wanted to separate children from their parents at the border `` so that adults would be deterred from coming to the border for fear of losing their children . ''
Taylor also said that Trump wanted to pull relief aid from Californians as an act of revenge : `` He told us to stop giving money to people whose houses had burned down from a wildfire because he was so rageful that people in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him and that politically it was n't a base for him . ''
He added that Trump would pull Homeland Security aides away from legitimate tasks to carry out `` inappropriate and often absurd executive requests , '' including `` a demand to shut off congressionally appropriated funds to a foreign ally that had angered him '' or to `` sharpen the spikes atop the border wall so they 'd be more damaging to human flesh . ''
Taylor , who said he 's not a Democrat , concluded that he 's `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country . ''
The endorsement comes on the eve of the Democratic National Convention , at which a handful of Republicans will endorse Biden for president .
Speakers on Monday night include former Ohio Gov .
John Kasich , a Republican who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the GOP nomination in 2016 ; former New Jersey Gov .
Christine Todd Whitman ; former Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman , who unsuccessfully ran for California governor in 2010 ; and former Rep. Susan Molinari , a Republican from Staten Island , New York .
Colin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of state under President George W. Bush , has also endorsed Biden .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

A former top official at the Department of Homeland Security under Donald Trump on Monday endorsed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, saying both in a video and in an op-ed published in the Washington Post that another four years of Trump would be “terrifying” and “unthinkable.”
Miles Taylor, who served as chief of staff at Homeland Security before leaving in 2019, described some of Trump’s actions in office, including regularly dismissing intelligence on potential threats to the United States because they didn’t interest him, and said Trump “wanted to exploit the Department of Homeland Security for his own political purposes and to fuel his own agenda.”
Taylor that Trump purposely wanted to separate children from their parents at the border “so that adults would be deterred from coming to the border for fear of losing their children.”
Taylor also said that Trump wanted to pull relief aid from Californians as an act of revenge: “He told us to stop giving money to people whose houses had burned down from a wildfire because he was so rageful that people in the state of California didn’t support him and that politically it wasn’t a base for him.”
He added that Trump would pull Homeland Security aides away from legitimate tasks to carry out “inappropriate and often absurd executive requests,” including “a demand to shut off congressionally appropriated funds to a foreign ally that had angered him” or to “sharpen the spikes atop the border wall so they’d be more damaging to human flesh.”
Taylor, who said he’s not a Democrat, concluded that he’s “confident that Joe Biden will protect the country.”
The endorsement comes on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, at which a handful of Republicans will endorse Biden for president.
Speakers on Monday night include former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the GOP nomination in 2016; former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman; former Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman, who unsuccessfully ran for California governor in 2010; and former Rep. Susan Molinari, a Republican from Staten Island, New York.
Colin Powell, the retired general and secretary of state under President George W. Bush, has also endorsed Biden.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-08-17--Trump and head of Postal Service get sued for trying to slow down mail

Several individuals including candidates for public office sued Donald Trump and the U.S .
Postal Service and its new postmaster general in New York on Monday to ensure adequate funding for postal operations .
The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court as multiple lawsuits were threatened across the country as a response to comments Trump recently made and actions taken by newly appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to change operations at post offices nationwide .
The lawsuit alleges that Trump and DeJoy are trying to ensure the postal service can not reliably deliver election mail .
The lawsuit seeks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the postal service prior to November 's election .
Among plaintiffs in the lawsuit was Mondaire Jones , an attorney and the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York 's 17th Congressional District , representing Rockland and Westchester counties .
Other plaintiffs included New York State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi , a Democrat in a district representing the Bronx and Westchester and two Democratic candidates for New York State Assembly : Chris Burdick , who seeks to represent parts of Westchester County and Stephanie Keegan , who seeks parts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ message seeking comment was left with the Justice Department .
The lawsuit was filed soon after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the House back into session over the crisis at the Postal Service .
Pelosi wants to take up legislation that would prohibit changes at the agency after DeJoy set off a nationwide outcry over delays , new prices , and cutbacks just as millions of Americans will begin voting by mail to avoid polling places during the coronavirus outbreak .

Several individuals including candidates for public office sued Donald Trump and the U.S. Postal Service and its new postmaster general in New York on Monday to ensure adequate funding for postal operations.
The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court as multiple lawsuits were threatened across the country as a response to comments Trump recently made and actions taken by newly appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to change operations at post offices nationwide.
The lawsuit alleges that Trump and DeJoy are trying to ensure the postal service cannot reliably deliver election mail.
The lawsuit seeks a court order to force adequate funding of the postal service prior to November’s election.
Among plaintiffs in the lawsuit was Mondaire Jones, an attorney and the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York’s 17th Congressional District, representing Rockland and Westchester counties.
Other plaintiffs included New York State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, a Democrat in a district representing the Bronx and Westchester and two Democratic candidates for New York State Assembly: Chris Burdick, who seeks to represent parts of Westchester County and Stephanie Keegan, who seeks parts of Putnam and Westchester counties.
A message seeking comment was left with the Justice Department.
The lawsuit was filed soon after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the House back into session over the crisis at the Postal Service.
Pelosi wants to take up legislation that would prohibit changes at the agency after DeJoy set off a nationwide outcry over delays, new prices, and cutbacks just as millions of Americans will begin voting by mail to avoid polling places during the coronavirus outbreak.


shareblue--2020-08-17--Trump shares Russian propaganda intended to hurt Biden

Donald Trump has retweeted an audio recording that U.S. intelligence officials have described as part of a Russian campaign to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden .
The leaked conversation , purportedly between Biden and former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko , dates from Feb. 18 , 2016 , and centers on the resignation of Ukraine 's chief prosecutor .
By amplifying the recording to his more than 85 million Twitter followers , Trump underscored the ease with which pro-Russian narratives can seep into American public discourse ahead of the 2020 election despite being flagged by intelligence officials as the product @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has also published disinformation under the guise of legitimate news stories , U.S. officials say , reflecting something of a shift in tactics from 2016 , when Russia relied on a social media campaign to sow discord and also orchestrated the release of stolen Democratic emails .
The Biden campaign did n't immediately comment on the retweet Monday .
The White House also did not immediately return a message seeking comment .
Andriy Derkach , a member of Ukraine 's parliament and a 1993 graduate of a Russian spy academy who long has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ son , has released this year what he says are recordings of conversation between Poroshenko and Biden when Biden was vice president during the Obama administration .
That effort was flagged in a U.S. intelligence assessment earlier this month warning of Russian interference in the upcoming election , and specifically efforts to denigrate Biden .
`` For example , pro-Russia Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach is spreading claims about corruption — including through publicizing leaked phone calls — to undermine former Vice President Biden 's candidacy and the Democratic Party , '' said the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government 's chief counterintelligence official .
In the conversation retweeted Sunday night by Trump , Poroshenko can be heard telling Biden that he had accepted the resignation of prosecutor Viktor Shokin `` despite of the fact that we did n't have any corruption charges , we do n't have any information about him doing something wrong . ''
An anti-Biden narrative pushed by Trump and his supporters alleges that Biden , as vice president , pressured Ukraine 's government to fire Shokin because Shokin had investigated a Ukrainian energy company on whose board @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden 's position on the prosecutor , who was seen by critics as soft on corruption , was the position of the U.S. government and was also supported by other Western governments and many in Ukraine .
But the Twitter user whom Trump retweeted said in his tweet that the conversation revealed that `` Shokin was not corrupt '' and that there was no information to suggest he had done anything wrong .
A White House summary of the conversation available online does show that Biden and Poroshenko spoke on Feb. 18 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the tapes disclosed by Derkach as a fabrication by pro-Russian forces in Ukraine .

Donald Trump has retweeted an audio recording that U.S. intelligence officials have described as part of a Russian campaign to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
The leaked conversation, purportedly between Biden and former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, dates from Feb. 18, 2016, and centers on the resignation of Ukraine’s chief prosecutor.
By amplifying the recording to his more than 85 million Twitter followers, Trump underscored the ease with which pro-Russian narratives can seep into American public discourse ahead of the 2020 election despite being flagged by intelligence officials as the product of a concerted Russian effort.
Russia has also published disinformation under the guise of legitimate news stories, U.S. officials say, reflecting something of a shift in tactics from 2016, when Russia relied on a social media campaign to sow discord and also orchestrated the release of stolen Democratic emails.
The Biden campaign didn’t immediately comment on the retweet Monday. The White House also did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Andriy Derkach, a member of Ukraine’s parliament and a 1993 graduate of a Russian spy academy who long has aired corruption allegations against Biden and his son, has released this year what he says are recordings of conversation between Poroshenko and Biden when Biden was vice president during the Obama administration. That effort was flagged in a U.S. intelligence assessment earlier this month warning of Russian interference in the upcoming election, and specifically efforts to denigrate Biden.
“For example, pro-Russia Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach is spreading claims about corruption — including through publicizing leaked phone calls — to undermine former Vice President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party,” said the statement from William Evanina, the U.S. government’s chief counterintelligence official.
In the conversation retweeted Sunday night by Trump, Poroshenko can be heard telling Biden that he had accepted the resignation of prosecutor Viktor Shokin “despite of the fact that we didn’t have any corruption charges, we don’t have any information about him doing something wrong.”
An anti-Biden narrative pushed by Trump and his supporters alleges that Biden, as vice president, pressured Ukraine’s government to fire Shokin because Shokin had investigated a Ukrainian energy company on whose board Biden’s son Hunter sat. But Biden’s position on the prosecutor, who was seen by critics as soft on corruption, was the position of the U.S. government and was also supported by other Western governments and many in Ukraine.
But the Twitter user whom Trump retweeted said in his tweet that the conversation revealed that “Shokin was not corrupt” and that there was no information to suggest he had done anything wrong.
A White House summary of the conversation available online does show that Biden and Poroshenko spoke on Feb. 18, 2016. But Poroshenko has generally rejected the tapes disclosed by Derkach as a fabrication by pro-Russian forces in Ukraine.


shareblue--2020-08-17--'Anti-corruption' GOP candidate hosts event with governor imprisoned for corruption

Months after Donald Trump commuted his sentence for convictions on 17 federal corruption counts that included extortion , wire fraud , and accepting bribes , former Illinois Gov .
Rod Blagojevich will hold a fundraising event celebrating Trump 's run for reelection to the White House .
His beneficiary : a Republican Illinois state Senate candidate running as an `` anti-corruption '' reformer .
Republican businessman Thomas McCullagh is running for the open Joliet-area 49th District seat in the Illinois Senate .
On Sunday evening , he announced that he will host an in-person fundraiser on Aug. 27 with Blagojevich @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's RNC 2020 nomination . ''
The $ 150-a-plate event in St. Charles , Illinois , will feature an `` intimate address '' by the former `` Celebrity Apprentice '' contestant who was convicted of felony corruption in 2011 .
It will also include speeches by conservative media contributors and the co-chair of the Illinois Trump Victory campaign .
Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office in 2009 after recordings caught him trying to sell an appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama when he was elected president .
Two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on a total of 17 out of 20 counts and sentenced to 14 years in prison sentence .
Trump commuted Blagojevich 's sentence in February , saying , `` Many people disagree with the sentence '' and adding that he `` seemed like a very nice person . ''
Blagojevich appears to be an odd fit for McCullagh 's campaign , which has been largely focused on government integrity .
`` Hello , my name is Thomas McCullagh , and I think you and I probably have a lot in common .
Like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rampant corruption throughout our political system , '' the state Senate candidate said in a statement that was posted on the website Ballotpedia last year .
`` I am the anti corruption candidate , for too long have politicians taken advantage of their positions .
We must pass stronger ethics laws to prevent this , '' he said .
Asked about the apparent contradiction , McCullagh 's campaign said in an email on Monday , `` Following Gov .
Blagojevich 's recent commutation by President Trump , Mccullagh is welcoming him to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ look to help understand the depths of the [ Illinois state House Speaker Michael ] Madigan machine and how to end corruption in Illinois . ''
Last month , McCullagh called for Madigan 's resignation , complaining : `` Madigan and other top Illinois Democrats have made millions through backdoor deals and bribery .
They have forsaken the good people of Illinois for their own political and personal benefit and have allowed us to be over-taxed , over-burdened , and under-represented . ''
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

Months after Donald Trump commuted his sentence for convictions on 17 federal corruption counts that included extortion, wire fraud, and accepting bribes, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will hold a fundraising event celebrating Trump’s run for reelection to the White House. His beneficiary: a Republican Illinois state Senate candidate running as an “anti-corruption” reformer.
Republican businessman Thomas McCullagh is running for the open Joliet-area 49th District seat in the Illinois Senate. On Sunday evening, he announced that he will host an in-person fundraiser on Aug. 27 with Blagojevich “to celebrate President Donald J. Trump’s RNC 2020 nomination.”
The $150-a-plate event in St. Charles, Illinois, will feature an “intimate address” by the former “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant who was convicted of felony corruption in 2011.
It will also include speeches by conservative media contributors and the co-chair of the Illinois Trump Victory campaign.
Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office in 2009 after recordings caught him trying to sell an appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama when he was elected president. Two years later, he was found guilty on a total of 17 out of 20 counts and sentenced to 14 years in prison sentence.
Trump commuted Blagojevich’s sentence in February, saying, “Many people disagree with the sentence” and adding that he “seemed like a very nice person.”
Blagojevich appears to be an odd fit for McCullagh’s campaign, which has been largely focused on government integrity.
“Hello, my name is Thomas McCullagh, and I think you and I probably have a lot in common. Like you, I am fed up with the rampant corruption throughout our political system,” the state Senate candidate said in a statement that was posted on the website Ballotpedia last year.
“I am the anti corruption candidate, for too long have politicians taken advantage of their positions. We must pass stronger ethics laws to prevent this,” he said.
Asked about the apparent contradiction, McCullagh’s campaign said in an email on Monday, “Following Gov. Blagojevich’s recent commutation by President Trump, Mccullagh is welcoming him to the table to give us an inside look to help understand the depths of the [Illinois state House Speaker Michael] Madigan machine and how to end corruption in Illinois.”
Last month, McCullagh called for Madigan’s resignation, complaining: “Madigan and other top Illinois Democrats have made millions through backdoor deals and bribery. They have forsaken the good people of Illinois for their own political and personal benefit and have allowed us to be over-taxed, over-burdened, and under-represented.”
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-08-17--Fact check: Trump spent the week lying about Kamala Harris, Social Security, and voting

Donald Trump is muddying the facts about mail-in voting and vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris on the eve of the Democratic National Convention .
Asked to disclaim the racist conspiracy theory that Harris is n't eligible to serve in the White House because of her immigrant parents , Trump repeatedly demurred and said he knew little about it , even as the false rumors swirled on social media over the past week .
Harris unquestionably meets the Constitution 's requirements to be vice president .
On Sunday , Trump 's own White House chief of staff acknowledged her eligibility .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ as flawed and fraudulent while insisting that absentee mail ballots , especially in states like Florida that he must win in November , are quite fine and safe .
There are little differences in security measures between the two .
His weekend claims capped a litany of distortion and falsehoods following Joe Biden 's announcement of Harris as his running mate .
He misrepresented Biden 's position on taxes , persisted in minimizing the coronavirus threat and exaggerated his own record on the economy .
A look at the past week 's rhetoric @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : TRUMP : `` Absentee is good ; mail-in , universal is very , very bad .
There 's no way they 're going to get it accurately . ''
— news conference Saturday .
TRUMP : `` The honorable thing to do is drop the Mail-In Scam before it is too late !
Absentee Ballots , like they have in Florida , are good ! ''
— tweet Saturday .
THE FACTS : He 's making a false distinction .
Mail-in ballots are cast in the same way as absentee mail ballots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as signature verification in many states .
In more than 30 states and the District of Columbia , voters have a right to `` no excuse '' absentee voting .
That means they can use mail-in ballots for any reason , regardless of whether a person is out of town or working .
In Florida , the Legislature in 2016 voted to change the wording of such balloting from `` absentee '' to `` vote-by-mail '' to make clear a voter can cast such ballots if they wish .
More broadly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Brennan Center for Justice in 2017 ranked the risk of ballot fraud at 0.00004 % to 0.0009 % , based on studies of past elections .
Only nine states currently have plans for `` universal '' mail-in voting , where ballots are sent automatically to registered voters .
Five of those states relied on mail-in ballots even before the coronavirus pandemic raised concerns about voting in person .
Blasting mail-in voting , Trump in the past week said he may hold up funding for the U.S .
Postal Service to impede those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump is simply wrong about mail-in balloting raising a 'tremendous ' potential for fraud , '' Richard L. Hasen , an elections expert at the University of California , Irvine , School of Law , wrote recently .
`` While certain pockets of the country have seen their share of absentee-ballot scandals , problems are extremely rare in the five states that rely primarily on vote-by-mail , including the heavily Republican state of Utah . ''
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday on CNN 's `` State of the Union @ @ @ @ @ @ @ absentee mail ballot to vote in November .
TRUMP , asked about social media claims that Harris is not eligible to run for vice president because her parents were immigrants to the United States : `` I heard it today that she does n't meet the requirements .
...
I have no idea if that 's right .
I would have assumed that the Democrats would have checked that out . ''
— news conference Thursday .
TRUMP , asked about the subject again : `` I have nothing to do with it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` He added : `` It 's not something that bothers me .
...
It 's not something that we will be pursuing . ''
Asked point blank if Harris is eligible , Trump replied : `` I just told you .
I have not got into it in great detail . ''
— news conference Saturday .
THE FACTS : Harris , a senator from California , is without question eligible .
Harris , 55 , was born in Oakland , California , making her a natural-born U.S. citizen and eligible to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ serve a full term .
Her father , an economist from Jamaica , and her mother , a cancer researcher from India , met at the University of California , Berkeley , as graduate students .
The Constitution requires a vice president to meet the eligibility requirements to be president .
That includes being a natural-born U.S. citizen , at least 35 years old and a resident in the United States for at least 14 years .
`` I ca n't believe people are making this idiotic comment , '' Laurence Tribe , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , told The Associated Press in 2019 , when similar false claims emerged about Harris during her presidential run .
`` She is a natural born citizen and there is no question about her eligibility to run , '' Tribe said .
On Sunday , Meadows said he accepted that Harris is eligible to serve as vice president .
`` Sure , '' said Meadows , when asked on CNN whether he acknowledges the fact that she meets the constitutional requirements to be president or vice president .
`` And I think the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is not something that we 're going to pursue . ''
Harris is the first Black woman and Asian American to compete on a major party 's presidential ticket .
Trump in past years indulged in the false conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama was born abroad .
Only after mounting pressure during his 2016 campaign did Trump disavow the claims .
TRUMP : `` If Biden would win ... he 's going to double and triple everybody 's taxes . ''
— news conference Wednesday .
THE FACTS : Trump is exaggerating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taxes , primarily on the wealthy .
But a July estimate by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget finds that the increase is a small fraction of what Trump claimed .
The former vice president 's plan would raise `` taxes for the top 1 percent of earners by 13 to 18 % of after-tax income , while indirectly increasing taxes for most other groups by 0.2 to 0.6 % , '' the nonpartisan group said .
To put that in perspective , tax collections would increase by $ 3.4 trillion to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That is a lot of money .
But it 's not a doubling or tripling .
The government is on pace to collect $ 47 trillion over the next decade , so the Biden plan would be roughly be a 7.8 % increase in revenues .
TRUMP CAMPAIGN : `` Not long ago , Kamala Harris called Joe Biden a racist and asked for an apology she never received . ''
— statement Tuesday from Katrina Pierson , Trump 2020 senior adviser .
THE FACTS : She never called Biden a racist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Harris ' remarks during a Democratic primary debate in Miami in June 2019 when the California senator challenged Biden 's record of opposing busing as a way to integrate schools in the 1970s .
Harris prefaced her criticism by telling Biden at that time , `` I do not believe you are a racist .
I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground . ''
She then went on : `` It was actually hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the segregation of race in this country .
It was not only that but you also worked with them to oppose busing .
`` There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools , '' Harris said .
`` She was bused to school every day .
That little girl was me . ''
It was a breakthrough moment for Harris at the candidates ' first debate , stunning Biden , who responded that `` he did not praise racists '' and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on busing .
But she did not accuse him of being racist .
TRUMP : `` The manufacturing sector is booming and the production index is at the highest reading since October of '18 , which was an extraordinary period of time . ''
— news conference Wednesday .
THE FACTS : The pandemic crushed U.S. factories and the damage persists .
There is no boom .
Even after three months of job gains , the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the manufacturing sector has 740,000 fewer jobs than before the outbreak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump have disappeared .
There were 257,000 more manufacturing jobs on the day Trump took office than now .
More importantly , the jobs recovery has shown signs of stalling .
Just 26,000 factory jobs were added in July , down from 357,000 added jobs in June .
The sector has been recovering .
Yet after increases in production in June , the Federal Reserve said U.S. factory output was running 11.1 % below pre-pandemic levels .
Trump cited one component of an index composed by the Institute for Supply Management that indicates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It was the best reading since August of 2018 , not October as claimed by Trump .
But that same report showed that manufacturers are also cutting back on employment , suggesting that a boom has yet to begin .
TRUMP : `` At the end of the year , the assumption that I win , I 'm going to terminate the payroll tax ... We 'll be paying into Social Security through the general fund . ''
— news conference Wednesday .
THE FACTS : Under Trump 's proposal , Social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Payroll taxes raise about $ 1 trillion annually for Social Security , and Trump was unconcerned about the loss of those revenues .
Trump campaign officials stressed that the general fund consists of assets and liabilities that finance government operations and could do so for Social Security .
The general fund is nicknamed `` America 's Checkbook '' on the Treasury Department 's website .
The risk is that the loss of a dedicated funding source could destabilize an anti-poverty program that provides payments to roughly 65 million Americans .
It also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the spending that drives growth so they can save for their own retirement and health care needs if they believe the government backstop is in jeopardy .
A 12.4 % payroll tax split between employers and workers funds Social Security , while a 2.9 % payroll tax finances Medicare .
The Social Security tax raised roughly $ 1 trillion last year , according to government figures .
Over a 10-year period , Trump 's idea would blow a $ 13 trillion hole in a U.S. budget that is already laden with rising debt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deferral through the end of the year , part of a series of moves to bypass Congress after talks on a broader coronavirus relief bill that has stalled .
He says he will make it a permanent tax cut with the help of Congress .
Democrats have described that idea as a nonstarter .
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Thursday suggested to reporters that Trump misspoke when he said he would eliminate the payroll tax if reelected .
She said Trump would only push to make the payroll tax deferrals permanent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would eliminate the payroll tax four times at his Wednesday press briefing and even answered a question about `` permanently '' rescinding it .
TRUMP , asked how the general fund can sustain the payments : `` We 're going to have tremendous growth .
... You will see growth like you have not seen in a long time . ''
— news conference Wednesday .
THE FACTS : It is highly unlikely that economic growth would be enough to offset the loss of the payroll tax .
Trump has a record of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suggested that his 2017 income tax cuts would propel economic growth as high as 6 % annually .
That never happened .
Growth reached 3 % in 2018 , then slumped to 2.2 % and the U.S. economy crumbled into recession this year because of the coronavirus .
TRUMP : `` You ca n't compare it to 1917 .
That was incredible .
That was — that was the worst ever by far .
That was — you look at — they lost possibly 100 million people . ''
— news conference Saturday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nobody understood it because nobody has ever seen anything like this .
The closest thing is , in 1917 , they say — right ?
The great — the great pandemic certainly was a terrible thing , where they lost , anywhere from 50 to 100 million people .
Probably ended the Second World War ; all the soldiers were sick . ''
— news briefing on Aug. 10 .
THE FACTS : He got the year wrong for the Spanish flu , as he routinely does , and may have overstated deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early 1918 to late 1920 .
It killed an estimated 50 million worldwide , with about 675,000 of the deaths in the U.S. , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
That pandemic did not end World War II , which came two decades later .
TRUMP : `` We 're still in the pandemic , which will be going away , as I say , it will be going away .
And they scream , how you can you say that ?
I said , because it 's going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interview Thursday on Fox Business Network .
THE FACTS : No matter how many times he says it , the virus is not going to just magically disappear .
The virus is now blamed for more than 166,000 deaths and more than 5.2 million confirmed infections in the U.S. — easily the highest totals in the world .
In the past week , the average number of new cases per day was on the rise in eight states , and deaths per day were climbing in 26 , according to an Associated Press @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government 's top infectious diseases official , has warned that increased cases across the South and West in particular put `` the entire country at risk . ''
On Thursday , for instance , the rate of positive virus cases in Texas soared to the highest levels of the pandemic , with nearly 1 in every 4 coronavirus tests coming back positive .
Nevada had its biggest daily jump in coronavirus fatalities to date .
In February , Trump asserted coronavirus cases were going `` very substantially down , not up , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` in April , supposedly , it dies with the hotter weather . ''
Fauci says there `` certainly '' will be coronavirus infections in the fall and winter .
TRUMP , on whether he still thinks kids are essentially immune from COVID-19 : `` Yeah , I think that , for the most part , they do very well .
I mean , they — they do n't get very sick .
They do n't catch it easily . ''
— news briefing Tuesday .
THE FACTS : They are n't immune @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those kids who get infected .
Although it 's true that children are less likely than adults to develop COVID-19 , the CDC has nevertheless counted more than 250,000 infections by the virus in Americans younger than 18 , or roughly 7 % of all cases .
Racial disparities in the U.S. outbreak also extend to children , with Hispanic and Black children with COVID-19 more likely to be hospitalized than white kids .
The total number of kids who have been infected but not confirmed is almost certainly far higher than the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those with mild or no symptoms are less likely to get tested .
Trump also glosses over the fact that kids can spread disease without showing symptoms themselves .
The CDC in May also warned doctors to be on the lookout for a rare but life-threatening inflammatory reaction in some children who 've had the coronavirus .
The condition had been reported in more than 100 children in New York , and in some kids in several other states and in Europe , with some deaths .
One of the CDC reports looked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Hispanic children were hospitalized at a rate eight times higher than white kids , and Black children were hospitalized at a rate five times higher , it found .
The second report examined cases of the rare virus-associated syndrome in kids .
It found that nearly three-quarters of the children with the syndrome were either Hispanic or Black , well above their representation in the general population .
TRUMP : `` You just look at what happened with the Carolyn Maloney race .
They should do that race over , by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ballot , the ballots that are missing , and the ballot frauds — nobody knows what 's going on with that race , and yet they declared her a winner . ''
— news conference Wednesday .
THE FACTS : There 's no evidence of fraud in the Democratic congressional primary in New York City that was won by Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney .
Nor did Trump offer any proof of fraud .
New York State decided to allow anyone to vote by mail in the June primary because of the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ absentee ballot in New York City , a figure that was 10 times the number of absentee ballots cast in the 2016 primary .
Opening and counting those ballots by elections officials took weeks , leading to a legal dispute over nonfraud issues , such as missing postmarks .
Candidates observing the count say that thousands of ballots were disqualified because of technical errors voters would n't have encountered if they had voted in person , like problems with their signature .
New York City 's Board of Elections ultimately certified the results @ @ @ @ @ @

Donald Trump is muddying the facts about mail-in voting and vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.
Asked to disclaim the racist conspiracy theory that Harris isn’t eligible to serve in the White House because of her immigrant parents, Trump repeatedly demurred and said he knew little about it, even as the false rumors swirled on social media over the past week. Harris unquestionably meets the Constitution’s requirements to be vice president. On Sunday, Trump’s own White House chief of staff acknowledged her eligibility.
Trump also continued to blast mail-in voting as flawed and fraudulent while insisting that absentee mail ballots, especially in states like Florida that he must win in November, are quite fine and safe. There are little differences in security measures between the two.
His weekend claims capped a litany of distortion and falsehoods following Joe Biden’s announcement of Harris as his running mate. He misrepresented Biden’s position on taxes, persisted in minimizing the coronavirus threat and exaggerated his own record on the economy.
A look at the past week’s rhetoric, also covering Social Security and more:
Mail voting
TRUMP: “Absentee is good; mail-in, universal is very, very bad. There’s no way they’re going to get it accurately.” — news conference Saturday.
TRUMP: “The honorable thing to do is drop the Mail-In Scam before it is too late! Absentee Ballots, like they have in Florida, are good!” — tweet Saturday.
THE FACTS: He’s making a false distinction. Mail-in ballots are cast in the same way as absentee mail ballots, with the same level of scrutiny such as signature verification in many states.
In more than 30 states and the District of Columbia, voters have a right to “no excuse” absentee voting. That means they can use mail-in ballots for any reason, regardless of whether a person is out of town or working. In Florida, the Legislature in 2016 voted to change the wording of such balloting from “absentee” to “vote-by-mail” to make clear a voter can cast such ballots if they wish.
More broadly, voter fraud has proved exceedingly rare. The Brennan Center for Justice in 2017 ranked the risk of ballot fraud at 0.00004% to 0.0009%, based on studies of past elections.
Only nine states currently have plans for “universal” mail-in voting, where ballots are sent automatically to registered voters. Five of those states relied on mail-in ballots even before the coronavirus pandemic raised concerns about voting in person.
Blasting mail-in voting, Trump in the past week said he may hold up funding for the U.S. Postal Service to impede those votes across the 50 states.
“Trump is simply wrong about mail-in balloting raising a ‘tremendous’ potential for fraud,” Richard L. Hasen, an elections expert at the University of California, Irvine, School of Law, wrote recently. “While certain pockets of the country have seen their share of absentee-ballot scandals, problems are extremely rare in the five states that rely primarily on vote-by-mail, including the heavily Republican state of Utah.”
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Trump had requested a Florida absentee mail ballot to vote in November.
___
On Biden-Harris
TRUMP, asked about social media claims that Harris is not eligible to run for vice president because her parents were immigrants to the United States: “I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements. … I have no idea if that’s right. I would have assumed that the Democrats would have checked that out.” — news conference Thursday.
TRUMP, asked about the subject again: “I have nothing to do with it. I read something about it.”He added: “It’s not something that bothers me. … It’s not something that we will be pursuing.” Asked point blank if Harris is eligible, Trump replied: “I just told you. I have not got into it in great detail.” — news conference Saturday.
THE FACTS: Harris, a senator from California, is without question eligible.
Harris, 55, was born in Oakland, California, making her a natural-born U.S. citizen and eligible to be president if Biden were unable to serve a full term. Her father, an economist from Jamaica, and her mother, a cancer researcher from India, met at the University of California, Berkeley, as graduate students.
The Constitution requires a vice president to meet the eligibility requirements to be president. That includes being a natural-born U.S. citizen, at least 35 years old and a resident in the United States for at least 14 years.
“I can’t believe people are making this idiotic comment,” Laurence Tribe, a Harvard University professor of constitutional law, told The Associated Press in 2019, when similar false claims emerged about Harris during her presidential run.
“She is a natural born citizen and there is no question about her eligibility to run,” Tribe said.
On Sunday, Meadows said he accepted that Harris is eligible to serve as vice president.
“Sure,” said Meadows, when asked on CNN whether he acknowledges the fact that she meets the constitutional requirements to be president or vice president. “And I think the president spoke to this yesterday. This is not something that we’re going to pursue.”
Harris is the first Black woman and Asian American to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket. Trump in past years indulged in the false conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama was born abroad. Only after mounting pressure during his 2016 campaign did Trump disavow the claims.
___
TRUMP: “If Biden would win … he’s going to double and triple everybody’s taxes.” — news conference Wednesday.
THE FACTS: Trump is exaggerating. Wildly so.
Biden would raise taxes, primarily on the wealthy. But a July estimate by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget finds that the increase is a small fraction of what Trump claimed. The former vice president’s plan would raise “taxes for the top 1 percent of earners by 13 to 18% of after-tax income, while indirectly increasing taxes for most other groups by 0.2 to 0.6%,” the nonpartisan group said.
To put that in perspective, tax collections would increase by $3.4 trillion to $3.7 trillion over the next decade. That is a lot of money. But it’s not a doubling or tripling. The government is on pace to collect $47 trillion over the next decade, so the Biden plan would be roughly be a 7.8% increase in revenues.
___
TRUMP CAMPAIGN: “Not long ago, Kamala Harris called Joe Biden a racist and asked for an apology she never received.” — statement Tuesday from Katrina Pierson, Trump 2020 senior adviser.
THE FACTS: She never called Biden a racist.
Pierson appears to be referring to Harris’ remarks during a Democratic primary debate in Miami in June 2019 when the California senator challenged Biden’s record of opposing busing as a way to integrate schools in the 1970s.
Harris prefaced her criticism by telling Biden at that time, “I do not believe you are a racist. I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground.”
She then went on: “It was actually hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country. It was not only that but you also worked with them to oppose busing.
“There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools,” Harris said. “She was bused to school every day. That little girl was me.”
It was a breakthrough moment for Harris at the candidates’ first debate, stunning Biden, who responded that “he did not praise racists” and provided a hairsplitting defense of his position on busing. But she did not accuse him of being racist.
___
Economy
TRUMP: “The manufacturing sector is booming and the production index is at the highest reading since October of ’18, which was an extraordinary period of time.” — news conference Wednesday.
THE FACTS: The pandemic crushed U.S. factories and the damage persists. There is no boom.
Even after three months of job gains, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the manufacturing sector has 740,000 fewer jobs than before the outbreak. All the factory hiring gains under Trump have disappeared. There were 257,000 more manufacturing jobs on the day Trump took office than now. More importantly, the jobs recovery has shown signs of stalling. Just 26,000 factory jobs were added in July, down from 357,000 added jobs in June.
The sector has been recovering. Yet after increases in production in June, the Federal Reserve said U.S. factory output was running 11.1% below pre-pandemic levels. Trump cited one component of an index composed by the Institute for Supply Management that indicates factory production grew in July as well. It was the best reading since August of 2018, not October as claimed by Trump. But that same report showed that manufacturers are also cutting back on employment, suggesting that a boom has yet to begin.
___
Social Security
TRUMP: “At the end of the year, the assumption that I win, I’m going to terminate the payroll tax … We’ll be paying into Social Security through the general fund.” — news conference Wednesday.
THE FACTS: Under Trump’s proposal, Social Security would lose its dedicated funding source.
Payroll taxes raise about $1 trillion annually for Social Security, and Trump was unconcerned about the loss of those revenues. Trump campaign officials stressed that the general fund consists of assets and liabilities that finance government operations and could do so for Social Security. The general fund is nicknamed “America’s Checkbook” on the Treasury Department’s website.
The risk is that the loss of a dedicated funding source could destabilize an anti-poverty program that provides payments to roughly 65 million Americans. It also could force people to cut back on the spending that drives growth so they can save for their own retirement and health care needs if they believe the government backstop is in jeopardy.
A 12.4% payroll tax split between employers and workers funds Social Security, while a 2.9% payroll tax finances Medicare. The Social Security tax raised roughly $1 trillion last year, according to government figures. Over a 10-year period, Trump’s idea would blow a $13 trillion hole in a U.S. budget that is already laden with rising debt loads.
Trump announced a payroll tax deferral through the end of the year, part of a series of moves to bypass Congress after talks on a broader coronavirus relief bill that has stalled. He says he will make it a permanent tax cut with the help of Congress. Democrats have described that idea as a nonstarter.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Thursday suggested to reporters that Trump misspoke when he said he would eliminate the payroll tax if reelected. She said Trump would only push to make the payroll tax deferrals permanent. But Trump clearly said that he would eliminate the payroll tax four times at his Wednesday press briefing and even answered a question about “permanently” rescinding it.
___
TRUMP, asked how the general fund can sustain the payments: “We’re going to have tremendous growth. … You will see growth like you have not seen in a long time.” — news conference Wednesday.
THE FACTS: It is highly unlikely that economic growth would be enough to offset the loss of the payroll tax. Trump has a record of making wildly improbable growth projections. He suggested that his 2017 income tax cuts would propel economic growth as high as 6% annually. That never happened. Growth reached 3% in 2018, then slumped to 2.2% and the U.S. economy crumbled into recession this year because of the coronavirus.
___
Virus threat
TRUMP: “You can’t compare it to 1917. That was incredible. That was — that was the worst ever by far. That was — you look at — they lost possibly 100 million people.” — news conference Saturday.
TRUMP, on COVID-19: “Nobody understood it because nobody has ever seen anything like this. The closest thing is, in 1917, they say — right? The great — the great pandemic certainly was a terrible thing, where they lost, anywhere from 50 to 100 million people. Probably ended the Second World War; all the soldiers were sick.” — news briefing on Aug. 10.
THE FACTS: He got the year wrong for the Spanish flu, as he routinely does, and may have overstated deaths from it. The pandemic spread from early 1918 to late 1920. It killed an estimated 50 million worldwide, with about 675,000 of the deaths in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That pandemic did not end World War II, which came two decades later.
___
TRUMP: “We’re still in the pandemic, which will be going away, as I say, it will be going away. And they scream, how you can you say that? I said, because it’s going to be going away.” — interview Thursday on Fox Business Network.
THE FACTS: No matter how many times he says it, the virus is not going to just magically disappear.
The virus is now blamed for more than 166,000 deaths and more than 5.2 million confirmed infections in the U.S. — easily the highest totals in the world. In the past week, the average number of new cases per day was on the rise in eight states, and deaths per day were climbing in 26, according to an Associated Press analysis.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious diseases official, has warned that increased cases across the South and West in particular put “the entire country at risk.” On Thursday, for instance, the rate of positive virus cases in Texas soared to the highest levels of the pandemic, with nearly 1 in every 4 coronavirus tests coming back positive. Nevada had its biggest daily jump in coronavirus fatalities to date.
In February, Trump asserted coronavirus cases were going “very substantially down, not up,” and said it will be fine because “in April, supposedly, it dies with the hotter weather.”
Fauci says there “certainly” will be coronavirus infections in the fall and winter.
___
TRUMP, on whether he still thinks kids are essentially immune from COVID-19: “Yeah, I think that, for the most part, they do very well. I mean, they — they don’t get very sick. They don’t catch it easily.” — news briefing Tuesday.
THE FACTS: They aren’t immune, and he ignores racial disparities among those kids who get infected.
Although it’s true that children are less likely than adults to develop COVID-19, the CDC has nevertheless counted more than 250,000 infections by the virus in Americans younger than 18, or roughly 7% of all cases. Racial disparities in the U.S. outbreak also extend to children, with Hispanic and Black children with COVID-19 more likely to be hospitalized than white kids.
The total number of kids who have been infected but not confirmed is almost certainly far higher than the CDC figures, experts say, because those with mild or no symptoms are less likely to get tested. Trump also glosses over the fact that kids can spread disease without showing symptoms themselves.
The CDC in May also warned doctors to be on the lookout for a rare but life-threatening inflammatory reaction in some children who’ve had the coronavirus. The condition had been reported in more than 100 children in New York, and in some kids in several other states and in Europe, with some deaths.
Two recent government reports laid bare the racial disparities.
One of the CDC reports looked at children with COVID-19 who needed hospitalization. Hispanic children were hospitalized at a rate eight times higher than white kids, and Black children were hospitalized at a rate five times higher, it found.
The second report examined cases of the rare virus-associated syndrome in kids. It found that nearly three-quarters of the children with the syndrome were either Hispanic or Black, well above their representation in the general population.
___
New York voting
TRUMP: “Ballots are defrauded.” — news conference Saturday.
TRUMP: “You just look at what happened with the Carolyn Maloney race. They should do that race over, by the way. … When you look at the ballot, the ballots that are missing, and the ballot frauds — nobody knows what’s going on with that race, and yet they declared her a winner.” — news conference Wednesday.
THE FACTS: There’s no evidence of fraud in the Democratic congressional primary in New York City that was won by Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney. Nor did Trump offer any proof of fraud.
New York State decided to allow anyone to vote by mail in the June primary because of the pandemic. More than 400,000 people voted by absentee ballot in New York City, a figure that was 10 times the number of absentee ballots cast in the 2016 primary.
Opening and counting those ballots by elections officials took weeks, leading to a legal dispute over nonfraud issues, such as missing postmarks. Candidates observing the count say that thousands of ballots were disqualified because of technical errors voters wouldn’t have encountered if they had voted in person, like problems with their signature.
New York City’s Board of Elections ultimately certified the results six weeks after the election.


shareblue--2020-08-17--Graham attacks challenger for raising out-of-state money as he does the same thing

Sen. Lindsey Graham 's ( R-SC ) campaign has been attacking his Democratic opponent for raising money out of state — but the Graham campaign has been raising most of its own money from outside South Carolina .
Democrat Jaime Harrison is challenging the third-term senator in November .
A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed the two candidates exactly tied .
Harrison has enjoyed a significant fundraising advantage over Graham during the first two quarters of 2020 .
Graham 's campaign has repeatedly dismissed Harrison 's fundraising as a product of out-of-state progressives trying to meddle in a South Carolina @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is completely bankrolled by out-of-state liberals who hate Senator Graham , '' T.W .
Arrighi , Graham 's communications director , falsely told CNBC last month .
`` While Mr. Harrison may be able to raise nearly one-third of his money from the West Coast via Facebook ads , he 's going to be sorely disappointed on Election Day when none of them can vote in South Carolina . ''
Arrighi also told Fox News last month that Harrison 's `` campaign coffers are packed '' with money from `` liberals who could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
Graham 's campaign has even run Facebook fundraising ads claiming that the Democrats `` have raised over $ 14 million in Q2 to defeat Senator Graham — 93 % coming from out-of-state , '' while asking for donations to close the gap .
Graham 's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story .
But according to Facebook 's ad tracker , Graham 's ads were not targeted to South Carolinians .
Just 12 % of the people who saw them were in the state .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Responsive Politics , Graham has raised the vast majority of his campaign funds this cycle from outside of South Carolina .
According to that data , Graham raised more than $ 16.5 million from out of state and about $ 2.6 million in state — making 86.5 % of his donations from people who do not reside in South Carolina .
Harrison raised more than $ 21.5 million from out of state and about $ 2.8 million from South Carolinians — meaning that he has actually collected more money from in-state donors than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our average contribution is under $ 50 by grassroots supporters inspired by Jaime 's message of stopping the political games and bringing hope back to South Carolina , '' Guy King , Harrison campaign communications director , said .
`` This is yet another example of Lindsey Graham 's glaring hypocrisy ; once again , his actions and his words don ’ t agree with each other , '' Manuel Bonder , South Carolina Democratic Party coordinated campaign spokesperson , said in an email .
`` Right now , while Lindsey is on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ small businesses are struggling through an unprecedented pandemic and one of the worst economic crises in our country 's history .
Instead of playing political games , Sen. Graham should get back to work , '' Bonder added .
The Cook Political Report announced Monday that it was moving the race from `` likely Republican '' to `` lean Republican , '' noting , `` While there are still large hurdles that remain for Harrison to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from South Carolina since 1998 , it 's clear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Graham faces an incredibly strong challenge . ''
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) campaign has been attacking his Democratic opponent for raising money out of state — but the Graham campaign has been raising most of its own money from outside South Carolina.
Democrat Jaime Harrison is challenging the third-term senator in November. A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed the two candidates exactly tied.
Harrison has enjoyed a significant fundraising advantage over Graham during the first two quarters of 2020. Graham’s campaign has repeatedly dismissed Harrison’s fundraising as a product of out-of-state progressives trying to meddle in a South Carolina race.
“Jaime Harrison’s campaign is completely bankrolled by out-of-state liberals who hate Senator Graham,” T.W. Arrighi, Graham’s communications director, falsely told CNBC last month. “While Mr. Harrison may be able to raise nearly one-third of his money from the West Coast via Facebook ads, he’s going to be sorely disappointed on Election Day when none of them can vote in South Carolina.”
Arrighi also told Fox News last month that Harrison’s “campaign coffers are packed” with money from “liberals who couldn’t find South Carolina on a map.”
Graham’s campaign has even run Facebook fundraising ads claiming that the Democrats “have raised over $14 million in Q2 to defeat Senator Graham — 93% coming from out-of-state,” while asking for donations to close the gap.
[media-credit name=”Team Graham Facebook ad” align=”none” width=”300″] [/media-credit]
Graham’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
But according to Facebook’s ad tracker, Graham’s ads were not targeted to South Carolinians. Just 12% of the people who saw them were in the state.
Moreover, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Graham has raised the vast majority of his campaign funds this cycle from outside of South Carolina.
According to that data, Graham raised more than $16.5 million from out of state and about $2.6 million in state — making 86.5% of his donations from people who do not reside in South Carolina.
Harrison raised more than $21.5 million from out of state and about $2.8 million from South Carolinians — meaning that he has actually collected more money from in-state donors than Graham has.
“We’re proud our average contribution is under $50 by grassroots supporters inspired by Jaime’s message of stopping the political games and bringing hope back to South Carolina,” Guy King, Harrison campaign communications director, said.
“This is yet another example of Lindsey Graham’s glaring hypocrisy; once again, his actions and his words don’t agree with each other,” Manuel Bonder, South Carolina Democratic Party coordinated campaign spokesperson, said in an email.
“Right now, while Lindsey is on summer vacation, South Carolina families and small businesses are struggling through an unprecedented pandemic and one of the worst economic crises in our country’s history. Instead of playing political games, Sen. Graham should get back to work,” Bonder added.
The Cook Political Report announced Monday that it was moving the race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican,” noting, “While there are still large hurdles that remain for Harrison to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from South Carolina since 1998, it’s clear this race is becoming more competitive, and Graham faces an incredibly strong challenge.”
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-08-17--Trump calls himself a 'great environmental president' as he guts protections

Donald Trump on Monday touted his environmental record in an interview with Fox News , saying that he hopes he 's remembered fondly for his environmental policies .
`` I should go down as a great environmental president , '' Trump said in a rambling interview with `` Fox & Friends . ''
Trump 's comments came minutes after media reports that the Trump administration is opening 1.6 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling for the first time in three decades .
Trump said the administration was merely `` looking '' into oil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ However , Interior Secretary David Bernhardt told the Wall Street Journal it 's a done deal and issued a news release on the new drilling .
`` Congress gave us a very clear directive here , and we have to carry out that directive consistent with the directive that they gave , and consistent with the procedural statutes , '' Bernhardt said , referring to the 2017 tax law , which opened up the refuge to drilling .
`` I have a remarkable degree of confidence that this can be done in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ environmentally benign . ''
Oil companies have been fighting to drill in the refuge for decades , and environmentalists have fought them all the way .
The NRDC said that drilling in the refuge `` will hasten climate change and have devastating consequences for people , wildlife , and pristine public lands . ''
Allowing oil drilling in the Alaska refuge is not Trump 's only assault on the environment .
He 's either proposed lowering or has lowered water and energy efficiency standards for automobiles , showerheads , washing machines , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been lax in enforcing environmental laws , allowing for more pollution in the air and water , and has refused to regulate dangerous chemicals that pose risks to humans .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

Donald Trump on Monday touted his environmental record in an interview with Fox News, saying that he hopes he’s remembered fondly for his environmental policies.
“I should go down as a great environmental president,” Trump said in a rambling interview with “Fox & Friends.”
Trump’s comments came minutes after media reports that the Trump administration is opening 1.6 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling for the first time in three decades.
Trump said the administration was merely “looking” into oil drilling leases in the wildlife refuge. However, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt told the Wall Street Journal it’s a done deal and issued a news release on the new drilling.
“Congress gave us a very clear directive here, and we have to carry out that directive consistent with the directive that they gave, and consistent with the procedural statutes,” Bernhardt said, referring to the 2017 tax law, which opened up the refuge to drilling. “I have a remarkable degree of confidence that this can be done in a way that is responsible, sustainable and environmentally benign.”
Oil companies have been fighting to drill in the refuge for decades, and environmentalists have fought them all the way.
The NRDC said that drilling in the refuge “will hasten climate change and have devastating consequences for people, wildlife, and pristine public lands.”
Allowing oil drilling in the Alaska refuge is not Trump’s only assault on the environment.
He’s either proposed lowering or has lowered water and energy efficiency standards for automobiles, showerheads, washing machines, and lightbulbs.
The Trump administration has also been lax in enforcing environmental laws, allowing for more pollution in the air and water, and has refused to regulate dangerous chemicals that pose risks to humans.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-08-18--Michelle Obama at convention: Trump is bad for our kids

During her Monday night keynote address at the Democratic National Convention , Michelle Obama discussed the moral lessons children are learning from Donald Trump 's time in power , noting that he is not up to the task to be president .
Obama criticized Trump for praising white supremacists , putting young immigrant children in cages , and leading without empathy .
Like so many of you , Barack and I have tried our best to instill in our girls a strong moral foundation to carry forward the values that our parents and grandparents poured into us .
But right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seeing what happens when we stop requiring empathy of one another .
They ’ re looking around wondering if we ’ ve been lying to them this whole time about who we are and what we truly value .
They see people shouting in grocery stores , unwilling to wear a mask to keep us all safe .
They see people calling the police on folks minding their own business just because of the color of their skin .
They see an entitlement that says only certain people belong here , that greed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because as long as you come out on top , it doesn ’ t matter what happens to everyone else .
And they see what happens when that lack of empathy is ginned up into outright disdain .
They see our leaders labeling fellow citizens enemies of the state while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists .
They watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages , and pepper spray and rubber bullets are used on peaceful protestors for a photo-op .
Sadly , this is the America that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A nation that ’ s underperforming not simply on matters of policy but on matters of character .
And that ’ s not just disappointing ; it ’ s downright infuriating , because I know the goodness and the grace that is out there in households and neighborhoods all across this nation .
And I know that regardless of our race , age , religion , or politics , when we close out the noise and the fear and truly open our hearts , we know that what ’ s going on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is not who we want to be .

During her Monday night keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama discussed the moral lessons children are learning from Donald Trump’s time in power, noting that he is not up to the task to be president.
Obama criticized Trump for praising white supremacists, putting young immigrant children in cages, and leading without empathy.
Like so many of you, Barack and I have tried our best to instill in our girls a strong moral foundation to carry forward the values that our parents and grandparents poured into us. But right now, kids in this country are seeing what happens when we stop requiring empathy of one another. They’re looking around wondering if we’ve been lying to them this whole time about who we are and what we truly value.
They see people shouting in grocery stores, unwilling to wear a mask to keep us all safe. They see people calling the police on folks minding their own business just because of the color of their skin. They see an entitlement that says only certain people belong here, that greed is good, and winning is everything because as long as you come out on top, it doesn’t matter what happens to everyone else. And they see what happens when that lack of empathy is ginned up into outright disdain.
They see our leaders labeling fellow citizens enemies of the state while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists. They watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages, and pepper spray and rubber bullets are used on peaceful protestors for a photo-op.
Sadly, this is the America that is on display for the next generation. A nation that’s underperforming not simply on matters of policy but on matters of character. And that’s not just disappointing; it’s downright infuriating, because I know the goodness and the grace that is out there in households and neighborhoods all across this nation.
And I know that regardless of our race, age, religion, or politics, when we close out the noise and the fear and truly open our hearts, we know that what’s going on in this country is just not right.
This is not who we want to be.


shareblue--2020-08-18--Bernie Sanders at convention: 'Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump golfs.'

Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-VT ) gave a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention Monday night , slamming Donald Trump 's failure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and connecting that failure to the ongoing economic crisis plaguing the country .
To date , more than 5.4 million people have been infected with the coronavirus in the United States , and 170,419 have died .
Trump 's critics and health experts alike have said that the administration 's slow response to the pandemic only served to worsen its impact and the still-rising death toll .
`` Nero fiddled while Rome @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said on Monday night , referencing Trump 's continued visits to his various clubs and resorts amid the outbreak .
From the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention : This president is not just a threat to our democracy , but by rejecting science , he has put our lives and health in jeopardy .
Trump has attacked doctors and scientists trying to protect us from the pandemic , while refusing to take strong action to produce the masks , gowns , and gloves our health care workers desperately need .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ golfs .
His actions fanned this pandemic , resulting in over 170,000 deaths and a nation still unprepared to protect its people .
Furthermore , Trump 's negligence has exacerbated the economic crisis we are now experiencing .
Since this pandemic began , over 30 million people have lost their jobs and many have lost their health insurance .
Millions of working families are wondering how they will feed their kids , and they 're worried that they will be evicted from their homes .
And how has trump responded ?
Instead of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supplement that workers were receiving , and the $ 1,200 emergency checks that many of you received , instead of helping small businesses , Trump concocted fraudulent executive orders that do virtually nothing to address the crisis while threatening the very future of Social Security and Medicare .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) gave a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention Monday night, slamming Donald Trump’s failure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and connecting that failure to the ongoing economic crisis plaguing the country.
To date, more than 5.4 million people have been infected with the coronavirus in the United States, and 170,419 have died. Trump’s critics and health experts alike have said that the administration’s slow response to the pandemic only served to worsen its impact and the still-rising death toll.
“Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump golfs,” Sanders said on Monday night, referencing Trump’s continued visits to his various clubs and resorts amid the outbreak.
From the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention:
This president is not just a threat to our democracy, but by rejecting science, he has put our lives and health in jeopardy. Trump has attacked doctors and scientists trying to protect us from the pandemic, while refusing to take strong action to produce the masks, gowns, and gloves our health care workers desperately need. Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump golfs. His actions fanned this pandemic, resulting in over 170,000 deaths and a nation still unprepared to protect its people. Furthermore, Trump’s negligence has exacerbated the economic crisis we are now experiencing. Since this pandemic began, over 30 million people have lost their jobs and many have lost their health insurance. Millions of working families are wondering how they will feed their kids, and they’re worried that they will be evicted from their homes. And how has trump responded? Instead of maintaining the $600 a week unemployment supplement that workers were receiving, and the $1,200 emergency checks that many of you received, instead of helping small businesses, Trump concocted fraudulent executive orders that do virtually nothing to address the crisis while threatening the very future of Social Security and Medicare.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.