theblaze--2020-02-04--Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin calls for censure of President Trump

The moderate from West Virginia says he believes the Senate must take some bipartisan action

Moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) on Monday called for the upper chamber to censure President Donald Trump over the allegations House Democrats made against the president in the impeachment trial, saying he believes a partisan impeachment would further divide the country and arguing that the condemnation of President Trump's alleged actions (without removal from office) would have bipartisan support.
Manchin has not disclosed how he plans to vote on the articles of impeachment, slated for Wednesday.
What are the details?
"The purpose of impeachment is not to punish the president, but to protect the public," Manchin argued from the Senate floor. "The ultimate question is not whether the president's conduct warrants his removal from office, but whether our nation is better served by his removal by the Senate now — with impeachment — or by the decision the voters will make in November."
"Never before in the history of our Republic has there been a purely partisan impeachment vote of a president," the West Virginia Democrat continued. "Removing this president at this time would not only further divide our deeply divided nation, but also further poison our toxic political atmosphere."
Sen. Manchin explained, "I see no path to the 67 votes required to impeach President Trump, and haven't since this trial started. However, I do believe a bipartisan majority of this body would vote to censure President Trump for his actions."
He reasoned, "Censure would allow this body to unite across party lines, and as an equal branch of government, to formally denounce the president's actions and hold him accountable."
"His behavior cannot go unchecked by the Senate, and censure would allow a bipartisan statement condemning his unacceptable behavior in the strongest terms," Manchin added. "History will judge the Senate for how we have handled this solemn constitutional duty, and without bipartisan action
The resolution proposed by Sen. Manchin states that President Trump used his office "to attempt to compel a foreign nation to interfere with domestic political affairs for his own personal benefit," and "wrongfully enlisted his personal lawyers to investigate a domestic political rival by meddling in formal diplomatic relations in a manner that is inconsistent with our established National Security Strategy."
It further states that the president "hindered the thorough investigation of related documents and prohibited Congress and the American people from hearing testimony by first-hand witnesses with direct knowledge of his conduct."
Anything else?
There appears to be little appetite from Senate Republicans or Democrats for Manchin's motion to censure President Trump.
The Hill reported that "Manchin's proposal has received little traction among Senate Republicans who control the schedule, but it could gain the support of a handful of Republicans who have expressed concerns over Trump's actions," namely Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Mitt Romney (Utah).
According to The Washington Post, "several Democrats also said they were unsold on censure, calling it a punishment well short of what Trump deserves."


theblaze--2020-02-04--'Bernie Sanders is not going to be president' — MSNBC host Chris Matthews worries that none of the D

'Bernie Sanders is not going to be president' — MSNBC host Chris Matthews worries that none of the Democrats can beat Trump

'Bernie Sanders is not going to be president ' — MSNBC host Chris Matthews worries that none of the Democrats @ @ @ @ @ 'm not happy .
I 'm not happy with this field . ''

MSNBC host Chris Matthews stunned his fellow liberal guests by saying that not only would Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) not win the presidency, but that none of the Democrats appeared to be in a position to beat President Donald Trump.
Matthews made the comments on Monday just ahead of the Iowa caucus.
"What are my thoughts? I'm not happy. I'm not happy with this field. I think they have to find a candidate for president that can beat Trump," Matthews said.
"You don't think anybody in this field..." Joe Scarborough asked.
"I'm looking, I'm still looking," Matthews interrupted.
"Obvious problems, they're all problems," Matthews said about the Democratic candidates. "Bernie Sanders is not going to be president of the United States, okay? I look back at the '72 race, I was a young volunteer for the DNC... I've got to tell you, it feels a lot like it. A lot of giddiness, a lot of excitement, thrill about this guy."
He went on to compare Sanders to socialists he had seen who latched on to a liberal anti-war cause in order to advocate for socialism.
"People have got to figure out who the guy is. I think I know," Matthews said. 'They're usually the guys at the card table at an antiwar rally. There'd be some old guy with some old literature from his socialist party or that, trying to sell it, trying to latch on the antiwar movement. There's always guys like that."
The RealClearPolitics average of polls has Sanders topping the field in Iowa with 23 percent of the vote and Joe Biden coming in second with 19 percent of support.
Here's the video of Matthews' comments:


theblaze--2020-02-04--Ocasio-Cortez boycotts State of the Union address, says she refuses to 'normalize' Trump's conduct

Ocasio-Cortez boycotts State of the Union address , says she refuses to 'normalize ' Trump 's conduct '' None of @ @ @ @ @ I will not legitimize it ... ''

Firebrand socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) announced just hours ahead of the State of the Union address that she was boycotting the speech to avoid normalizing the president's conduct.
She made the announcement from her official social media account.
"After much deliberation, I have decided that I will not use my presence at a state ceremony to normalize Trump's lawless conduct & subversion of the Constitution," Ocasio-Cortez said.
"None of this is normal, and I will not legitimize it," she added. "Consequently, I will not be attending the State of the Union."
She went on in a second tweet to say that she would answer her constituents' questions about the address via an Instagram Live broadcast.
"This is a deeply personal decision for each member to make, and a choice I did not take lightly," she added.
The address will be the second time a president will give the speech after being impeached, but before the vote of the Senate trial for removal is made. Bill Clinton was the first president to face the same circumstances in 1999.
Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) also indicated on Tuesday that they were refusing to attend the address.
"To think that I would attend the #SOTU to hear the message of an IMPEACHED president is a thought that in no way would be consistent w/ my fight and struggle against this dishonorable president," tweeted Waters. "I will certainly NOT be there!"
"The State of the Union is hurting because of the occupant of the White House, who consistently demonstrates contempt for the American people, contempt for Congress & contempt for our constitution. I cannot in good conscience attend tonight's sham," tweeted Pressley.
At least six other Democrats indicated that they were refusing to attend the speech.
The president is expected to be acquitted Wednesday of the articles of impeachment by Republicans in the Senate.
Here's more about the address:


theblaze--2020-02-04--Starbucks UK partners with LGBTQ charity that helps trans kids find hormone treatments

Starbucks U.K. is launching a partnership with a charity that advises transgender children on gender dysphoria , including , but not limited to , locating access to hormone treatments .
The charity also connects children and their parents with resources to help determine what resources they may need should they decide to transition .
What are the details ?
Starbucks will sell `` mermaid tail cookies '' that will benefit the charity .
Proceeds from the sales of the cookies will go to expanding the charity 's outreach , reports say .
According to BBC LGBT correspondent Ben Hunte , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the charity is called Mermaids , an organization that aims to act as an advocate for trans kids and their parents .
On Twitter , Hunte wrote , `` Breaking @ StarbucksUK is launching a £100,00+ partnership with trans equality charity @ Mermaids_Gender .
Starbucks will sell a 'mermaid tail cookie ' and launch a national ad campaign promoting trans rights . ''
`` The money , '' he continued , `` will extend the Mermaids helpline . ''
According to Mermaids ' website , the grassroots organization has `` evolved into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charities , empowering thousands of people with its secure online communities , local community groups , helpline services , web resources , events and residential weekends . ''
The site also advises parents on how to handle your child 's gender dysphoria , placing utmost importance on support .
`` Supporting your child does n't mean they 'll take a particular direction or follow a particular medical pathway , like hormone therapy or gender affirming surgeries , '' the site says .
`` Still , if they do , then medical transition in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blockers after the initial stages of puberty . ''
`` Hormone blockers stop the young person 's body changing in ways they do n't want it to at that time , in the hope it will alleviate any distress those changes may be causing them , '' the site adds .
`` Blockers simply give time for them to reflect ; they can stop at any point and a puberty typically associated with the gender they were assigned at birth will resume . ''
A video advertisement for the campaign aired on Sunday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outlet reports that the video features a transgender navigating the difficulty of being referred to by his previous female name .
`` James , '' who was formerly known as `` Jemma , '' can be seen in various stages of discomfort in hearing people call him `` Jemma '' though he 's clearly male-presenting .
Later in the clip , James visits his local Starbucks , where the baristas refer to him as James and nothing else .
It concludes with a smiling James , and hashtag # WhatsYourName .
Susie Green @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` The funds raised through # whatsyourname will allow us to make a meaningful change to our helpline that supports young trans people and their families who are so desperately in need of access to information and reassurance . ''

Starbucks U.K. is launching a partnership with a charity that advises transgender children on gender dysphoria, including, but not limited to, locating access to hormone treatments.
The charity also connects children and their parents with resources to help determine what resources they may need should they decide to transition.
What are the details?
Starbucks will sell "mermaid tail cookies" that will benefit the charity. Proceeds from the sales of the cookies will go to expanding the charity's outreach, reports say.
According to BBC LGBT correspondent Ben Hunte, who revealed the news on Twitter Friday, the charity is called Mermaids, an organization that aims to act as an advocate for trans kids and their parents.
On Twitter, Hunte wrote, "Breaking @StarbucksUK is launching a £100,00+ partnership with trans equality charity @Mermaids_Gender. Starbucks will sell a 'mermaid tail cookie' and launch a national ad campaign promoting trans rights."
"The money," he continued, "will extend the Mermaids helpline."
According to Mermaids' website, the grassroots organization has "evolved into one of the UK's leading LGBTQ+ charities, empowering thousands of people with its secure online communities, local community groups, helpline services, web resources, events and residential weekends."
The site also advises parents on how to handle your child's gender dysphoria, placing utmost importance on support.
"Supporting your child doesn't mean they'll take a particular direction or follow a particular medical pathway, like hormone therapy or gender affirming surgeries," the site says. "Still, if they do, then medical transition in young people usually consists of taking hormone blockers after the initial stages of puberty."
"Hormone blockers stop the young person's body changing in ways they don't want it to at that time, in the hope it will alleviate any distress those changes may be causing them," the site adds. "Blockers simply give time for them to reflect; they can stop at any point and a puberty typically associated with the gender they were assigned at birth will resume."
What else?
A video advertisement for the campaign aired on Sunday, according to The Independent.
The outlet reports that the video features a transgender navigating the difficulty of being referred to by his previous female name.
"James," who was formerly known as "Jemma," can be seen in various stages of discomfort in hearing people call him "Jemma" though he's clearly male-presenting.
Later in the clip, James visits his local Starbucks, where the baristas refer to him as James and nothing else. It concludes with a smiling James, and hashtag #WhatsYourName.
Susie Green, CEO of Mermaids, says, "The funds raised through #whatsyourname will allow us to make a meaningful change to our helpline that supports young trans people and their families who are so desperately in need of access to information and reassurance."


theblaze--2020-02-04--Iowa precinct captain tries to convince voter that Pete Buttigieg's homosexuality shouldn't matter.

Iowa precinct captain tries to convince voter that Pete Buttigieg's homosexuality shouldn't matter. Iowa voter goes viral with fiery response.

Iowa precinct captain tries to convince voter that Pete Buttigieg 's homosexuality should n't matter .
Iowa voter goes viral @ @ @ @ @ was all caught on camera

The reaction of an Iowa voter is going viral after she learned that Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is not only openly gay, but married as well.
What are the details?
The voter, an unidentified woman, had just signed a card for Buttigieg during Monday's Iowa caucuses when she found out that Buttigieg is gay.
When she learned the news, she insisted that she wasn't aware, and didn't want someone like that in the White House — so she asked the precinct captain if she can take back her vote.
"Are you saying that he has a same-sex partner?" the woman asked. "I don't want anybody like that in the White House. So can I have my card back? I never knew that."
The precinct captain attempted to reason with the woman, and responded, "I don't know, you signed it. We could go ask."
Before the precinct captain made good on her promise, she made an attempt to dissuade the woman from using Buttigieg's sexuality as a reason to avoid voting for him.
"The whole point of it is, though, [Buttigieg's] a human being, right?" she asked. "Just like you and me and it shouldn't really matter."
The woman replied, "Well, he better read the Bible."
The captain responded by insisting that Buttigieg does read the Bible, but that the woman's views are her own.
"He does, and he says that God doesn't choose a political party," the captain answered. "I totally respect your viewpoint on this, but I think that we were not around when the Bible was written."
"Should it matter if it's a woman or a man if you believe in what they say?" the captain later added.
The woman, however, refused to be intimidated, and answered, "It all just went right down the toilet, that's where it all went."
Taking a different route
"I just ask you to look inside your heart, because you sound like a Christian woman to me, and I'm a Christian woman, and my God says to love everybody," the captain insisted.
The video ended before the captain actually found out if the woman was able to take back her card.


theblaze--2020-02-04--'It makes me sad': Steven Crowder reviews Taylor Swift's feminist documentary

Steven Crowder reviews Taylor Swift 's feminist documentary , `` Miss Americana . ''
The film reminds us all that @ @ @ @ @ align with actual reality , and that progressive feminism leaves women feeling disastrously unhappy .
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Steven Crowder reviews Taylor Swift's feminist documentary, "Miss Americana." The film reminds us all that Taylor's truth fails to align with actual reality, and that progressive feminism leaves women feeling disastrously unhappy. Sad.
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theblaze--2020-02-04--Liberal women plagued with white guilt are spending $2,500 to confess their racism over dinner

Liberal women plagued with white guilt are spending $ 2,500 to confess their racism over dinner

An increasing number of liberal white women across the country are coughing up $2,500 to confess their "white privilege" and hidden "racism" while enjoying an upscale dinner, The Guardian details in a fascinating new report.
The dinners are put on by outspoken progressives Regina Jackson and Saira Rao — just look at Rao's Twitter feed, especially this tweet — and are designed to "smash [the guests'] white fragility" and convince them to confront their subconscious racial biases.
"Our mission is simple — reveal the naked truth about racism in America and unleash your power as white women to dismantle it," Jackson and Rao state on their website. "White women: We are talking about your complicity in upholding white supremacy and keeping Black and brown women down."
What are the details?
The group is called Race to Dinner and here is a rundown of how it works from The Guardian:
A white woman volunteers to host a dinner in her home for seven other white women — often strangers, perhaps acquaintances. (Each dinner costs $2,500, which can be covered by a generous host or divided among guests.) A frank discussion is led by co-founders Regina Jackson, who is black, and Saira Rao, who identifies as Indian American. They started Race to Dinner to challenge liberal white women to accept their racism, however subconscious. "If you did this in a conference room, they'd leave," Rao says. "But wealthy white women have been taught never to leave the dinner table."
According to The Guardian, the dinners operate less like conferences and more like interrogations, as guests at the dinner are asked one by one, "What was a racist thing you did recently?"
"Recently, I have been driving around, seeing a black person, and having an assumption that they are up to no good," one attendee said at a recent dinner in Denver. "Immediately after I am like, that's no good! This is a human, just doing their thing. Why do I think that?"
"What I went through to be a mother, I didn't care if they were black," another said, in reference to her adoption of two black children. "So, you admit it is stooping low to adopt a black child?" Rao immediately challenged, leading the guest to accept the racist undertones of her statement.
While it would seem unlikely that anyone would voluntarily submit themselves to such questioning, the dinners are only growing in popularity. Jackson and Rao have barely had any time off since starting the project in spring 2019, with 15 dinners being held so far.
Evidently the women are plagued with such white guilt that the dinners acts as something like a therapy session: "A sense of self-righteousness seems to wash over the eight white women. They've shown up, admitted their wrongdoing and are willing to change. Don't they deserve a little pat on the back?" The Guardian article notes.
Why liberal white women?
Jackson and Rao specifically target liberal white women for these dinners because they believe they are "the most receptive audience." What about the 53% of white women who voted for Trump? They, like white men, are a lost cause.
"White men are never going to change anything. If they were, they would have done it by now," Jackson told The Guardian.
Liberal white women, on the other, provide a unique opportunity for the Race to Dinner co-founders to accomplish their aim.
"If they don't hold these positions themselves, the white men in power are often their family, friends, and partners," Jackson added.
Jackson and Rao aren't concerned with "the stuff of Trump, the KKK and Nazis," they say on their website. "That's easy, it's obvious and denouncing it requires almost nothing of white folks."
The difficult task, they say, is dismantling the systemic racism that is present within you. You must recognize that you are "an active participant in upholding white supremacy."
More wine. Pass the pasta.


theblaze--2020-02-04--Breaking: Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders lead early results — Iowa Democratic Party refuses to sa

Breaking: Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders lead early results — Iowa Democratic Party refuses to say when final numbers will be released

Breaking : Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders lead early results — Iowa Democratic Party refuses to say when final numbers @ @ @

The Iowa Democratic Party on Tuesday afternoon announced partial results from the state's presidential caucuses held Monday evening, and the initial numbers show former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) leading the pack.
But only 62% of the results were disclosed, and the party refused to offer a timeline for when the final results will be released.
What are the details?
With 62% of precincts reporting, Buttigieg was in the lead at 26.9%, Bernie Sanders close behind with 25.1%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) came in third at 18.3%, and former Vice President Joe Biden was next at 15.6%.
Iowa Democratic Party chairman Troy Price held a news conference shortly before the partial results were released, and told reporters the party was still reviewing "irregularities" in reporting of the remaining results, according to The Hill.
Refusing to give a timeline for when those final numbers might be released, Price said, "We're going to take the time we need to do that."
The nation has been waiting for nearly a full day for the IDP to present its results, after the party finally admitted late Monday night that it discovered irregularities. The chaos was met with widespread condemnation of the process and of Democratic Party leaders at the state and national level.
Price released a statement blaming Monday night's debacle on a "coding issue" with the app designed to collect voting data. He claimed that while the app was "recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data."
This is a developing story and will be updated as necessary.


theblaze--2020-02-04--Susan Collins announces she’ll vote to acquit President Trump on both articles of impeachment

Susan Collins announces she ’ ll vote to acquit President Trump on both articles of impeachment ' I do not @ @ @ @ @ met its burden '

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has announced that she will vote to acquit President Donald Trump on both articles of impeachment put forward by the House of Representatives.
In a Tuesday speech from the Senate floor, Collins — who had previously been seen a possible GOP swing vote on impeachment — discussed both articles and gave her reasons for voting against them.
In regards to the first article — which accuses Trump of abusing his power in asking the Ukrainian government to help look into corruption allegations — Collins said that it was "wrong for him to ask a foreign country to investigate a political rival." However, she said that the House failed to make the case that the president's conduct warrants removing him from office.
"As I concluded in the impeachment trial of President Clinton, I do not believe that the House has met its burden of showing that the president's conduct — however flawed — warrants the extreme step of immediate removal from office," Collins said. "Nor does the record support the assertion by the House managers that the president must not remain in office one moment longer."
She then went on to explain her reasoning for voting for acquittal on the House's second article of impeachment, which alleges that Trump obstructed Congress by asserting privilege not cooperating with the House's investigation into the Ukraine matter. Collins argued, as several of her Republican colleagues have, that House investigators should have sought to resolve the inter-branch dispute in court rather than resorting to impeachment.
"At a minimum, the House should have pursued the full extent of its own remedies before bringing impeachment charges, including by seeking the assistance of a neutral third party: The judicial branch," the Maine senator said. "In making these choices, the House substituted its own political preference for speed over finality."
In conclusion, the senator said that "this decision is not about whether you like or dislike this president, or agree with or oppose his policies, or approve or disapprove of his conduct in other circumstances. Rather, it is about whether the charges meet the very high constitutional standards of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
Footage of Collins' floor speech can be viewed on C-Span.


theblaze--2020-02-04--Horowitz: Bernie Sanders is a fake populist

One can essentially internalize Bernie Sanders ' entire political message with a wind-up toy playing the following message : `` I 'm for 'the little guy ' against the evil rich people and their politically connected cronies .
I 'll fight the people who push policies beneficial to Wall Street and well-connected lobbyists and detrimental to ordinary Americans . ''
With such a populist message , it 's not hard to see why young brains full of mush would be drawn to his candidacy .
However , those people need to realize that it 's Bernie 's very own policies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ millionahhs '' and `` billionahhhs . ''
While there is merit to some of the socialist populist diagnosis of the flawed and corrupt structure inherent in our political class , the socialists have the wrong prescription to fix the broken political system .
And in fact , his version of populism – de facto venture socialism – is nothing more than warmed-over government largesse , which has driven the very sort of cronyism he inveighs against on a regular basis .
Only free market and constitutional populism , which eliminates the ability of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ losers in the first place , will foster the fairest and most prosperous economy for both Wall Street and Main Street .
Bernie Sanders helped perpetuate and exacerbate a system that cuts out the consumer from health care and places third-party middlemen in charge of our health care .
United Health has enjoyed a monopoly on the insurance system since Sanders supported Obamacare , announcing a record $ 14 billion in profit for 2019 .
That 's a 15.5 % increase from 2018 .
The company 's annual revenue has nearly doubled since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the regulatory and subsidy structure of Obamacare , Medicare , and Medicaid has created a monopoly for health care conglomerates to merge and acquire other businesses , essentially charting us toward the extinction of private medical practice in America .
`` Medicare for All '' will simply take everything that is wrong already with the system and put every remaining person under the control of this monopoly of a few `` private '' health care administrators and insurers .
Socialism pays well … to those who administer it .
Although both authentic conservatives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same disdain for government-sponsored handouts to big banks , the banking industry in itself was not the source of the economic downturn of 2008 , and trash-talking banks as an end to itself , as Bernie does , will not usher in an era of prosperity .
Social engineering policies supported by Sanders , such as Bill Clinton 's National Homeownership Strategy , coupled with the officious interventions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , created the entire culture that coerced banks to underwrite risky mortgages in order to please the central planners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government-sponsored entities that bought up almost all of the subprime mortgage securities .
It was these government policies and agencies that gambled with taxpayer money and got bailed out by the government when their risky bets threatened to blow up our financial system .
In fact , it was the prized legislation of Bernie 's ideological twin , Elizabeth Warren – the Dodd-Frank bill – that created the Financial Stability Oversight Council , a government agency that can completely bypass the bankruptcy process and bail out companies deemed too big to fail .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the financial industry and is another example of how the arsonists in the political class dress up as firefighters to solve the problems they helped create .
The fact that this law was named after two politicians who embodied this big government collusion with the big banks is quite fitting .
Sanders and Warren are correct to assert that banking lobbyists have too much power in Washington .
But the way to reduce their power is to eliminate government 's ability to pick winners and losers instead of empowering them to continue growing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all hard-core socialists , Sanders is content with government handouts to big business so long as they are presented in the form of a subsidy .
He champions energy subsidies for green energy cronies who do n't pay taxes .
He supports the ethanol mandate , which uses the boot of government to enrich a small subset of corporate farmers , while increasing the cost of food on families by as much as $ 2,000 per year .
Small independent oil refineries are put out of business as a result of the socialist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which create a speculating trading business in the ethanol credits his policies created .
Sanders advocates draconian environmental regulations on energy production that actually works and a complete suspension of fracking that would have precluded the recent decline in energy prices .
He opposes policies that will ramp up production and exportation of energy , which would lower prices even further for American consumers on a permanent basis and make us independent from the extortion of Russia and the Middle East .
What about big agriculture ?
Bernie Sanders voted for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for wealthy landowners and corporations to monopolize farming and box out family farms .
According to the American Enterprise Institute , `` 50 percent of farms in the lower 70 percent of the crop sales distribution received no subsidy or program payments . ''
Bernie loves taxing the rich , but he loves subsidizing the rich even more .
He hates hard-earned income when it causes inequality , but he loves subsidy inequality .
Sanders despises income inequality when it 's earned fair and square , but he has no problem with subsidy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distorts markets , and contributes to endless debt .
One of the most glaring examples of Sanders supporting crony capitalism is his vote for the internet sales tax .
The so-called Marketplace Fairness Act was pushed by K Street and the big brick- and-mortar retailers to create an interstate online tax cartel .
This version of taxation without representation will punitively hurt small businesses , consumers , and low-tax states – all to grow government and benefit big business .
Sanders once promised that `` Donald Trump and his billionaire friends under my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a lot more in taxes . ''
Indeed , under his plan for universal internal sales tax collection , many more Americans beyond Trump will pay `` a hell of a lot more in taxes . ''
While the Supreme Court has since greenlit states to collect taxes on internet sales across state lines , Sanders as president will support legislation to make it a reality everywhere .
Indeed , there is nothing novel , compassionate , or populist about the Sanders worldview .
It was summed up by Reagan long ago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it .
If it keeps moving , regulate it .
And if it stops moving , subsidize it . ''
In order to encourage true economic growth for everyone without dividing America into classes , we need to slash regulations for and abolish subsidies for .
The total cost of federal regulations in 2018 reached $ 1.9 trillion , which amounts to a $ 14,615 hidden tax per family every year , greater than any federal tax burden .
According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute , this amounts to 20 % of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The $ 1.9 trillion number is as much as the total receipts from corporate and personal income taxes combined .
If we eliminated gratuitous and costly regulations and implemented congressional sunset powers over new regulations , both families and corporations would save more money , which in turn , creates more jobs , raises wages , and lowers the cost of living .
Finally , it 's impossible to ignore the issue of illegal immigration when discussing the `` little guy . ''
Nothing embodies the worst of government for the rich and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than the elitist open borders/amnesty agenda .
Illegal immigration has had a devastating effect on American workers , taxpayers , health care , education , and welfare – all to enrich big corporations and lobbyists who want to use lawlessness to artificially drive down wages .
Sadly , socialist populist leaders like Sanders have bought into the illegal immigrant-first agenda – hook , line and sinker .
Sanders would wholesale decriminalize border crossings .
Remember , there are 88 nations where the per capita GDP is lower than that of Guatemala , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2017 .
That is likely well over one billion people living in similar or worse conditions than those coming to our border today , primarily from Central America .
That would crush American workers and taxpayers and flood our communities with drugs , crime , social problems , and chaos in the schools .
But Bernie 's wealthy donors would love it .
If Bernie Sanders is really concerned about wage growth in this country , he should join conservatives in the effort to restore the rule of law and prioritize the concerns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the special interests and lobbyists .
He should join in the conservative effort to protect the welfare system and Social Security from being illegally accessed by those encouraged to migrate here illegally by big business .
Ideally , there would be a lot of common ground to plow in a populist alliance between conservatives and liberals .
But that would require courage on the part of liberals to buck the dogma of their party on critical issues , not just on some strategies – something Bernie Sanders is clearly been unwilling to do @

One can essentially internalize Bernie Sanders' entire political message with a wind-up toy playing the following message: "I'm for 'the little guy' against the evil rich people and their politically connected cronies. I'll fight the people who push policies beneficial to Wall Street and well-connected lobbyists and detrimental to ordinary Americans."
With such a populist message, it's not hard to see why young brains full of mush would be drawn to his candidacy. However, those people need to realize that it's Bernie's very own policies that have created these monopolies for "millionahhs" and "billionahhhs."
While there is merit to some of the socialist populist diagnosis of the flawed and corrupt structure inherent in our political class, the socialists have the wrong prescription to fix the broken political system. And in fact, his version of populism – de facto venture socialism – is nothing more than warmed-over government largesse, which has driven the very sort of cronyism he inveighs against on a regular basis. Only free market and constitutional populism, which eliminates the ability of the federal government to pick winners and losers in the first place, will foster the fairest and most prosperous economy for both Wall Street and Main Street.
Health care
Bernie Sanders helped perpetuate and exacerbate a system that cuts out the consumer from health care and places third-party middlemen in charge of our health care. United Health has enjoyed a monopoly on the insurance system since Sanders supported Obamacare, announcing a record $14 billion in profit for 2019. That's a 15.5% increase from 2018. The company's annual revenue has nearly doubled since the enactment of Obamacare.
Meanwhile, the regulatory and subsidy structure of Obamacare, Medicare, and Medicaid has created a monopoly for health care conglomerates to merge and acquire other businesses, essentially charting us toward the extinction of private medical practice in America. "Medicare for All" will simply take everything that is wrong already with the system and put every remaining person under the control of this monopoly of a few "private" health care administrators and insurers. Socialism pays well … to those who administer it.
Banking
Although both authentic conservatives and "principled" socialists share the same disdain for government-sponsored handouts to big banks, the banking industry in itself was not the source of the economic downturn of 2008, and trash-talking banks as an end to itself, as Bernie does, will not usher in an era of prosperity.
Social engineering policies supported by Sanders, such as Bill Clinton's National Homeownership Strategy, coupled with the officious interventions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, created the entire culture that coerced banks to underwrite risky mortgages in order to please the central planners in Washington. It was these greedy government-sponsored entities that bought up almost all of the subprime mortgage securities. It was these government policies and agencies that gambled with taxpayer money and got bailed out by the government when their risky bets threatened to blow up our financial system.
In fact, it was the prized legislation of Bernie's ideological twin, Elizabeth Warren – the Dodd-Frank bill – that created the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a government agency that can completely bypass the bankruptcy process and bail out companies deemed too big to fail. Dodd-Frank is something like the Obamacare of the financial industry and is another example of how the arsonists in the political class dress up as firefighters to solve the problems they helped create. The fact that this law was named after two politicians who embodied this big government collusion with the big banks is quite fitting.
Sanders and Warren are correct to assert that banking lobbyists have too much power in Washington. But the way to reduce their power is to eliminate government's ability to pick winners and losers instead of empowering them to continue growing the government/Wall Street cronyist complex.
Picking winners and losers
Like all hard-core socialists, Sanders is content with government handouts to big business so long as they are presented in the form of a subsidy. He champions energy subsidies for green energy cronies who don't pay taxes. He supports the ethanol mandate, which uses the boot of government to enrich a small subset of corporate farmers, while increasing the cost of food on families by as much as $2,000 per year. Small independent oil refineries are put out of business as a result of the socialist ethanol mandate and the big oil companies, which create a speculating trading business in the ethanol credits his policies created.
Sanders advocates draconian environmental regulations on energy production that actually works and a complete suspension of fracking that would have precluded the recent decline in energy prices. He opposes policies that will ramp up production and exportation of energy, which would lower prices even further for American consumers on a permanent basis and make us independent from the extortion of Russia and the Middle East.
What about big agriculture? Bernie Sanders voted for the 2018 farm bill, which creates subsidies for wealthy landowners and corporations to monopolize farming and box out family farms. According to the American Enterprise Institute, "50 percent of farms in the lower 70 percent of the crop sales distribution received no subsidy or program payments." Bernie loves taxing the rich, but he loves subsidizing the rich even more. He hates hard-earned income when it causes inequality, but he loves subsidy inequality. Sanders despises income inequality when it's earned fair and square, but he has no problem with subsidy inequality when it's a handout, distorts markets, and contributes to endless debt.
One of the most glaring examples of Sanders supporting crony capitalism is his vote for the internet sales tax. The so-called Marketplace Fairness Act was pushed by K Street and the big brick- and-mortar retailers to create an interstate online tax cartel. This version of taxation without representation will punitively hurt small businesses, consumers, and low-tax states – all to grow government and benefit big business.
Sanders once promised that "Donald Trump and his billionaire friends under my policies are going to pay a hell of a lot more in taxes." Indeed, under his plan for universal internal sales tax collection, many more Americans beyond Trump will pay "a hell of a lot more in taxes." While the Supreme Court has since greenlit states to collect taxes on internet sales across state lines, Sanders as president will support legislation to make it a reality everywhere.
Indeed, there is nothing novel, compassionate, or populist about the Sanders worldview. It was summed up by Reagan long ago: "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
Constitutional populism as the solution
In order to encourage true economic growth for everyone without dividing America into classes, we need to slash regulations for everyone and abolish subsidies for everyone.
The total cost of federal regulations in 2018 reached $1.9 trillion, which amounts to a $14,615 hidden tax per family every year, greater than any federal tax burden. According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, this amounts to 20% of the average family budget of $51,000. The $1.9 trillion number is as much as the total receipts from corporate and personal income taxes combined. If we eliminated gratuitous and costly regulations and implemented congressional sunset powers over new regulations, both families and corporations would save more money, which in turn, creates more jobs, raises wages, and lowers the cost of living.
Finally, it's impossible to ignore the issue of illegal immigration when discussing the "little guy." Nothing embodies the worst of government for the rich and powerful to the detriment of ordinary Americans more than the elitist open borders/amnesty agenda. Illegal immigration has had a devastating effect on American workers, taxpayers, health care, education, and welfare – all to enrich big corporations and lobbyists who want to use lawlessness to artificially drive down wages.
Sadly, socialist populist leaders like Sanders have bought into the illegal immigrant-first agenda – hook, line and sinker. Sanders would wholesale decriminalize border crossings. Remember, there are 88 nations where the per capita GDP is lower than that of Guatemala, which stands at $4,471 as of 2017. That is likely well over one billion people living in similar or worse conditions than those coming to our border today, primarily from Central America. That would crush American workers and taxpayers and flood our communities with drugs, crime, social problems, and chaos in the schools. But Bernie's wealthy donors would love it.
If Bernie Sanders is really concerned about wage growth in this country, he should join conservatives in the effort to restore the rule of law and prioritize the concerns of American workers and taxpayers ahead of the special interests and lobbyists. He should join in the conservative effort to protect the welfare system and Social Security from being illegally accessed by those encouraged to migrate here illegally by big business.
Ideally, there would be a lot of common ground to plow in a populist alliance between conservatives and liberals. But that would require courage on the part of liberals to buck the dogma of their party on critical issues, not just on some strategies – something Bernie Sanders is clearly been unwilling to do.


theblaze--2020-02-04--'Safe sexting' tips for teens — such as sending 'boudoir' photos rather than nude images — featured

'Safe sexting' tips for teens — such as sending 'boudoir' photos rather than nude images — featured in scientific journal

'Safe sexting ' tips for teens — such as sending 'boudoir ' photos rather than nude images — featured in @ @ @ @ @ be intimate and flirty but lack the obvious nudity that could get you in trouble @

The Journal of Adolescent Health recently published a commentary on teenagers and "sexting" — i.e., sending or receiving sexually explicit videos, images, or text usually via mobile devices — which included 10 tips on "safe sexting."
What are some sexting findings?
The authors write that despite beliefs to the contrary, most teens aren't sexting — but the behavior among the age group is on the rise. To wit: April 2019 data found 14% of teens sent and 23% received sexually explicit images — which represents a 13% increase for sending and a 22% increase for receiving such images based on 2016 data.
Other downsides are that sexting is associated with an increased risk of cyberbullying victimization and participation in risky behaviors, including sexual risk, the commentary said — not to mention predatory adults out there who exploit such behavior.
But much like the attitude toward "safe sex" education, the authors take a kids-are-going-to-sext-whether-we-like-it-or-not approach to the issue and emphasize "safe sexting" in order to reduce harm to teenagers.
The 10 tips
Here's a look at the authors' 10 tips — which include suggestions such as sending "boudoir" photos rather than nude images, how to not get caught by parents and police, and concealing one's identity:
1. If someone sends you a sext, do not send it to — or show — anyone else. This could be considered nonconsensual sharing of pornography, and there are laws prohibiting it and which outline serious penalties (especially if the image portrays a minor).
2. If you send someone a sext, make sure you know and fully trust them. "Catfishing" — where someone sets up a fictitious profile or pretends to be someone else to lure you into a fraudulent romantic relationship (and, often, to send sexts) — happens more often than you think. You can, of course, never really know if they will share it with others or post it online but do not send photos or video to people you do not know well.
3. Do not send images to someone who you are not certain would like to see it (make sure you receive textual consent that they are interested). Sending unsolicited explicit images to others could also lead to criminal charges.
4. Consider boudoir pictures. Boudoir is a genre of photography that involves suggestion rather than explicitness. Instead of nudes, send photos that strategically cover the most private of private parts. They can still be intimate and flirty but lack the obvious nudity that could get you in trouble.
5. Never include your face. Of course, this is so that images are not immediately identifiable as yours but also because certain social media sites have sophisticated facial recognition algorithms that automatically tag you in any pictures you would want to stay private.
6. Make sure the images do not include tattoos, birthmarks, scars, or other features that could connect them to you. In addition, remove all jewelry before sharing. Also consider your surroundings. Bedroom pictures could, for example, include wall art or furniture that others recognize.
7. Turn your device's location services off for all of your social media apps, make sure your photos are not automatically tagged with your location or username, and delete any meta-data digitally attached to the image.
8. If you are being pressured or threatened to send nude photos, collect evidence when possible. Having digital evidence (such as screenshots of text messages) of any maliciousness or threats of sextortion will help law enforcement in their investigation and prosecution (if necessary) and social media sites in their flagging and deletion of accounts.
9. Use apps that provide the capability for sent images to be automatically and securely deleted after a certain amount of time. You can never guarantee that a screenshot was not taken, nor that another device was not used to capture the image without you being notified, but using specialized apps can decrease the chance of distribution.
10. Be sure to promptly delete any explicit photos or videos from your device. This applies to images you take of yourself and images received from someone else. Having images stored on your device increases the likelihood that someone — a parent, the police, a hacker — will find them. Possessing nude images of minors may have criminal implications. In 2015, for example, a North Carolina teen was charged with possessing child pornography, although the image on his phone was of himself.
(H/T: Campus Reform)


theblaze--2020-02-04--Coronavirus patient delivers healthy newborn baby: 'This child is a special case'

Woman and her baby are under quarantine for observation

A Chinese baby born to a mother with coronavirus is healthy and virus-free, according to reports.
What are the details?
The unnamed woman delivered the child via Cesarean section on Thursday at Harbin Sixth People's Hospital in Heilongjiang, according to Fox News. She went into labor shortly after being diagnosed with the widespread virus.
Officials placed the woman under quarantine for observation, where she later delivered the child. Officials also placed the child under quarantine until further testing could be completed.
The child, who weighed about 6.7 pounds, received an Apgar score of 10 following birth. Medical professionals determine that anything above an Apgar score of 7 is considered normal.
"The patient was anxious as we brought her to the operating theater," said Dr. Yu Dan, an obstetrician from Harbin Red Cross Central Hospital. "[The mother] had only just been told of her confirmed diagnosis, so she was concerned for her child. In addition to that, she was accompanied by no family members, as all had been placed in quarantine as either confirmed or suspected cases."
Zhao Huaxian, the hospital's head of pediatrics, added, "This child is a special case. Our first concern was a vertical transmission infection, so we took precautions and put her under round-the-clock monitoring."
What else?
The child has tested negative for coronavirus on two separate occasions. The outlet reports that the unnamed child will remain under observation for the next 14 days.
So far, the coronavirus has sickened over 20,000 people and been linked to at least 425 deaths, Fox News reported.


theblaze--2020-02-04--Ted Cruz on Dems' caucus count DEBACLE: 'And these are the people they want to put in charge of our

Ted Cruz on Dems' caucus count DEBACLE: 'And these are the people they want to put in charge of our health care?' No, thank you!

Ted Cruz on Dems ' caucus count DEBACLE : 'And these are the people they want to put in charge @ @ @ @ @ ' No , thank you !

Broadcasting live from Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Glenn Beck and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) discussed the technical issues and delays that derailed Monday night's Democratic caucus in Iowa.
"It is an absolute mess. It is chaos," Cruz said of the debacle. "And, you know, I have to say I really feel for all the thousands of volunteers. You have candidates who spent a year or more crisscrossing the state. And as you know ... we had people come from Texas, from all over the country in 2016, basically move to Iowa, stay in dormitories, and go out in blizzards, knocking on doors, making phone calls. They poured their hearts into it. It's not too much to have, at the end of the night, an election result. I cannot imagine the frustration, the anger they're feeling."
Glenn asked Cruz to speak to headlines that claimed "Republicans gloat over Iowa caucus meltdown."
"It's interesting they said that," Cruz responded. "I've said a total of one thing today on that. I sent a tweet as I was driving in this morning. And my tweet pointed out that Dems today can't even stand in a gymnasium and count who is standing under which sign. And these are the people they want to put in charge of our health care, and everything else in our lives? No, thank you!"
Watch the video below to catch more of the conversation:
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theblaze--2020-02-04--Church of England apologizes for saying God only approves sex for heterosexual married couples

Church of England apologizes for saying God only approves sex for heterosexual married couples Sorry for ... what they still @ @

The Church of England somehow surprised and angered people with a recent statement of its belief that God only approves of sex between a man and a woman in the context of marriage — a belief that literally dates back to the beginning of Christianity.
Bowing to that social backlash, the church responded by apologizing last week for the statement, even though it did not change its stance on the issue.
"We as Archbishops, alongside the bishops of the Church of England, apologize and take responsibility for releasing a statement last week which we acknowledge has jeopardized trust," a statement by Archbishops Justin Welby and John Sentamu released Thursday read. "We are very sorry and recognize the division and hurt this has caused."
The controversy began with the pastoral statement, "Civil Partnerships — for same sex and opposite sex couples," which is still published on the Church of England's website. It addresses a 2019 change in British law that allows heterosexual couples to enter civil partnerships, something already available to same-sex couples.
"With opposite sex civil partnerships, and with those for same sex couples, the Church's teaching on sexual ethics remains unchanged," the statement concludes, after detailing legislative changes and how they impact the church. "For Christians, marriage — that is the lifelong union between a man and a woman, contracted with the making of vows — remains the proper context for sexual activity. In its approach to civil partnerships the Church seeks to uphold that standard, to affirm the value of committed, sexually abstinent friendships and to minister sensitively and pastorally to those Christians who conscientiously decide to order their lives differently."
The statement essentially says that while civil partnerships are not inherently against church teachings, since they can be between a man and a woman in a nonsexual context, the ambiguity of such partnerships prevents the church from outright endorsing them as a concept.
Some prominent bishops, after the release of the statement, sent an open letter to the church criticizing the statement.
"The Church of England has this week become a laughingstock to a nation that believes it is obsessed with sex," the letter read. "More importantly this statement has significantly damaged the mission of the Church and it has broken the trust of those it seeks to serve … it seems our trust has been misplaced and we feel badly let down."


theblaze--2020-02-04--MSNBC analyst calls Iowa caucus 'the perfect example of systemic racism'

MSNBC analyst calls Iowa caucus 'the perfect example of systemic racism' It 's because of all the white people

While America awaited the still-unknown results from Monday night's Iowa Democratic caucus, a cable news analyst took the opportunity to explain why the nation's first primary election cycle contest is actually systemically racist.
"The Iowa caucus is essentially the perfect example of systemic racism," MSNBC political analyst Zerlina Maxwell said during a Tuesday morning appearance on the cable network. "Ninety-one percent of the voters in Iowa are white."
Maxwell made the remarks while answering a question about whether or not Democrats ought to be concerned about a dip in turnout numbers among first-time caucus-goers. She went on to hypothesize during her answer that the lower turnout numbers in Iowa were the result of a lower "sense of urgency" among white voters.
"The reason why you see a drop in turnout, I'm just speculating here, it could be perhaps that white children are not in the cages," Maxwell said, in an apparent reference to the detention of illegal immigrant minors at the southern border. "So when you're talking about the tangible pain that black and brown people are feeling, they feel a sense of urgency because their kids are being put in cages, right?"
Entrance polling done by NBC News found that just 35% of Democrats who caucused Monday night were doing so for the first time, compared to 44% in 2016 and 57% in 2008. Entrance polling reported by ABC News found that 91% of Democratic caucus-goers were white.
"And so if you have a 91% white electorate, that sense of urgency may not be reflected in the turnout numbers," Maxwell concluded.
The results of Monday night's caucuses were not released due to a technical fiasco related to a new vote-recording app that has drawn criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.
In a statement put out Tuesday morning, Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price blamed Monday night's breakdown on a "coding issue" with the app.
"While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data," Price said. "We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed. The application's reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately."
Price later told Democratic campaigns that a "majority" of the results would be released at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday. A state party spokeswoman followed with a statement saying they will "continue to release results as we are able to."


theblaze--2020-02-04--Iowa Democratic Party: 'Majority of results' will be released at 5 p.m. ET

Iowa Democratic Party : 'Majority of results ' will be released at 5 p.m .
ET Most Democratic candidates have @ @ @ @ @ in New Hampshire

The "majority of results" from Monday night's Iowa caucuses will be released at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, nearly 20 hours after final vote tallies and delegate awards were expected to be published.
Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price made the announcement in a conference call with the Democratic presidential campaigns Tuesday afternoon, CNN reported.
The exact percentage of votes that will be released is reportedly still being worked out, but Price confirmed on the call that "more than 50% of all results" are set to be released.
The announcement comes just hours after Price released a statement blaming Monday night's debacle on a "coding issue" with the app designed to collect voting data. He claimed that while the app was "recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data."
While the results will still likely be closely watched and widely reported on, it remains to be seen what effect the delay will have on the media narrative coming out of Iowa.
Most of the Democratic candidates have made initial statements regarding their performance in the caucuses and have since moved on to campaign stops in the next battleground state: New Hampshire.


theblaze--2020-02-04--Super Bowl-winning coach Andy Reid says it would be 'quite an honor' to visit the White House: 'I'll

Super Bowl-winning coach Andy Reid says it would be 'quite an honor' to visit the White House: 'I'll be there'

Super Bowl-winning coach Andy Reid says it would be 'quite an honor ' to visit the White House : ' @ @ @ @ @ inevitable question after sports championships now

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid didn't hesitate when asked if he would visit the White House after winning the Super Bowl on Sunday, according to the Daily Caller.
White House visits for major championship sports teams used to be a given, but during the presidency of Donald Trump, they have become more uncertain, and at times, a source of controversy, with teams often dominated by minorities and politically liberal athletes or coaches.
"Oh man, I hadn't even thought about that," Reid said after the game. "I mean, I'll be there. So, if they're inviting us, I'll be there. It's quite an honor I think."
The Chiefs players are somewhat split. Frank Clark, who showed up to Super Bowl media day wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Trump meeting Kanye West, said he had "mixed emotions" about it.
Tyrann Mathieu said he would go and represent his team and city.
"I'm here to represent the Kansas City Chiefs," Mathieu said. "I think my teammates feel the same way. Any time we get the opportunity to represent Kansas City the right way, represent our teammates the right way, I don't see any wrong in that."
Sometimes, teams visit the White House and individual players or coaches make the decision not to attend. Other times, such as with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA, the entire team skips the visit. After several stars expressed public disapproval of Trump, the president announced that he was disinviting the Warriors.
The U.S. women's national soccer team also had a White House controversy, when star player Megan Rapinoe said during an interview, "I'm not going to the f***ing White House," while the team was competing in the World Cup. The president responded by criticizing Rapinoe but inviting the team, win or lose. The team has not visited the White House.
And then, sometimes a team visits the White House, but becomes involved in some other (minor) controversy. Like the Clemson football team, which visited after winning the national championship in 2019. The government was shut down during that visit, so the players were served a variety of fast foods.
Sometimes, though, teams visit and they simply have a good time — the way it's supposed to be.


theblaze--2020-02-04--Dick Durbin says three Democrats are still undecided on impeachment, and he doesn't know how they'll

Dick Durbin says three Democrats are still undecided on impeachment, and he doesn't know how they'll vote

Dick Durbin says three Democrats are still undecided on impeachment , and he does n't know how they 'll vote

A top Senate Democrat says that he simply doesn't know how three yet-undecided Democratic members plan to vote in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Neither he nor the chamber's top Democrat can guarantee that President Trump won't enjoy a bipartisan acquittal at the end of the process.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told CNN's Manu Raju, "I don't know the answer," Tuesday when asked whether or not Democrats would be united on impeachment. He also said that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) had been in contact with three Democrats who haven't yet committed to how they'll vote, but that he couldn't put pressure on them on an issue "of this magnitude."
While Raju didn't list them by name, the three Senate Democrats who still appear to be undecided are Doug Jones (Ala.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.). Of those three, Jones is the only one currently facing re-election in November, and since he's running statewide as a Democrat in Alabama, he's unlikely to keep his current seat in the first place. Sinema and Manchin both ran as moderates in states with large swaths of Republican voters. Manchin won his re-election bid by fewer than 3 percentage points in 2018 while Sinema won her race by a similarly narrow margin.
If they still haven't made up their minds at this point, they have until Wednesday afternoon to do so. That's when the Senate is expected to cast its final vote on the issue. Seeing as an impeachment conviction requires a two-thirds Senate majority per the Constitution, it's all but certain at this point that the president will be acquitted of the House's charges. But the specifics of how the final votes might break down remains unclear.
If only Democrats break ranks on votes on the impeachment vote, it would give congressional Republicans the opportunity to reprise one of their talking points from the House's final vote in December — i.e., that the only thing bipartisan about this process has been the opposition to it. But there's a very real possibility that there might be some Republican crossover in the upper chamber.
Both Republican Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah) and Susan Collins (Maine) broke party lines and joined with Democrats during last week's vote on whether or not to consider further trial witnesses and neither one of them has announced which way they intend to vote on conviction or acquittal.


theblaze--2020-02-04--'Unmitigated disaster': Republicans slam Democrats over Iowa caucus fiasco

'They ca n't even run a caucus and they want to run the government . '

Monday's night's Iowa caucuses have proven to be a huge problem for Democrats and something that Republicans are already using to criticize their rival party.
Tuesday morning, with no winner yet declared in the first-in-the-nation Democratic primary contest, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to criticize Democrats for the electoral fiasco and tied it to their ability to govern the country.
"The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster," Trump wrote. "Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is 'Trump'."
To his point about a "very big victory," the president easily trounced his long shot Republican primary challengers with just over 97% of the votes. More notably, the campaign also saw strong incumbent-year turnout among Republicans, the Washington Examiner reported, with over 32,000 Republicans showing up compared to the roughly 8,000 seen during former President George W. Bush's 2004 primary.
The night before, Trump's 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, made a similar case in a tweet calling the situation a "Democrat party meltdown."
"They can't even run a caucus and they want to run the government," Parscale chided.
Some congressional Republicans also pointed to the caucus disaster as evidence of Democrats' incompetence.
"Dems right now can't even stand in a gymnasium and count how many people move under each sign," tweeted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Tuesday morning. "These are the people who want to be put in charge of our healthcare & everything else in our lives? No thank you."
Cruz's GOP Senate colleague Ron Johnson (Wis.) said that the "Democrat Iowa caucus debacle is a perfect metaphor for Democrat policy proposals for America - they would be a total disaster."
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) also made a similar case as people awaited results on Monday night, reminding social media followers that "this is the party that wants to run your healthcare, control your employment, decide what kind of car you can drive, and more."
Rep. Ron Wright (R-Texas) said that the inconsistencies, incompetence, and lack of transparency by Democrats in #Iowa are matched only by the three-year-long deranged and incoherent crusade to oust [President Trump] from office."
The Iowa Democratic Party was unable to put out caucus results for the Democratic candidates Monday night and attributed the delay to "inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results" which were submitted via an app, and that it would "simply take time to further report the results" from underlying data.
Tuesday morning the state party said in a statement attributing the previous night's issues were due to a "coding issue in the reporting system," that the "underlying data collected via the app was sound" and that their plan was to "release the results as soon as possible today."


theblaze--2020-02-04--Hillary Clinton finds new excuse for why she lost 2016 election to Donald Trump: Attacks from Bernie

Hillary Clinton finds new excuse for why she lost 2016 election to Donald Trump: Attacks from Bernie Sanders and his 'difficult' supporters

Hillary Clinton finds new excuse for why she lost 2016 election to Donald Trump : Attacks from Bernie Sanders and @ @ @ @

Nearly four years after her historic loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton continues to blame shift for her campaign's failures.
This time, Clinton has placed the responsibility on Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his devout supporters.
"All the way up until the end, a lot of people highly identified with his campaign were urging people to vote third party, urging people not to vote," Clinton said on the "Your Primary Podcast" last week, according to the New York Times.
"It had an impact," she claimed.
The former secretary of state went on to contrast herself and Sanders, slamming the Vermont senator for not unifying Democrats in 2016 while claiming she supported Barack Obama's presidential campaign when she lost to him in the 2008 Democratic primary.
"So fast forward. I mean, you had, unfortunately, a very different outcome in the 2016 primary, where I won by 4 million votes. I won overwhelmingly in delegates," Clinton said. "There was no question about who was going to be the nominee."
"But unfortunately, you know, his campaign and his principal supporters were just very difficult and really, constantly not just attacking me, but my supporters," she added.
As the 2020 Democratic primary kicks into high gear this month, Clinton has been on a one-woman crusade vocalizing her opposition to Sanders.
Last month, Clinton confirmed her anti-Sanders feelings in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter when asked about the upcoming Hulu documentary on her failed presidential campaign.
"He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it," Clinton said of Sanders in the documentary.
Fortunately for Sanders, Clinton's opposition does not appear to be swaying voters.
Internal data released by Sanders' campaign showed he is likely leading the Iowa caucuses, which would confirm recent polling data. However, the Iowa Democratic Party has yet to release official caucus tallies.
Clinton's list of excuses on why she lost in 2016 includes Russia interference, racism, former FBI Director James Comey, the media and WikiLeaks, and voter suppression. She was also accused of running a flawed campaign, which included being under investigation by the FBI for using a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state and failing to recognize the amount of support Trump had in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin until it was too late.


theblaze--2020-02-04--DHS chief says Democrats turned down offer to test Iowa caucus app for cybersecurity problems

DHS chief says Democrats turned down offer to test Iowa caucus app for cybersecurity problems 'It really goes to the @ @ @ @ @ '

The app at the center of Democrats' Iowa caucus fiasco wasn't vetted by the Department of Homeland Security despite an offer to do so, a top Trump administration official said.
During a Tuesday morning interview with Fox News' "Fox & Friends," acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said that his department offered to vet the now-infamous app being blamed for Monday night's electoral debacle but was turned down on the offer.
"So, our cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency has offered to test that app from a hacking perspective," Wolf said. "They declined. And so, we're seeing a couple of issues with it."
However, Wolf also went on to say that those issues didn't appear to be the result of hacking.
"Right now, we don't see any malicious cyberactivity going on," Wolf said during the interview.
In response to a follow-up question from host Steve Doocy, the acting department chief explained that "this is more of a stress or a load issue, as well as a reporting issue that we're seeing in Iowa."
No Democratic presidential candidate was declared the winner in Iowa's first-in-the-nation primary contest Monday night after the state's Democratic Party said it had found "inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results" related to a new app being used to record voting data.
In a statement put out Tuesday morning, Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price blamed Monday night's breakdown on a "coding issue" with the app.
"While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data," Price stated. "We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed. The application's reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately."
In regard to cybersecurity concerns, Price's statement also said that the party has "every indication that our systems were secure and there was not a cybersecurity intrusion. In preparation for the caucuses, our systems were tested by independent cybersecurity consultants."
But hacking or no hacking, Wolf told Fox, "What I would say is that given the amount of scrutiny that we have on election security these days, this is a concerning event and it really goes to the public confidence of our elections."
In addition to the admitted software problems, the New York Times reported that not everyone who was supposed to use the app to record votes was fully trained on how to do so, with some having problems even logging on or downloading it.
Wapello County Democratic Party Chairman Zach Simonson told the newspaper, "The app wasn't included in the chair training that everyone was required to take."


theblaze--2020-02-04--'I'm gonna f*** you up': Antifa thug gets in face of GOP candidate running against Nancy Pelosi, say

'I'm gonna f*** you up': Antifa thug gets in face of GOP candidate running against Nancy Pelosi, says he wants him 'dead'

' I 'm gon na f*** you up ' : Antifa thug gets in face of GOP candidate running against @ @ @ @ @ wants him 'dead' Bearded fellow in yellow also accused John Dennis of being a 'racist @ @ @ @ @ he know ? '
I can tell by looking at you . '

The left — and specifically Antifa, in this case — just can't seem to help itself from encouraging more and more people to come to the polls in November and reelect President Donald Trump.
Have a look at the below video if you doubt such a conclusion.
In the video we see in the dark jacket John Dennis — chairman of the San Francisco Republican Party and congressional candidate who's running against Democrat Nancy Pelosi this fall — conversing with bearded guy in a yellow shirt whom Dennis identified as an Antifa member.
The Antifa agitator wasn't exactly civil. In fact, he told Dennis — who was there helping a street cleanup effort — "Bruh, I'ma gonna catch you when all the cameras aren't around, and I'm gonna f*** you up." And that's just for starters.
Here's the clip. ( Content warning: Language):
The bearded guy also told Dennis that "I want you dead."
The Republican naturally wondered why.
"Because you're a piece of s**t," the Antifa guy told Dennis.
OK, and how could he possibly tell?
"Because you're racist," the aggressor continued.
Gotcha.
Then when the GOP candidate rightly argued back that he has no way of determining Dennis is a racist, the Antifa guy offered an insight that pretty much sums up the leftist state of mind: "I can tell by looking at you."
In the end, Dennis sufficiently stood up to the Antifa thug and didn't get intimidated.
TheBlaze on Tuesday asked Dennis' campaign if police were called on the yellow-shirted man who made the threat, but the campaign didn't immediately reply.
More details about the encounter
Dennis posted a Periscope session Tuesday morning on Twitter and offered more insight on what happened between him and the Antifa fellow.
He explained that he learned 30 to 40 Antifa members showed up to protest the clean-up effort just because Republicans were involved — and the guy in the yellow shirt seemed to want to stand out from other Antifa members dressed in dark clothing. He also stood out for other reasons, Dennis added, after flipping over a canopy and threatening various individuals in the crowd. The yellow-shirted Antifa guy seemed to be "giving backbone" to the "rest of the lightweight Antifa," Dennis noted.
It was at that point that Dennis said he tried talking to the yellow-shirted guy, and then the threats happened.
The GOP candidate added that what's not seen on the clip is that he approached the Antifa agitator again and with some "rough language" informed him that he wasn't going to be intimidated — which is when Our Bearded Hero departed and "the crowd lost a lot of its fight."
While Dennis said "violence is just unacceptable," when push comes to shove and threats are issued, "you gotta stand up to them."
(H/T: Red State)


theblaze--2020-02-04--Woman crushes, traps fingers while changing a tire — so she phones 911 using her toes

Woman crushes , traps fingers while changing a tire — so she phones 911 using her toes

A 54-year-old South Carolina woman dialed emergency services with her toes after both hands were crushed during a tire change on the side of an interstate highway.
What are the details?
According to WCSC-TV, the unnamed woman's vehicle had a flat tire while driving on Interstate-95 near Walterboro, South Carolina, on Sunday.
The woman — who WCSC reports is a Charlotte, North Carolina, resident — reportedly pulled over to the side of the road, where she attempted to change the tire. Colleton County Fire-Rescue said that as the unnamed woman was fitting on the spare tire, the jack slipped and wedged both hands between the tire and the car's fender.
A spokesperson for Colleton County Fire-Rescue told the station that she was in "excruciating pain" for 45 minutes before being able to contact first responders.
"She was trapped alone on the side of the dark interstate, experiencing excruciating pain," the spokesperson said.
According to the station, it took her 45 minutes to free her foot from her shoe and call 911 with her toes.
"After many attempts she was able to dial 911 with her toes and advise them of her predicament," a spokesperson told WCSC. "Fire-Rescue units were dispatched to the rural stretch of I-95."
The station reported that the woman "suffered severe injuries to both hands and all her fingers."
"Using the prybar, they were able to free one hand," the spokesperson said. "Engine 26 arrived a short time later and the crew deployed a Holmatro Hydraulic Spreader to lift the car. This freed her other hand."
What happened to the woman?
After freeing her, emergency responders administered pain medication and transported the woman to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The woman's current condition is unknown at the time of this article's publication.
You can watch a video report on the incident here.


theblaze--2020-02-04--'They hung up on me': Live CNN telephone interview perfectly captures the disaster that was Iowa cau

'They hung up on me': Live CNN telephone interview perfectly captures the disaster that was Iowa caucus night

'They hung up on me ' : Live CNN telephone interview perfectly captures the disaster that was Iowa caucus night @ @ @ @ @

A live CNN telephone interview perfectly encapsulated the debacle that unfolded before America's eyes Monday night as the Democratic Party failed to release results from its much-anticipated Iowa caucus.
Hung up by "irregularities" and "quality control" issues, most Americans finally went to bed without knowing the name of the winner in Iowa.
But Shawn Sebastian, along with other precinct secretaries across the state, were not so lucky. Sebastian could not afford to rest until he delivered his precinct's results to the Iowa Democratic Party — a task that proved daunting amid the night's many complications.
'They hung up on me'
Frustrated over the delay, Sebastian agreed to talk with CNN's Wolf Blitzer about what was going on in Iowa.
"Well, Wolf, I have been on hold for over an hour with the Iowa Democratic Party," Sebastian began. "They tried to, I think, promote an app to report the results. The app, by all accounts, just doesn't work."
"So, we've been recommended to call into the hotline, and the hotline has not been responsive," he added.
As Blitzer proceeded to probe Sebastian further, he heard a response from a woman on the other end of the line.
"This is a real coincidence, Wolf," Sebastian said with some relief. "I just got off hold just now, so I gotta get off the phone to report the results."
Blitzer asked if CNN could remain on the line while he reported the results and Sebastian agreed before proceeding to answer the woman.
"Hi. Hello?" he said, but it was too late. The woman had hung up.
"They hung up on me," he said to Blitzer, letting out an exasperated laugh. "They hung up on me. OK, I've got to get back in line on hold," he repeated in disbelief, "they just hung up."
You can hear the frustration in his voice.
He was on hold for over two hours
To make matters worse, Sebastian was not able to quickly reconnect with the Iowa Democratic Party. During another live telephone interview 30 minutes after he was hung up on, this time with MSNBC, he was still waiting for an answer from party officials.
Finally, around 11 p.m. local time, he was able to report his precinct's results.
"With all the complicated things to report (total, first alignment, caveats about the math and totals, etc.) it took almost 20 minutes to report," he said on Twitter.
"Starting to understand why I was on hold for so long," he added.
Earlier in the evening, Sebastian elected to bypass the app and the hotline and took to Twitter to post the results of his precinct's first alignment.
Later, after ongoing difficulty communicating with the IDP, he posted an update of the results after the final alignment.
Sebastian also made sure to ease concerns about the accuracy of the totals, asserting that despite frustrating delays, "there's a paper trail for every person's choices."


theblaze--2020-02-04--Beach Boys' Brian Wilson begs fans to boycott Beach Boys show at hunting event with Donald Trump Jr.

Beach Boys ' Brian Wilson begs fans to boycott Beach Boys show at hunting event with Donald Trump Jr .

Brian Wilson, co-founder and former frontman of the Beach Boys, wants the iconic band's fans to boycott one of their upcoming shows.
The reason? The show is set to take place at a widely attended annual hunting event in Nevada, with Donald Trump Jr. as speaker.
What are the details?
Wilson put out a request for fans to boycott Wednesday's performance at the Safari Club International's annual convention in Reno, Nevada. The event will also feature Trump Jr. as a keynote speaker.
On Monday, Wilson tweeted, "This organization supports trophy hunting, which Both Al [Jardine] and I are emphatically opposed to. There's nothing we can do personally to stop the show, so please join us in signing the petition."
In the tweet, the 77-year-old entertainer linked to a Change.org petition urging fans to boycott the show over the Safari Club's support of trophy hunting, according to NBC News.
At the time of this writing, the petition has received 90,000 signatures.
A portion of the petition states, "Wouldn't it be nice if all the Beach Boys, [s]tayed away from those who kill for fun?"
The petition, addressed to Beach Boys' manager Elliott Lott, adds:
We the undersigned pledge to stop buying or downloading all Beach Boys music, going to Beach Boys concerts, and purchasing any Beach Boys merchandise until the Beach Boys withdraw from the SCI Convention and publicly state their opposition to this sick 'sport' of killing animals for 'fun'.
We will call on the Beach Boys' record label, agent and publicists to disown the Beach Boys, and on members of the public to protest at forthcoming Beach Boys concerts, unless they do so.
You can read more about the convention here.
Wilson co-founded the band in 1961 with his brothers and cousin. He later suffered a mental breakdown in 1964 and toured only intermittently with the band from the 1960s to the 1990s during a struggle with drug addiction and mental illness. Wilson is also an accomplished solo artist, having written and performed several other albums in addition to those to which he contributed as a working member of the Beach Boys.


theblaze--2020-02-04--‘Male privilege’ is absolutely real … for transgender women

Men can do whatever they want , if they just claim to be women

This week, Joseph Matthew Smith from Iowa, who was convicted of sexually molesting children as young as 1 years old — when babies' ages are still measured in months — escaped time in the clink. Why, you ask? He realized he was actually a woman trapped in a man's body. Not to be confused with a child trapped in his clutching hands while he shoved his crotch member in places it should never be.
Violent mental image necessary to set the stakes, your honor.
The judge in Joseph Smith's case said since Smith, now "Josie Smith" (cute) had been shooting up with estrogen and thus diluted his testosterone, largely responsible for an increased sex drive, he was no longer a threat to children who'd rather not be raped. Concerned citizens worried Smith might rape their babies can just calm down already, sheesh.
Smith's case is but one extreme example of the kind of privilege transgender women, aka men, have been bequeathed by a society which has gone too far in trying to prove itself understanding and compassionate. Never mind that same society giving the stamp of approval on women killing their own babies. That's just "women's rights." Let's not get bogged down by tedious details.
Male privilege, female privilege, hot privilege. Not one of them holds a Gwyneth Paltrow scented vagina candle to transgender women privilege. If one is a dude who identifies as a dame, one has the societal red carpet rolled out before it, so it may dance its hairy hobbit feet wherever it pleases. Just make sure you call him "Ma'am."
Examples of which you're likely well aware:
So strong is the privilege with these masculine madams, few are willing to stand up to them.
Oh sure, pockets of people are doing their darnedest to keep these He-Ladies from squashing mostly women, but the most popular pushback against transgender women privilege comes just like this: words. Words from conservatives in conservative media, spoken by conservatives in conservative media, words written and spoken by a smattering of women's rights groups, most dutifully ignored by mainstream media.
How to pushback against the transgender women's movement is a subject for another time. Though I will say all the ladies competing with transgenders should just boycott their own events. As a start.
First we must acknowledge that He-Ladies are the most privileged, prized, well-treated class in First World 2020. More privileged than the whitest man or the whitest woman could ever hope to be. Transgenders as a whole have actually convinced too many people (mostly leftist morons) to even alter the language and how it's used in order to cater to their tranny whims. In countries like Canada and Britain, if one doesn't cater to their language demands, legal action is on the table. If that's not power, what is?
Here's my big question: If the idea of "privilege" in the hands of one demographic was wrong (men), why is it acceptable if that same demographic (men) owns the monopoly on privilege just by declaring themselves women?


theblaze--2020-02-04--Lack of enthusiasm? Iowa Democratic caucus turnout not on pace to exceed 2016

Lack of enthusiasm ?
Iowa Democratic caucus turnout not on pace to exceed 2016

Amid the chaos of the Iowa Democratic Party's total inability to produce results from Monday night's caucus, an official released a crucial bit of information — turnout did not indicate any increase in enthusiasm for 2020 candidates over 2016, according to the Associated Press.
Iowa Democratic Party communications director Mandy McClure reported last night, with about 25% of precincts reporting, that turnout was on pace to match that of 2016. That's a disappointment for those Democrats hoping to see a spike in turnout for what is perceived as a high-stakes election with many more choices than 2016 offered.
In 2016, about 170,000 people voted in the Iowa Democratic caucus. In 2008, the previous open Democratic primary, about 240,000 people turned out when former President Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton and others on the way to the nomination.
Low turnout in Iowa fuels long-running concerns about whether the Democrats' large and very liberal field has a candidate that can rally the entire party the way Obama did.
Joe Biden's campaign has failed to garner enthusiastic support; his candidacy is succeeding mostly due to his perception of electability against Trump. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have passionate supporters, but their extreme views come with questions about whether they have a broad enough appeal to win a general election against a Republican incumbent in a strong economy. Pete Buttigieg lacks any national experience and has failed to get almost any support from black voters, a key demographic.
Turnout will be important to watch as the Democratic primary goes on, as the Democratic nominee will certainly need strong turnout to have a chance to win. That's why the primary has been dominated recently by the question of whether Democratic voters will unify behind the eventual nominee.
Will Sanders supporters turn out for Biden if he wins the nomination? Will Biden supporters turn out for Sanders or Warren, or will they stay home — or possibly even opt for Trump over a socialist candidate?
As of Tuesday morning, the result of the Iowa caucuses is still unknown after confusion over new caucus rules and the failure of an app used to count votes led to a total breakdown of the process. The issues created significant delays at some caucuses, reportedly leading some voters to go home before their caucus was completed.


theblaze--2020-02-04--VIDEO: Singer Jessica Simpson belts out beautiful rendition of 'Amazing Grace,' shares stories of ab

VIDEO: Singer Jessica Simpson belts out beautiful rendition of 'Amazing Grace,' shares stories of abuse during 'Today' interview

VIDEO : Singer Jessica Simpson belts out beautiful rendition of 'Amazing Grace , ' shares stories of abuse during 'Today @ @ @ @ @ realized that I had to surrender '

Pop star Jessica Simpson broke out into a beautiful rendition of "Amazing Grace" during a recent interview on NBC's "Today," noting that the powerful hymn is about "walking through fear."
(Read also: Check Out PureFlix.com's Powerful Prayer Guide)
"It's about walking through fear and about it being OK to be afraid," Simpson told host Hoda Kotb. "And the other side of fear is what's so beautiful — that's when you get the reward."
Watch Simpson sing "Amazing Grace" at the 7-minute mark:
www.youtube.com
Simpson has been making headlines for openly revealing some difficult details about her past struggles with sexual abuse, marriage, and alcohol.
"I had started a spiral," she told Kotb, noting that she was drinking constantly until 2017. "And I couldn't catch up with myself."
Simpson said she quit drinking after an intoxicated 2017 Halloween celebration left her disconnected and not present with her kids.
It was a wake-up call that led Simpson to become sober and to start working with a therapist.
(Watch: See Powerful Faith and Family-Friendly Content on PureFlix.com)
"I just realized that I had to surrender," she said.
Prayers up to Simpson on her journey forward.
Want more inspiration? You can read daily stories of faith and inspiration over on The Pure Flix Insider.
This article was originally published on Pure Flix Insider. Visit Pure Flix for access to thousands of faith and family-friendly movies and TV shows. You can get a free trial here.


theblaze--2020-02-04--Amid impeachment trial, President Trump gets highest job approval rating since taking office: Gallup

The poll also has good news for the GOP

President Donald Trump's approval rating has hit a new high and the Republican Party's image is the best it's been since 2005, according to new Gallup polling released Tuesday morning.
The poll, which was conducted in January during President Trump's ongoing impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, puts the president's job approval at 49%, the highest approval rating Trump has seen from Gallup since he took office in January 2017.
A post from Gallup's Jeffrey Jones attributed the higher numbers to higher levels of approval among Republicans and independents and points to his 94% approval rating among Republicans, which is up 7 percentage points from early January. His approval rating among independents is up 5 points to 42%, the poll found.
While reaction to the impeachment efforts against the president may be a factor in driving the numbers, Gallup also said that economic confidence, Trump's recent victory on the United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal, and his recent actions squaring off against Iran may have played a factor.
Trump wouldn't be the first president to see his numbers jump after being impeached. To put things in historical context, the polling firm noted that former President Bill Clinton also saw an approval rating spike after the House voted to impeach him and that his numbers remained above pre-impeachment levels through the rest of his 1999 Senate trial.
The polling also had some positive news for the Republican Party as a whole. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed said they had a positive image of the GOP, which is the first time that the party has risen above the 50% mark since the George W. Bush administration in 2005. That statistic stands in contrast to the Democratic Party's 45% approval rating, which is down 3 points from September.
The poll of a random 1,033 respondents Jan. 16-29 in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.
President Trump's Senate impeachment trial formally began on Jan. 16 and is expected to conclude with a final vote Wednesday.


theblaze--2020-02-04--Iowa Democratic Party blames 'coding issue' with app for caucus debacle; timeline for releasing resu

Iowa Democratic Party blames 'coding issue' with app for caucus debacle; timeline for releasing results still unknown

Iowa Democratic Party blames 'coding issue ' with app for caucus debacle ; timeline for releasing results still unknown 'While @ @ @ @ @ accurately , it was reporting out only partial data '

In a statement released Tuesday morning, Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price blamed Monday night's Iowa caucus debacle on a "coding issue" with the app used to collect voting data.
"While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data," Price stated. "We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed. The application's reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately."
Price explained that as results began coming in through the app Monday night, the IDP ran them through an accuracy and quality check. It was then when they noticed significant problems with the information.
"It became clear that there were inconsistencies with the reports," he said. "The underlying cause of these inconsistencies was not immediately clear, and required investigation, which took time."
As a safety measure, IDP staff began entering data manually, but this took longer than expected, Price acknowledged. The good news is that, with the manually entered data, the IDP has been able to confirm the accuracy of the underlying data collected by the app.
The IDP's decision to use the app, developed by a firm called Shadow and funded by ACRONYM, a Democratic nonprofit organization operated by Hillary Clinton campaign veterans and connected to the Pete Buttigieg campaign, was reportedly called into question in the days and weeks leading up to the caucuses, some saying it had not been adequately tested.
It appears, at last, that concerns over the app were correct and that the IDP's tally-by-app experiment has failed.
When will results be in?
The question still on everyone's mind Tuesday morning is when exactly results will be released? Addressing that question, Price asked for patience.
"While our plan is to release results as soon as possible today, our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the process continues to be upheld," he said.
The delay in the release of results following the Iowa caucuses Monday night caused widespread frustration and confusion among the candidates and their supporters, as Americans went to bed without a winner and without knowing the cause of the delay.
The lack of clear reporting from the IDP about what exactly the issues were led to a frenzy of speculation and angst.
Early in the night, IDP communications director Mandy McClure released a statement, chalking the delay up to "quality checks" but giving no further information.
"The integrity of the results is paramount. We have experienced a delay in the results due to quality checks and the fact that the [Iowa Democratic Party] is reporting out three data sets for the first time," McClure said.
Much later, after it was clear that the issue would not be resolved quickly, the IDP hopped on a conference call with the candidates, only to hang up when the candidates started asking questions.
Now that some answers have been given regarding the reason for the delay, the news spotlight can focus on the upcoming results.