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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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Fayrouz Saad running to be 1st Muslim American woman in Congress

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Fayrouz Saad running to be 1st Muslim American woman in Congress

Before they send their next representative to Congress and to Washington, they really want to make sure that person knows what they're talking about …

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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Trump appears to tweet condolences to the wrong shooting victims

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Trump appears to tweet condolences to the wrong shooting victims

President Donald Trump tweeted condolences after a gunman killed four people and wounded at least 10, including children, in Rancho Tehama, California.

The only problem was that Trump’s tweet Tuesday night, hours after the latest rampage, was addressed to Sutherland Springs, Texas, where 26 people were gunned down more than a week earlier, on Nov. 5.

In his Tuesday tweet, Trump made no mention of California, or Rancho Tehama, or the elementary school that was targeted by the gunman.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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Republicans in Congress Are Mad We Pointed Out Jeff Sessions’ Lies – Mother Jones

http://ryanguillory.com/republicans-in-congress-are-mad-we-pointed-out-jeff-sessions-lies-mother-jones/

Republicans in Congress Are Mad We Pointed Out Jeff Sessions’ Lies – Mother Jones

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) condemned a Democratic colleague’s submission of a Mother Jones article into the record of Jeff Sessions’ appearance before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. The article, titled “3 Times Jeff Sessions Made False Statements to Congress Under Oath,” detailed the attorney general’s shifting narratives when testifying before Congress about the Trump campaign’s communications with Russian officials.

“We even had somebody offer into the record that Mother Jones basically said you lied,” Gohmert said. “And I would submit this committee doesn’t need Mother Jones to inaccurately describe or depict or tell us what happened when we can look at the conversation and see ourselves.”

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Gohmert’s disparaging remarks came hours after Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Illinois) introduced the article, citing the need to remind the attorney general that he was testifying under oath.

Gohmert ended his questions by referring to a chart he brought along to help illustrate the details of Uranium One—a Hillary Clinton-linked conspiracy theory currently being pushed by President Donald Trump and other conservatives to discredit Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“We got a chart here that shows just how integral the relationship is with Mr. Rosenstein, Mr. Mueller, into this whole Uranium One thing,” Gohmert said. “It sure stinks to high heaven and it doesn’t appear to me that they should be involved in investigating.”

Editor’s Note: If you’d like to receive and support the type of reporting that Rep. Gohmert took issue with, you can subscribe to our award-winning magazine or give a gift subscription for just $10.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions angrily denies lying to Congress about Trump campaign Russia contacts

http://ryanguillory.com/atty-gen-jeff-sessions-angrily-denies-lying-to-congress-about-trump-campaign-russia-contacts/

Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions angrily denies lying to Congress about Trump campaign Russia contacts

Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions repeatedly denied Tuesday that he deliberately misled or lied to Congress about the Trump campaign’s multiple contacts with Russia, saying he forgot that two aides told him about their meetings with Russian government officials during the 2016 race.

In an often-contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing, Sessions sparred for more than five hours with Democrats, who faulted him for changing his story each time he has testified under oath before Congress, and some Republicans, who pushed him to appoint a second special counsel to investigate Hillary Clinton.

Sessions grew visibly angry at times, insisting again and again that he “always told the truth” as he recalled it, even as he confirmed for the first time that an aide offered to help arrange a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin last March. Sessions said he “pushed back” against the offer.

“In all of my testimony, I can only do my best to answer all of your questions as I understand them and to the best of my memory,” he said.

“But I will not accept, and reject accusations, that I have ever lied,” he added. “That is a lie.”

The nationally-televised hearing was the latest sign of how last year’s bitter presidential campaign has yet to recede. Harsh questions about the Democratic nominee’s alleged misdeeds collided with national security concerns of whether President Trump’s current or former aides helped Russia meddle in an American election — the focus of a special counsel investigation led by former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III.

Sessions held firm against Republicans who pressed him to swiftly appoint another special counsel to focus on Clinton. Senior prosecutors at the Justice Department were reviewing the record and it would “be done without political influence,” he said.

After Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) laid out a long list of allegations that he said indicated wrongdoing, Sessions responded sharply. “I would say ‘looks like’ is not enough basis to appoint a special counsel,” he said.

Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the House committee’s top Democrat, said the allegations against Clinton — which chiefly involve her use of a private email server as secretary of State, fundraising for the Clinton Foundation, and an Obama administration decision in 2010 to approve sales of uranium to a Russian company — have been “carefully examined and completely debunked” and said the threat of jailing political opponents after an election is something that would happen in “a banana republic.”

The often testy back-and-forth on Russia largely echoed Sessions’ three previous appearances on Capitol Hill this year, creating more heat than light as lawmakers confronted Sessions with his previous statements and other evidence that contradicted his claims, and the attorney general insisting he did “not recall” dozens of times in response.

“I have been asked to remember details from a year ago, such as who I saw on what day, in what meeting, and who said what when,” he said.

He blamed his faulty memory on the political and organizational maelstrom of Trump’s insurgent presidential campaign. The four-term senator from Alabama joined Trump’s side early on and became his top foreign policy advisor.

“It was a brilliant campaign in many ways,” he said. “But it was a form of chaos every day from Day One. We traveled all the time, sometimes to several places in one day. Sleep was in short supply.”

Sessions recused himself from overseeing Mueller’s investigation in March because of his role as Trump’s campaign advisor — and he said in January that he shouldn’t supervise a Clinton investigation for the same reason.

But in the House hearing, he had to again revise his answers about his own meetings with Russia’s then-ambassador in Washington, as well as what he knew about other campaign aides’ meetings with Russians in London and Moscow.

During his Senate confirmation hearing in January, Sessions denied that he had met any Russians during the campaign. It later emerged that he had met three times with the Russian ambassador, including once in his Senate office for about 50 minutes to discuss Ukraine and other issues, he said Tuesday.

He said he stood by his initial denial because he thought he was being asked about improper contacts, and that his meetings with the Russian ambassador were not improper.

Last month, Sessions told another Senate hearing that he was not aware of any campaign aides who might have met with Russian officials, repeating a claim he had previously made to Congress.

On Oct. 30, however, court papers in the criminal case against George Papadopoulos, a campaign foreign policy aide, said that he bragged about his Russian connections at a meeting last March 31 with Trump, Sessions and other aides at the Trump Hotel in Washington.

According to the court documents, Papadopoulos offered to help set up a meeting between Trump and Putin — and that Sessions quickly shut down the discussion.

“I pushed back, I would say it that way,” Sessions said Tuesday, saying he only remembered the incident after reading news reports about Papadopoulos.

“I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government, or any other foreign government, for that matter,” he said.

Another campaign aide, Carter Page, told the House Intelligence Committee this month that he had told Sessions after a Capitol Hill dinner of his plans to visit Moscow last June. Sessions said Tuesday that he didn’t remember Page informing him, but did not dispute that he had — and that it did not establish wrongdoing.

“Am I supposed to stop him from taking a trip?” Sessions asked. Page told the Intelligence Committee that he had a private discussion with one of Russia’s deputy prime ministers and several lawmakers while he was in Moscow.

Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) repeatedly asked Sessions if Trump had the authority to pardon anyone potentially caught up in the Russia investigation, including members of the president’s family, former campaign aides and current White House advisors.

“I believe the president has the power to pardon, no doubt about that,” Sessions said. Pressed to explain, he added: “The attorney general should not be giving legal opinions from the seat of his britches.”

So far, Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and his top deputy, have been charged with fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. A third campaign aide, Papadopoulos, has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Other indictments are expected.

While the Russia investigation dominated the hearing, Sessions also faced tough questions about other controversies at the Justice Department.

He defended voter identification laws and defended his new harsh sentencing policies that some say have been wielded far more harshly against African Americans accused of drug offenses.

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) challenged Sessions to explain an FBI report made public in October that said “black identity extremists” were intent on killing law enforcement officers. She said all the groups named were from decades ago, and asked him if any such groups existed today. He said he did not know of any.

He said he was aware of no similar report on white extremist groups, such as the white supremacists who rallied in Charlottesville, Va., in August. Later, he said he did not have a senior staff member who is African American, and said Trump has appointed just one African American as a U.S. attorney.

Sessions also declined to defend Roy Moore, the Republican candidate in the special election to decide Sessions’ old Senate seat in Alabama. Moore now faces charges of being a serial predator of teenage girls, with five women coming forward to describe their encounters.

“I have no reason to doubt these young women,” he said of Moore’s accusers, adding that he would consider whether the Justice Department should open an investigation. “We would do our duty,” he said. He said he has followed advice from the department’s ethics lawyers and avoided any involvement in the campaign.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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If Roy Moore stands by his values, he has to bow out

http://ryanguillory.com/if-roy-moore-stands-by-his-values-he-has-to-bow-out/

If Roy Moore stands by his values, he has to bow out

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday that Roy Moore should bow out of Alabama’s Senate race after sexual misconduct allegations.

“The guy should step aside,” Ryan told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “These allegations are absolutely credible allegations, so the guy should step aside. If he cares about the people and values he claims to care about, then in faithfulness to those people and those values he should step aside. It’s just that simple.”

The Wisconsin Republican made similar comments earlier this week.

Moore, the 70-year-old GOP nominee for a special Senate race in Alabama, was accused by a woman of initiating a sexual encounter when she was 14 and Moore was 32. Three other women said Moore pursued them when they were 16 to 18. Their accounts were published last week by The Washington Post. Another woman alleged earlier this week that Moore tried to force her to engage in oral sex four decades ago.

Moore has denied any wrongdoing, calling allegations “completely false and misleading.” He has threatened to sue the Post.

Other Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have called on Moore to withdraw from the Dec. 12 special election immediately. Moore, who was backed in the primary by former Trump aide Steve Bannon, defeated incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, who was supported by the president and McConnell.

Moore is running against Democrat Doug Jones in the crucial election for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ old seat. Republicans hold only a two-seat lead in the Senate.

McConnell said Tuesday that Moore is “obviously not fit to be in the United States Senate.”

The Kentucky Republican, who had previously claimed that Moore should step aside if the allegations are true, also said, “We’ve looked at all the options to try to prevent” Moore from becoming a senator if he were to win the election.

McConnell said he plans to talk about the matter with President Donald Trump, who just got back from a foreign trip in Asia.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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House could pass tax reform if Senate adds health mandate repeal: Ryan

https://ryanguillory.com/house-could-pass-tax-reform-if-senate-adds-health-mandate-repeal-ryan/

House could pass tax reform if Senate adds health mandate repeal: Ryan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives could vote to pass a tax reform bill that also repeals the Obamacare health insurance mandate if the Senate includes the provision in its final version of the plan, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Wednesday.

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) speaks during a news conference after Republican weekly conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 14, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

In an interview on CNBC television, Ryan said House Republicans had not included such a repeal in its own bill and was waiting to see whether the Senate had the votes to approve a tax package that repeals the mandate, which requires Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty.

Reporting by David Alexander and Katanga Johnson; Editing by Susan Heavey and Jeffrey Benkoe

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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Paul Ryan says House won't repeal individual mandate before Senate does

http://ryanguillory.com/paul-ryan-says-house-wont-repeal-individual-mandate-before-senate-does/

Paul Ryan says House won't repeal individual mandate before Senate does

House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday suggested that his members could get behind repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate as part of a tax-reform bill.

However, he put the burden on the Senate to eliminate the provision first. Ryan told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the House will not move to get rid of the measure in the bill it hopes to pass this week.

“We’ve had the House votes to to do that. We passed our repeal of the individual mandate back in May,” the Wisconsin Republican said. “But we never had the votes in the Senate. So what we didn’t want to do is make tax reform harder than it already is.”

“But it really is whether or not the Senate has the votes for this or not. So, we’re seeing what the Senate can do. If the Senate can get it through committee, if they can get it through the floor, then we’ll meet them in conference and we’ll assess at that time,” Ryan added.

House Republicans would be open to discussing scrapping the individual mandate in a conference committee with senators if the current Senate plan passes the chamber, Ryan said.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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Senate Finance chairman revises tax plan to end Obamacare mandate

http://ryanguillory.com/senate-finance-chairman-revises-tax-plan-to-end-obamacare-mandate/

Senate Finance chairman revises tax plan to end Obamacare mandate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee proposed major changes to a Republican tax reform plan, adding a repeal of Obamacare’s health insurance mandate and making corporate tax cuts permanent while ending individual cuts in 2025.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch arrives for the the markup the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

In a statement late on Tuesday, committee chairman Orrin Hatch said the proposed changes would also slightly lower some individual tax rates and includes a repeal of the alternative minimum tax but only through 2025, when it would be reinstated.

The 226-page amendment comes as the Senate continues to craft its version of tax reform alongside the U.S. House of Representatives, which is finalizing its own bill. The two plans must be reconciled and merged into a final plan that can pass both chambers before it goes to President Donald Trump to sign into law.

Republicans, who control Congress and the White House but have yet to pass any major legislation, are eager for a legislative victory ahead of the 2018 midterm elections and are pushing hard to pass tax cuts by the end of the year.

It was not immediately clear how many of Hatch’s colleagues will support the plan in the Senate, where Republicans hold a slimmer 52-48 majority than in the House.

Democrats have dismissed the Republican plans as giveaways to corporations and the wealthy that would swell the nation’s deficit. If Democrats remain united in opposition, Republicans cannot lose more than two senators from their ranks and still have enough votes to pass tax legislation.

The inclusion of the healthcare provision, however, could add to the uncertainty, given that Republicans earlier this year failed to make good on their pledge to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare overhaul.

Hatch’s changes would end one of the more unpopular provisions in Obama’s Affordable Care Act that require Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the change would increase the number of uninsured by 13 million people by 2027.

“By scrapping this unpopular tax from an unworkable law, we not only ease the financial burdens already associated with the mandate, but also generate additional revenue to provide more tax relief to these individuals,” Hatch said in a statement.

But several key moderate Republicans, including Senators Susan Collins and John McCain, expressed uncertainty on Tuesday over tying the tax bill to the healthcare provision details.

Hatch’s plan would also expand access to deductions for so-called “pass-through” businesses and increase the child tax credit to $2,000 from the earlier proposed $1,650, Hatch said. The current tax credit for children is $1,000.

Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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Congress has a pervert problem

http://ryanguillory.com/congress-has-a-pervert-problem-2/

Congress has a pervert problem

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It would be nice to think that I was not the only person who watched Tuesday’s congressional hearing regarding sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill and felt pronouncedly stupider afterwards. But apart from a headline in The Washington Post suggesting that “Training is ‘first step’ in stopping sexual harassment in the House, lawmakers say,” there is little evidence so far that any other sentient human beings saw it. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was talking about Russia on the other C-SPAN at roughly the same time, so maybe no one did.

From start to finish, the proceedings were a bland, tedious exercise in the deployment of managerial professionalist BS in service of a status quo that virtually everyone in the room either approves of or would be happy to ignore. My favorite special guests were Barbara Childs Wallace of the CAA-OCC and Gloria Lett of OHEC, surely two of the dimmest bulbs in the not exactly radiant ceiling of previously unknown federal acronymed agencies. Asked what was the most important step that could be taken to prevent sexual harassment by members of Congress and their staff, Childs Wallace, whose actual job title is “chairwoman of the Office of Compliance’s board of directors,” without blinking, held up a piece of paper.

“There is no law that requires anybody in Congress to post these notices,” she said.

She then proceeded to explain why putting up posters full of legalese written in tiny print is the surest way of making it absolutely clear to Rep. BlueBlazer McEntrepreneurship that he should not under any circumstances be showing his penis to members of his staff or his fellow representatives. Adults, especially those with college degrees, proud service in our nation’s Armed Forces, decades of experience getting things done in the private sector, and the other sorts of things that you generally find on the CVs of congressmen, learn these things from posters when they are 40 or 50 years old. Who would know otherwise?

Of course that isn’t all. According to Childs Wallace, “one component” that is sometimes neglected is “leadership within each office.” Members of Congress must lead by example. If they do not issue mysterious invitations to female staffers asking them to appear at their private residences and then show up at the door wearing bathrobes with their genitals exposed, no one else will. We need “leadership from the top as to what is appropriate and what is not appropriate.” That and “probably mandatory training.”

Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) also seemed to be very keen on notices and “guidelines.” “We really don’t have current guidelines that say that a member [sleeping] with a 19-year-old intern is inappropriate,” she said. “It doesn’t say you cannot have that.” You might even be right, congresswoman, especially since no one appeared to contradict you. I am sure that it is only the current lack of a piece of paper that is preventing the very honorable and decent public servants we have duly elected from realizing that gross old men preying on young women in their employ is something of an ethical hang-up. Comstock also made a joke about George on Seinfeld getting fired because he didn’t know it was against the rules to have sex on his desk at work. Good one.

But the best of all was Lett, whose unimprovable job title of “counsel for the Office of House Employment Counsel” will bring me joy until Christmas at least. Asked by another member what can be done to improve the situation, she stumbled for a moment. “I have a very different take,” she said. “I think it’s a highly effective process.”

The process she is describing involves, among other things, undergoing 30 days of counseling before filing a formal sexual harassment case against a congressional staffer or member of Congress. After a month has passed, the complainant then goes into “mediation” with someone who represents the office of the person they are accusing, for up to another 30 days. Finally, after mediation, if by some miracle you have not been successfully bribed or otherwise browbeaten into remaining silent — or just quit your job in frustration in the meantime — you have the privilege of waiting yet another 30 days before you are allowed to have a hearing either with Office of Compliance or, if you’ve been very patient, in federal district court. No wonder, as Lett explained, some 85 percent of cases never go to litigation.

We need to stop pretending that the circumstances described in a recent CNN report, in which the halls of Congress are a flesh market in which it is unremarkable for legislators to flirt with and grope members of their staff and even one another, in which a list is circulated samizdat-style of “creeps” who have to be avoided, can be dealt with using posters and bureaucratic legalese. We also need to stop fetishizing the idea of people in power as glamorous hedonistic perverts à la House of Cards, a show that, astonishingly, utilized the talents of a real-life hedonistic pervert to realize its only slightly exaggerated vision of D.C.

Being part of Congress isn’t sexy. It’s very boring, frequently unrewarding work that involves lots of numbers and acronyms and pointless hearings. All of which is fine, unless that machinery is getting in the way of doing something about the sexual exploitation of women, as it did on Tuesday, when two make-work professionals complacently defended the broken system that gives them a paycheck and jokes were made about ’90s sitcoms.

We don’t need more “compliance” training or clearer “guidelines.” We don’t need special displays of “leadership,” “from the top” or otherwise. We just need people to behave with honor and decency. If you don’t know what that involves by the time you get to Congress, a piece of paper isn’t going to be able to help you — or punish you when you do something evil.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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Congress Mandates Anti-Harassment Training After Being Shocked To Learn About It

http://ryanguillory.com/congress-mandates-anti-harassment-training-after-being-shocked-to-learn-about-it/

Congress Mandates Anti-Harassment Training After Being Shocked To Learn About It

In marked contrast to the television and film industries these days, in which sexual harassers are losing jobs and lucrative contracts, the House of Representatives today responded to testimony that two of its current members are known sexual harassers with the announcement that all members must go through mandatory training on how not to sexually harass people.

House Speaker Paul Ryan announced the mandatory training today after two female members of the House appeared at a Committee on House Administration hearing about harassment to inform them women are being harassed.

Rex/Shutterstock

California Rep. Jackie Speier testified there are at least two current members of Congress – one Dem, one Republican, both male – who engage in sexual harassment. Harassment in the House, she described, involves the men exposing their genitals on the floor of the House, grabbing women by their private parts on the floor of the House and asking women, “Are you going to be a good girl?”

Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock testified about what she knew, saying it was “important that we name names.”

Except no names were named. Lots of people on the Hill know who the harassers are, because there is something called a Creep List, CNN reported. But, because neither The New York Times nor The New Yorker has created a watershed moment in politics the way they have in the entertainment industry with explosive articles in which women come forward to out their abusers, in Washington, the harassers’ identities remain under wraps.

CNN today walked viewers though the process by which a staffer must report sexual harassment in Congress. As described by news outlet, the victim must report the incident to the Office of Compliance. Then the victim must undergo 30 days of mandatory counseling. The survivor then must sign an NDA and agree to mandatory mediation. But before that can start, there’s a mandatory cooling-off period, at the end of which it’s been 90 days since the victim first reported the incident.

If you think the process is set up to try to discourage victims from reporting what has happened, and think it’s almost as if the process had been set up by harassers – Jake Tapper thinks so too, and said as much on his CNN show.

“Going forward, the House will adopt a policy of mandatory anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training for all Members and staff,” Ryan said in a statement after today’s stunning hearing.

“Our goal is not only to raise awareness but also make abundantly clear that harassment in any form has no place in this institution,” thre House Speaker added, clearing that up.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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Congress can’t dodge Puerto Rico’s status in tax debate

http://ryanguillory.com/congress-cant-dodge-puerto-ricos-status-in-tax-debate/

Congress can’t dodge Puerto Rico’s status in tax debate

By Andrés L. Córdova, opinion cnontributor — 11/14/17 06:20 PM EST

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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U.S. women lawmakers on sex harassment: Congress, heal thyself

http://ryanguillory.com/u-s-women-lawmakers-on-sex-harassment-congress-heal-thyself-2/

U.S. women lawmakers on sex harassment: Congress, heal thyself

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The House of Representatives will adopt mandatory training on sexual harassment and discrimination, Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday after members of Congress shared stories of women being propositioned and groped in the halls of the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) leaves after a news conference following Republican weekly conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 14, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

“Our goal is not only to raise awareness, but also make abundantly clear that harassment in any form has no place in this institution,” the Republican speaker said in a statement.

Ryan announced the new policy as a first step in the House’s review of sexual harassment policies after women lawmakers related in unflinching detail accounts of harassment and intimidation by House members and staff in Congress.

The Committee on House Administration held a hearing on sexual harassment policies against a backdrop of social outrage over sexual misconduct by powerful men that began with allegations by multiple women against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. He has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone.

Roy Moore, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Alabama, has faced allegations by five women accusing him of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers. Ryan and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell have urged Moore to drop out of the race. Moore has denied the allegations.

U.S. Representative Jackie Speier told the panel that two current House members, a Republican and a Democrat, had engaged in sexual harassment. She did not identify the lawmakers.

She said numerous staff members, both men and women, had been subjected to inexcusable and often illegal behavior.

They included “propositions such as ‘Are you going to be a good girl?’ to perpetrators exposing their genitals, to victims having their private parts grabbed on the House floor,” she said.

Speier later told MSNBC: “We do know that about $15 million has been paid out by the House on behalf of harassers in the last 10 to 15 years,” including one taxpayer-funded settlement on behalf of one of the current House members.

About 1,500 former congressional staffers have urged the House and Senate leadership to address the issue.

The Senate passed a resolution last week to require training. Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a lead sponsor of that measure, said the next step was to make changes in how harassment complaints are handled.

“You wonder why there’s only 21 women in the Senate or why there’s no women running Hollywood studios or there’s hardly any women running major businesses,” Klobuchar told reporters. “Well, when you have a work environment where people can’t get ahead without having to put out, that’s what happens.”

Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Additional reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Peter Cooney

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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Green's retirement means Houston could send first Latino to Congress

http://ryanguillory.com/greens-retirement-means-houston-could-send-first-latino-to-congress/

Green's retirement means Houston could send first Latino to Congress

State Rep. Armando Walle and State Sen. Sylvia Garcia

Carol Alvarado, announces her intent to run for the late Sen. Mario Gallegos’ State Senate seat six, Monday, Nov. 12, 2012, in Houston. The senate seat came open when Sen. Mario Gallegos passed away. ( Nick de la Torre / Houston Chronicle ) less

Carol Alvarado, announces her intent to run for the late Sen. Mario Gallegos’ State Senate seat six, Monday, Nov. 12, 2012, in Houston. The senate seat came open when Sen. Mario Gallegos passed away. ( Nick de … more

Primary congressmen candidate Adrian Garcia talks to his supporters and media with his wife, Monica, at his headquarters after losing the democratic congressional primary on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, in Houston. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle ) less

Primary congressmen candidate Adrian Garcia talks to his supporters and media with his wife, Monica, at his headquarters after losing the democratic congressional primary on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, in Houston. … more

Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, speaks during a press conference against the “bathroom bills” held at the Texas State Capitol Friday July 21, 2017 in Austin, Tx.

Rep. Armando Walle, D-Harris at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas Thursday January 22, 209.

#303859

Photo by Erich Schlegel, Freelance

Rep. Armando Walle, D-Harris at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas Thursday January 22, 209.

#303859

Photo by Erich Schlegel, Freelance

Gene Green is a candidate for TexasÂ 29th Congressional District shown Tuesday August 30, 2016. (JeremyÂ CarterÂ / Houston Chronicle)

Green’s retirement means Houston could send first Latino to Congress

Gene Green’s retirement opens the door for Harris County to send its first Latino representative to Congress, a milestone that has been a long time coming in a region that is more than 40 percent Hispanic.

In fact, Green’s 29th Congressional District was drawn in 1991 to reflect the area’s Hispanic population but never has elected a Latino representative.

Interest in succeeding the longtime Democrat already is fierce.

State Sen. Sylvia Garcia and state Rep. Armando Walle threw their hats in the ring Tuesday to represent the district that covers much of eastern Houston and part of Pasadena.

State Rep. Carol Alvarado is considering running, and former Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia has asked the county party for filing paperwork.

Gene Green is not running for another term.

“I hope that whoever is running realizes this is a very, very, very important opportunity for the Latino community to get not only descriptive representation, but also substantive representation,” University of Houston political scientist Jeronimo Cortina said. “What we don’t know yet is how the primary is going to be dealt with. It could be ugly, but it also could be very amicable.”

Cortina’s colleague Brandon Rottinghaus echoed that sentiment.

“The seat’s going to be won by a Latino one way or another,” he said, adding, “It is kind of a black eye for the city and the county that the number of elected Latinos is fairly low compared to other places to where there are a similar number of voting age Latinos.”

Harris County was 42 percent Hispanic as of last year, according to the U.S. Census, as was 77 percent of Green’s district.

Sylvia Garcia, 67, last ran for the seat in 1992 but failed to make the runoff that Green ultimately won. The former city controller later secured a place on the Harris County Commissioners Court, lost that post in 2010, and two years later beat Alvarado in a special election for her current Texas Senate seat.

She cited President Donald Trump as a motivator for seeking the District 29 seat.

“I want to continue fighting for working families, quality education for Texas children, access to health care for all, and immigration reform,” Sylvia Garcia said in a press release. “We need a champion for the people in Washington to stand up against Trump and fight for what matters.”

Walle, a former Green staffer serving his fifth term in the Texas House, said he hopes to expand health care access and job opportunities if elected.

“He has a long track record, and we just want to build upon that,” said Walle, 39. “At the end of the day, this is a historic opportunity for our community.”

Adrian Garcia, 56, tried last year to oust Green after an unsuccessful Houston mayoral bid – a controversial decision among local Democrats – but fell to the longtime congressman by 19 percentage points.

Harris County Democratic Party Chair Lillie Schechter said the former sheriff requested filing paperwork Monday, and one local television station reported he planned to run again.

Garcia did not return multiple requests for comment, however.

Alvarado, for her part, said in a statement Tuesday that she was “humbled by the encouragement” she had received, but did not commit to a bid.

“I will continue to visit with key stakeholders in our community and will be making an announcement on my candidacy in the coming days,” said Alvarado, 50.

She, like Walle, is serving her fifth term in the Texas House, following a stint on Houston City Council.

No Republicans have filed yet to run for Green’s seat, Harris County Republican Party spokesman Vlad Davidiuk said.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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California Republicans in Congress should remember the ‘no new tax’ pledge – Orange County Register

http://ryanguillory.com/california-republicans-in-congress-should-remember-the-no-new-tax-pledge-orange-county-register/

California Republicans in Congress should remember the ‘no new tax’ pledge – Orange County Register

It may be time for California Republicans to revisit the “no new tax” pledge if the tax reform plan out of D.C. makes the grade. While it may numerically cut U.S. revenues by $1.7 trillion, it definitely passes the burden of the “cuts” on to hardworking people in California.

As a lifelong Republican and an elected official, I do believe that taxes are too high, people will spend their money more wisely than a government bureaucracy, and market principles of supply and demand really work when not crippled by government interventions distorting market forces.

Living in California, I have witnessed centralized top-down planning, heavily skewed incentives to reconfigure the economy, and how government redistribution of assets and wealth is disguised as creating fairness. Robbing Peter to pay Paul does not “grow” the economy nor, as we have witnessed in California, does dependency on government largess rescue the poor from poverty. But it does attract more to government programs, while providing barriers to self-sufficiency and upward mobility.

Unfortunately, the Republican plan in D.C. is mimicking the California model by penalizing professionals, businesses and homeownership for those of us in states with an already high cost of living. It encourages retooling of industries and skewing tax refunds toward less-populated, smaller states with a lower cost of living. The plan reduces tax rates by eliminating worthy incentives to homeownership, which is for most Americans their largest investment and pathway to financial security.

Reductions in corporate tax rates and repatriation of offshore dollars are worthy goals that will stimulate job growth, but our politicians in D.C. seem to be getting lost in ideological warfare to prove that they are not robbing the poor. Transferring benefits to beleaguered states attempting to rekindle manufacturing jobs and allowing “refunds” for taxes that many did not pay is not tax reform.

Elimination of the State and Local Tax deduction will harm the people of California who have worked hard to save and build equity in their homes and communities. Estimates are that property values will drop precipitously, affecting all as the market readjusts. While our state income tax is the highest in the nation, we do, thanks to Proposition 13, have the benefit of relatively low property taxes. If property values and assessments drop, communities will be impacted, prodding our Legislature to fill the gap by demanding higher property taxes, or local debt to fill the voids. I can envision a spiral effect and blame that will be laid on the doorstep of Republicans in D.C. and those who support them.

We are a state of 39 million people with the largest congressional delegation. But, unfortunately, only two senators. Hence we have no more representation than those states with 1 million residents.

But let me offer a few facts that are frequently overlooked in Washington. California is number one in GDP for the nation, providing in 2016 $2.6 trillion of the U.S. economy, far outpacing any other state, and we also remit by far the largest percentage of the IRS gross collections. For every dollar collected by the federal government, the state’s ROI remitted back in government services or contracts per capita is less than 39 other states. So while I may not agree with the way in which our state taxes and spends, we do contribute much more to the federal coffers than we take.

Worrying about the federal debt after the Obama administration that added more than all administrations combined is fatally flawed for a Republican tax reform discussion. Debt reduction is merely a battle, and to win the war we need more than ever to stimulate job growth, creating more taxpayers. Redistribution will not decrease the debt nor will it get Republicans elected.

California Democrats have taunted and rejected the administration and federal laws, but they will not pay the price about to be levied by Republicans in D.C. Many hard-working Californians and small business owners will.

I would hope that our California Republican congressional delegation and those out of state that raise dollars here will remember our support and efforts to ensure their success. Maybe redistribution from a state of 39 million to a state of 1 to 5 million in population is not a new tax, but it will feel that way to my 9.5 million constituents, and to many across the nation.

Diane Harkey is chairwoman of the Board of Equalization.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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U.S. Congress urged to require Chinese journalists to register as agents

http://ryanguillory.com/u-s-congress-urged-to-require-chinese-journalists-to-register-as-agents-2/

U.S. Congress urged to require Chinese journalists to register as agents

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A report to the U.S. Congress released on Wednesday accused Chinese state media entities of involvement in spying and propaganda and said their staff in the United States should be required to register as foreign agents.

The annual report of the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission said that while China had tightened restrictions on domestic and foreign media, Chinese state media had rapidly expanded overseas.

The commission, created by Congress in 2000 to monitor national security implications of U.S.-China trade relations, said China’s state media expansion was part of a broader effort to exert greater control over how China is depicted globally, as well as to gather information.

The report highlighted the rapid growth of the Xinhua news agency and noted that it had offices at the United Nations in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and San Francisco.

“Xinhua serves some of the functions of an intelligence agency by gathering information and producing classified reports for the Chinese leadership on both domestic and international events,” the report said.

It quoted testimony to the commission by the U.S. Government-funded rights organization, Freedom House, as saying it was a “loophole” that individuals working for Xinhua and China’s People’s Daily newspaper were not covered by the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

FARA, first passed in 1938 in the lead up to World War Two to combat German propaganda efforts, requires foreign governments, political parties and lobbyists they hire in the United States to register with the Department of Justice.

The China Daily, an English-language newspaper owned by China’s government and ruling Communist Party, is already registered under FARA but only its top executives are required to individually disclose working for the publication.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is working to overhaul FARA after Paul Manafort, former campaign manager for President Donald Trump, and a business associate were indicted for failing to register under the law.

The reform, backed by powerful Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, could provide an opportunity for Congress to act on the commission recommendations.

On Monday, the Kremlin-backed television station RT America registered under FARA after U.S. intelligence agencies in a report in January called it a “state-run propaganda machine” that contributed to the Kremlin’s campaign to interfere with last year’s U.S. presidential election.

Under the act, RT will be required to disclose financial information. Moscow has said it views the action against RT as an unfriendly act.

Reporting by David Brunnstrom, additional reporting by Ginger Gibson; Editing by David Gregorio

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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Congress Asks If Donald Trump Really Can Blow The World Up Without Restraints

http://ryanguillory.com/congress-asks-if-donald-trump-really-can-blow-the-world-up-without-restraints/

Congress Asks If Donald Trump Really Can Blow The World Up Without Restraints

At his town hall meetings, Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, despite being the highest ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, typically gets questions that are close to home. But lately, the question on people’s minds has turned more existential, perhaps the closest to home of all. People want to know, he said at a hearing on Tuesday, “Can the president really order a nuclear attack without any controls?”

The committee’s chairman, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., meanwhile, has gone on record referring to the White House as an “adult daycare center,” where aides do their level best to minimize the day-to-day damage that can be done by the man-child in their care.

So it stands to reason that for the first time since 1976, the committee on Tuesday held a hearing on the president’s authority to launch a nuclear attack. The hearing comes amid Democrats’ bubbling anxiety over President Donald Trump’s Twitter feud with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and fixation on America’s military might. Corker, for his part, said the confab, of course had nothing to do with Trump, insisting that members of Congress have long wanted to discuss the issue.

But nothing, as they say, focuses the mind quite like the sight of the nuclear gallows.

My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2017

The president has the sole authority to decide whether to use nuclear weapons, an arsenal consisting of 4,571 warheads as of September 2015. There are no legal or political restraints on the president’s power to order a nuclear strike: the president is not required to consult with anyone beforehand, and the Defense Department, Congress, and the judicial branch have no way of blocking an order once it happens.

Other countries with nuclear capabilities have adopted models that don’t give the executive unilateral authority. India and Pakistan have both established councils to authorize the use of nuclear weapons, and Russia gives the president, defense minister, and chief of general staff access to the nuclear codes, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The senators questioned retired Air Force General C. Robert Kehler, Duke University professor Peter Feaver, and former Acting Under Secretary for Policy at the Department of Defense Brian McKeon about the process by which a president can order a nuclear attack. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed concerns about the president’s unilateral authority to launch an attack, although Republicans refrained from referencing Trump by name.

Democratic lawmakers have been voicing concerns over Trump’s authority to wage nuclear war and his incessant Twitter fights, saying he doesn’t understand the consequences of a pre-emptive strike on North Korea.

“We are concerned that the president of the United States is so unstable, is so volatile, has a decision-making process that is so quixotic, that he might order a nuclear weapons strike that is wildly out of step with U.S. national security interests,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said at the hearing.

Similarly, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said if the United States were ever threatened and the president had to act, she would want Trump “to act in a way that acknowledges input from a lot of experts, and not to act based on a Twitter post.” Trump’s behavior “contributes to the concern about whether we’re in a situation where we need to look at, in Congress, a first nuclear strike policy and banning that,” she added.

These concerns are not new. In January, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., introduced S.200 and H.R. 669, the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017, to prohibit the president from launching a nuclear strike without a declaration of war by Congress.

Kehler, the former head of U.S. Strategic Command, on Tuesday said the U.S. military is “obligated” to prevent Trump from launching a nuclear strike against North Korea if it deems the order to be illegal.

But Kehler admitted it’s unclear how the military would determine if an order is illegal. If he were in a position in which he had questions about the legality of an order from the president, he would say “I have a question about this” and “I’m not ready to proceed,” he told the senators.

The public’s concern, Cardin said, has been fueled by Trump’s comments on North Korea. Trump threatened in August to unleash “fire and fury like the world has never seen” against North Korea, when he spoke to reporters at his golf club in New Jersey.

“Now, many interpret that to mean that the president is actively considering the use of nuclear weapons in order to deal with the threat of North Korea,” Cardin said. “That is frightening.”

On Sunday, Trump again lashed out against the North Korean leader, who issued a statement referring to Trump as a “dotard,” which means “very old person.”

“Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me “old,” when I would NEVER call him “short and fat?” Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen!” Trump tweeted in response.

Corker last month called Trump’s threats toward other countries reckless, saying they could set the U.S. “on the path to World War III.” But he and other Senate Republicans didn’t reference Trump or any of his statements on North Korea during on Tuesday, insisting that the hearing was a part of the “normal process.”

“This hearing is something that committee members have asked for and you haven’t had one for 41 years,” Corker told reporters after the hearing. “Again, for anybody to think these hearings are taking place over any specific individual, it’s really about the condition we find ourselves in the world…I think we’ll continue to look at this issue because you know it is a sober issue at a time when we have someone in North Korea who’s advancing their abilities in this regard.”

Corker said he doesn’t have plans for any legislative fixes yet and that the committee should see if there are additional hearings or processes “we oughta look at,” adding “I don’t wanna walk out of a hearing and say that I’ve come to some formal conclusion.”

Even without unleashing America’s nuclear capabilities, Trump has overseen a U.S. military that killed more civilians in Syria and Iraq in seven months than it did in three years under former President Barack Obama, according to the monitoring group AirWars. The Trump administration is also considering loosing Obama-era regulations on drone strikes and commando raids.

Top photo: Chairman Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., left, talks with Ranking member Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., before the start of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on North Korea on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017.

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anchorarcade · 7 years ago

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U.S. Congress urged to require Chinese journalists to register as agents

http://ryanguillory.com/u-s-congress-urged-to-require-chinese-journalists-to-register-as-agents/