#mayor bryan barnett

[reportwire]

Theaters & Politics – CBS Detroit

Theaters & Politics – CBS Detroit

Southfield (CBS Detroit) – Buoyed by recent blockbuster films lead by “Top Gun: Maverick” things are looking up at  movie theaters which Anthony LaVerde, CEO of Emagine Theatres, talked about on CBS 62’s “Michigan Matters.” Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick (Courtesy of Paramount Pictures) READ MORE: CDC: New Listeria Outbreak Tied To 23 Illnesses, 1 Death LaVerde told Senior Producer/Host Carol…

[rochesterherald]

Spotlight on the News: “America’s Mayor” Bryan Barnett & MEA President Paula Herbart on COVID-19 https://t.co/3cvHRP7wUw

[bigyack-com]

As States Add Money to Fix Roads, U.S. Is Urged to Ante Up

Most of the ballot measures involved property tax increases to pay for road repairs. The road builders group reported that 57 ballot initiatives across 12 states had the potential to raise $20 million in revenue each. All told, voters approved $7.7 billion worth of investment into transportation projects and $1.9 billion in continued funding over the next quarter-century. Washington State and Colorado were among the few to vote for tax cuts that are likely to squeeze highway budgets.The issue is important at the local level, too. The United States Conference of Mayors published a campaign agenda wish list in December that called on 2020 presidential candidates to say what they would do to stabilize the Highway Trust Fund, regulate new transportation technology and strengthen public transportation.“While Washington is so often paralyzed by partisanship, mayors continue to show how things can get done,” Bryan Barnett, the group’s president and the mayor of Rochester Hills, Mich., said in a statement.President Trump’s initial infrastructure plan — coming in widely mocked “infrastructure week” presentations and promising “gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways and waterways all across our land” — stalled a few times before resurfacing again last spring. A $2 trillion infrastructure package seemed politically plausible, until impeachment murmurs became a roar and appeared to sideline the issue.In the meantime, Democratic candidates have begun talking about infrastructure. At this point, a majority of them have called for big spending on transit infrastructure. Only John Delaney — well outside the top tier of candidates — has proposed raising the federal gasoline tax, which directly finances the Highway Trust Fund. That option seems politically unlikely, but the Congressional Budget Office has made a number of recommendations regarding highway funding, including charging motorists based on road use and initiating performance benchmarks for road projects.“There are a number of pilot programs going on right now to test vehicle use fees that are going extremely well,” Mr. Tymon said. “It’s not something you’re likely to see in the next federal transportation bill, but it’s something you could see in the next five to 10 years.”According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, most states have raised their gasoline taxes over the last several years. Along with the ballot initiatives passed to support highway projects, states could take a bigger role in their own infrastructure destinies. Ironically, more state-level control and funding is one of the tent poles of Mr. Trump’s thus far unrealized infrastructure policy.“How many ‘infrastructure weeks’ have we had over the past few years? We need one that sticks,” Mr. Herrmann said. “State and local governments are working hard to get things done, but we need the federal government to step up with a bill.” Read the full article

[plusorminuscongress]

New story in Politics from Time: McConnell: Democrat ‘Theatrics’ Won’t Bring a Vote on Background Checks for Guns

(WASHINGTON) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that Democrats are engaging in “theatrics” over gun control legislation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned that “people are dying” because the Senate leader refuses to act.

After a summer of devastating mass shootings, Congress appears no closer to approving legislation to curb gun violence as President Donald Trump wavers on what kind of bill he wants the lawmakers to send for his signature.

“Lives are at stake,” Pelosi told reporters, visibly shaken by questions asking if the House could have done more.

“Don’t ask me what we haven’t done. We have done it,” Pelosi said. “If you are annoyed with my impatience it’s because people are dying because Senator McConnell hasn’t acted. Why don’t you go ask him if he has any regrets for all the people who died because he hasn’t acted?”

McConnell refuses to vote on a House-passed bill to expand background checks for gun purchases because he says it’s not at all clear the Senate would be able to pass the legislation or Trump would sign it into law.

He said for Democratic leaders, who held a press conference pushing action, “It’s all about trying to scare people.”

Republican congressional leaders were going to the White House later Tuesday to discuss options as pressure mounts for Congress to act. The White House’s legislative director met privately with Republican senators to discuss ideas the administration is considering.

McConnell said the summer’s mass shootings “deserve a response.” But he’s waiting on the White House for next steps and only wants to consider legislation Trump would sign into law. The White House had previously warned it would veto the House-passed background checks bill.

GOP senators, though, say inaction is not a response and are anxious for Trump to take the lead.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who has championed another bill that would expand background checks, told reporters, “It’s time to act now.”

Toomey has had several discussions with the president over the summer and he said more Republican senators are rethinking their past opposition.

Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, a conservative who is often considered a voice of the caucus, emerged from Tuesday’s lunch saying, “Many of us feel like doing nothing is not a satisfactory answer.”

McConnell met Tuesday with a bipartisan group of U.S. mayors, including some from cities where mass shootings occurred. The mayors are urging approval of the House bill.

The bill, approved in February, would expand background checks to cover private sales such as one that allowed a Texas shooting suspect to purchase his weapon before killing seven people last month.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is focusing on background checks as a first step to stem gun violence. A letter signed by 278 mayors from both parties urged Congress to act on the House-passed bill.

“We want some Republicans to do the right thing here and (vote for) something that 90% of the American people say makes the most sense” to prevent gun violence, said Nan Whaley, the Democratic mayor of Dayton, Ohio.

Bryan Barnett, the mayor of Rochester Hills, Michigan, and president of the mayors’ conference, said background checks have strong support in his Republican-leaning city.

On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee was meeting to consider other gun bills, including a “red flag” law and a ban on large-capacity magazines.

But Pelosi has privately told House Democrats the House has done their job, and for now they need to put the pressure on McConnell to act.

The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said McConnell should quit with the words and “put the bill on the floor” for a vote.

“Shame on him,” Schumer said. “There are people who died. Shame on him.”

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Daly, Padmananda Rama and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

By LISA MASCARO / AP on September 10, 2019 at 05:25PM

[upshotre]

200 Mayors Urge U.S. Senate to Pass Gun Safety Laws

More than 200 mayors in the U.S. sent a letter to the Senate, urging them to end the summer recess and pass gun safety laws in the wake of two mass shootings.     The mayors from across the U.S. sent a letter to the leaders of both parties in the Senate on Thursday. Signed on to the letter are the mayors of El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, where 31 people were killed in the two weekend shootings. ��   “Politics has stood in the way of action for too long, and I can tell you politics seems very petty when it is your friends and neighbours, who are injured or dead,” said Nan Whaley, the Mayor of Dayton.     “Keeping our cities safe is not a partisan issue,” Conference of Mayors President, Bryan Barnett, said in the letter.     Two bills on enhancing background checks for potential gun purchasers passed the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives this year, but so far the Republican majority in the Senate, headed by Mitch McConnell, has blocked any action on the laws.     “Quick passage of these bills is a critical step to reducing gun violence in our country,” the mayors said in their letter.     On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump visited both Dayton and El Paso. There was mixed reaction to his visit. The president repeatedly slammed his critics during the day, including the Democratic mayor of Dayton, dampening an atmosphere of national unity.     The president’s past rhetoric also remained in focus, including his remarks against immigration. The shooter in El Paso, who was captured alive, is believed to be a white supremacist. Read the full article

[mastcomm]

As States Add Money to Fix Roads, U.S. Is Urged to Ante Up

Most of the ballot measures involved property tax increases to pay for road repairs. The road builders group reported that 57 ballot initiatives across 12 states had the potential to raise $20 million in revenue each. All told, voters approved $7.7 billion worth of investment into transportation projects and $1.9 billion in continued funding over the next quarter-century. Washington State and Colorado were among the few to vote for tax cuts that are likely to squeeze highway budgets.

The issue is important at the local level, too. The United States Conference of Mayors published a campaign agenda wish list in December that called on 2020 presidential candidates to say what they would do to stabilize the Highway Trust Fund, regulate new transportation technology and strengthen public transportation.

“While Washington is so often paralyzed by partisanship, mayors continue to show how things can get done,” Bryan Barnett, the group’s president and the mayor of Rochester Hills, Mich., said in a statement.

President Trump’s initial infrastructure plan — coming in widely mocked “infrastructure week” presentations and promising “gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways and waterways all across our land” — stalled a few times before resurfacing again last spring. A $2 trillion infrastructure package seemed politically plausible, until impeachment murmurs became a roar and appeared to sideline the issue.

In the meantime, Democratic candidates have begun talking about infrastructure. At this point, a majority of them have called for big spending on transit infrastructure. Only John Delaney — well outside the top tier of candidates — has proposed raising the federal gasoline tax, which directly finances the Highway Trust Fund. That option seems politically unlikely, but the Congressional Budget Office has made a number of recommendations regarding highway funding, including charging motorists based on road use and initiating performance benchmarks for road projects.

“There are a number of pilot programs going on right now to test vehicle use fees that are going extremely well,” Mr. Tymon said. “It’s not something you’re likely to see in the next federal transportation bill, but it’s something you could see in the next five to 10 years.”

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, most states have raised their gasoline taxes over the last several years. Along with the ballot initiatives passed to support highway projects, states could take a bigger role in their own infrastructure destinies. Ironically, more state-level control and funding is one of the tent poles of Mr. Trump’s thus far unrealized infrastructure policy.

“How many ‘infrastructure weeks’ have we had over the past few years? We need one that sticks,” Mr. Herrmann said. “State and local governments are working hard to get things done, but we need the federal government to step up with a bill.”

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/business/as-states-add-money-to-fix-roads-u-s-is-urged-to-ante-up/

[ruminativerabbi]

Monsey

Most—but not all—of the responses to the horrific incident last week in Monsey struck me both as reasonable and heartfelt. But what was lacking even in the most sincere comments I read or heard was a clear sense of where we go from here, what specific path we must or should now follow forward into the uncertain future that lies beyond Pittsburgh and Poway, beyond Jersey City and (now) Monsey. And that is the specific issue I would like to address this week in my first letter of a new decade to you all.

Yes, some of the responses were outrageous. Particularly tone-deaf, for example, was the suggestion of Avigdor Lieberman, former Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense Minister, that the only truly viable solution to the problem of anti-Semitic violence in America would be for all American Jews to move to Israel. Problem solved! Although most Israeli officials have traditionally shied away from encouraging mass aliyah by the Jews of the United States (which advice they certainly have not held back from offering to the Jews of other nations, including most recently France and the U.K.), Lieberman clearly saw no reason to hold back. (Click here for the Jerusalem Post account of his remarks.) Apparently unaware—or at least unwilling to accept—that American Jews are patriotic, deeply engaged citizens of their own country who have zero interest in solving their problems by running away to seek refuge in some other country, even one they hold as dear to their hearts as Israel, Lieberman’s comments betrayed such an abysmal understanding of the American Jewish community that I felt ashamed for my non-Jewish co-citizens to read accounts of his remarks.

His comments, however, did not sound entirely unfamiliar: In fact, I found them weirdly reminiscent of the position set forward by those people in the first half of the nineteenth century who felt that the most reasonable solution to the slavery issue that eventually did tear the country apart would have been to pack the slaves up en masse and ship them back to Africa. But the Back-to-Africa movement, predicated on the assumption that American society could never just consider black people to be “regular” citizens possessed of the same rights and privileges as white people, foundered precisely because it sought to solve a deep societal problem by shipping it overseas instead of solving it in the only way that injustice and inequity are ever successfully addressed on the national or societal level: for like-minded citizens to find the political will, the spiritual stamina, and the moral courage to morph forward into a finer, better iteration of their former national self. It was a simplistic, unreasonable solution to the slavery issue then. And it is a simplistic, entirely unreasonable solution to the problem of anti-Semitism in America today. And because the American Jewish community isn’t going anywhere at all, the resolution has to be to address the affliction and not simply to exile the afflicted.

Other responses were more reasonable, if mostly banal. Bernie Sanders, for example, pointed out that his own father came to this county as a teenager to escape anti-Semitic violence in Poland and that Monsey, by reminding him of his father’s plight, only made it clearer to him how important it is “to say no to religious bigotry.” The President called upon his fellow Americans “to fight, confront, and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism.” Mitch McConnell referenced Monsey as “another reminder that the fight against hate and bigotry, especially anti-Semitism, is far from finished,” adding that this was true not only on the global level but also “right here at home.” Isaac Herzog, the chairman of the Jewish Agency, called for “a relentless battle” to be waged against “this horrifying and painful spate of violent anti-Semitic attacks.” Israeli President Rivlin expressed his “shock and outrage,” and called for a worldwide effort “to confront this evil, which is raising its head again and is a genuine threat around the world.”  You get the general idea: bigotry is bad in any event, but violent expressions of racial or religious bigotry represent the kind of societal evil that cannot merely be dealt with by being roundly condemned but which must be addressed by some combination of law enforcement officials, government legists, and civic-minded civilians acting together forcefully and effectively.

So much for the macro level. On the ground here in the actual Jewish community, however, I sensed a far more equivocal response as people tried to negotiate the straits between Over- and Under-Concern.

When Governor Cuomo referenced the incident as “an act of domestic terrorism,” for example, it was hard to decide if he was speaking a bit exaggeratedly about an attack that seems to have been perpetrated by a mentally unstable man acting alone or if he was realistically assessing a new reality for the Jewish community, one in which the possibility of having one’s synagogue or one’s home invaded by angry anti-Semites armed with guns or machetes truly is part of a new normal that somehow crept up on us unawares.

Nor was Governor Cuomo alone in seeing a clear line from Oklahoma City to Monsey. Bryan Barnett, the president of the U.S. Council of Mayors, also unequivocally categorized Monsey as an act of domestic terrorism and called upon the nation “to recognize them—he was referring to Monsey and Jersey City—for what they are and work to prevent them from occurring in the future with the same commitment we have made to preventing international terrorism.”

But here too, I sensed uncertainty in the communal response as Jews on the ground tried to decide if a handful of violent acts undertaken by Jew-hating crazy people has really put the clock back to 1938…or if what this is really all about is the Jewish community taking its unhappy place in the mainstream of a nation so inured to gun violence that the incident of just two days ago in in White Settlement, Texas—a violent assault incident in which a gunman with no apparent motive entered a church during Sunday services, murdered two worshipers apparently at random, and was then himself shot to death by armed parishioners—was considered a front-page story for one single day and then vanished into the back pages of the paper where it will eventually be entirely forgotten other than by people directly and personally involved. Speaking honestly, it’s not that easy to say. And yet, despite it all, just waving Monsey away as another instance of senseless violence aimed arbitrarily at victims whose specific misfortune was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time—that seems entirely inconsonant with the way the facts on the ground feel to me…and, I suspect, to most within our Jewish community.

And so we enter a new decade on the horns of several dilemmas at once. The justice system will deal with the suspect in the Monsey incident, just as it will deal with the Pittsburgh shooter as it would have dealt with the Jersey City shooters if they hadn’t been killed. But how are we, the people on the ground, to respond as these incidents become more frequent, less unimaginable, more expectable, less shocking? To beef up security at our synagogues and schools is an obvious first step. To keep our doors locked and our powder dry, ditto. But the more profound question is whether we should allow these incidents to alter our self-conception…or our sense of ourselves as free citizens of a secure, democratic state, as people whose right to assemble where and when we wish is constitutionally sacrosanct, as Americans whose right to self-identify as Jews in public and to walk securely down any city street is non-negotiable? Is it weak and self-defeating to allow the sonim to affect who we are and what we do? Or is it merely prudent, even wise, to allow these incidents to guide us forward in a way rooted in realism rather than happy fantasy? I’m not speaking about whether we should or shouldn’t hire another security guard to watch over the synagogue when we’re gathered there in large numbers for some specific reason. I’m asking something else, something far more challenging to answer honestly or, even, at all: whether the noble path forward—and the clever and proper one—should involve allowing these incidents to shape who we are and how we understand ourselves (and, yes, how we do or don’t behave in public)…or whether the correct path into the future should specifically feature us refusing to accommodate the haters by altering our behavior at all…or our self-conception.

As Bari Weiss’s very admirable recent book, How to Fight Anti-Semitism, showed unequivocally, anti-Semitism is a feature of the extreme left and right in our country; neither extreme is immune. As of now, no thoughtful Jewish American can imagine that anti-Semitism is a thing of the past, a feature of older, less tolerant times. The origins of anti-Semitism run deep in Western culture—and that too is something known to all. So the real question is whether things have changed…or whether they’ve mere clarified. And that question leads to the one stated above: do we need to rethink everything because of a handful of violent incidents or should we simply refuse to submit to the crazies and insist on carrying on as we always have—as patriotic citizens well aware of our civil rights and as secure in our skin as were our parents before us? To my way of thinking, that is the real question that the Monsey assailant inadvertently lays at our feet: can knuckling under to a new normal be reasonably described as growth…or only rationally as surrender?

[rolandfontana]

Mayors, Police Chiefs Begin Capitol Hill Gun-Control Push

Texans joined a push on Capitol Hill with mayors and police chiefs from around the nation Monday asking for national legislation to tighten restrictions on firearm purchases, saying such laws would prevent mass shootings, the Dallas Morning News reports.”The 911 calls don’t come into the Senate, they don’t come into the Congress, they come into the police chiefs and mayors,” said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, speaking at a U.S. Conference of Mayors news conference. “It’s not the Congress that shows up. By the time they get there, the blood has been cleaned up and the bodies have been removed.” The group called for a universal background check system on firearms purchases and “red flag” laws that allow law enforcement to seize firearms from people deemed dangerous.

The group began its push on the first day back from summer recess for the U.S. House and Senate. Several deadly mass shootings — including ones in El Paso and Odessa — occurred during the recess. Earlier in the day, the group met with President Donald Trump’s staff and they’ll meet with members of Congress Tuesday. Bryan Barnett, mayor of Rochester Hills, Mi., and president of the mayor’s conference, said the group was positively received at the White House, but they weren’t given any indication if the president was planning on supporting any specific legislation. The press conference comes three days after Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he’s “willing to take an arrow” and defy the National Rifle Association by pressing the Texas Legislature to tighten background-check laws. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are drafting a bill that would create a federal grant program to assist and encourage states to pass red flag laws.

Mayors, Police Chiefs Begin Capitol Hill Gun-Control Push syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/

[fullspectrum-cbd-oil]

Democrats Press for Stricter U.S. Gun-Sale Checks, Trump Non-Committal

Democrats in the U.S. Congress pledged on Monday to intensify pressure for stricter gun-sale background check legislation, citing strong public backing for the measure, but received no sign of support yet from President Donald Trump.

With Congress returning from a long summer recess, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi again urged the Republican-controlled Senate to promptly approve a bill clamping down on unregulated gun sales through the internet and at gun shows.

“We are not taking no for an answer,” Pelosi told a news conference in which Schumer said approving the House-passed background check bill should be “our first order of business.”

The calls for gun legislation grew last month following mass shootings in the Texas cities of El Paso, Odessa and Midland, and in Dayton, Ohio.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opened the Senate’s autumn work session without mentioning gun legislation.

In remarks to reporters at the White House, Trump said he was “dealing” with Republicans and Democrats on gun control. “At the same time, we have to protect our Second Amendment very strongly and we will always do that,” he added, referring to the U.S. Constitution provision guaranteeing a right to bear arms.

Amid the recent mass shootings, McConnell said he would not bring a gun bill to the floor of the Senate unless it had Trump’s support.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, a leading gun control advocate, issued a statement on Monday saying that “time is running short” to strike a deal on a background check bill that could pass Congress. He added: “It seems more likely that we’re going to find ourselves back in a familiar place where 90 percent of the Americans who want more background checks are going to be disappointed once again.”

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who spoke at the Pelosi-Schumer news conference, said she was in Washington demanding “a simple vote on what nine out of 10 Americans agree on. I don’t know of anything else that nine out of 10 Americans agree on except HR 8,” referring to the House’s background check bill.

A bipartisan group of mayors met with high-ranking White House officials earlier on Monday to discuss gun legislation but gave no indication of an agreement between the two sides.

Trump has said he favored action, possibly on tackling mental health issues related to gun violence or expanded background checks. The White House has yet to outline any specific proposals.

Bryan Barnett, mayor of Rochester Hills, Michigan, and the current head of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said there was a “robust” discussion about gun legislation at the White House. He said the White House team talked about “a suite of solutions” and that background checks “are certainly on the table.”

White House officials said last week the measures might include expediting the death penalty for mass shooters.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Susan Cornwell and David Morgan; Editing by Peter Cooney)

from IJR https://ift.tt/34Dn6CY via IFTTT

[citizenlayne]

NPR's Michel Martin discusses gun control with mayors: Lori Lightfoot of Chicago; Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio; and Bryan Barnett of Rochester Hills, Mich. https://ift.tt/2H1xOZQ

[hviral]

Trump blasted as pressure mounts for gun controls

Pressure built on the US Congress to pass tough gun control legislation Thursday as the mother of the man arrested for the slaughter of 22 people in El Paso, Texas said she had called police out of concern he had a military-style weapon.

But President Donald Trump and Republicans continued to avoid calls for action against an epidemic of mass shootings, conscious of the importance to the party of gun owners in next year’s national elections.

The White House, meanwhile, was accused of using the two shootings last weekend to promote Trump, after it released a video of a hospital visit to shooting victims. An aide gushed it showed him being greeted like a “rock star.”

Lawyers for the mother of Patrick Crusius, the accused El Paso shooter, said she had called police in Allen, Texas weeks before the August 3 attack because she was concerned about his owning an AK-47-type assault rifle.

The lawyers, Chris Ayres and R. Jack Ayres, of Dallas, told CNN that Crusius’s mother was worried given her son’s age, maturity level and lack of experience with such a weapon.

But a police officer told her that her 21-year-old son was legally able to purchase the weapon, and nothing was done about the “informational” call, according to the lawyers.

Angry US mayors –

The news fed into the mounting anger in the wake of the back-to-back shootings in El Paso on Saturday and Dayton, Ohio on Sunday, which together left 31 dead and many more injured. Both attacks were carried out by solitary white men armed with assault weapons.

In an open letter, 214 US mayors demanded that the Republican-controlled US Senate be recalled from its summer break to immediately pass gun control legislation already approved in February in the Democrat-lead House of Representatives.

Their letter, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top Democrat Chuck Schumer, noted there have been more than 250 mass shootings in the United States this year.

“The tragic events in El Paso and Dayton this weekend are just the latest reminders that our nation can no longer wait for our federal government to take the actions necessary to prevent people who should not have access to firearms from being able to purchase them,” the letter said.

The call added to the pressure on McConnell, who has stifled congressional efforts to expand gun controls amid Republicans’ fears that they could suffer at the ballot box in next year’s elections.

The letter pointed to two background check bills passed by the House that McConnell has essentially blocked from consideration in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Bryan Barnett, president of the US Conference of Mayors, described his members as being “on the frontlines” of an epidemic of gun violence.

“Keeping our cities safe is not a partisan issue,” said Barnett, the mayor of Rochester Hills, Michigan.

The letter came after Trump said on Wednesday that he supported legislation to block gun sales to people with mental health issues, but did not endorse stronger measures.

“I can tell you there is no political appetite for that at this moment,” Trump said.

Those measures include universal background checks for all gun sales contained in the House measure, and bans on the assault rifles used in many mass shootings.

Trump assailed for self-promotion –

Meanwhile Trump was assailed for using his trip to the sites of the two shootings on Wednesday to promote himself.

Trump visited hospitals in both El Paso and Dayton and the White House release photographs and video footage of the visits which showed doctors and nurses applauding him.

“The President was treated like a Rock Star inside the hospital, which was all caught on video. They all loved seeing their great President!” tweeted Dan Scavino, the White House social media director.

“The love, the respect for the office of the presidency, it was — I wish you could there to see it,” Trump told journalists.

Protestors against Trump’s visit to El Paso said he was not focusing on the victims and the tragedy.

“In El Paso, we’re still healing right now, and right now he’s taking all the front from the victims,” said Bill Cooks.

“The only thing we’re talking about is Trump right now, we’re not talking about the victims, and Trump needed to stay in Washington and get some new … gun laws.”

Democrats blasted Trump, accusing him of exploiting the mass shootings “for his personal gain.”

“Innocent Americans were slaughtered. And you spin a presidential visit like a vanity project,” said New York legislator Hakeem Jeffries.

The post Trump blasted as pressure mounts for gun controls appeared first on HviRAL.

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[rochesterherald]

In The Arena: Bryan Barnett, Mayor of Rochester Hills, MI, President of U.S. Conference of Mayors https://t.co/D9VdvOqUlH

[buynsellsolar-blog]

House Committee votes to renew energy block grant program that supports renewables

New Post published on http://roofnrays.com/house-committee-votes-to-renew-energy-block-grant-program-that-supports-renewables/

House Committee votes to renew energy block grant program that supports renewables

The full House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved HR 2088, an important first step in the legislative process to renew and refund the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program, a top legislative priority of The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM). As approved, this legislation would commit $3.5 billion annually — $17.5 billion over five years — in formula-based grants, allocated directly to cities, counties, tribal governments and states.

The legislation, as existing law provides, continues to extend flexibility to local and state governments to invest these new resources across 14 categories of eligible projects and programs, including the development of comprehensive energy conservation and efficiency plans; conversion of street lighting to highly efficient LED lighting; installation of renewable energy technology (e.g., solar, wind, fuel cell and biomass energy) on municipal and other qualifying buildings; and weatherization of government buildings.

“For many cities, the energy block grant program is critical in helping accelerate local actions to reduce energy use and climate emissions,” said Bryan Barnett, Mayor of Rochester Hills (MI) and USCM president. “We thank House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (NJ) for his leadership, Representatives Greg Stanton (AZ) and Marc Veasey (TX) for sponsoring the legislation, and other members for their efforts to renew this key program.”

During the Committee’s deliberations, Chairman Pallone cited the need for continued local action to start ramping up even more as the Administration ignores the need to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency and conservation. Pallone stated that local initiatives are the best bet for moving forward on energy infrastructure investment.

Before approving the legislation on a voice vote, Chairman Pallone expressed his appreciation to the Conference of Mayors for its support of the legislation, the bill’s sponsors — former Phoenix Mayor and now Representative Greg Stanton (AZ) and Representative Marc Veasey (TX) – and he especially praised the efforts of Piscataway Mayor Brian Wahler for bringing the support of New Jersey mayors behind the legislation.

Under the bill, the Department of Energy retains responsibility for implementing the program, as it did in the 2009-2010 period when the first round of EECBG funding was appropriated and provided to local and state governments. The EECBG Program, which was authorized in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 enacted by President George W. Bush, was first funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

News item from the U.S. Conference of Mayors

[plusorminuscongress]

NPR News: Mayors From 3 American Cities Discuss Urgent Gun Reform

Mayors From 3 American Cities Discuss Urgent Gun Reform NPR's Michel Martin discusses gun control with mayors: Lori Lightfoot of Chicago; Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio; and Bryan Barnett of Rochester Hills, Mich. Read more on NPR

[democratsunited-blog]

Florida Insider Poll finds doubt Democrats will nominate strongest candidate

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=3759

Florida Insider Poll finds doubt Democrats will nominate strongest candidate

The verdict is clear among Florida’s political elites as to who would be the strongest gubernatorial nominees for the general election: Democrat Gwen Graham and Republican Adam Putnam.

But among more than 200 Florida political experts participating in the latest Florida Insider poll, the verdict is much less clear about whom the Democrats are likely to nominate.

Nearly six in 10 of the campaign professionals, money-raisers, lobbyists, activists, and political scientists surveyed said former U.S. Rep. Graham of Tallahassee would be the strongest general election candidate for the Democrats.

Putnam is heavily favored to win not just the Republican primary but the general election as well.

Only  42 percent expect Graham to win the primary pitting her against four other men. Most, 51 percent, predict the nominee will be Miami beach businessman Philip Levine, who has spent about $10 million of his own money on TV ads airing for months that have launched him into first place in early polls.

“Levine in many ways is perceived as the front runner and rightfully so. He has been spending money wisely on tv but also has quietly built a strong and robust field presence- especially in Tampa and south Florida. Many democrats would make their peace with him mainly because he has he money to self finance his run, allowing money to be spread around to save Nelson, put the state senate in a posture to be flipped to the Dems and flip a Congressional seat or 3,” said a Republican.

Less than 6 percent of those surveyed predicted any of the other credible Democrats running — Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, Greene, or Winter Park businessman Chris King –would win the nomination.

On the Republican side, an overwhelming 87 percent said Agriculture Commissioner  Putnam would be the strongest Republican for the general election (and 72 percent (77 percent of Republicans) predicted he would beat U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis in the primary.

Putnam, as part of the GOP establishment in Florida, has far more ties to and friends among the Florida Insiders than DeSantis.

“Putnam will survive the recent problems in his campaign. He has a strong grass roots campaign. You can’t win just being on Fox News,” said one Republican, noting DeSantis’ campaign strategy of relying mainly on Fox News appearances to reach Florida primary voters.

Another Republican: “Adam Putnam holds an almost insurmountable fundraising lead over Ron DeSantis, as well as a huge head start. Putnam will be the Republican nominee because he campaigns, connects with ordinary Floridians on issues Floridians care about, and knows how to win in Florida. DeSantis’ campaign is showing almost no signs of life.

Florida Insider polls are unscientific surveys of people closely involved in the political process – including people working for or actively helping the candidates in question. We allow anonymous comments to encourage frank assessments and answers.

The polls reflect the conventional wisdom of Florida’s political establishment, rather than actual public opinion or reality.

Asked which of the seven major candidates they expected to be Florida’s next governor. Putnam was favored by an overwhelming  47 percent, followed by Graham with 23 percent, Levine with 17 percent, and DeSantis with 7 percent.

“Gwen Graham is the strongest Democrat in a Statewide election,” said a Democrat. :Adam Putnam is the strongest Republican. Graham beats DeSantis, Putnam beats anybody but Graham, Putnam v Graham is close, with a slight edge to Putnam without any headwinds. I can’t predict what the political mood about Trump will be in October.”

Among Republicans, 12 percent foresaw a Gov. Levine and 5 percent a Gov, Graham. Among Democrats 23 percent predicted Putnam will win the general election and 1 percent said DeSantis.

And the Trump factor?

A slight  majority, 51 percent, said Trump’s standing with voters will hurt Republicans up and down the ballot “a little,” 17 percent said “not at all,” 16 percent said Trump will hurt other Republicans “a great deal,” and another 16 percent said Trump in the White House will help Republicans on the ballot. Put another way, 16 percent think Trump is helpful to Republican candidates this year, and 68 percent think he will hurt them at least somewhat.

The 218 politicos participating in this month’s Florida Insider poll included 112 Republicans, 89 Democrats, and 17 women and men registered to neither major party. They were:

Tom Alte, Jason Altmire, Gayle Andrews, Scott Arceneaux, Donna Arduin, Dave Aronberg, Rick Asnani, Jon M. Ausman, Roger Austin, Tim Baker, Brian Ballard, Ryan Banfill, Michael Barnett, Scott Barnhart, Rodney Barreto, Ashley Bauman, Alan Becker, Geoffrey Becker, Samuel Bell, Allan Bense, Wayne Bertsch, Ron Bilbao, David Bishop, Stephen Bittel, Greg Blair, Katie Bohnett, Matt Bryan, Bob Buckhorn, Alex Burgos, Dominic M. Calabro, Christian Camara, Bernie Campbell, Kristy Campbell, Dean Cannon, Chip Case, Betty Castor, Kevin Cate, Mitch Ceasar, Jill Chamberlin, Jim Cherry, Alan Clendenin, Kelly Cohen, Brad Coker, David Colburn, Mike Colodny, Gus Corbella, Jon Costello, Brian Crowley, Husein Cumber, Fred Cunningham, David Custin, Darrick D. Mcghee, Jim Davis, Justin Day, Nelson Diaz, Pablo Diaz, Victor Dimaio, Michael Dobson, Doc Dockery, Paula Dockery, Bob Doyle, Charles Dudley, Ryan Duffy, Vickie Dunn, Barry Edwards, Eric Eikenberg, Alia Faraj-Johnson, Mikec Fasano, Peter Feaman, Cesar Fernandez, Mark Ferrulo, Damien Filer, Mark Foley, Andy Ford, Towson Fraser, John French, Jack Furnari, Tom Gaitens, Eduardo Gamarra, Wayne Garcia, Steve Geller, Richard Gentry, Julia Gill Woodward, Susan Glickman, Susan Goldstein, Alma Gonzalez, Jose Gonzalez, Adam Goodman, Cindy Graves, Jennifer Green, Ron Greenstein, Thomas Grigsby, Joe Gruters, Stephanie Grutman, Ron Gunzburger, Mike Hamby, Marion Hammer, Chris Hand, Abel Harding, James Harros, Jeff Hartley, Chris Hartline, Jack Hebert, Rich Heffley, Bill Helmich, Cynthia Henderson, Ann Herberger, Brad Herold, Max Herrle, Mike Hightower, Don Hinkle, Jim Holton, Erin Isaac, Christina Johnson, David Johnson, Eric Johnson, Jeff Johnson, Stafford Jones, Eric Jotkoff, Doug Kaplan, Fred Karlinsky, Joshua Karp, Michael King, Erik Kirk, Chris Kise, John Konkus, Jeff Kottkamp, Kartik Krishnaiyer, Stephanie Kunkel, Bill Lee, Tom Lewis, Beth Leytham, Nikki Lowrey, Susan Macmanus, Jose Mallea, Al Maloof, Roly Marante, Beth Matuga, Kim Mcdougal, Nancy Mcgowan, Clarence Mckee, Seth Mckee, Dan Mclaughlin, Kathy Mears, David Mica, Jamie Miller, Jon Mills, Frank Mirabella, Ed Miyagishima, Lucy Morgan, Samuel Neimeiser, Meredith Orourke, Maurizio Passariello, Alex Patton, Darryl Paulson, Jorge Pedraza, Scott Peelen, Rockie Pennington, Kirk Pepper, Evelyn Perez-Verdia, Joe Perry, Lisa Perry, Sean Phillippi, Gretchen Picotte, Ron Pierce, JC Planas, Bob Poe, Ben Pollara, Jeff Porter, David Rancourt, Susannah Randolph, Marc Reichelderfer, Andrea Reilly, George Riley, Jim Rimes, Franco Ripple, Pat Roberts, Monica Rodriguez, Jason Roth, Sarah Rumpf, Ron Sachs, Tom Scarritt, Steve Schale, Tom Scherberger, April Schiff, Jack Seiler, Kathleen Shanahan, Bud Shorstein, Patrick Slevin, Susan Smith, Roger Stone, Alan Stonecipher, Richard Swann, Kevin Sweeny, Cory Tilley, Greg C. Truax, Frank Tsamoutales, Greg Turbeville, Steve Uhlfelder, Christian Ulvert, Jason Unger, Greg Ungru, Matthew Van Name, Ashley Walker, Nancy Watkins, Screven Watson, John Wehrung, Andrew Weinstein, Susie Wiles, Mike Williams, Gregory Wilson, Jamie Wilson, Leslie Wimes, Jon Woodard, Jeff Wright, Zachariah Zachariah, Christian Ziegler, Mark Zubaly.

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BOSTON | US mayors push to curb gun violence, help immigrants

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BOSTON | US mayors push to curb gun violence, help immigrants

BOSTON (AP) — A bipartisan coalition of U.S. mayors called Friday for policies to curb gun violence and pledged to support immigrant communities as it kicked off a four-day gathering in Boston to tackle issues impacting cities.

At an opening news conference for the mayors’ annual meeting, city leaders took repeated digs at the gridlock and divisiveness in Washington while touting their own effectiveness and ability to remain above the partisan fray.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors said it’s joining the Major Cities Chiefs Association to pressure Congress into passing gun legislation like universal background checks for all firearm sales. Police Chief Art Acevedo of Houston, Texas, who joined the mayors at the meeting, said it’s time to end what he described as a “public health epidemic.”

“My question to those that say that nothing can be done, who are you standing with? The professionals, the leaders or the gun lobby?” Acevedo said.

The mayors will also tackle issues like immigration, infrastructure and cybersecurity. Among those who will join them at the event is Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook.

Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles said the mayors will spend $5 million in communities across the country to help immigrants with the process of become U.S. citizens. He also called on Republican President Donald Trump’s administration to halt its policy of separating children from their parents after they cross the U.S. border.

“We have to obey laws, we have to fix systems, but can we be human beings first?” Garcetti said.

The mayors also criticized plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, and Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh suggested she would encourage residents to skip the question altogether.

Steven Benjamin, the mayor of Columbia, South Carolina and president of the group, said cities are a “force to be reckoned with,” pointing to a report the group released Friday that shows American cities accounted for about 96 percent of the country’s job growth in 2017. The report says the 10 metropolitan areas alone generated $6.8 trillion in economic value in 2017, surpassing the output of most states.

“You won’t find much disagreement up here, but we all believe that mayors have been and are incredibly effective when it comes to leveraging our resources,” said Mayor Bryan Barnett of Rochester Hills, Michigan. ___

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER , By Associated Press ___