Tag: democrats

Back from the Dead: Senate Democrats Urge FCC to Reinstate ‘Net Neutrality’

Twenty-seven Senate Democrats have written a letter urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reinstate Title II common carrier regulations on internet service providers, a regulatory move marketed to the public as “net neutrality,” little more than two weeks after the Biden White House appointed a new commissioner to the agency.

The FCC has had an extended 2-2 deadlock between Republican and Democrat commissioners until this month, due to the White House’s repeated failed attempts to confirm a partisan progressive, Gigi Sohn, to the agency. The administration eventually relented, withdrawing Sohn’s nomination and submitting a new candidate, Anna Gomez, who was confirmed by a Senate vote earlier this month.

Democrats in the Senate are now urging the FCC, with its new Democrat majority, to revive an old hobby-horse of the party: Title II regulations on internet service providers, a measure progressives call “net neutrality.” The letter’s signatories include Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cory Brooker (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) among others.

The regulations were in place for one year under President Obama, before being undone under President Trump early in his administration.

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Hunter Biden Wanted To Lobby Sen. Bob Menendez On Behalf Of Foreign Client

Hunter Biden and pals wanted to lobby indicted Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez on behalf of a Spanish rail company after regulators scrutinized the firm, according to emails found on Hunter’s infamous laptop.

According to the Daily Caller, Spanish rail company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) hired Rosemont Seneca Partners, Hunter Biden’s investment firm, to lobby the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Amtrak in order to obtain government contracts on various railway contracts, the emails reveal.

In fact, Hunter and pals spoke with Menendez’s office about CAF, and even arranged for meetings between CAF and DOT officials.

CAF hired Rosemont Seneca in June 2010 and Hunter Biden’s firm appeared to discuss potential contracts with Amtrak shortly thereafter, according to the laptop archive. Biden and his associates also appeared to work with CAF on a letter sent by the Spanish ambassador to Amtrak advocating for the firm, emails show.

Hunter Biden sat on Amtrak’s board from July 2006 to February 2009 after he was nominated by former President George W. Bush. Prior to his Amtrak position, Biden worked in former President Bill Clinton’s commerce department and at a Washington, D.C., law firm. -Daily Caller

In July 2010, the month after they hired Rosemont Seneca, Amtrak awarded CAF’s US subsidiary a $298.1 million contract to make 130 new rail cars at an Elmira, New York plant. According to the report, Hunter’s firm appeared to have negotiated a “success fee” with CAF once the contract was announced.

“We may very well be because we don’t have anything in writing, but my point has been that we be firm, have Hunter call the CEO and congratulate him, say we are looking forward to working with CAF as they implement the Amtrak contract and then follow it up with a letter to memorialize the success fee arrangement,” said Hunter business partner Eric Schwerin in a July 27, 2010 email.

“IF and only if they push back let’s not let CAF make us think we didn’t do enough work to deserve the fee, as it is a minor percentage compared to what we would normally get for working on a project like this,” he added.

Rosemont asked for a “success fee” in excess of $800,000 for their work in securing the contract.

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Leader in Richmond Democrat Party group posted bomb threat against Andy Ngo Virginia talk

An official member of the Democrat Party in Richmond, Virginia, posted a bomb threat against journalist Andy Ngo on Friday. 

Jimmie Lee Jarvis, the owner of Mission Control Research and Consulting in Richmond, posted the bomb threat on X ahead of Ngo’s speaking event organized by The Virginia Council and Common Sense Society at the Commonwealth Club in Richmond, Virginia.

The post included an image of dynamite with Jarvis writing in the description box, “On my way to the Andy Ngo event!”

According to the official website of Richmond Democrats, Jimmie Lee Jarvis is listed as an official member of the Richmond City Democratic Committee.

Jarvis’ threat was one of many that came from radical leftists ahead of Ngo’s speaking event, which resulted in two venues pulling out at the last minute.

While Ngo, senior editor of The Post Millennial, explained that the event was ultimately a success after the third venue refused to cave to the coordinated campaign attack of threats issued by Antifa and other far-left activists, Marriott forced the Westin to cancel the venue just hours before it was set to kick off on Friday. Earlier in the week, the Commonwealth Club pulled out from allowing its venue to be used for the event following harassment and threats of violence.

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s dad allegedly had advisory role at top Democratic ‘dark money network’

Joseph Bankman, the father of troubled former crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, allegedly held an advisory role at a top Democratic dark money network, an arrangement a watchdog says “deserves serious scrutiny.”

The allegation appeared in a lawsuit Bankman-Fried’s former company, FTX, filed against his parents Monday after they allegedly “exploited their access and influence within the FTX enterprise to enrich themselves, directly and indirectly, by millions of dollars,” the company’s lawyers wrote. FTX is seeking to recoup money to pay owed debts.

Bankman-Fried’s father, a Stanford University law professor, “sat on the advisory board of Arabella Advisors,” according to the complaint. 

Arabella Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm, manages a nonprofit network that provides fiscal sponsorship to dozens of left-wing groups.

The funds it manages, which include the New Venture Fund, Sixteen Thirty Fund, Windward Fund and Hopewell Fund, collectively raise over a billion dollars in anonymous cash annually and, in turn, also shower liberal causes and initiatives with money nationwide.

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Democrat Senator Bob Menendez and his wife are indicted for ‘accepting $400,000 in gold bars from mob-linked New Jersey developer in return for favors – and giving Egyptian businessman highly sensitive U.S. information’

Democratic Senator Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine Arslanian have been indicted by a federal grand jury over corruption allegations in an investigation that focused on a luxury car, $400,000 in gold bars and an apartment allegedly received by Menendez and his wife.

The indictment claims the couple had an improper relationship with three New Jersey businessmen: Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, who allegedly paid the couple in exchange for Menendez to use his influence in Washington D.C. to their benefit.

The probe also looked at other bribes allegedly paid to the couple. A June 2022 raid on their home found ‘over $480,000 in cash – much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe,’ the indictment notes, adding Nadine had over $70,000 in a safe deposit box. 

The indictment accuses Menendez and his wife of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using the senator’s influence to protect and enrich the businessmen.

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LEADING DEMOCRAT IN MARYLAND SENATE RACE ONCE BLAMED MURDERS ON DECRIMINALIZED POT

EIGHT MONTHS BEFORE Maryland voters will cast their ballots in a rare U.S. Senate primary, the bulk of the state’s Democratic machine has already consolidated behind one candidate. Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks emerged as a front-runner shortly after announcing her candidacy, garnering endorsements from major Democratic officials and organizations before her campaign had any issue platforms listed on its website. 

The race presents a unique opportunity to fill a safely blue seat with a new candidate for the first time in 16 years. If Alsobrooks is successful, she would become Maryland’s first Black senator. While Democrats have embraced Alsobrooks’s historic campaign with enthusiasm, however, her record on criminal justice has largely gone overlooked.

During past campaigns for Prince George’s state’s attorney, Alsobrooks positioned herself as staunchly “tough-on-crime.” In addition to pushing the notion that cannabis decriminalization led to drug dealers murdering each other, she has supported DNA collection of people without criminal convictions, putting police in schools, and harsh penalties in a variety of situations, among other positions opposed by justice system reformers. 

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‘Betrayal’: How Biden Adviser Anita Dunn and SKDK Played Both Sides in Sexual Harassment Case

One of President Joe Biden’s most trusted advisers is under fire amid revelations that she helped guide former Illinois House speaker Michael Madigan (D.) through a sexual harassment scandal while her firm was working with a #MeToo advocacy group representing one of Madigan’s accusers.

Anita Dunn, who has been described as Biden’s “brawler-in-chief,” in 2018 and 2019 helped Madigan to respond to allegations that he retaliated against campaign staffer Alaina Hampton, who accused a top Madigan aide of sexual harassment. Hampton claimed she was blacklisted from working on other political campaigns after filing the complaint. Madigan’s campaign paid $200,000 to Dunn’s firm, SKDK, to respond to allegations from the lawsuit, according to NPR. At the same time, Madigan’s accuser was working with SKDK and a legal defense fund bankrolled by Time’s Up, an advocacy group for victims of sexual harassment.

It’s the latest example of Dunn, considered a feminist icon in Washington, quietly working for politically connected clients accused of sexual misconduct. In 2017, Dunn was revealed to have advised disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein after several actresses accused him of rape.

In addition to Dunn’s work for the Biden administration, her husband, Bob Bauer, is a personal attorney for the president. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

“Betrayal” is how Hampton in an interview with NPR described Dunn’s actions.

“I don’t know Anita Dunn, and I hope I never will,” Hampton said. “But I would question her on her values and integrity, and I would ask her how she can credibly claim her commitment to women’s rights and issues.”

While it is unclear exactly what services Dunn provided Madigan, emails obtained by NPR indicate she provided advice for an op-ed that Madigan wrote in September 2018 for the Chicago Tribune. The then-speaker wrote that he should have “acted sooner” to address sexual harassment allegations at his office.

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Chicago’s mayor Brandon Johnson wants to push ‘mansion tax’ on homes that sell for more than $1 million – and members of his team want to tax households earning $100,000 or more in report named ‘First We Get the Money’

Chicago‘s mayor Brandon Johnson is pushing a ‘mansion tax’ on sales of homes of more than $1 million, as his administration continues to push higher tax on households earning over $100,000.

The newly elected mayor, who took over from his disastrous predecessor Lori Lightfoot in May of this year, wants to push a hike in taxes in order to fight homelessness in the city. 

Allies of Mayor Johnson, 47, have also announced plans to push a $12-billion plan for the city titled ‘First We Get the Money’.

The plan, seemingly named after a quote from the 1983 film Scarface, aims to build a ‘more just’ Chicago by slashing funding for the police and implementing new taxes in the city. 

Johnson believes people that own properties worth $1 million in the third-largest city in the U.S. are ‘rich, and should pay if they sell those homes’. 

The plan, named ‘Bring Chicago Home’ is a compromise from his previous plan that would have seen the transfer-tax rate triple from 0.75 percent to 2.65 percent. 

According to the National Review, Johnson is now proposing a three-tier progressive-transfer rate. 

This means that sales below $1 million would see the tax cut from 0.75 percent to 06. percent, while property owners who sell their homes for between $1 million and $1.5 million would see tax rates rise from 0.75 percent to 2 percent. 

Property sales of $1.5 million and above would see their tax rate quadrupled to three percent of the transfer amount. 

A search of real estate sites by DailyMail.com showed that it was difficult to find substantial sized properties for over a million dollars, with the majority being condos or small townhouses.  

According to Midwest Real Estate Data seen by Chicago Business, there were 2,391 homes sold for $1 million or more in Chicago last year, down 14.5 percent from the previous year. 

Zillow is also currently reporting that the average price of a home in Chicago is $287,709, which is down 1.2 percent over the last year. 

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Warnock’s Church Resumes Evictions From Low-Income Apartment Building as It Enriches the Senator

With Sen. Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.) safe and secure in the Senate for the next six years, the church where he collects a salary as a part-time pastor is back to evicting residents of the low-income apartment building it owns—a subject that became a flashpoint in Warnock’s 2022 reelection campaign.

Since the Democrat won reelection in December, Fulton County court records show, the apartment building owned by Ebenezer Baptist Church has moved to evict six residents. The building, Columbia MLK Tower, has received over $15 million in federal and state funding to shelter the “chronically homeless,” but has nonetheless taken four residents to court this year for falling behind on rent by less than two months. Law enforcement officials forcibly ejected another resident from the pest-infected building in July.

Warnock denied during the 2022 campaign that the church was evicting residents, telling Georgia voters that the Free Beacon reports were “vicious and venomous” attempts to “sully Ebenezer Baptist Church” and the “church of Jesus Christ.”

Ebenezer pays Warnock a six-figure salary for his part-time pastoral services at levels that exceed the outside income allowance for senators. Warnock has leveraged several accounting loopholes to rake in sums far beyond that $30,000 limit. The church paid the senator $120,000 in 2021, for example, $89,000 of which was a tax-free “parsonage allowance” that he used to pay for his $1 million Atlanta home. And though Warnock made $155,000 from his church in 2022, the senator claimed $125,000 of that salary as “deferred compensation” for services he rendered before he was sworn into office in January 2021, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

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Sen. Blumenthal: US Getting Its ‘Money’s Worth’ in Ukraine Because Americans Aren’t Dying

Fresh from a trip to Kyiv, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is arguing that the US is getting its “money’s worth” in Ukraine because Russia is taking losses and no Americans are dying, showing a lack of concern for Ukrainian lives.

“Even Americans who have no particular interest in freedom and independence in democracies worldwide, should be satisfied that we’re getting our money’s worth on our Ukraine investment,” Blumenthal wrote in the Connecticut Post.

“For less than 3 percent of our nation’s military budget, we’ve enabled Ukraine to degrade Russia’s military strength by half … All without a single American service woman or man injured or lost,” he added.

The argument has become a common talking point among hawks in Washington who want the US to keep fueling the proxy war against Russia. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) recently called the conflict “the best national defense spending I think we’ve ever done.”

“We’re losing no lives in Ukraine, and the Ukrainians are fighting heroically against Russia,” Romney said. “We’re diminishing and devastating the Russian military for a very small amount of money … a weakened Russia is a good thing.”

The hawkish senators’ comments came amid Ukraine’s faltering counteroffensive. Despite the lack of success on the battlefield, the Biden administration and most members of Congress want to keep funding the war, which they acknowledge would not continue without US support.

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