Tag: democrats

AS TRUMP THREATENS SECRET POLICE DEPLOYMENT NATIONWIDE, DEMOCRATS DEBATE EXPANDING SURVEILLANCE POWERS AND NEW MONEY FOR DHS

THE ROGUE DEPLOYMENT of secret federal police forces in Portland, Oregon, has added a new complication to negotiations over reauthorizing the Trump administration’s vast surveillance powers and appropriating new money for the Department of Homeland Security. In March, a sweeping set of government authorities to monitor people in the United States expired, and Congress continues to debate what limits should be put on such powers before reauthorizing them. And the House is debating its next DHS funding bill, with the Congressional Progressive Caucus pushing leadership not to bring it up for a vote given Trump’s abuse of power and DHS agents’ role in a Portland arrest. 

House Democratic leaders, however, are considering lumping in DHS funding with appropriations for the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, making it more difficult for progressive Democrats to oppose. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said that the CPC is urging leadership either to not bring up the bill at all or to break it off from Labor-HHS and allow for a separate vote.

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Illinois political powerhouse implicated in corruption probe

Longtime Illinois House Speaker and state Democratic Party chairman Michael Madigan is facing calls for his resignation after federal prosecutors implicated him in an alleged bribery scheme, which has resulted in utility company ComEd agreeing to a $200 million fine.

Federal prosecutors said that utility company ComEd admitted to providing jobs or contracts “for various associates of a high-level elected official for the state of Illinois.” While Madigan’s name was not mentioned, a federal court filing identifies the official as the Illinois House speaker.

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Pressley Campaign Organizer Claims ‘White Vaginas and White Penises Jeopardize Your Melanin’

A campaign organizer for Ayanna Pressley and Black Lives Matter activist made a controversial and scientifically inaccurate statement involving sexual intercourse between white and black people.

Monica Cannon-Grant, who is a campaign organizer for Rep. Ayanna Presley (D-MA), and a Black Lives Matter activist, was released a video of her ranting about mixed race couples, claiming that black people who have sex with whites “jeopardize” the color of their skin.

Cannon-Grant began by saying, “And then the heifer running against Ayanna Presley, this one here, with the white husband… at some point we are going to have to have a conversation with black folks that get in a relationship with white folks and then forget that they’re black.”

“We’re gonna have to have that conversation,” she went on. “And I know it’s going to f*** with all of your nerves, and it’s going to be uncomfortable, but we’re going to have to have this conversation”

“Because white vaginas and white penises jeopardize your melanin. And we need you to sit in the back of the classroom and listen to your part of the show and you don’t get to talk right now.”

She continued, “And you practice some self-love, know your history, and realize where the f*** you came from–this ain’t your part of the show.”

“We need you to sit in the back. I need all the people who understand what it is to wake up black,” she says before going on a lengthy rant repeatedly using a racial epithet.

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Feinstein proposes withholding COVID-19 relief from states without mask mandates

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) called on the Senate on Thursday to support an amendment to the next coronavirus relief bill that would bar states that do not implement mask mandates from receiving stimulus funding.

In a statement from the senator’s office, Feinstein announced her intention to introduce the amendment and stated that it was time for Congress to step in and force states to implement such mandates to stop the virus from spreading.

“Wearing masks in public should be mandatory. Period. [Senate Majority] Leader [Mitch] McConnell [R-Ky.] said the Senate will take up the next coronavirus economic relief bill later this month. At that time, I intend to offer an amendment to prohibit sending funds to states that haven’t adopted a statewide mask requirement,” said Feinstein, a member of the Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration.

“My hope has been that other governors would show the leadership to institute their own mask mandates, but so far that hasn’t happened. It’s time for Congress to step in. This is a matter of life or death, and partisan politics shouldn’t play a role,” she continued.

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