HarthorneWingo wrote:Big democratic primary election day in New York State on this Thursday, 9/13. If you live in the state and are a dem, I encourage you to vote for the following:
I'm a Democrat but in no way am I voting for Nixon. She's too green to be Governor of a major state like NY. I know you don't like him, but I'm voting Cuomo dude. He's done a MARVELOUS job IMO (I don't feel like debating it) in running the state.
I'm really looking forward to that new 400+ acre park opening up in Brooklyn next year.
magnumt wrote: I'm a Democrat but in no way am I voting for Nixon. She's too green to be Governor of a major state like NY. I know you don't like him, but I'm voting Cuomo dude. He's done a MARVELOUS job IMO (I don't feel like debating it) in running the state.
I'm really looking forward to that new 400+ acre park opening up in Brooklyn next year.
--Mags
All I'm sayin' is be careful. He let democrats caucus with the Republicans and there have been implications that he helped it along. He's moved left recently but a lot of it has been in response to Cynthia Nixon stances. I really don't trust this dude, he's a lesser of two evils choice against Republicans but that's it, and I see him using NY as a stepping stone to a presidential run moreso than actually caring (I take the subway to work so there's also that).
“Governor Cuomo slashed school funding in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, and when you look at his staff, you hardly have to wonder why,” Nixon campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in an email to The Intercept. “The Governor has surrounded himself with former top Republican staffers because, at his core, he simply is not a progressive. He’s allowed our subways and other infrastructure to rot, he’s sent out Donald Trump style campaign mailers to divide New Yorkers along religious lines, and – working with the IDC – he’s blocked critical progressive legislation like Medicare for All.”
magnumt wrote: I'm a Democrat but in no way am I voting for Nixon. She's too green to be Governor of a major state like NY. I know you don't like him, but I'm voting Cuomo dude. He's done a MARVELOUS job IMO (I don't feel like debating it) in running the state.
I'm really looking forward to that new 400+ acre park opening up in Brooklyn next year.
--Mags
All I'm sayin' is be careful. He let democrats caucus with the Republicans and there have been implications that he helped it along. He's moved left recently but a lot of it has been in response to Cynthia Nixon stances. I really don't trust this dude, he's a lesser of two evils choice against Republicans who I see as using NY as a stepping stone to a presidential run.
“Governor Cuomo slashed school funding in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, and when you look at his staff, you hardly have to wonder why,” Nixon campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in an email to The Intercept. “The Governor has surrounded himself with former top Republican staffers because, at his core, he simply is not a progressive. He’s allowed our subways and other infrastructure to rot, he’s sent out Donald Trump style campaign mailers to divide New Yorkers along religious lines, and – working with the IDC – he’s blocked critical progressive legislation like Medicare for All.”
I get what you're saying. But every politician has issues. Coumo gets stuff done tho. A lot of good projects have come to fruition under his ruling terms. Leading NY into a more modern and attractive locale again.
Just look at upstate NY as an example when many modernization projects as well as infrastructure setups. Did you ever think a Drone Hub would be in upstate NY? Or a modern airport to help back it?
He's not perfect, but I'm a big fan of his and what he has accomplished. Really wish he would run and win the 2020 Presidential Race. I know it'll rub a lot of people the wrong way, but it is what it is.
HarthorneWingo wrote:I just read the article. While I understand and appreciate your points (I've gone back and forth myself between the two candidates), I have a couple points to soften this stance. One, I have no problem with "soaking the uber rich" who have gotten the benefit of wealth redistribution over the last 30 years. We should tax dividend income the same as "income." I betcha many businesses still don't pay taxes. Two, so we can agree that she won't get all that she wants. Maybe she gets half. At least she's moving the ball in the right direction. Do you trust that Cuomo all of a sudden found religion? Also, when we start his presidential campaign? 2019 is around the corner. I just wonder where his efforts will be focused.
This think Cuomo is fine for one more term, especially given the need to win this election and have a democrat in charge opposing Trump. I remember the 12 years when Republican George Pataki was governor, and if you think that a Republican can't win in New York, you're mistaken. They can when we run a candidate who appears an outlier.
Single payer has be done on the Federal level. It can't be done on the state level without making NY economically noncompetitive. She has a lot of other ideas that are also out there, and will not sell once general election voters get wind of them. She's been pulling stuff out of her backside all campaign - without having any experience or intellectual expertise that suggests she knows what she's talking about.
It's all attitude devoid of meaningful experience. I have no use for a person like this.
This is only going to get worse with a guy like this who has multiple skeletons in the closet, perjures himself repeatedly and who was clearly chosen for his fealty to the mad king.
I'd consider it more likely than not key GOP Senators will hold back their support and the nomination will be withdrawn. He is simply too much baggage to have on the voting records of anyone whose political career is not completely hitched to Trump or who is not a far right wingnut. Any senator who holds their position due to the support of more moderate Republicans is doing the calculus of supporting a disaster like Kavanaugh.
This is only going to get worse with a guy like this who has multiple skeletons in the closet, perjures himself repeatedly and who was clearly chosen for his fealty to the mad king.
I'd consider it more likely than not key GOP Senators will hold back their support and the nomination will be withdrawn. He is simply too much baggage to have on the voting records of anyone whose political career is not completely hitched to Trump or who is not a far right wingnut. Any senator who holds their position due to the support of more moderate Republicans is doing the calculus of supporting a disaster like Kavanaugh.
Apparently, republicans knew all this which is why McConnell tried to nudge Trump away from Kavanaugh.
Make no mistake about it, a plea deal for Manafort is imminent and when that happens it really does change the nature of the investigation.
When I was posting on the CA Forum, I said over a year ago that Manafort is likely the key to nailing down Trump for treason, because Manafort is likely the missing link to proving with testimony exactly how the election was hacked.
One reason I said this was there were several key indicators that Manafort and at least several other members of the Trump campaign knew the election was being hacked in the swing states.
notified other staff that Flynn would be reaching out to Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak as part of an effort to repair U.S.-Russian relations, “which has just handed the U.S.A. election to him [Trump].”
and
Steve Bannon bragged to a journalist months before the election that Trump would win precisely the surprise swing states that he ended up winning even though there was no statistical probability of it happening.
and
most importantly, against the advice of everyone else advising Trump on campaign strategy, Manafort (who at this point was officially off the campaign, but was still shadow advising Trump) insisted that Trump campaign in Michigan in the final days before the election even though no one else thought Trump could win there. Manafort said "You'll see" which was his way of saying I've got this, just go there and make it look like you won by showing up late in the game.
Manafort had the resources of the Russian hacker army to draw upon and it has to be pretty clear at this point he drew upon them to rig the election.
And this is why I've said for a long time now that Mueller can nail Trump for all kinds of conspiracy charges, but that Manafort would be the fait accompli. This is why Mueller has gone mano a mano with Manafort and why Manafort held out until Mueller broke him both legally and financially. Manafort knew the stakes were world changing if he spilled the beans so he tried to beat the rap, but now that he cannot he is making the choice to sing rather than die in prison.
And rest assured, Mueller didn't get this far to make a half deal with Manafort. Once the deal is made, expect Trump to be put away for life for treason. That's what a Manafort plea deal means to me essentially; a total confirmation that Trump will get the justice he so deserves.
Once Manafort flipping is confirmed, expect a chain reaction in the Trump camp and the GOP as everyone involved will know the jig is up.
Manafort also holds the keys to Russian money buying the GOP.
And the Guiness Book of World Records will confirm Mike Pence is the first human being on record to officially shyt a brick, because Pence is a Russian stooge installed in the VP slot by Paul Manafort.
That means Manafort flipping makes Pence becoming president way more unlikely as Mueller would now have the confession he needed that Pence was the Kremlin's choice for VP.
Manafort in talks with prosecutors about possible plea, according to people familiar with the discussions
Days before in-person jury selection is set to begin in his second trial, President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is in talks with the special counsel’s office about a possible plea deal, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the conversations, cautioned that the negotiations may not result in a deal with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is prosecuting Manafort for alleged money laundering and lobbying violations.
But the discussions indicate a possible shift in strategy for Manafort, who earlier this year chose to go to trial in Virginia, only to be convicted last month in Alexandria federal court on eight counts of bank and tax fraud. He had derided his former business partner, Rick Gates, for striking a deal with prosecutors that provided him leniency in exchange for testimony against Manafort.
“I had hoped and expected my business colleague would have had the strength to continue the battle to prove our innocence,” Manafort said in February.
The specifics of Manafort’s current negotiations with prosecutors were unclear, including whether he would provide any information about the president.
Earlier this summer, Kevin M. Downing, an attorney for Manafort, said there was “no chance” his client would flip and cooperate with prosecutors.
However, Manafort’s current willingness to engage in talks could rattle Trump, who in the past has praised his former campaign chairman for his unwillingness to cooperate with the special counsel.
Prosecutors “applied tremendous pressure on him and . . . he refused to ‘break’ - make up stories in order to get a ‘deal,’ ” the president tweeted last month. “Such respect for a brave man!”
Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni and Mueller spokesman Peter Carr declined to comment. Manafort’s attorneys, Downing and Thomas E. Zehnle, did not immediately return calls for comment.
Jury selection for Manafort’s second trial is set to begin Monday, with opening statements scheduled for Sept. 24.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson pushed back a scheduled pretrial hearing in the case from Wednesday to Friday. Court filings did not indicate the reason for the delay.
Manafort, 69, a longtime lobbyist and consultant with deep roots in the GOP, served as Trump’s campaign chairman for about six months, resigning in August 2016 amid increasing scrutiny of his work on behalf of a Russia-friendly political party in Ukraine.
Both cases brought against Manafort stem from his work in Ukraine. The jury in Virginia found that Manafort hid the money he made in Ukraine to avoid paying taxes and then lied to get loans when the political party collapsed and his funding dried up. In Washington, he faces charges of conspiring against the United States, money laundering, failing to register as a lobbyist, making false statements and witness tampering.
Manafort had the choice to consolidate both cases into one but declined. He had been jailed since June as a result of the witness tampering charges.
He has yet to be sentenced in Virginia, where he faces up to 10 years in prison under federal guidelines on the eight of 18 counts on which he was convicted. A mistrial was declared on the remaining charges after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict.
Trump has sought advice from his lawyers on the possibility of pardoning Manafort and other aides accused of crimes, his attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani previously told The Washington Post, and was counseled against pardoning anyone involved in the ongoing probe. The president agreed to wait at least until the investigation concludes, Giuliani has said.
Several defendants have cooperated or pleaded guilty in connection with the special counsel probe, including Gates; former national security adviser Michael Flynn; Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who worked with Gates and Manafort; W. Samuel Patten, who admitted arranging for a Ukrainian businessman to illegally donate to Trump’s inauguration; and former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, who was sentenced to 14 days in jail last week after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI.
The decision by Trump’s onetime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to plead guilty last month in a federal investigation in Manhattan particularly angered the president, who denounced him as a “flipper.”
This is only going to get worse with a guy like this who has multiple skeletons in the closet, perjures himself repeatedly and who was clearly chosen for his fealty to the mad king.
I'd consider it more likely than not key GOP Senators will hold back their support and the nomination will be withdrawn. He is simply too much baggage to have on the voting records of anyone whose political career is not completely hitched to Trump or who is not a far right wingnut. Any senator who holds their position due to the support of more moderate Republicans is doing the calculus of supporting a disaster like Kavanaugh.
Apparently, republicans knew all this which is why McConnell tried to nudge Trump away from Kavanaugh.
Plenty of people had to advise the Trumpsters not to go with the Kavster, but you know they picked the most corrupt possible candidate because they wanted someone willing to do anything for the Don.
Clyde_Style wrote: This is only going to get worse with a guy like this who has multiple skeletons in the closet, perjures himself repeatedly and who was clearly chosen for his fealty to the mad king.
I'd consider it more likely than not key GOP Senators will hold back their support and the nomination will be withdrawn. He is simply too much baggage to have on the voting records of anyone whose political career is not completely hitched to Trump or who is not a far right wingnut. Any senator who holds their position due to the support of more moderate Republicans is doing the calculus of supporting a disaster like Kavanaugh.
Apparently, republicans knew all this which is why McConnell tried to nudge Trump away from Kavanaugh.
Plenty of people had to advise the Trumpsters not to go with the Kavster, but you know they picked the most corrupt possible candidate because they wanted someone willing to do anything for the Don.
Douche bag extraordinaire Stephen Miller ("The authority of the president shall not be questioned!"), above, just got up the ass with a red hot poker from the local rabbi from where Miller grew up ... on Rosh Hashanah! This is after getting ripped a new one by his uncle. I love it!
But one religious leader took the holiday as an opportunity to send a message to a man who he said was a former congregant: presidential adviser Stephen Miller. In a fiery sermon that has now been covered by news outlets around the world, Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels of Beth Shir Shalom, a synagogue in Santa Monica, Calif., where Miller grew up, denounced Miller for his role in the proposal that resulted in the family separation crisis at the border, questioning how his values diverged so sharply from the congregation’s.
“The actions that you now encourage President Trump to take make it obvious to me that you didn’t get my or our Jewish message,” Comess-Daniels said. “That notion is completely antithetical to everything I know about Judaism, Jewish law and Jewish values.”
Comess-Daniels said Miller’s family belonged to the synagogue when Miller was about 9 or 10 years old; Miller attended Hebrew School there and his younger sister later had her bat mitzvah there, he said. It was not clear how long the family was involved with the synagogue. The White House did not return a request for comment.
Comess-Daniels framed Miller’s role in the White House as a potential failure of his synagogue and its teachings.
“What is troublesome to me is that some of my colleagues and others are concerned what I might have taught you when you were a member of our community,” Comess-Daniels said.
The Department of Homeland Security transferred nearly $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a budget document released by a Democratic senator late Tuesday night, diverting funds from the relief agency at the start of the hurricane season that began in June. The release of the document comes as a major storm barrels toward the East Coast.
The document, which was released by the office of Senator Jeff Merkley, of Oregon, shows that the money would come from FEMA’s operations and support budget and was transferred into accounts at ICE to pay for detention and removal operations. The document also shows that the Department of Homeland Security transferred money from accounts at Customs and Border Protection that pays for border fencing and technology.
The transfer was a part of more than $200 million the Department of Homeland Security moved from the budgets of other agencies to ICE’s detention and removals.
Mr. Merkley, appearing Tuesday night on “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC, said the Trump administration was taking money from FEMA’S “response and recovery” and “working hard to find funds for additional detention camps.” Mr. Merkley has been a vocal critic of the administration’s immigration policies.
The Department of Homeland Security denies that any money transferred came from FEMA’s disasters relief accounts, which pay for work related to hurricanes and other natural disasters.
“Under no circumstances was any disaster relief funding transferred from @fema to immigration enforcement efforts,” Tyler Q. Houlton, an agency spokesman, said on Twitter. “This is a sorry attempt to push a false agenda at a time when the administration is focused on assisting millions on the East Coast facing a catastrophic disaster.”
Mr. Holton added that money transferred from FEMA could not have been used to pay for hurricane relief efforts because of “appropriation limitations.”
“DHS/FEMA stand fiscally and operationally ready to support current and future response and recovery needs,” he said.
In an email, the agency said funds taken from FEMA’s accounts amounted to less than one percent of the agency’s operational accounts and was taken from money to pay for employee travel expenses, training, basic purchase cards and office supplies, among other things. FEMA’s funding for disaster response is in a separate, $25 billion account, the agency said.
The agency said it is prepared for Hurricane Florence, which is expected to hit North and South Carolina, and Virginia on Thursday or Friday. FEMA officials said the hurricane could be the strongest storm to hit the Carolinas and Virginia region “in decades.”
The release of the budget documents showing the money transfers between FEMA and ICE came after President Trump in an interview called last year’s hurricane response efforts by FEMA in Puerto Rico an “unsung success”
“The job that FEMA and law enforcement and everybody did working along with the governor in Puerto Rico, I think was tremendous,” Mr. Trump said.
In an early Wednesday morning Twitter post, Mr. Trump doubled down on the agency’s performance: “We got A Pluses for our recent hurricane work in Texas and Florida (and did an unappreciated great job in Puerto Rico, even though an inaccessible island with very poor electricity and a totally incompetent Mayor of San Juan). We are ready for the big one that is coming!”
New data shows that nearly 3,000 people died as a result of the hurricane and many people continue to live without power on the island. An after-action report by FEMA released in July shows that they agency vastly underestimated how much food and fresh water it would need, and how hard it would be to get additional supplies to the island.
The report describes the initial response as chaotic and disorganized and plagued with logistical problems as the agency tried to get food and other equipment onto the island.
Correction: September 12, 2018
An earlier version of this article misstated when a budget document was released by a senator. Senator Jeff Merkley released a budget document late Tuesday, not Wednesday.
