Showing posts with label Democrats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Democrats. Show all posts
Friday, July 29, 2016
D'Souza: Democrats Are Running a Soviet-style Campaign
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Democrats Call for ‘Flood’ of Muslims to U.S.
A group of 14 Democrat senators has written a letter to President Obama urging him to “dramatically increase” the number of Syrian refugees being resettled into American cities and towns.
They say the U.S. needs to take in at least 65,000 Syrians as permanent refugees over the next year-and-a-half.
“While the United States is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees, we must also dramatically increase the number of Syrian refugees that we accept for resettlement,” says the four-page letter to Obama, copied to Secretary of State John Kerry and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
More than 3.5 million Syrians are registered with the United Nations as refugees, and the U.N. wants to assign about 350,000 of them to so-called “third-party countries.”
The 14 senators, led by Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., cite the research of the Refugee Council USA to make their case for 65,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2016. RCUSA is the main lobbying arm of the nine agencies that contract with the federal government to resettle refugees in cities and towns across America.
The more refugees brought into the country, the more government grants doled out to the nine resettlement agencies. Among them are the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Church World Service, International Rescue Committee and the National Association of Evangelicals’ World Relief.
More than 90 percent of Syrian refugees will be Muslim
Of the 843 Syrians resettled in the U.S. since the start of the Syrian civil war, 92 percent have been Muslim and about 7 percent Christian. Syria’s overall population is 90 percent Muslim and close to 10 percent Christian. » | Leo Hohmann | Saturday, May 23, 2015
Wednesday, November 06, 2013
Bill de Blasio Wins New York Mayoral Election
Bill de Blasio has become the first Democrat in almost 25 years to be elected Mayor of New York City, crushing Joe Lhota, his Republican opponent, by more than 50 percentage points, according to exit polls.
Mr de Blasio, a Left-wing city official who has called for an increase in taxes on Manhattan's millionaires, beat Mr Lhota, a former city transport boss, by 79-19 among women and 69-27 among men, according to the polling, by Edison Research for The New York Times.
"The bottom line is we have to get to work immediately," he said earlier on Tuesday, while casting his vote in his home neighbourhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn.
According to the surveys, which saw Mr de Blasio declared the 109th mayor immediately after polls closed at 9pm, he triumphed among every age group, ethnicity, income bracket and education level and even secured the votes of 43 per cent of New Yorkers defining themselves as conservatives.
The decisive victory was hailed by Mr de Blasio's supporters as proof that New Yorkers – struggling like many Americans to fully recover from recession – yearned for a radical departure from Michael Bloomberg's 12-year tenure as the billionaire pro-business chief executive of America's biggest city. Read on and comment » | Jon Swaine, in New York | Wednesday, November 06, 2013
My comment:
I guess that New Yorkers got tired of tyrants. Enough already! – © Mark
This comment appears here too.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
THINK PROGRESS: The Council on American-Islamic Relationsreleased poll results this week showing that 68 percent of American Muslims support President Obama while just 7 percent support Mitt Romney (1 in 4 remain undecided). These results reflect a new reality for Republicans: American Muslims are rushing toward Democrats. In 2008, 49 percent of Muslim-Americans felt “closer” to Democrats. Now that number has shot up to 66 percent. That’s in contrast to the population as a whole, where Democratic favorability has actually gone down 11 percent. » | Hamed Aleaziz | Thursday, October 25, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: The president needs to convince the elderly that Romney will hurt Medicare – and to persuade young voters to show up at all
The banners, flags and T-shirts – Women for Obama, Hispanics for Obama, LBTG for Obama – plaster Democratic campaign offices in the hard fought swing state of Florida, just as in 2008. What's missing this time is the people.
Four years ago Barack Obama's campaign was flooded by volunteers – the young in particular – excited by his vision of remaking America, and by the prospect of putting an African American in the White House. Now active support in Florida is visibly more sparse, and it may prove decisive as Democrats struggle to claw back the state from Mitt Romney.
"This election's not as inspirational as the last one was," said Robert Obry, deputy field organiser at a near deserted Obama campaign office in Ybor City, a historic Tampa neighbourhood popular for its bars, music and cigars. "This one is more about straight politics. Even my grandmother, who is a Republican, voted for Obama last time which kind of blew my mind. This time she's not voting for him because she says not enough has changed." » | Chris McGreal in Tampa | Monday, October 22, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
NJ.COM: WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said today during a hearing on Islamic radicalization that denying a link between Islam and terrorism “defies credulity,” while Democrats countered that the hearing itself was counterproductive in the fight against terror.Rep. Peter King (R-NY), the Long Island congressman who chairs the committee, cited an assessment by U.S. counterterrorism officials that the greatest threat to U.S. security was from supporters of al Qaeda, the radical Islamic group that launched the 9/11 attacks. No one was suggesting that all Muslims were terrorists, King said. But, he said, “To deny that there’s any correlation between the Muslim faith and the biggest threat to this country today defies credulity.”
“When they’re looking for the Russian mob, they go to Breighton Beach and Coney Island,” King said, referring to Russian immigrant neighborhoods in Brooklyn. “That’s just good police work.” » | Steve Strunsky/The Star-Ledger | Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican who helped pay for university by appearing in Cosmopolitan, was alleged to have descended into "the gutter" with his comment on Elizabeth Warren.
Asked how she funded her own education, Prof Warren, a 62-year-old Democratic ally of Barack Obama who teaches at Harvard, said she had "borrowed money", adding: "I kept my clothes on." During a radio interview, Mr Brown, 52, responded: "Thank God." He later added: "I went to the school of hard knocks. And I did whatever I had to do to pay for school." Clare Kelly, the Massachusetts Democrats' executive director, said the remarks were more suited to the "frat house, not a race for US Senate". » | Jon Swaine, New York | Friday, October 07, 2011
Related content here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Mark Penn, who was Mrs Clinton's chief strategist for most of her presidential campaign after previously being a senior aide to her husband President Bill Clinton, accused Mr Obama of having "wandered into the thicket of class warfare".
His intervention came after a speech on Monday in which Mr Obama advocated raising $1.5 trillion in taxes, mainly on high earners, over the next decade. This was widely interpreted as a repositioning to the Left and was broadly welcomed by liberal activists and groups.
In an article for the Huffington Post website, Mr Penn wrote: "Barack Obama is careering down the wrong path towards re-election. He should be working as a president, not a candidate. He should be claiming the vital centre, not abandoning it.
"He should be holding down taxes rather than raising them. He should be mastering the global economy, not running away from it. And most of all, he should be bringing the country together rather than dividing it through class warfare." Read on and comment » | Toby Harnden, Washington | Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A married US congressman sent lewd photographs of himself to young female admirers over Twitter and Facebook then lied about being the victim of hackers when he was caught, he admitted last night.
Anthony Weiner, a Democrat from New York, broke down in tears as he confessed to "inappropriate conversations" with six women online and over the phone in the past three years.
"I have made terrible mistakes, I have hurt the people I love the most, and I am deeply sorry," he said, in a hastily-arranged press conference in a Manhattan hotel.
Mr Weiner, 46, repeatedly apologised to his 34-year-old wife Huma Abedin, [bio] a senior aide to Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, and to his constituents, but said he would not resign.
"I don't believe I did anything here that violates any law or violates my oath to my constituents," he said. Some of the conversations dated back to before his wedding last summer.
However Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, called for an inquiry “to determine whether any official resources were used or any other violation of House rules occurred.” » | Monday, June 06, 2011
Saturday, April 09, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Obama and Democrats forced to accept $39bn package of cuts while Republicans gave way on health care for women
A shutdown of the US federal government scheduled to begin on Saturday was averted after the Democrats and Republicans reached agreement only hours before midnight on budget spending cuts.
The shutdown would have triggered major disruptions across the country and could have set back the country's fragile economic recovery. Hundreds of federal agencies would have closed down and about 800,000 federal staff faced suspension.
The deal came after days of negotiation between Obama and the Republican House Speaker, John Boehner, and the Democratic leader in the Senate Harry Reid. A deal had appeared to be tantalisingly close several times but was not finalised, until Friday night.
Boehner, an hour before midnight, told journalists in Congress: "I am pleased that Senator Reid and the White House have come to an agreement that will cut spending and keep government open."
It would have been the first federal government shutdown since 1995-96 when there was a stand-off between the Republicans and the Clinton White House. » | Ewen MacAskill | Saturday, April 09, 2011
Sunday, January 09, 2011
THE OBSERVER: New breed of right-wingers takes over the Capitol with a slash-and-burn agenda that threatens the White House
Dick Armey's black, lizard-skin cowboy boots lay on the floor while he relaxed on the couch in stockinged feet. The former Texas congressman was in a jovial mood in his office just off the Washington Mall – and for good reason. He may no longer be a politician but as chairman of FreedomWorks, one of the main forces behind the conservative Tea Party movement, he is once more a major player in the new Washington DC.
"My wife likes the terminology of a 'paradigm shift'," he said in a western drawl. "And I like to agree with that. It is a paradigm shift. It's a phenomenon."
Democrats might not agree, but it is hard to argue the Congress sworn in last week – now with a Republican-dominated House of Representatives – has not made Washington a very different place from the "New Camelot" hailed by the media when Barack Obama was inaugurated in 2009.
The new influx of GOP politicians that has swaggered into the American capital, represents a massive change in political culture. A staggering 87 new Republican congressmen and six new Republican senators have landed on the banks of the Potomac river.
But it is not just the numbers; it is the way they were elected. The 2010 midterm elections, which sank the Democrats, were propelled by the energy of the right-wing Tea Party movement. Many of those new Republicans are Tea Partiers themselves or beholden to its activists and their conservative agenda.
That's why people such as Armey will shape the new face of the capital. To its critics, FreedomWorks is a corporate-backed front group exploiting the Tea Party. To its fans, it helps to co-ordinate and focus an outpouring of anti-government rage and desire for personal liberty the like of which have not been seen for a generation. Either way, Armey's cheerfulness seems justified given the sudden change of fortunes between Republicans and Democrats.
"The Obama White House forgot about America," he declared, as a young fan from a Republican-leaning website walked in and asked him to sign a book. >>> Paul Harris | Sunday, January 09, 2011
Friday, December 17, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Passage of bill reflects weakness of both the presidency and the Democratic party after Republican wins in November elections
The US president, Barack Obama, will today sign into law measures approved by Congress extending tax cuts introduced by George Bush amid Democratic complaints that the breaks favour the rich.
Despite objections from many of Obama's fellow Democrats, the House of Representatives passed the $858bn (£548bn) package of renewed tax cuts last night. The package, which also extended benefits for the long-term unemployed for 13 months, was passed by 277 votes to 148. On Wednesday the Senate passed it by an overwhelming 83-15 margin.
Passage of the bill reflects the relative weakness of both the presidency and the Democratic party after the Republican sweep in November's congressional elections, giving them a majority in the House and big inroads into the Democratic majority in the Senate.
Obama has been forced to bend to the resurgent Republicans, his current position on taxes contrasting sharply with his stance earlier this year when he and his fellow Democrats fought against renewing tax reductions for the wealthiest Americans – those with household incomes above $250,000 – while supporting continued cuts for middle-class taxpayers. >>> Mark Tran | Friday, December 17, 2010
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
THE INDEPENDENT: Republicans seize momentum in House of Representatives as voter disillusionment leaves Democrats facing a tough futureA conservative wave roared across the American political landscape last night, humbling President Barack Obama and instantly redrawing the landscape in Washington with a new place on the high perches of power for the flag-bearers of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement.
As night gave away to dawn in America, a huge power-shift had materialised with the Republican Party set to seize control of the House of Representatives with a significant majority. Television networks projected that the Democrats had held on to control of the US Senate.
Thus utter humiliation was averted - but barely.
“Tonight there is a Tea Party tidal wave,” declared Rand Paul, the victor of the Senate race in Kentucky and among the most high profile winners backed by the insurgent conservative movement. “They tell me that the Senate is the most deliberative body...deliberate on this: the American people are unhappy with what’s going on in Washington. >>> David Usborne, US Editor | Wednesday, November 03, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Republican Party has recaptured the House of Representatives from the Democrats, delivering a stunning rebuke to President Barack Obama just two years after he won the White House.
The party won a slew of Democratic seats in America's eastern time zone such as Indiana and Virginia, and were on course for an overall gain of 52-55 seats by the time votes in the rest of country had been counted.
But Republicans fell short of their ambitious target of the ten seats needed to win the Senate, which would have given them total control of Congress.
The Democrats keep a narrow lead in the Senate, which will give the party considerable leverage against what is expected to be a barrage of Republican legislation from the House designed to unpick President Barack Obama’s achievements in his first two years.
Early in the evening the Republicans celebrated as Tea Party favourites Marco Rubio and Rand Paul won in Florida and Kentucky respectively.
Mr Paul achieved the historic feat of becoming the first member of the anti-tax, small-government Tea Party member to win a Senate seat. The committed libertarian, son of Representative Ron Paul, who was a maverick 2008 presidential candidate, prevailed in Kentucky.
In his victory speech, he proclaimed that "tonight there is a Tea Party tidal wave and we are sending a message” He continued: “It's a message of fiscal sanity, limited constitutional government and balanced budgets."
Mr Rubio delivered a warning to the Republican leadership in Washington that the party had to learn from the mistakes made after it last won a majority in 1994, when it abandoned the principles of balanced budgets and small government. >>> Toby Harnden and Alex Spillius in Washington | Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Monday, November 01, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Americans are set in Tuesday's midterm elections to make their president and Democrats pay heavily for their failure to stem unemployment amid gathering fears that the American dream has moved beyond reach for a generation.
In poll after poll in the long run-up to the midterm elections, voters have said that the economy was their main concern. Unemployment has risen by 20 per cent under Mr Obama, remaining stuck on or close to 9.6 per cent for since May 2009.
Julietta Strauss, of New York, lost her administrative job with the US census bureau in March, and has struggled to find work since.
More and more people were taking an "apocalyptic view" of America's prospects, she said. "The general word on the street seems to be that middle-class jobs are disappearing, and while there's an increasing tendency for the rich to get richer, middle-class wages are stagnant," she said.
At the Tailhook Tavern in Philadelphia, a city visited by Mr Obama in his final campaign swing, Joseph Carroll said he had not had steady work for two years. "The economy sucks. They talk about trickle down but we don't see it round here," said the 44-year-old, who specialises in fire suppressants in new constructions. "They bailed out the banks, they are making billions in profits again, they are making millions in bonuses again, but they don't want to lend to people who want to build up businesses." >>> Alex Spillius in Washington and Jon Swaine in New York | Monday, November 01, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The Democratic candidate for governor in Rhode Island said on Monday that President Barack Obama can "shove it" for withholding his endorsement in elections just eight days away.
"He can take his endorsement and really shove it, as far as I'm concerned," Frank Caprio told local WPRO-AM radio, even as Mr Obama was due to visit the small east coast state for two Democratic party fund-raisers and a visit to a factory.
Mr Caprio was running against Republican John Robitaille as well as former Republican Lincoln Chafee, an independent who backed Mr Obama's 2008 presidential bid, in the November 2 ballot.
"I've never asked President Obama for his endorsement. And what's going on here is really Washington insider politics at its worst," complained Mr Caprio.
"What I'm saying to President Obama very clearly is, I'll wear as a badge of honour and a badge of courage that he doesn't want to endorse me as a Democrat, because I am a different kind of Democrat," he told the station. >>> | Monday, October 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Harry Reid, the top Democrat in the US Senate, has publicly broken with Barack Obama by opposing plans to build a mosque near the Ground Zero site of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Senator Harry Reid’s opposition to the controversial Cordoba Centre is his first major public disagreement with the US president and signals the possibility of an electorally dangerous split in the Democratic party ahead of the midterms.
Mr Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, who faces a tough re-election battle in Nevada in November, said through a spokesman that although he respects the constitutional right to freedom of religion it was “very obvious that the mosque should be built someplace else”.
It is also a rare rebuke to Mr Obama from a top Democrat. Mr Obama became embroiled in the issue when he told Muslims gathered for a White House dinner that they had the “same right to practise their religion as everyone else in this country”. >>> Toby Harnden, Washington | Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Bloomberg takes leave of his senses >>>
THE GUARDIAN: Ramadan clash with 9/11 anniversary raises fears of anti-Islam backlash: Celebrations to mark end of Muslim fasting could be deliberately misinterpreted to spark hostility, religious groups warn >>> Riazat Butt and Chris McGreal | Tuesday, August 17, 2010
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