Tag: GOP

Five Questions for Minnesota Republicans

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Since the formal launch of an impeachment inquiry into President Trump, Minnesota Republican elected officials and candidates have denounced the inquiry. Their statements are often vague, fail to address the substance of the allegations being investigated, and make sweeping claims about the aims of Democratic lawmakers.

We encourage members of the Minnesota press to ask the following questions of Republican elected officials and candidates in order to clarify their positions on this incredibly important topic:

1: Is it acceptable for a foreign government to interfere in U.S. elections? Continue reading “Five Questions for Minnesota Republicans”

Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman: ‘Republican superpatriotism’ has always been a ‘fraud’ — and Trump is the most ‘unpatriotic’ of all

AlterNet logoDespite the fact that some of the most aggressive military expansions and escalations have occurred under Democratic presidents — from Franklin Delano Roosevelt during World War II to Lyndon B. Johnson in Vietnam and Barack Obama in Afghanistan — Republicans have repeatedly insisted that they have the market cornered on patriotism and love of military. But economist and veteran New York Times journalist Paul Krugman, in a blistering column this week, stresses that “Republican superpatriotism” has always been a “fraud” — and that is more obvious than ever in the Trump era.

“Republicans have spent the past half-century portraying themselves as more patriotic, more committed to national security than Democrats,” Krugman explains. “Richard Nixon’s victory in 1972, Ronald Reagan’s victory in 1980 and George W. Bush’s victory in 2004 — the only presidential election out of the past seven in which the Republican won the popular vote — all depended in part on posing as the candidate more prepared to confront menacing foreigners.”

But under President Donald Trump, Krugman stresses, many Republicans are more than happy to look the other way while Trump engages in “foreign entanglements” that clearly aren’t in the United States’ best interests — for example, reports that Trump tried to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

View the complete September 24 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

Senate Republicans dodge questions on Trump-Ukraine whistleblower complaint

Washington Post logoSenate Republicans on Monday were largely mum on whether Congress should investigate whistleblower allegations that President Trump pressured the leader of Ukraine for help in his 2020 reelection bid, with some ignoring questions on the matter while others disparaged the individual who raised the alarm.

Trump suggested on Sunday that he mentioned former vice president Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, on a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July. But Trump has denied that he pressured Zelensky to investigate Biden, who is leading in polls for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, in exchange for military aid.

The revelations have mobilized Democrats in the House, which their party controls, with many members escalating their calls for impeachment proceedings against Trump. A trio of House committee chairs on Monday threatened to subpoena Trump for documents related to his alleged efforts to pressure Zelensky.

View the complete September 23 article by Felicia Sonmez, Mike DeBonis and Erica Werner on The Washington Post website here.

One of the GOP’s biggest sugar daddies is backing away from its congressional candidates — thanks to Trump

AlterNet logoThe U.S. Chamber of Commerce is withholding its support for congressional Republicans heading into next year’s campaign.Corporate chamber members want to distance themselves from President Donald Trump over concerns about alienating consumers, and has tried to rebrand the business group as centrist, reported the Washington Examiner.

The chamber insists that defending the GOP congressional majority remains the group’s top priority next year, but Republicans have complained the business group isn’t being aggressive enough in its support.

“If the chamber isn’t the Republican counter to the AFL-CIO, where are Republicans going to turn for that umbrella support that they need in races?” said Trump surrogate Jack Kingston, a former GOP congressman from Georgia. “Corporations are a little skittish, so therefore the chamber is getting a little skittish.”

View the complete September 23 article by Travis Gettys from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

‘A threat to virtually everything that the United States should stand for’: NYT op-ed on Trump goes viral

AlterNet logoA damning piece by New York Times Opinion Columnist David Leonhardt is going viral. “Donald Trump vs. the United States of America” says it’s “Just the facts, in 40 sentences.”

That’s all it is.

40 sentences, 40 facts chronicling President Donald Trump’s lawlessness, self-dealing, un-American behavior, attempts to do real damage to vital institutions, and grotesque acts. Some are impeachable offenses. Some are just not worthy – or are disqualifying – of a president of the United States.

View the complete September 23 article by David Badash from the New Civil Rights Movement on the AlterNet website here.

Kellyanne Conway lashes out at Democratic voters as ‘racist and sexist’ during Ohio GOP dinner

AlterNet logoMaking an appearance at a Republican Party dinner in Columbus, Ohio, Kellyanne Conway accused Democratic voters of being “racist and sexist,” in a diatribe as she tried to boost the fortunes of her boss, President Donald Trump.

According to a report from Cincinnati.com, Conway attacked the leading Democratic presidential nominees before making her claim.

“Their top three candidates are white, career politicians in their 60s and 70s, which I have nothing against except they (Democrats) certainly do,” Conway reportedly told the crowd. “I don’t know why the heck the Democratic party electorate is so racist and sexist. I can’t figure it out.”

View the complete September 22 article by Tom Boggioni from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Did the FBI warn the Trump campaign about Russia?

Washington Post logoRep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.): “Mr. Lewandowski, you were the campaign manager for the president’s campaign when the Obama-Biden administration was notified that there might be efforts by the Russians to interfere with our election. Isn’t that right?”

Corey Lewandowski: “Yes.”

Gaetz: “And can you describe for us the briefing you got as the campaign manager to ensure that our system was resilient and American democracy was protected?”

Lewandowski: “There was no briefing provided by anybody from the Obama-Biden administration, members of the intelligence community or the FBI to our campaign that I — when I was present or during my tenure as the campaign manager.”

Gaetz: “Man, that’s just baffling to me. I mean our democracy is so precious. We have to cherish it. We have to protect it, and yet when the Obama-Biden administration knew that there might be nefarious efforts to interfere or co-opt or in any way disturb our democracy, they didn’t say anything to you. Now, as you sit here today, having watched these facts unfold, do you have any, any rationale as to why maybe the Clapper-Brennan-Comey-Obama-Biden team didn’t want to give the Trump campaign a fair defensive briefing about the threats that we were facing?”

View the complete September 20 article by Salvador Rizzo on The Washington Post website here.

Issa hearing delayed after dispute over background investigation

Democratic Sen. Menendez says White House has ignored its requests for additional information

A confirmation hearing for former Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, who was nominated to a key trade post, was interrupted and then delayed on Thursday as the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee fought over information in Issa’s FBI file that could be potentially disqualifying.

Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, had decided to hold confirmation hearings for two nominees whose FBI background files contained classified and potentially disqualifying information that the White House declined to release to anyone other than Risch and ranking Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

In going forward with the hearing, Risch broke with decades of bipartisan tradition in the committee, which normally would not schedule confirmation hearings without the agreement of the ranking member of the opposing party. Menendez had opposed the scheduling of the hearing.

View the complete September 19 article by Rachel Oswald on The Roll Call website here.

Bashful base: Pollsters say Trump closer to Dems than early 2020 surveys suggest

Bashful base: Pollsters say Trump closer to Dems than early 2020 surveys suggest

Professional pollsters say President Donald Trump and senior White House officials are rightly confident heading into his reelection bid because early 2020 surveys are likely flawed.

“We are going to keep on fighting, and we are going to keep on winning, winning, winning,” Trump told supporters this week during a campaign rally in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. “We’re going to win like never before. … I’ll tell you what: We’re going to win the state of New Mexico.”

That would mean flipping a state he lost in 2016 to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But just about every national poll and many key statewide surveys give the leading Democratic presidential candidates healthy leads over the president in hypothetical general election matchups, surveys Trump and his team dismiss almost daily.

View the complete September 19 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.

Veteran GOP strategist admits Republican ideas are wildly unpopular: ‘It’s an analog party in a digital world’

AlterNet logoDespite his anemic approval ratings, President Donald Trump could nonetheless win reelection in 2020 if he aggressively turns out his base and Democrats don’t do enough to get out the vote. But turnout is about who actually shows up on Election Day — not who is winning the war of ideas — and according to veteran Republican strategist Stuart Stevens, the party winning overall public opinion isn’t the GOP.

There’s a reason why the words “interviewed on condition of anonymity” often appear in articles in which GOP insiders say negative things about their party: they are fearful about openly and publicly saying what they think or criticizing their party. But Stevens isn’t, and on Twitter, he has been speaking his mind about Trump’s presidency and the direction of his party.

Democratic ideas, Stevens tweeted, are much more popular than Trump’s. The conservative posted, “Taxing multi-millionaires is far more popular than a border wall. Medicare for all is more popular than a border wall. Free trade is more popular than a trade war, (and) somehow, R’s have granted that advantage to D’s. There are no new conservative solutions, only victim shopping.”

View the complete September 18 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.