Tag: GOP

Trump’s racism cements his party’s place among the West’s far right

Washington Post logoPresident Trump tweets with such frenzy and frequency that we have become almost inured to his rhetorical excesses. But there are times when you have to pay attention.

Over the weekend, Trump tweeted out a widely condemned attack on four Democratic congresswomen: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.). All four are freshmen lawmakers, women of color and outspoken, left-wing voices in the Democratic Party; only one, Omar, was born outside of the United States.

Yet Trump urged them to “go back” to the “crime infested places from which they came” and stated they all “originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe.” The venom behind the tweets was unmistakable: Here was Trump openly questioning four minority women’s place in America. It was in keeping with the president’s lengthy history of white nationalism, from his “birtherist” campaign against America’s first black president, to his slurs at a Mexican American judge, to his preference for migrants from Norway over “shithole countries,” to his blanket attacks on Muslims, to his defense of white supremacist protesters, to his administration’s daily demonization of immigrants and minority communities.

View the complete July 16 article by Ishaan Tharoor on The Washington Post website here.

White identity politics drives Trump, and the Republican Party under him

Washington Post logoWith a tweeted attack on four minority congresswomen this week, President Trump made clear that his reelection campaign will feature the same explosive mix of white grievance and anti-immigrant nativism that helped elect him.

Trump’s combustible formula of white identity politics already has reshaped the Republican Party, sidelining, silencing or converting nearly anyone who dares to challenge the racial insensitivity of his utterances. It also has pushed Democratic presidential candidates sharply to the left on issues such as immigration and civil rights, as they respond to the liberal backlash against him.

Left unknown is whether the president is now on the verge of more permanently reshaping the nation’s political landscape — at least until long-term demographic changes take hold to make nonwhite residents a majority of the country around 2050.

View the complete July 16 article by Michael Scherer on The Washington Post website here.

A Blaring Message in Republicans’ Muted Criticism: It’s Trump’s Party

New York Times logoWASHINGTON — The lack of widespread Republican condemnation of President Trump for his comments about four Democratic congresswomen of color illustrated both the tightening stranglehold Mr. Trump has on his party and the belief of many Republicans that an attack on progressivism should in fact be a central element of the 2020 campaign.

While a smattering of Republicans chastised Mr. Trump on Monday, most party leaders in the House and Senate and much of the rank-and-file remained quiet about the president’s weekend tweets directing dissenters to “go back” where they came from. He followed up on those comments on Monday with harsh language directed at “people who hate America” — an inflammatory accusation to be leveled against elected members of the House.

With Mr. Trump far more popular with Republican voters than incumbent Republican members of Congress, most are loath to cross the president and risk reprisals. The case of Representative Justin Amash, the Michigan lawmaker who was forced to leave the party after he dared to suggest Mr. Trump should be impeached, serves as a cautionary tale.

View the complete July 15 article by Carl Hulse on The New York Times website here.

How Republican lies and hypocrisy hit an all-time high

AlterNet logoLast week, before Trump’s buffoonish cave on his attempt to hijack the census, Greg Sargent wrote about Attorney General William Barr’s emerging role as Trump’s enabler in undermining the rule of law — first in the census case, then in the challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

The connection between the two is straightforward, according to University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley. “In both, Barr directed his lawyers to make bad-faith arguments, just because Trump said so,” Bagley told Sargent. “That’s a blow to the integrity of the Justice Department and a threat to the rule of law.”

As with much else about the Trump administration, the bad-faith arguments are nothing new; Republicans have long been the party of bad faith. The most notorious Supreme Court decisions of recent years — from Bush v. Gore through Shelby County, Citizens United and more — can all be attributed to bad faith arguments and actions by the justices involved.

View the complete July 14 article by Paul Rosenberg from Salon on the AlterNet website here.

DFL Repeats Call for Minnesota GOP to Denounce Trump’s Blatant Racism

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Yesterday, Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party Chairman Ken Martin called on top Minnesota Republicans to denounce President Trump’s multiple, racist attacks on Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar. Thus far, they have refused to do so.

Today, in response to Republican silence, Martin released the following statement:

“Courage should not be a partisan issue. Standing up to racism should not be a partisan issue. It’s past time for Minnesota Republicans to put politics aside and do what is right for our country by denouncing Trump’s racist attacks on Representative Ilhan Omar. Continue reading “DFL Repeats Call for Minnesota GOP to Denounce Trump’s Blatant Racism”

Trump forces ‘staffing up’ to end GOP losing streak in Minnesota

NOTE:  The 2018 voters may have supported Democratic candidates, but we can’t assume that will be the case next year. And, we can’t allow ourselves to not stay engaged and make certain our family and friends are aware of what the Republicans and President Trump truly stand for.

After the narrow loss in 2016, Republicans are pulling out all the stops.

Days after President Donald Trump officially announced his 2020 re-election bid, Minnesota Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan attended a picnic on the White House lawn. As they posed for a selfie, the state GOP leader thanked the president for making three visits to the state since taking office.

“I told him, ‘We appreciate you coming and we hope to see you here at least as many times before the election next year,’ ” Carnahan said.

The president’s response: “I will be there.”

View the complete July 14 article by Torey Van Not on The Star Tribune website here.

Conservatives scramble to spin CBO analysis showing clear benefits of minimum wage increase

AlterNet logoEver since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law the United States’ first national minimum wage in 1938, there have been Republicans and fiscal conservatives insisting that minimum wages are a job killer. FDR, however, told Republicans to relax — a mandatory 25 cents per hour wouldn’t destroy the U.S. economy or hamper the success of his New Deal — and 81 years later, a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study is showing that increasing the national minimum wage to $15 per hour would be economically beneficial. Naturally, fiscal conservatives are scrambling to spin the study to their liking.

The benefits, according to the CBO: Americans living belong the poverty line would see a 5.3% earnings increase, and wages would rise for up to 27.3 million workers. Workers already making more than $15 per hour would likely see their wages rise as well.

That’s the positive part of the CBO’s cost/benefit analysis, which also found that under a $15 minimum wage, Americans would be paying about 0.3% more for goods and services. Business owners would see a higher overhead if they started paying employees more.

View the complete July 11 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

Rating changes: Texas and Minnesota Senate races shift the Democrats’ way

Cornyn remains the favorite, but defending his seat could cost the GOP resources

The fight for Senate control is still taking shape and, less than 16 months before Election Day, two states appear to moving in the Democrats’ direction on the battlefield.

Donald Trump came within about a point and a half of winning Minnesota in the 2016 presidential election. But that might be the new high-water mark for Republicans, and the GOP will have a hard time unseating Democratic Sen. Tina Smith in 2020.

Democrats have a 52-43 percent advantage statewide, according to the Inside Elections Baseline, which includes all statewide and House results over the most recent four election cycles. Republicans took a half-hearted shot at Smith last cycle, when she was on the ballot for the first time as a senator, but state Sen. Karin Housley lost by more than 10 points.

View the complete July 9 article by Nathan L. Gonzales on The Roll Call website here.

Republicans count on Rep. Tom Emmer to reclaim U.S. House majority

The job as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee has thrust the Delano Republican into the brawling heart of national politics.

WASHINGTON– Republicans have a whole lot riding on Rep. Tom Emmer.

The three-term Minnesota congressman, still a relative newcomer to Capitol Hill, is leading his party’s effort to reclaim the House majority that Democrats snatched away last year. Control of the House has let Democrats stymie President Donald Trump’s policy agenda and mount multiple investigations into his administration.

The job has thrust the Delano Republican into the brawling heart of national politics.

As chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), Emmer occupies the fourth-highest leadership post in the 198-member House Republican Conference. His mission is to recruit the candidates and raise the cash his party needs to gain at least 18 House seats and retake the majority in 2020.

View the complete July 6 article by Patrick Condon on The Star Tribune website here.