Truman. Shirtless! On a yacht. In Bermuda.
Via: media.nara.gov
Via: arcweb.archives.gov
Via: imgur.com
Via: arcweb.archives.gov
With a record number of out LGBT lawmakers, the caucus is aiming to change the Hill — and the country.
Via: Chris Jackson / Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Six out of 435 may not seem like much, but in the House of Representatives that represents the largest class of out LGBT lawmakers in the history of the lower chamber.
It also has meant that the LGBT Equality Caucus, started in 2008, is taking on a larger role in an institution steeped in tradition.
Rep. David Cicilline, only in his third year in Congress, is the second-longest-serving out House member. In an interview with BuzzFeed, he noted the changes in the membership — but also looked toward bigger goals for the caucus.
"We obviously have grown as a caucus in terms of the co-chairs, the openly gay members of Congress. We now have six people in the House — and obviously, one in the Senate," Cicilline said. "What this year marks is not just that we're here but that we're here in a big enough number that we have a real caucus, with staff, so that now the work that we're doing can be supported in our efforts to push LGBT legislation, to do outreach and education, to be a coordinating force for all of the co-chairs, to be a central point of contact for the community and so that we'll be able to speak as a united voice on important issues."
The caucus co-chairs meet every other week to discuss their agenda, and now they have a small full-time staff to help get it implemented, including a new executive director, as well as a full-time intern sponsored by the David Bohnett Foundation.
For LGBT people, he said, the changes "mean that the power of our community in advancing full equality for members of the LGBT community is enhanced because we're growing in size and sophistication and [able to] improve and expand our educational opportunities, our professional outreach, our ability to press hard on the issues that are important to the caucus in a really professional way."
That executive director, Brad Jacklin, came to the caucus from the LGBT nonprofit world, having worked for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force prior to being hired by the caucus in March.
"Having a paid staffer and the full-time fellow from the Victory Institute, through the Bohnett Foundation, definitely increases the capacity to do … education," Jacklin said. "In addition, providing assistance to the six co-chairs and the vice-chairs and other members who want to work on LGBT issues. As we were preparing to drop bills like [the Student Non-Discrimination Act] and [Employment Non-Discrimination Act], I was working with Congressman Polis' office pretty regularly to collect and encourage co-sponsors, answer questions about changes in the legislation, working with advocates on the outside … as a liaison to the six co-chairs as appropriate."
Chuck Wolfe, the head of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Victory Institute, told BuzzFeed of his organization's support, that "[i]t was important for [them] to get involved in supporting the work of the out members of Congress who lead the LGBT Equality Caucus" because it will "pay dividends when pro-equality legislation is considered. We're especially proud to partner with the David Bohnett Foundation to send the first-ever Victory Congressional Fellow to work with the Caucus for the next year."
The fellow, Blake Jelley, only started this past week, but he will be with the caucus for the next year to assist Jacklin, the co-chairs and the other members with their efforts.
Rep. Mark Pocan, who won election to now-Sen. Tammy Baldwin's seat in the House this past November, said he already sees the changed organization of the caucus at work. "Instead of each office reaching out to other organizations, doing the other outreach to leadership and other offices on every single LGBT issue, we have a single point of contact now. What that means is we can really make it simpler for both groups on the outside as well as people within Congress, to know, to kind of centralize some of the efforts we're working on," he said Monday.
Although Pocan said that efforts would be aimed more squarely at passing pro-LGBT legislation under Democratic leadership, he pointed to how the increased membership of the caucus — currently at 108 — improves LGBT rights efforts regardless, meeting at the nexus of that ideological perspective and the pragmatic one.
"We have more ways to reach out to more members by having a bigger caucus. We're all uniquely different types of elected leaders. I'm a married member, which allows me to talk about things in a different way," he said, noting that he's talked with some members, primarily, as a small business owner before moving on to discuss any LGBT issues. "You've got now, more ways to try to bring people on board with equality by talking to people in a way that they can understand."
Rep. David Cicilline
Via: repdavidcicilline
Rep. Mark Takano, first elected in 2012, pointed to another aspect of the changed make-up of the co-chairs, noting, "Even more evidence of this change is the fact that many of the newly elected LGBT members were not elected from typical gay-supporting communities — like San Francisco, West Hollywood or New York — but instead communities like Tempe, Arizona; Madison, Wisconsin; White Plains, New York; and my hometown of Riverside, California."
Jacklin also noted a simple fact today that was not even thought of 30 years ago: "This is the first time that we've had all of the out members of Congress… who were elected as openly LGBT."
With that increased out membership and the increased overall membership of the caucus — who Cicilline explained must "have made a commitment to support both… repeal of [the Defense of Marriage Act] and the enactment of ENDA" — Jacklin said this year's caucus changes, including his hire, are "building off of the work that Congressman Frank and Congresswoman Baldwin — Senator Baldwin now — laid down when they started the caucus back in 2008."
As Jacklin put it, "Having a caucus that … is more professionalized presents the opportunity for us to raise the profile of LGBT issues in the House of Representatives."
Although the caucus is bipartisan, when asked if Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen — who is vigorously and very personally pro-LGBT — is the only member of the GOP in the caucus, Jacklin's response was both simple and telling, "At present, she is the only Republican member, yes."
Pocan, a liberal Democrat, was hopeful it would not stay that way: "We are the party that has been at the forefront of the movement for equality. I think, though, as times change — and, as senators have changed just recently — I think people are starting to catch up to where the public is at. This is clearly a case where the public is providing the leadership on this, and elected officials are slowly engaging and following along."
Cicilline agreed, summing up his view of the aims of the caucus by expressing his view of where he sees the country — and the Congress — going.
"Over time, it will become clear that you can't actually survive in American politics if you don't fundamentally believe in equality," he said. "The question is: Over what period of time do we arrive at that place? But I think we have a responsibility of pushing as hard as we can from our side in Congress and then we have the community working all across the country, pressing on their side, and I think together we're going to move as fast as we can to get people to realize this is a basic American value — believing in equality for all Americans."
Conservative leader Ted Cruz’s distrust of Republican fortitude on the budget is giving Boehner a respite from public intra-party fight. “Let me be clear, I don’t trust the Republicans. And I don’t trust the Democrats.”
HOUSTON, TX - MAY 03: U.S. Sen.
Via: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
WASHINGTON — The fight over the budget has become an intra-party feud for Republicans in Congress, with Tea Party hero Sen. Ted Cruz objecting to negotiations between the House and Senate because he fears House Republicans will break down and agree to raise the nation's debt ceiling — a cardinal sin against ideological purity in some conservative circles.
Cruz's demand that House Republicans take the debt ceiling off the table pits him not only against leaders like Speaker John Boehner and Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, but even some of his conservative allies in the House.
Fights between Republicans normally spell headaches for Boehner. But the nation's top Republican is remarkably comfortable with this particular behind-the-scenes budget battle — in large part because it's staving off a much more divisive and public one that could threaten to engulf the party if conference proceedings every begin, senior House and Senate Republicans told BuzzFeed.
Cruz, along with Sens. Marco Rubio, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul, has been leading conservatives' objection to going to a budget conference, much to the frustration of Democrats and quite a few Senate Republicans, like Arizona's John McCain.
Meanwhile, Boehner is quietly content to let the Tea Party crusaders in the Senate keep the conference from taking place, acknowledging that if it ever does, House Republican bickering will once again be thrust into the national spotlight. Conference committees are made up of Democratic and Republican members from both chambers, and can include dozens of lawmakers. That alone could mean headaches for Boehner. "You lose control when you've got 20 members" on a committee, a senior House Republican aide explained.
Ranging from demands for the agreement to include a repeal of Obamacare to more dramatic cuts to spending and entitlement programs, an open air negotiation could reopen long festering wounds within the GOP at a time that Boehner is trying to slowly mend them.
According to lawmakers and senior aides, Cruz's complaints have less to do with Majority Leader Harry Reid — as he has claimed — than with his suspicions regarding fellow Republicans who have thus far refused to rule out including a controversial debt ceiling increase in any budget deal with Democrats.
"Nobody knows why" House leadership, and specifically Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, won't agree to Cruz's demands, a Senate Republican aide said, speculating that it "may be part of Ryan's plan for a grand bargain kind of thing."
Ryan's office declined to comment.
Conservative Rep. Tom Price, the vice chairman of the Budget Committee, told reporters Wednesday morning that it is entirely appropriate for the debt ceiling to be addressed during the budget process. "I do believe the budget conference is the vehicle, if there is an opportunity, to address the debt ceiling."
Price also dismissed the divisions between Republicans in the two chambers as the difference between actually governing and politics.
"It's the difference between a majority and a minority. It's the responsibility of a majority to govern in the direction of solving challenges. The responsibility of the minority is to create contrasts and to hold the other side to account. So the roles are different," Price said.
Publicly, the two sides say they are singing from the same page.
"It is regular order for the House and Senate budget chairs to agree to a framework before appointing conferees. That's tough, frankly, when Senate Democrats' budget doesn't balance - ever. But we're still working," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.
"The only thing preventing the budget from proceeding to conference is Majority Leader Reid's insistence on using procedural tricks to raise the debt ceiling." Said Cruz Communications Director Sean Rushton.
Ostensibly, everyone is continuing to work on towards a budget: Senate Budget Chairman Patty Murray and House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan have been privately meeting for sometime in an effort to come to a deal. And leaders continue to insist a deal could be reached.
Privately, Republicans acknowledge there is little chance a budget can ever make it to the floor of the House. Assuming Murray and Ryan could come to some basic framework — which, given their ideological differences, is the longest of long shots — a conference committee would be a disaster for Boehner.
Conservatives would likely use the conference as a way to once again push repeal of Obamacare or other impose significant new cuts in spending.
House Democrats, meanwhile, would likely use the conference to their advantage, one the rare times they can command the spotlight in a divided government.
There's another problem. After a certain number of days, if the conference has not finished their work, both sides are allowed to force an unlimited number of votes in as a messaging tactic to highlight policy priorities.
"That's where you can really muck up the works," a Democratic aide explained.
All of which could put the delicate detante Boehner has built with conservatives in his conference into danger, which in turn could make fights over immigration, annual spending bills and the debt ceiling impossible to navigate.
Cruz' disdain for other Republicans isn't anything new. Senior aides in Cruz' office helped torpedo efforts by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to fix a portion of Obamacare.
And last month Cruz laid his personal distrust for his colleagues bare. During a floor debate over the budget, Cruz said bluntly, "let me be clear, I don't trust the Republicans. And I don't trust the Democrats."
CORRECTION: A previous version of this post misstated the post of Rep. Tom Price. He is the vice chairman of the Budget Committee. (6/5/13)
Beck and his co-hosts push back at the MSNBC star’s attempt to frame him as a conspiracy theorist on par with the likes of InfoWars founder Alex Jones.
"In her effort to come up with one thing that you're a conspiracy theorist on, she came up with none! All of the example were all things that you didn't believe and have been on the air saying you don't believe for for years. What does that say about their case? And what does that say about your case when say that media is painting you a certain way? She can't come back with one damn thing!"
—Steve Burguiere, TheBlaze
LINK: Related: ‘EVERYTHING IS UP FOR GRABS’: BECK EXPLAINS WHY WORLD WAR III COULD BE ON THE HORIZON
“It is amazing the length to which people will go to prove what is so palpably false.”
The Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of Virginia, E. W. Jackson, wrote in his book Ten Commandments to an Extraordinary Life that he doesn't believe in evolution because animals don't have the ability to write or talk. Jackson wrote the book in 2008 in his capacity as minister before his failed bid for Republicans nomination for Senate in the 2012 or his current race.
The passage reads:
Scientist have made much of the fact that chimpanzees have been trained to use sign language. They take this as proof that primates are our ancestors because they, like us, have "language capacity." It is amazing the length to which people will go to prove what is so palpably false. The ability to make sounds which serve to communicate the simplest to most complex ideas is an astounding thing, almost supernatural in itself. Equally remarkable is the ability to reduce those sounds to written symbols universally understood and capable of conveying the ideas that those sounds represent. To suggest that all this is an accident of evolution belies the intellectual power language represents. Those are gifts given to mankind by God who created us. He gave those gifts to no other creature. There is an unfathomable gulf between humans and all other creatures because creation was designed that way. No amount of time or theorizing will ever bridge that gulf. Only mankind was made to represent the divinity and genius of God himself.
Jackson, responding to past controversial comments on gays, said last month, "I say the things that I say because I'm a Christian, not because I hate anybody, but because I have religious values that matter to me." Jackson made the comment to reporters at a campaign stop in Fredericksburg, according to the Washington Post.
The vice president provided a light moment at Wednesday’s memorial service for Senator Frank Lautenberg.
Can you tell from their faces?
“I welcome the opportunity to correct the record, especially for some news outlets who persist in misrepresenting the facts,” Carney says in back-and-forth with Fox’s Ed Henry Wednesday.
Via: Charles Dharapak / AP
WASHINGTON — The White House is back to attacking Fox News from the briefing room. During his scheduled briefing with reporters Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney got into a back-and-forth with Fox's Ed Henry in which Carney accused the network of "misrepresenting" the Benghazi story.
The back-and-forth came during a discussion of incoming National Security Advisor Susan Rice, who as U.N. Ambassador was the first Obama administration official to speak about Benghazi on the Sunday shows last year. The talking points she delivered led her to become enemy number one for Republicans and contributed to her withdrawing her name after President Obama considered nominating her for Secretary of State.
Here's the exchange, pulled from a transcript:
QUESTION: OK.Last thing, Susan Rice. You described her as one of the most qualified, experienced foreign policy experts in America. If that's the case, how did she get the information on Benghazi so wrong five days after the attack.
CARNEY: And I welcome the opportunity to correct the record, especially for some news outlets who persist in misrepresenting the facts.
You have seen these so-called talking points. You have seen the testimony of the deputy director of the CIA. You have seen the documents themselves that demonstrate that the central contested point that Ambassador Rice made on those Sunday shows was drafted in the first instance and in every instance thereafter by the CIA.
QUESTION: (inaudible) being whether it was terror or not?
CARNEY: No, whether there was a protest -- whether the -- whether there was protests outside of the Benghazi facility that were inspired by -- by the events in Cairo. The fact is, the talking points said that there were extremists involved, and -- and that was the decision to characterize them as extremists again, I would point you to statements by intelligence community senior officials, who have made clear that that was their judgment.
And the idea that whether it was the president referring to it as an act of terror the next day after the events in Benghazi or Susan Rice herself on one of the Sunday shows, talking about that it could be al Qaida, it could be al Qaida-related groups, that this is a false distinction that has been propounded by Republicans for political reasons from the very first days after the events in Benghazi, and it has been an unfortunate focus when the real focus should have been and continues to be, as far as the president is concerned, on taking the necessary measures to ensure that our diplomatic security is as strong as it can be, so that this can't happen again, and to ensuring that we are doing everything we can to bring to justice those who killed four Americans.
QUESTION: Then why did various intelligence officials say in various testimony elsewhere that they almost immediately knew that this was terror?
And if she's so experienced in these matters, why wouldn't she see that as they saw it, regardless of what the talking points say?
CARNEY: So -- so -- so you're suggesting that a senior member of the national security team should -- should actually disagree with the assessments of the intelligence community provided by the CIA...
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: At one point General Petraeus said...
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ... and he didn't want to agree with it anymore because the talking points had been changed so much, the CIA director didn't think they were worth anything.
CARNEY: Ed, I honestly think...
(CROSSTALK) CARNEY: One of the things that was written about was that the CIA director, General Petraeus, was -- disagreed with the removal of a point about a warning to the -- to the embassy in Cairo, which reinforced, had it been included, the central point that the protests outside of Benghazi or the demonstrations and attacks outside of Benghazi had been inspired by what was happening in Cairo.
So that, unfortunately, doesn't fit the narrative you're trying to propose here.
I -- I think there has been ample demonstration by the facts of the evolution of the talking points, the role that Ambassador Rice played in conveying the information, that Director Clapper, that Mike Morel (ph), that the senior members of the intelligence community have made very clear were the assessments of the intelligence community.
And in every iteration of this, Ambassador Rice made clear, as I did, that these were early assessments that were certain to change as we obtained more facts.
And to suggest otherwise is just irresponsible.
Sources say a key official in charge of overseeing health reform implementation, as well as another staffer, have been put on leave for accepting more than $1,000 in free meals and other items at a 2010 conference.
Via: Susan Walsh, File / AP
WASHINGTON — The IRS has put a top official in charge of implementing Obamacare on administrative leave after it was discovered he had accepted $1,162 in free food and other items during a 2010 conference.
In a statement, the IRS confirmed that two employees have been placed on administrative leave — which is paid — and have begun the process of removing them.
"[Acting IRS Director] Danny Werfel learned of the situation last night and immediately asked his leadership team to take action. He has also been in contact with key congressional committees about the situation," the service said in the statement.
"When I came to IRS, part of my job was to hold people accountable," Werfel said. "There was clearly inappropriate behavior involved in this situation, and immediate action is needed."
The IRS informed congressional staff investigating the agency that Fred Schindler had been put on leave for accepting the gifts. A second unnamed staffer in the division was also put on leave for accepting the gifts, the aides said.
According to congressional sources, the food was provided by an event planner organizing the conference during an "after hours" party. One source says the incident was referred to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution but it was not acted upon.
An IRS spokesman declined to comment on whether the issue was sent to DOJ.
Schindler is the deputy for Sarah Hall Ingram, who is heading up implementation of the Affordable Care Act for the IRS. Ingram has come under scrutiny recently because she oversaw the division of the IRS which targeted conservative organizations seeking nonprofit status.
According to congressional sources, the suspensions appear to be the first examples of employees being punished as part of a separate scandal over the service's spending on conferences. One congressional source said it also appears the free meals and gifts were accepted at the same 2010 conference during which participants filmed a Star Trek spoof video.
House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa is scheduled to hold a hearing on conference spending by the IRS Thursday.
“We have decided to be on the ballot in 2014 to allow for a continuing dialogue with voters across Ohio about why marriage matters,” activist says. Update: Other groups attending a Wednesday meeting, however, said no timing decision was made.
FreedomOhio announced Wednesday that they plan to bring an amendment to Ohio voters to allow same-sex couples to marry in November 2014.
And while the group suggested the involvement of other groups, representatives of other organizations that participated in a Wednesday meeting about the effort said no final decisions were made at the meeting.
The vote would come a decade after people in the Buckeye State voted to amend the state constitution to prohibit same-sex couples from marrying.
"We have decided to be on the ballot in 2014 to allow for a continuing dialogue with voters across Ohio about why marriage matters. We will continue to build upon the hundreds of thousands of conversations we've had already, to identify supportive voters, and to raise the resources necessary to mobilize a full-on campaign," FreedomOhio co-founder Ian James said in a statement.
James noted that other groups — including national organizations — are now engaged in FreedomOhio's efforts, although he did not say that they have endorsed the ballot effort.
"We are also excited to announce that the Human Rights Campaign, Equality Ohio, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, National Freedom to Marry, the Gill Action Fund, the American Unity Fund and the BISC met today and discussed how to become involved in the campaign to bring marriage equality to Ohio in 2014," he said.
A representative of an organization that participated in the meeting told BuzzFeed that the meeting was a first step to deciding whether national organizations would be involved in the effort and that no public news release abut the meeting or going to the ballot in 2014 had been mentioned in the meeting. Another person confirmed that characterization.
In order to get the proposed amendment on the ballot, FreedomOhio would have to collect signatures equal to 10 percent of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election, which, per the group's timeline, would be the 2010 election for governor. According to the Ohio Secretary of State's office, 3,852,469 votes were case for governor, meaning 385,247 signatures would need to be collected.
Equality Ohio, the statewide organization formed in the aftermath of the 2004 marriage amendment vote, sounded a cautious note in the statement, with executive director Elyzabeth Holford saying the meeting was "only the beginning of the effort to chart a strategic plan to achieve marriage equality" in the state.
"We all recognize our responsibility to Ohioans to make sure we get this right. And I know that together, we will. When we do move forward it will be with the same strong partners as the other successful states," Holford added.
Update: About 5:30 p.m., other organizations issued a statement to "clarify inaccurate statements" in the FreedomOhio news release:
A group of state and national organizations leading the fight to win marriage for all families in Ohio and across the country sought to clarify misleading characterizations put forward by Ian James's Freedom Ohio following a meeting to discuss a strategy for winning the freedom to marry at the ballot box in Ohio.
However, contrary to the assertions made by Ian James in an unapproved statement, there was no agreement reached to put forward a ballot initiative in 2014 or any other specific date. Instead, all of the groups in attendance, including Freedom Ohio and nearly a dozen other leading organizations, agreed to work together to talk to Ohio voters about why marriage matters and strengthen our coalition in the months ahead, reserving judgment on the timing of a ballot initiative until a clear pathway to victory could be determined and carried out.
"Ohio families deserve to win marriage as soon as possible. And our national partners have won marriage equality in 13 jurisdictions. We are putting together a strong, honest coalition and a responsible plan to win," said Elyzabeth Holford, Executive Director of Equality Ohio. "We intend to win and will do everything necessary to secure fairness for same-sex couples and their families."
"We are committed to winning marriage in Ohio as soon as possible, and to developing the kind of robust campaign that has helped us achieve historic victories across the country," said Marc Solomon, National Campaign Director for Freedom to Marry. "What we need to do now is to engage in the real work to increase public support so we can win on the ballot—in 2016, or if possible sooner."
"Ian James must have attended a different meeting than the rest of us," said Marty Rouse, National Field Director for the Human Rights Campaign. "Representatives from 11 state and national organizations participated in today's meeting. Ten of them came away with a clear understanding that we would refrain from deciding on timing until it was responsible to do so. We're perplexed as to how Freedom Ohio came away with a different understanding."
At the invitation of Equality Ohio, representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, national ACLU, the Equality Federation, Freedom to Marry, the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, the American Unity Fund and Gill Action convened for today's conversations to discuss strategy, timing and a plan to win marriage in Ohio.
Weiner, confident as ever, handles questions at a campaign event about his raunchy 2011 tweets. “I have a three-word question: How dare you?” says Owens.
Via: Seth Wenig / AP
In a hot, cramped basement on Williamsburg's South 3rd Street, where New York City mayoral candidates courted the endorsement of a local progressive organization, voters grilled Anthony Weiner on the Twitter scandal that ousted him from Congress two years ago.
But the comeback candidate, one of several mayoral hopefuls at the New Kings Democrats meeting Wednesday night, was confident as ever.
"If you want to disqualify me for that, then that's your choice. I can't try to convince every single person," he said, when New Kings member Jesse Strauss asked about the illicit tweets that Weiner sent — and then lied about sending — when he was a member of Congress.
"I'm gonna win this election, OK?" said Weiner. "And I'm gonna govern this city really well. And I'm gonna do it based on a foundation of Democratic ideals, and I'm gonna do it on a foundation of progressive values, and I'm gonna do it smart."
Strauss identified himself as a supporter of Bill de Blasio, the New York City public advocate who has cast his campaign as the most progressive in this year's race to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"I want, when I get elected, people at least — whether they voted for me or not — to know the ideas that I care about it," Weiner told Strauss.
"But if you don't think I should even be standing here today, I certainly will respect that, I mean, you're supporting another candidate who's not gonna win," he added, sending the room into a fit of laughter and applause.
Weiner spoke to a group of about 40 people, including New Kings members, campaign staffers, and reporters, packed into the Williamsburg basement room. The event was the second endorsement meeting hosted by New Kings, a progressive organization focused on Brooklyn Democratic politics.
Chris Owens, a Brooklyn political activist and former candidate for Congress, also asked Weiner about his illicit tweets — and with rhetoric more unforgiving than Weiner had yet encountered on the campaign trail.
"I have a three-word question: How dare you?" said Owens. "I'm a parent. I've got two sons. I represent the Democratic party. I am outraged and disgusted by you."
"I want to understand how you explain to us how you used a public facility to tweet offensive material to individuals who may have included minors, you did not know," Owens went on. "You then lied about it, and tried to defend yourself, and then you come back — not even four or eight years later; you come back after two years — and you expect us to embrace you because you have good ideas?"
Weiner, in response, accused Owens of "grandstanding" over old politics; in a 2006 congressional race, Owens lost in a primary to then-city council member Yvette Clarke, whom Weiner endorsed at the time.
"Well listen, Chris, you have a right to grandstand, and I have a right to answer the question," said Weiner, raising his voice.
"If my mistakes, and the way I compounded them by being dishonest about them, disqualifies me, then so be it," he added. "But I am still gonna be out there leaning forward and talking about these ideas."
When Weiner was through, Owens nodded his head, though later he wrote on Twitter, "Let's be clear about one thing. I was NOT satisfied with Weiner's response."
Since announcing his campaign for mayor late last month, Weiner has fielded a slew of questions from reporters about his tweets. But the town-hall-style meeting in Brooklyn was the first time voters, rather than members of the press corps, have confronted Weiner about his behavior at a campaign event.
Asked later by reporters about the exchange, Weiner said, "That's the first one I've had during the entire campaign — from a human being, from a citizen. I mean, you guys have asked."
Update: This article has been updated to include a comment Owens wrote about the event on Twitter late Thursday night.
The Obama administration on Thursday called the collection of millions of Verizon customers’ telephone records “a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats.”
Via: LM Otero / AP
The statement from a senior administration official:
The article discusses what purports to be an order issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court under a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that authorizes the production of business records. Orders of the FISA Court are classified. On its face, the order reprinted in the article does not allow the Government to listen in on anyone's telephone calls. The information acquired does not include the content of any communications or the name of any subscriber. It relates exclusively to metadata, such as a telephone number or the length of a call.
Information of the sort described in the Guardian article has been a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats to the United States, as it allows counterterrorism personnel to discover whether known or suspected terrorists have been in contact with other persons who may be engaged in terrorist activities, particularly people located inside the United States.
As we have publicly stated before, all three branches of government are involved in reviewing and authorizing intelligence collection under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Congress passed that act and is regularly and fully briefed on how it is used, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court authorizes such collection. There is a robust legal regime in place governing all activities conducted pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That regime has been briefed to and approved by the Court. And, activities authorized under the Act are subject to strict controls and procedures under oversight of the Department of Justice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the FISA Court, to ensure that they comply with the Constitution and laws of the United States and appropriately protect privacy and civil liberties.
The Guardian obtained a copy of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order that requires Verizon on an "ongoing, daily basis" to give the NSA information on all telephone calls "between the United States and abroad" or "wholly within the United States, including local telephone calls."
The college student was thrust into the spotlight when he asked Obama and Romney about finding a job after graduation at the October town hall debate.
Via: David Goldman / AP
"Every now and then someone stops me on the street and says, 'Hey, I recognize you,'" says Jeremy Epstein, the 21-year-old Hofstra college student who was thrust in the national spotlight last October when he stood before President Obama, Mitt Romney and 65.5 million Americans watching across the nation to ask the first question at the presidential town hall debate. "The latest thing that happened is someone stopped me on the street and said, 'Hey Jeremy did you get a job yet?'"
At the debate, Epstein made headlines for asking the candidates about finding a job after graduation. "Mr. President, Governor Romney, as a 20-year-old college student, all I hear from professors, neighbors and others is that when I graduate, I will have little chance to get employment," he asked. "Can — what can you say to reassure me, but more importantly my parents, that I will be able to sufficiently support myself after I graduate?"
Epstein did not find a summer job but is doing some work at his school's radio station 88.7. He's even hosting a show.
"I've applied for a couple. I've applied for a few internships, but right now I'm working at my school radio station for the summer. I'm hoping to pursue a career in journalism," he says.
But Epstein thinks the economy may be looking up for college students.
"It's not something that's going to be fixed overnight. If I had to say now, I'd say it would still be pretty tough for me to find a job even though Mitt Romney promised me a job, but that's probably not going to happen. I think it's turning around a little bit but it's tough to tell. I think overall the economy may be looking up for students my age."
Epstein hopes the attention he's received — and the post-debate media interviews that have followed — will help his job search. The overall economic outlook, he thinks, looks the same.
"From my personal experience, I would say it has a better outlook because the career I want to pursue is journalism and I've had a lot more opportunities through television and radio. Going on all these interviews, trying to make an impression for me, that alone has made it better. But the overall, the economy, I think it's still the same," he says. "It could go up. It could go down. It could stay the same. I think I will have a better chance of getting a job when I graduate than I thought before the debate, but it's still really up for grabs," he added.
Epstein's is hosting his first show on his school's radio station on Thursday, called Jazz Cafe.
"Tomorrow actually I'm hosting my first show, Jazz Cafe," Epstein said. "It's really like an entry level thing. I joined the training class for the spring semester and then I passed that. Right now, I'm working for their program Newsline just doing national news and weather. So, it's entry level, but I'm trying to work my way up. The radio station is very prestigious and has a great reputation so I'm honored to be a part of it."
Epstein says he's thinking of taking classes the second half of the summer at Hofstra, along with working on the radio show but he's also planning on getting some rest.
"I'm trying to find a little time to decompress."
Life is "still a little crazy," he says.
Rep. Rush Holt told supporters Thursday morning that he would run for the empty senate seat. Cory Booker, collecting signatures for a petition, has yet to announce.
Via: Kris Connor / Getty Images
Rep. Rush Holt announced Thursday morning that he would run in this year's special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat occupied by the late Frank Lautenberg.
Holt, a Democrat who has represented New Jersey's 12th district since 1999, is the first in the race to officially announce his candidacy.
"Today, I ask for your support as I seek to serve as your Senator in that seat," Holt wrote in a letter to supporters, which his campaign sent to reporters and posted online. "The reason is simple: I believe I am the best candidate to continue the passionate advocacy for progressive values that Sen. Lautenberg exemplified."
Lautenberg passed away at age 89 early Monday morning, prompting Christie to schedule a special election for Oct. 16, with a primary on Aug. 13, accelerating an already heated race by more than a year.
Holt announced his campaign less than 24 hours after Lautenberg's funeral in New York City Wednesday.
Two other Democratic candidates, Newark mayor Cory Booker and Rep. Frank Pallone, are collecting signatures to qualify for the ballot and are expected to make their candidacies official soon, according to sources in both camps.
Booker campaign spokesman Kevin Griffis confirmed Wednesday night that the mayor's campaign had volunteers collecting signatures to meet the nominating petition deadline on Monday, June 10 — a move "consistent with what we've been doing for the last several months: taking the steps necessary to run," Griffis told BuzzFeed. "We will make the official announcement at the appropriate time."
In his announcement letter, Holt highlighted his background as a professor and scientist, and his work in Congress to increase student aid and funding for research and development.
"As you know," Holt added, "I have never shied away from a tough political fight, and I have never wavered in my commitment to advancing progressive priorities."
“We never stop monitoring you.”
Via: Benny Johnson/Buzzfeed
Via: John Gara/Buzzfeed
Via: John Gara/Buzzfeed
Via: John Gara/Buzzfeed
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin says he and some of his colleagues knew about elements of the Verizon story before it became public.
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 30: Senator Dick Durbin
Via: Drew Angerer / Getty Images
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration informed some lawmakers of the NSA's sweeping phone monitoring program as part of classified briefings, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Thursday.
"We have hearings on this in the Senate Judiciary Committee and many of these things I've been briefed on in a classified setting," Durbin, a member of the committee, said.
Asked specifically if he'd been briefed on the NSA's FISA warrant to monitor collect phone records for millions of Verizon customers, Durbin said, "I've been briefed on information, some of which was disclosed today."
Durbin, who said he is "of course" concerned, explained that he hopes the revelations will prompt a new public discussion of personal privacy rights versus national security concerns.
"This is a fundamental question of personal privacy and freedom versus our concerns for security. We've been unable to discuss this because of the classified nature of this. But we've voted on this, in the committee and the floor, and I hope we'll get a chance to vote on it again, about the reach of the government into our private lives," the Illinois Democrat said.
UPDATE: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee defended the policy, telling reporters on Thursday that "as far as she knew" it was simply a renewal of a policy that had been in place for the last seven years.
"It is lawful. It has been briefed to Congress," she said.
Ranking member Saxby Chambliss said that the files were "meta data only" and made the case that only when a number is flagged as a potential threat from a terrorist would further action be taken.
"The intelligence committee takes this oversight very seriously…we review every program with in the intelligence community on a regular basis," he said. "Including this program, that's why we took the liberty of explaining to our colleagues the substance of the program."
Obama in 2007: “No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime, no more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war…” While Obama publicly expressed outcry at monitoring of citizens protesting Iraq, his administration’s collection of Verizon phone records was broader. Unlike the Bush White House, which sometimes did not use a warrant, the Obama Administration had a warrant from a FISA judge.
“This administration also puts forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we provide. I will provide our intelligence and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to track and take out the terrorists without undermining our Constitution and our freedom. That means no more illegal wiretapping of American citizens. No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime. No more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war. No more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient."
“The most unapologetic and eloquent spokesperson about poverty in this country,” says Phillips. The $2 million project: “Help Cory Win.”
Via: John Moore / Getty Images
A national super PAC that backs progressive candidates of color is launching a seven-figure outside effort to elect Newark Mayor Cory Booker to the U.S. Senate seat occupied by the late Frank Lautenberg.
Pac Plus, a San Francisco-based group that focuses on mobilizing black and latino voters — and which is looking for new leaders for President Obama's coalition of young and minority voters — has in the past backed figures like California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Obama, on whose behalf it raised about $10 million in 2008. The group's founder said it will spend between $1 and $2 million in the run-up to the New Jersey special election election this October.
"Here we are talking about the post-Obama world, and where the Obama coalition is going to go," the group's founder, Steve Phillips, told BuzzFeed. "We think that Cory is one of the people who is best positioned to advance that movement."
Philips said his wife Susan Sandler — whose family members are among the largest liberal donors in the country — would seed the group with a $100,000 check. Pac Plus, where the Booker project will be housed, is a hybrid political action committee and so-called Super PAC, with one arm that can make unlimited expenditures and another that can contribute directly to federal campaigns.
Phillips said the project will be called "Help Cory Win."
"We want to be clear," he said of the group's name.
"I'm going to try to put together 10 other funders of $50,000 to get the first round of funding going," Phillips said. "We were always focused on building an infrastructure for the broad enthusiasm that exists for him across the country. So that had been the plan, and we had all been on that trajectory, until this week. We're in a 70-day sprint now."
"Help Cory Win," Phillips added, also aims to increase "turnout of young people and people of color" in advance of the special election primary, scheduled for Aug. 13, and the general election, on Oct. 16.
Phillips, a California-based activist and former San Francisco School Board president, said his group's goal is to promote candidates who can "advance the Obama coalition," he said, citing Harris, the California attorney general, as a prominent example.
But Phillips has been focused largely on Booker since last December, when the mayor said in a video announcement that would "consider" replacing Lautenberg before the senator had even decided to retire — a move that many inside New Jersey deemed disrespectful. Pac Plus, though, wasn't waiting for Lautenberg to bow out; the same night Booker released his video, Pac Plus sent an email to 75,000 supporters nationwide, rallying support from "progressives from coast to coast."
Phillips said he sees Booker as the "young leader who can capture the imagination of an ascendant coalition," he said, citing Booker's engagement with issues like urban poverty and economic inequality.
"He is the most unapologetic and eloquent spokesperson about poverty in this country right now," said Phillips. "I have not heard anybody talk about poverty in that way since Jesse Jackson's 1988 Democratic convention speech."
Booker, whose campaign is circulating a petition for signatures to get his name on the ballot for the special election, has not yet formally announced his candidacy.
Event planner sought to keep “after hours party” beer and wine costs hidden for two officials suspended for accepting gifts in 2010.
FILE - This March 22, 2103 file photo shows the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington. Experts say the Internal Revenue Service’s improper treatment of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status stems partly from its having to enforce conflicting laws vaguely describing the activities that such organizations may conduct.
Via: Susan Walsh, File / AP
WASHINGTON — An event planner who provided IRS officials with more than $1,100 in food asked the hotel hosting the conference to not include additional charges for alcohol paid for by the two men to not be included in their official hotel bill.
The IRS this week put two senior officials, including one who is in charge of implementing Obamacare, on administrative leave after the gifts were disclosed. The Department of Justice has opted to not prosecute the two officials.
Although the two men, Frederick Schindler and Donald Toda, appear to have paid for it themselves rather than charging the government, congressional aides said documents obtained as part of an investigation into the IRS appear to show an effort to hide the expenses from the government.
According to an email obtained by BuzzFeed about the event, the after-hours party was for 18 people. The event organizer appears to have arranged to pay for food and bartender fees, while "the beer and wine will be paid by a credit card given to you at the end of the function by Mr. Donald Toda or Fred Schindler do not post to room it can't be shown as room charge … Mr. Toda knows he is buying the booze and you shouldn't have to."
A congressional investigator not involved in the IRS case said it appears Toda and Schindler, while not necessarily violating any rules by paying for the beer and wine themselves, were hoping to avoid their supervisors from seeing the cost of the libations.
Meanwhile, a copy of the receipt obtained by investigators shows attendees at the party were treated to a variety of foods, including separate $165 charges for spring rolls, shrimp BLTS, lamp chops, and organic chicken, $120 worth of artesian cheeses, and $96 in organic vegetables.
“The department has not prosecuted, and as long as I have the privilege of serving as Attorney General of the United States, will not prosecute any reporter for doing his or her job,” Holder tells Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday.
