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Rand Paul Philosophizes On Tax Rates: "If We Tax You At 50%, You Are Half Slave, Half Free"

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“I frankly would like to see you a little freer and a little more money remaining in your communities so you can create jobs.”

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YouTube/Ajai Dittmar / Via youtube.com

Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul, speaking last week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said he believes a 50% tax rate leaves individuals "half-slave, half-free."

"Now you can have some government, we all need government," the Kentucky senator said while discussing Thomas Paine and the role of government at the local public library. "Thomas Paine said that government is a necessary evil. What did he mean by that?"

Paul said he believes that "you have to give up some of your liberty to have government," saying he was "for some government."

"I'm for paying some taxes," continued Paul. "But if we tax you at 100% then you've got zero percent liberty. If we tax you at 50% you are half slave, half free. I frankly would like to see you a little freer and a little more money remaining in your communities so you can create jobs. It's a debate we need to have."

Paul, who was discussing his recent tax proposal, described his plan to "leave more money in Iowa" and "send less money to Washington."

"This past week I put forward a plan to have a simple flat tax, where everybody pays there fair share," said Paul earlier in the speech. "Everybody pays, and you can fill it out on one page. Fourteen-and-a-half percent for personal income tax, fourteen-and-a-half percent for business tax."

Paul said he believed the way to create jobs was to leave money in the local communities.

"The way you get jobs creation is you need to leave more money in the productive sector," he said. "You are the productive sector. When you look at Washington, that's the non-productive sector."


Lindsey Graham: Brad Pitt Would Be In GOP Debate Under Current Rules

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“If the goal to get into the debate is to have a national polling number, number one, Brad Pitt would be in the debate because it’s just a name we know.”

Mark Davis / Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham said Monday that Brad Pitt would be able to participate in the first GOP primary debate under the current criteria.

The senator from South Carolina was criticizing the Republican National Committee and Fox News' decision to use national polling numbers to determine which 10 candidates get to take the stage on August 6. The current rules mean that Donald Trump could edge out governors and senators to participate in the debate.

Speaking on a New Hampshire radio station, Graham argued that the methodology marked "the beginning of the end" for the New Hampshire primary by disproportionately rewarding people with familiar names and discouraging candidates from spending time in the early primary states.

"For those who care about the New Hampshire primary, this is the beginning of the end," Graham said. "For Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire. And let me tell you why. If the goal to get into the debate is to have a national polling number, number one, Brad Pitt would be in the debate because it's just a name we know."

Graham said that instead of national polls, "we should have polling based on how we do in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina."

"That's the one place we all go where you can compare everyone to each other," he said.

Most polls show Graham at or near the back of the crowded GOP pack, nationally and in the first two primary states, while performing better in South Carolina, his home state.

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Scott Walker: "Oddly Enough...The Supreme Leader Of Iran Has Saved Us" From Bad Iran Deal

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“The only thing saving us is the Supreme Leader still doesn’t think that’s good enough…”

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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says he hopes President Obama walks away from the nuclear deal the United States is negotiating with Iran and that he believes Iran's Supreme Leader might have "saved" the United States from negotiating a bad deal by making provocative statements that undermine the outlined agreement to limit Iran's nuclear capacity.

"Well, I certainly hope that they will walk away from the deal. I think in some ways, oddly enough as it sounds, but the Supreme Leader of Iran has saved us," Walker said last week on the Lars Larson Show. Walker cited what he said was Secretary of State John Kerry not following through on guidelines he had set on any deal, such as it being permanent. The deal negotiated has a ten year window.

"I often joke that I'd love to play cards with President Obama, because when you look at this deal with Iran, it's clear that he folds, all the time," added Walker.

"The only thing saving us is the Supreme Leader still doesn't think that's good enough, and so that apparently is going to push them away from going forward with the deal —at least, appears to. But, you know — never, never, never take for granted just how far this administration under President Obama is willing to go to lead from behind, and so I still worry that this is ultimately something that the next president is going to have to deal with it."

Two weeks ago, in one of several statements that seem to undermine the agreement framework, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said sanctions need to be lifted before Iran dismantles any of its nuclear infrastructure and said there would be no freeze in Iran's enrichment of uranium.

Walker added comments he has made before that he would pull back from the deal on day one as president.

"On Jan. 20, 2017, if I were elected president I would pull back from this awful deal on the very first day," he said adding he would also reinstate sanctions and ask American allies to do the same.

Here's the audio:

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Real Change Could Be Coming To How The Government Sentences Nonviolent Drug Offenders

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President Obama’s using his executive power to free nonviolent offenders, and activists say they see a real, meaningful shift with top GOP opponents. But how much will get done before the presidential race takes over?

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The way the federal government prosecutes nonviolent drug offenders could be changing in significant ways as early as this summer, advocates of fewer mandatory minimum sentences and ending the war on drugs now believe.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chair of the Senate judiciary committee, has long advocated tough mandatory-minimum sentences for drug offenders and ever stricter drug laws that carried huge bipartisan support in the 1990s. But now advocates see signs that the Iowa Republican is opening up to criminal justice advocates after years of dismissing their cause as reckless and naive.

Winning over a veteran law-and-order politician like Grassley would be a huge win for the "smart-on-crime" movement backed by many younger senators, Libertarians, social justice progressives, and the White House. Not only would it mean legislation could move through the Judiciary Committee, but other Republicans still wary of criminal justice advocates also might be convinced it's time to change policies if someone like Grassley does.

The possible movement comes at a time when aides to President Obama say long-promised commutations for dozens of nonviolent drug sentences could come in "the next few weeks," according to the New York Times.

Grassley's Judiciary Committee aides have been holding regular, closed-door meetings with Democratic staff for the committee working on legislation that could add the Republican's name to those calling for changes to federal mandatory-minimum sentencing guidelines, BuzzFeed News has learned.

"Chairman Grassley's staff has been working with other offices on a possible criminal justice bill that encompasses a range of issues," Beth Levine, spokeswoman for the judiciary committee's Republican members, told BuzzFeed News in an email. "Provisions of the Cornyn bill are a part of that discussion as well as front-end solutions such as safety valves and reductions in mandatory minimums in certain situations."

The bill referenced by Levine would allow nonviolent offenders to earn early release from federal prisons by participating in anti-recidivism programs. The bill doesn't go anywhere near as far as advocates would like. They want mandatory-minimum sentences, which they say strip judges of their power to hand down sentences based on the specific circumstances of a crime, eliminated entirely or almost entirely. On top of that, many in the movement want the war on drugs effectively ended, with an end to long prison terms for nonviolent drug possession.

But the bill does highlight the bipartisan movement around criminal justice. The named sponsors are far apart ideologically and geographically — Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is a liberal Democrat from Rhode Island while Sen. John Cornyn is a Texas Republican.

Grassley's aides said the senator's interest in a negotiated bill dates back to at least a year ago. In a pair of floor statements, one in April 2014 and the other in February, Grassley said on the Senate floor he was interested in perhaps lowering some mandatory-minimum sentences while creating new ones for "such offense as arms export control violations, financial crimes, and child pornography possession."

Last week, Grassley's office told IJ Review "front-end solutions" like sentence reduction are part of the Senate conversation.

Grassley has continued to distance himself from the more ardent supporters of ending the war on drugs, while also taking pains not to reject the critics of mandatory-minimum sentences completely.

"I have different views than [Sen. Rand] Paul and those guys," Grassley told Politico in April. "They'd make you believe [people are incarcerated] for smoking one pot [sic] or one 'roach.' … But they're not; they're in for a lifetime of violent crime."

"But I know there needs to be reform," Grassley said. "We need this."

Some on the conservative side of the criminal justice movement recoil at Grassley's idea of new or lengthened mandatory-minimum sentences for white-collar criminals; they say the sentences are extremely expensive without deterring much.

But the fact that Grassley is even talking about talking about reducing some mandatory minimums is a big shift, advocates say. The White House, Libertarians, and progressives now all believe Grassley could make a deal, ending his uniform opposition to reductions in drug sentences.

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and top national voice on the Libertarian side of the debate, echoed other advocates reached Monday when he said Grassley is showing signs of reaching out. He credited efforts to change sentencing policy changes in the states, where a coalition of progressives and Libertarians have pushed Republican-led states to adopt the policies advocates hope to reproduce in the federal system.

"It's unfair to ask elected officials to lead parades into the unknown," Norquist said. "Somebody has to run up ahead to flash lights on the highway to show them the bridge isn't out. And some of the outside groups have been doing that."

Republicans have reduced sentences in states like Texas and seen crime continue to fall — and haven't been booted out of office in criminal justice–focused primaries in the process.

"The conversation is safe," Norquist said. "It is safe to have the conversation."

Allied groups have been pressuring Grassley at home in Iowa through grassroots efforts and op-eds running in the state's largest paper, Des Moines Register. Ben Stone, former executive director of the Iowa branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote a Register op-ed in May about what he said were the debiliating administrative costs faced by many low-level drug offenders. The ACLU is one of the largest progressive organizations partnering with Libertarian groups in the criminal justice movement.

Stone said Iowa as a state has been slow to adopt the idea espoused by advocates that the tough-on-crime policies of the 1980s and '90s might not work, and that fact could help explain why Grassley remains as publicly wary of it as he is.

"Iowa has been a very, very slow state to this game," he said.

The efforts to lobby Grassley mirror similar efforts to rally House judiciary chair, Rep. Bob Goodlatte — the other man seen by advocates as keeping the growing bipartisan energy from resulting in new federal legislation — to the cause. Proponents see Goodlatte as still very skeptical of reducing mandatory minimums but open to new perspectives.

Running alongside these Hill efforts are meetings between progressives and Libertarians across Washington, some at the White House hosted by top administration officials, to plan a combined strategy. The Obama administration has expressed a great deal of interest in making criminal justice the next legacy-defining effort of Obama's second term now that Obamacare is secure and so-called fast-track trade authority has passed over Democratic objections. The trade effort brought the White House and leaders of the congressional GOP together in a way rarely seen during Obama's term in office, and Obama aides see a path to criminal justice paved in the bipartisan goodwill from the trade fight.

"There has been a lot of talk over the last six months about the possibility of working across party lines to implement some important reforms to the criminal justice system," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on June 25, just before Republicans would deliver fast-track trade authority to Obama. "The president has hosted conversations with Democrats and Republican members of Congress here at the White House. I would anticipate that future discussions like that will occur. And I think that certainly is a ripe opportunity for us to work in bipartisan fashion and do something that would be really good for the country."

The window for meaningful legislative changes to the federal criminal justice system is tightening every day, say advocates. With the 2016 campaign season sucking up more and more of the political oxygen in Washington every minute, there isn't much time before there's no time left for criminal justice.

And that brings it back to Grassley.

"These things would move very quickly if Grassley would say, 'OK, I'm ready to do all of it," said one senior criminal justice advocate. No one in the movement sees that happening, and Grassley's compromise demands could turn them off entirely. But they're growing more and more convinced Grassley is ready to go.

"He has a fantastic political mind," the advocate said. "He's really good at sensing the political winds and he really feels like criminal justice reform is having its moment and he wants to be helpful."

Hillary Clinton Could Run Her Hispanic Media Strategy Like Coca-Cola

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The plan would be to have a national Latino strategy complemented by local messages in key states. But some strategists say selling a brand is different than selling policies to voters and worry about the pivot away from Obama’s successful 2012 approach.

Elise Amendola / AP

The Clinton campaign has held national and local meetings with Latino strategists and stakeholders about an unconventional Hispanic media strategy that would look more like the approach a Fortune 100 company like Coca-Cola takes — a departure from how the Obama campaign structured its plan in 2012.

So far, the discussions have concerned engaging a national public relations firm to develop a national message for the Hispanic electorate, complemented by independent messages from statewide firms in a handful of key states like Florida, Nevada, Colorado, and North Carolina, according to multiple sources who have been briefed or were part of the meetings.

The campaign is said to be keeping its options open for talent, looking beyond Hispanic political firms that have been brought on for this work in years past to, as an example, "go get the firm that does Latino advertising for Coca-Cola," said Andres Ramirez, a 20-year veteran Democratic strategist who was part of the local meeting in Nevada.

The Clinton campaign declined to comment for this story.

Some operatives who spoke to BuzzFeed News said they don't think it's necessarily a bad idea that the Clinton campaign has floated hiring local firms in addition to a national one — as the oft-repeated adage goes, Latinos in Florida are different from Latinos in Nevada.

Others wonder why the Clinton campaign isn't just following the successful strategy pursued by Obama. In 2012, he grew his share of the Latino vote from 67% to 71% — despite some policies (no passage of immigration legislation, record-high deportations) that some believed would sap support.

Clinton's senior media adviser, Jim Margolis, is an Obama campaign veteran. His firm, GMMB, is doing production, creative, and media-buying.

The campaign, however, hasn't contracted Bendixen & Amandi, the firm that led Obama's Hispanic research and media strategy.

Bendixen & Amandi, for example, convinced the Obama campaign to bring in popular talk show host Cristina Saralegui for Spanish-language ads, billing her as the Latina Oprah to campaign leadership.

Those who have spoken to Clinton campaign officials and have knowledge of the campaign's thinking on the Hispanic media plan say campaign officials want to do something unconventional and bigger than has ever been done before, something traditional political firms may not be able to do. The campaign has already shown a willingness to engage corporate advisers: Wendy Clark, of Coca-Cola, served as a consultant to Clinton in the winter of this year.

BuzzFeed News spoke with Hispanic political consultants with experience in previous campaigns as well as Hispanic marketing executives who work with corporations about what Hillary as a big national brand could look like.

Campaigns change from one cycle to the next, the operatives said, especially in national Latino outreach, which has really only been in existence since 2004 — in other words, they said, it makes sense to revamp strategy. The changes from campaign range from big to small, technical to policy-based.

For example, in 2012, Obama operatives were able to target young Hispanics through ads in English or Spanish on Pandora depending on the language of the music they were listening to, noted James Aldrete, a Texan operative who worked inside Obama's campaign on Hispanic media. Pandora wasn't used in 2008.

Unsurprisingly, Hispanic executives who work with global brands touted the advantages of bringing on people with that kind of marketing experience.

Natalie Boden, whose agency Boden PR serves as the national Hispanic firm for McDonald's and Target, said what she finds most exciting about adapting brand strategies to political campaigns is the emerging importance of national and hyper-local social listening, in other words, using a platform (her company has a proprietary one) to see what Latinos are saying about Clinton in Spanish, for example.

In an election where the excitement and energy (or lack thereof) of the Hispanic electorate will be key, she argued that a candidate could zero in on this sentiment in a certain state, divided by female or male, positive or negative, across social networks.

Trying to use Latino celebrities is nothing new, the Obama administration has used them for his health care law rollout and after the president's immigration actions, but a new generation of Vine, Snapchat, and Periscope stars who didn't exist in 2012 could be used by a campaign, Boden said.

Mike Valdes-Fauli, the president and CEO of Miami-based Pinta, counts Facebook as a client, and notes that the social network counts 27 million people in its Hispanic affinity group, not all of whom are Latino.

If you prefer Hispanic content and culture, are looking at recipes for Mexican food, watching shows from Univision, and liking the pages of superstars like Romeo Santos, you might be in that group. This is just a recent example of how the lines to reaching out to Hispanics are blurring ahead of the 2016 election, he said.

"Being Hispanic is no longer something you hide; it's something that's cool," he said. "Hispanics are changing American culture, Hispanicizing it a little bit."

While some see pivoting away from the 2012 Obama strategy as a missed opportunity to repeat the 71% of the Latino vote he commanded, the campaign is trying to find ways to expand the number and proportion of Latino supporters for Clinton.

"One of the challenges for Latinos as much as the Latino vote has grown, still 50% of eligible Latinos don't vote," said Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, who is close to the campaign. "They either are not registered or don't come out, so you want to use every single tool that has worked in the past but they're also very keen to think outside the box and think about new tools that can work."

Boden highlighted the power of the Latina vote as a bloc to activate. The Clinton campaign recently hired Maya Harris, the sister of California Senate candidate Kamala Harris; Maya Harris, as Vox's Ezra Klein noted earlier this year, wrote a paper titled, "Women of Color: A Growing Force in the American Electorate."

"Latinas have a higher propensity of voting and influence how those around them are going to vote," said Rosalina Cardenas, who has run political campaigns for over a decade and helped set up Univision's political team.

Armando Azarloza, president of the Axis Agency in Los Angeles, is a Republican who supports Jeb Bush and ran political campaigns in the '80s and '90s. Campaigns, he argued, should not only be thinking about creating their own content, as Bush is planning to do, but also taking content generated by voters, supporters, and stakeholders, to show the excitement and energy behind the candidate.

Political consultants said firms working with brands aren't the only ones who have outside-the-box ideas, but Hispanic political firms need the space and financial backing to be creative. One pointed to Los Angeles–based Miguel Orozco, who on his own put together two videos for Obama, one a reggaeton anthem, with the lyrics "como se dice, como se llama, Obama, Obama," that racked up almost 2 million views and, "Viva Obama," a mariachi song with 1.5 million views. Both were licensed by the Obama campaign.

Some Latino strategists cautioned that the Clinton campaign needs to keep Hispanic political firms in the fold, drawing parallels between Charlie Crist's GMMB-led, losing gubernatorial race against a well-financed Republican in Rick Scott, who employed respected strategist Ana Carbonell, leading the way on Hispanic strategy. (Florida Republicans are hoping for a parallel in 2016 with the well-financed Jeb Bush and his campaign's strategist Jose Mallea making a play for Latino voters.)

GMMB, the operatives said, was simply translating its general market strategy into Spanish, a practice Latinos in politics continually blast.

"In general, campaigns who have utilized GMMB's general market advertising to simply do translations have not done well, every candidate that has brought in a specialized Latino firm has always done better," said Ramirez, the 20-year Nevada strategist.

The concern is simple: There could be crucial oversights without Latinos involved. One consultant pointed to driving down I-95 in Miami Dade and Broward County during the Florida governor's race and seeing Charlie Crist alone on billboards — not a strange thing during a campaign, except that Crist had chosen Annette Taddeo, a Latina, as his lieutenant governor. "Why in the hell wouldn't you plaster her face in her hometown area?" the strategist said. "It never even crossed their mind for Charlie to be standing right next to the Latina who was his running mate in two very Hispanic counties."

A source close to the campaign said these same issues will not play out because there are high-profile Latinas like Amanda Renteria and Lorella Praeli at the table.

And for all the hand-wringing, Clinton also beat Obama among Latinos in the 2008 primary by a 2–1 margin, and has a long history of outreach to Hispanics dating back to the 1970s in Texas.

"I don't have concerns because they haven't made final decisions yet," Ramirez said of the talked-about Hispanic media plan. "I don't know that it's a terrible idea, them having local experts; it's hard to say it's a bad strategy unless they hire a bunch of idiots."

Lindsey Graham On Trump: GOP "Must Speak Up," He's "Not Part Of The Party I Want To Have"

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“You have people in the party who say things sometimes that are against what I think the party stands for, so it’s incumbent upon the rest to say, ‘hey no, that’s not the Republican Party that I want.’”

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Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham said it's important for members of his party to "speak up" in opposition to Donald Trump's controversial remarks on immigrants, adding that Trump's comments are not part of "the party I want to have."

"I'm not embarrassed I just think that everybody's got to speak up," the senator from South Carolina said on Boston Herald Radio.

"At the end of the day this is not the party I want to have. You have people in the party who say things sometimes that are against what I think the party stands for, so it's incumbent upon the rest to say, 'hey no, that's not the Republican Party that I want.'"

At his presidential campaign announcement event, Trump described the immigrants that come to the United States from Mexico as "rapists."

"They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us," Trump said. "They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists."

Graham added in the interview that he thought Trump was a "very successful man" and that the Republican Party "would get through" Trump.

He also said he believes the Republican Party had a lot to offer the African-American and Hispanic community.

"The Hispanic community, I think Republicans can do well in 2016. African-American and Hispanic families have not done very well in terms of Obama economics. What do we offer, it's got to be about what we offer and I think the middle class is never gonna get better in this country until you have a growing economy where people compete for labor."

Graham said the way some Republicans speak about immigration has hurt his party.

"The immigration issue has hurt us," said Graham. "I've said this for a long time. The way the Republican Party -- some elements -- have dealt with immigration, the way we've talk about immigrants, has hurt us. I just believe we've gone from 44% to 27% among Hispanics because of rhetoric like this."

Ben Carson Has Sold More Copies Of His Book Than Every Other 2016 Republican Combined — By A Lot

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A rare mega-hit in the presidential candidate lit genre.

Sentinel

The Iowa caucuses are still months away, but one presidential hopeful has already pulled far ahead in the 2016 conservative book sales primary: Dr. Ben Carson.

Carson's book, One Nation: What We Can All Do To Save America's Future, has sold a whopping 362,813 hardcover copies to date, according to Nielsen BookScan, a service that tracks most bookstore sales.

To compare: If you take the combined hardcover sales of every other book written by a current Republican presidential contender since 2010 and add them together, you only get 252,177.

Carson's dominance as an author has not necessarily translated to frontrunner status in the GOP presidential primaries, where he generally polls among the top cluster of candidates — at around 10% — but has not pulled away from the pack.

The book's success does, however, illustrate how Carson's specialized brand of charisma, emphasis on personal biography, and proud defiance of political correctness appeals to the book-buying masses of the Republican base.

It also comes at a moment when the conservative publishing industry has grown so large, and competitive, that many on the right fear it's unsustainable. BuzzFeed News explored this phenomenon last year, in part, by examining the quadrennial rush to put out campaign manifestos by prospective presidential candidates. Publishing sources described bidding wars among the proliferation of conservative imprints, which have led to soaring advances that couldn't be economically justified. Often, campaigns and political action committees end up spending thousands of dollars to inflate the books' sales numbers.

So far, Carson's book is shaping up to be a rare runaway bestseller in the sub-genre of candidate lit.

From BookScan, here are the total hardcover sales for each book released since 2010 by one of the current Republican presidential contenders:

American Dreams, by Marco Rubio: 7,807 hardcover copies sold

Unintimidated, by Scott Walker: 19,096

Taking a Stand, by Rand Paul: 7,795

Rising to the Challenge, by Carly Fiorina: 2,620

Immigration Wars, by Jeb Bush: 4,905

God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy, by Mike Huckabee: 65,939

Leadership and Crisis, by Bobby Jindal: 20,080

Midas Touch, by Donald Trump: 21,424

Fed Up!, by Rick Perry: 27,264

An American Son, by Marco Rubio: 36,786

Bella's Gift, by Rick Santorum: 6,112

American Patriots, by Rick Santorum: 6,831

Government Bullies, by Rand Paul: 10,818

The Tea Party Goes To Washington, by Rand Paul: 10,778

Blue Collar Conservatives, by Rick Santorum: 3,919

TOTAL: 252,177

One Nation, by Ben Carson: 362,813

Cruz: Simpsons Writers “Lefties" But “Less Liberal” Than "Shameless Propaganda" On TV

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Ted Cruz delivers a homeric defense of The Simpsons.

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Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz says that although the writers of the The Simpsons are "mostly a bunch of lefties," the show is "less liberal" because they make fun of everyone.

"Frankly, the writers are just funny. Now, look—they are mostly a bunch of lefties. But you know what's interesting, even people who are consciously on the left, in some ways, The Simpsons was less liberal than just about everything else on TV. Because all of the rest of TV was shameless propaganda and the Simpsons would make fun of everyone." the senator from Texas told Redkudzu.com in Georgia this weekend.

"They would make fun of Democrats, they would make fun of Republicans," he added.

Cruz was asked what makes people who grew up in the 80's and 90's "connect" with The Simpsons. Last week, Cruz's performed a number of impressions of The Simpsons in a BuzzFeed video.

Cruz added he enjoyed an episode where grandpa realized he had been getting royalties from Itchy and Scratchy -- a show he had nothing to do with -- because "the Democrats were back in power."

"You know, I'm reminded of a great episode, where grandpa had been receiving royalties for years from Itchy and Scratchy, even though he had nothing to do with Itchy and Scratchy. And Lisa asked him, and said well grandpa didn't you think it was strange that you were receiving money for not doing anything. And grandpa says, no Lisa, I just figured the Democrats were back in power. "

The senator said that even though the Simpson siblings often fought they were tied together by love and ""that is what a family is all about."

"Look all families have tension," said Cruz. "Show me siblings that don't fight and I'll show you people who are hollywood actors pretending to be siblings. Families have tensions but even in the Simpsons, at the end of the day, there is love that ties that family together that ties Homer and Marge and Lisa and Bart and little baby Maggie together. And that is what it takes—that is what a family is all about. Is the love between us."

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Obama’s Potential Clemency Push Can’t Come Soon Enough, Campaigners Say

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Drew Angerer / Getty Images

Advocates who have long campaigned for clemency for federal inmates imprisoned for nonviolent drug offenses say they are thrilled that President Obama appears poised to commute dozens of such sentences. But they’re also frustrated with what they see as needless delays, both bureaucratic and political, that have slowed the pace of commutations.

These advocates also say Obama’s plans are only remarkable because of the timidity shown by recent presidents, including Obama himself, in wielding executive authority for one of its more controversial purposes. In recent decades, the president’s use of clemency has been tempered by political considerations, with the fear that granting clemency to a convict who reoffends could lead to a backlash.

“It’s preposterous to consider this revolutionary,” Dennis Cauchon, editor of the Clemency Report website, told BuzzFeed News of Obama's clemency push. “It’s only revolutionary in the very limited context of what today’s American politics allows.”

Since he began his second term, the president has indicated his willingness to use his clemency power more frequently. In his first four years in office, Obama commuted only one sentence; since his re-election, he has granted 42 commutations.

In 2010, the president signed into law the Fair Sentencing Act. The law reduced the startling 100:1 disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine offenses, which had long resulted in more black people receiving lengthier prison sentences. In addition to eliminating a five-year mandatory minimum for crack possession, the new law reduced the sentencing ratio from 18:1.

In January 2014, the Justice Department began asking defense attorneys to aid the administration in finding suitable applications for clemency from more low-level drug offenders. Under criteria set by the Department of Justice, federal inmates could apply if they were nonviolent offenders, had no significant criminal history, had served more than 10 years in prison, had good behavior records, and would have received more lenient sentences under the new sentencing guidelines.

It’s unclear exactly how many commutations the president is seeking to grant, or if the administration intends to focus on offenses involving specific drugs, such as crack.

Inmates seeking free legal assistance with their applications for clemency have applied to the Clemency Project 2014, which has sorted through more than 26,000 inmate requests to be assigned one of the group’s 1,500 volunteer lawyers.

With such a large number of petitioners, progress has been slow, and, until now, very few applications have actually made it to the president, according to the New York Times.

Amy Ralston Povah, founder of CAN-DO, a group that advocates for clemency, told BuzzFeed News some of the inmates she is in touch with have been frustrated with the lawyers assigned to them. One inmate who tries to call her attorney from prison can never seem to make contact, she said.

“The prisoners’ lives are in the hands of people who don’t care,” Povah said. “They don’t have any impetus. There’s no sense of urgency coming from some of the lawyers.”

Povah and other campaigners said they had urged prisoners to directly petition the Justice Department because of the Clemency Project 2014’s slow pace. Indeed, the DOJ has received more than 6,000 direct applications since the administration’s call for more went out, according to the New York Times.

The Clemency Project 2014’s project manager, Cynthia W. Roseberry, defended the volunteer lawyers in a statement to BuzzFeed News. "We are heartened by the breadth and depth of commitment demonstrated by the private bar to voluntarily help the many prisoners who have sought pro bono assistance in evaluating their cases and filing petitions,” she said. “The support and commitment these attorneys have demonstrated are manifestly visible to anyone who has taken a serious look at the effort."

But others believe the process is unnecessarily burdensome and that officials have been constrained by procedures they themselves invented.

“[The presidential clemency power] is one line in the U.S. Constitution that has no procedures to it, no bureaucracy,” said Dennis Cauchon, who worked as a criminal justice reporter with USA Today before starting the Clemency Report website. “In classic lawyer fashion, though, it’s become an extremely cumbersome process.

“They’re all lawyers. Barack Obama’s even a lawyer. The whole process is run by lawyers,” he said.

Drew Angerer / Getty Images

The clemency process has played out as lawmakers from both parties have been urging for a change in drug and crime policies. As BuzzFeed News reported Tuesday, the federal government could be on the verge of a major shift in the way it prosecutes nonviolent drug offenders. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, may be set to support laws reforming mandatory-minimum sentences after decades of pushing a tough-on-crime approach, advocates said.

Paul Larkin, a former assistant to the solicitor general who now works as a legal fellow for the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, told BuzzFeed News his group has been supportive of the nascent efforts by Congress to further reform drug sentencing. He also praised the Obama administration for its clemency push — to a point.

“The president is doing the right thing and deserves credit,” Larkin said. “He doesn’t deserve credit for waiting so long. He should have started this process back in 2013 when it became clear that Congress wasn’t going to act.”

Rich Rossman, executive director of the National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys, also told BuzzFeed News the delay in congressional action made the president’s clemency plans all the more urgent.

“It would be stepping into the field in a very significant way. I think it’s a great move,” Rossman said. “Congress moves so slowly these days, if at all, even though there’s bipartisan support here. There’s some real concern about whether they can get the job done.”

Some believe that by commuting a significant number of nonviolent drug offenders’ sentences, the president may lend momentum to the congressional efforts. Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson, who in July 2014 announced he would not prosecute most low-level marijuana cases, told BuzzFeed News the president's actions may focus the public’s attention.

“His decision to grant them clemency will not only focus attention on our need, as a country, to deal with unnecessary mass incarceration, but will also allow those prisoners to redeem their lives and rejoin their families, which will make us all better off as a society,” he said.

Pardons and commutations have been controversial, and potentially politically dangerous, since former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis’ 1998 presidential campaign was scuttled in part by a controversy involving Willie Horton, a convicted murderer who raped a woman and assaulted her fiancé after being granted special leave from prison.

Although the Justice Department guidelines specify only nonviolent offenders can apply, Jon Adler, national president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, told BuzzFeed News he did not trust the risk-assessment model being used. “Sometimes this discussion portrays the prisoners in question as Woodstock hippies who received lengthy sentences for smoking a doobie peacefully in the wilderness,” he said. “I don’t think that’s who we’re talking about here.”

Larkin, with the Heritage Foundation, speculated the president may have been waiting until he no longer needed to worry about elections in order to begin the clemency process in earnest. The clemency process had become inherently political in recent decades, he said, blaming President Clinton for “poisoning the water” by controversially granting 140 pardons and 36 commutations on his last day in office. Among those to receive clemency was Roger Clinton, the president’s half-brother, who was pardoned for prior cocaine offenses, and Marc Rich, who was indicted on tax evasion and racketeering charges and whose former wife had donated to the Democratic Party.

“If you wait until [you’re] packed up and leaving the White House and issue a lot of questionable clemencies, it leaves the public with a very bad taste in their mouths and it takes a while for that to be undone,” he said.

Both Larkin and Cauchon said they hoped the clemency process could be normalized, so to say, if the president begins regularly granting a large number of commutations.

The Federal Correctional Complex is seen in Butner, North Carolina.

Gerry Broome / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Clemency campaigners told BuzzFeed News they were hopeful that a flood of presidential commutations is imminent.

“It’s just been frustrating that it’s taken this long. We really wanted to see some action in the first term,” said CAN-DO's Povah, who served over nine years in prison after being implicated — she says falsely — in her then husband’s drug-trafficking network. (She was granted clemency by President Clinton in 2000 and released.)

“We would like to hear that it’s going to be hundreds,” she said. “For some reason, I think it’s going to be maybe 80. If that’s historic then it’s still falling short. But I understand there’s still time.”

Campaigners are also hoping that the administration does not concern itself solely with crack cocaine offenses, which have constituted the bulk of commutations already issued by the president (14 of the 22 sentences Obama commuted in March involved crack, along with six of the eight commutations he granted in December 2014).

Beth Curtis set up the website Life For Pot after her brother was imprisoned for life for marijuana trafficking. She told BuzzFeed News she supported the president granting clemency to those who received harsh sentences under the old crack cocaine laws, but hoped pot lifers would not be forgotten.

“I’m hoping for clemencies in the thousands,” Curtis said. “There is a little bit of skepticism because it’s been such a slow liftoff. It has been for everyone. We certainly hope that they will start rolling them out in grand numbers.”

Does she hope her brother is among them? “I hope my brother is the next one, of course.”

“It’s a kind of ache that doesn’t go away, to think that that happened to someone you love," she said. "It’s very difficult.”

LINK: Report: Obama Expected To Free Dozens Of Drug Prisoners

LINK: Real Change Could Be Coming To How The Government Sentences Nonviolent Drug Offenders


Ben Carson In 2005: Going Off Oil Will Stop Cancer, Defeat Terrorism, And Create Jobs

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“What if the President came out tomorrow and said, ‘Within ten years, we are going to become petroleum-independent. We are going to change our energy source.’ Think about what the implications of that would be.”

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Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said in 2005 that switching from petroleum to a "new energy source" would halt rising cancer rates, precipitate the defeat of "Osama and his buddies," and create "astronomical" job growth.

The retired neurosurgeon made the comments in September 2005 at a Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus.

Carson said at the event that "the young black male in America is an endangered species," as evidenced by high rates of homicide in major cities and mass incarceration.

Spending "a quarter" of the amount on educating young black men that the country spent on imprisoning them, Carson said, would decrease the number of people "you have to be afraid of," cut welfare rolls, and create an opportunity for someone to "discover the cure for AIDs, cancer, or discover a new energy source."

"And some people say, 'Well, I'm not a young black male or 'I don't know any young black males. It's not my problem,'" Carson said. "But here's what they don't recognize: for every one of those young black people that we can keep from going down that path of self-destruction, that's one less person that you have to be afraid of or protect your family from, one less person you have to pay for in the penal or welfare system, one more taxpaying productive member of society who may discover the cure for AIDs, cancer, or discover a new energy source."

Carson, who was still a practicing neurosurgeon at the time, then raised the problem of rising cancer rates, which, he claimed, were caused by "our immune systems" being "so busy fighting pollution coming into the body all the time," namely pollution from "petroleum products."

"Our immune systems fight developing cancers," Carson said. "However, if our immune systems are so busy fighting pollution coming into the body all the time, they're not going to be able to fight the cancer rates. We need to start concentrating on this environment. We're polluting it with petroleum products that have very long half-lives and all kinds of things and if we don't begin to pay attention to it, we're going to be fighting a losing battle."

"And how am I going to tie all of this up?" Carson asked, before asserting that switching to a new energy source would be a more effective alternative to the Bush administration's War on Terror.

"I personally believe that we could win that war without firing a single bullet if we used this incredible brain that God gave us and the way we would do that," Carson said. "What if the President came out tomorrow and said, 'Within ten years, we are going to become petroleum-independent. We are going to change our energy source.' Think about what the implications of that would be."

"First of all, all the moderate Arab states would be horrified because now, you know, what's going to happen to them? So they would hand Osama and all those guys over on a silver platter. They would not want to deal with them because they would put first things first," Carson said.

He also said shifting energy sources would "begin to clean up the environment so we could do something about the health that's going on here" and would lead to a soaring job market.

"The job market would go through the roof as we changed over from the petroleum industry to, let's say, hydrogen," Carson said. "The production of jobs would be astronomical and they would not be exportable jobs. And the stock market would go through the roof."

"And Osama and all his buddies would have no money to spend and no terrorism to export," Carson predicted. "And, you know, really, maybe that's the reason that God gave us brains, so we could come up with solutions like that. Because we could shoot missiles and bombs at them all day and there will not come a time when they give up and say, 'Okay, we're gonna be good guys.'"

Rep. Barbara Lee: Bernie Sanders’ Message “Resonating,"“Galvanizing Progressives”

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“And I think by the turnout and by what the response of the people around the country, we see that his message is resonating and so I think it’s a good thing that he’s out there.”

Scott Olson / Getty Images

California Rep. Barbara Lee, a key leader of progressive House Democrats, says she believes Bernie Sanders' candidacy is "galvanizing progressives" and the progressive agenda.

"I know Bernie first as a colleague and as a friend. I did serve with him on the then-Banking Committee and we actually came up with, initially, with the National Housing Trust Fund, worked together on that, and so I've worked with him on many, many issues and he's a friend," Lee said on the Jeff Santos Show.

"And I think what he is doing really is galvanizing progressives to really develop a strong progressive agenda that deals with all of the issues, that the majority of Americans want to deal with," she added. "And I think by the turnout and by what the response of the people around the country, we see that his message is resonating and so I think it's a good thing that he's out there," she said.

Last week Sanders supporters filled the 10,000 seat Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin.

"I'm supporting the progressive agenda, Mayor DeBlasio, myself, and probably 8 to 10 members of Congress signed on to a progressive agenda that we are putting forward, that addresses many of the issues that Senator Clinton and Bernie Sanders are raising--excuse me Secretary of State Clinton and Senator Sanders are raising."

"And so income inequality, when you look at a living wage, when you look at climate change, there are many, many issues on that that progressive agenda that both Mrs. Clinton and Senator Bernie are really addressing and I think it's a very exciting time that he is doing this."

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Clinton: Undocumented Immigrant Charged With Killing Woman In S.F. Should Have Been Deported

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Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign stop in Iowa City, Iowa.

Charlie Neibergall / AP

In her first national TV interview as a presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton said Tuesday the undocumented immigrant charged with killing a woman on San Francisco’s waterfront should have been deported.

The fatal shooting of Kathryn Steinle, 32, as she strolled with her father last week set off a national debate about San Francisco’s policy to only honor immigration holds for people with violent records or who have an outstanding arrest warrant.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had asked the San Francisco County Sheriff’s Department to hold Francisco Sanchez, but the agency declined based on policies established in 2013.

Kathryn Steinle and Francisco Sanchez

Facebook / AP

On Tuesday, Sanchez pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered Steinle.

"The city made a mistake, not to deport someone that the federal government strongly felt should be deported," Clinton told CNN. "I have absolutely no support for a city that ignores the strong evidence that should be acted on."

Clinton said she was completely behind immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship.

According to records with the Department of Homeland Security, Sanchez had been deported five times, most recently in 2009. He has seven felony convictions, four involving narcotics charges.

“He was deported five times,” Clinton said. “He should’ve been deported at the request of the federal government."

But had he been picked up on small infractions, such as a first-time traffic citation, “that’s something entirely different,” Clinton said.

Other jurisdictions have followed in San Francisco’s footsteps, some after a federal judge in Oregon ruled last year that an immigrant woman’s civil rights were violated when she was detained on an ICE hold.

LINK: Undocumented Immigrant Charged With Killing Woman On S.F. Pier


Louisiana Justice Would Ignore U.S. Supreme Court Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

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“The most troubling prospect of same sex marriage is the adoption by same sex partners of a young child of the same sex,” Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jefferson Hughes writes.

Michael Robinson, left, and Earl Benjamin, partners for almost 14 years, exchange vows before Judge Paula Brown in a ceremony at Orleans Parish Civil District Court on Monday, June 29, 2015, in New Orleans.

Kathleen Flynn / AP

On Tuesday, the Louisiana Supreme Court dismissed as moot a pending case about the rights of a same-sex couple married out of state because, the court ruled, the U.S. Supreme Court decision on marriage and marriage recognition "resolved" the matter:

On Tuesday, the Louisiana Supreme Court dismissed as moot a pending case about the rights of a same-sex couple married out of state because, the court ruled, the U.S. Supreme Court decision on marriage and marriage recognition "resolved" the matter:

But one of the seven justices on the court disagreed. Meet Justice Jefferson D. Hughes III.

But one of the seven justices on the court disagreed. Meet Justice Jefferson D. Hughes III.

Justice Jefferson Hughes


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Ted Cruz To Chris Christie: Your "Oppo Research Guys" Got The Facts Wrong When You Attacked Me

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“You know, he can choose to say what he wants to say…”

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Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Tuesday that fellow candidate Chris Christie's "oppo research guys" got their facts wrong when the New Jersey governor attacked Cruz during a Fox News appearance.

Christie, addressing comments Cruz made about not believing in "Republican-on Republican violence," said on Fox News Monday that he didn't "need to be lectured by Ted Cruz." Cruz made those comments when asked to comment on Donald Trump's controversial remarks on Mexican immigrants.

"I find it ironic that Ted Cruz is giving lectures on Republican-on-Republican violence," the New Jersey governor said on Fox News Monday. "The guy who put together a group that was sponsoring primary ads against Sen. Lamar Alexander is giving us – the rest of us lectures on Republican on Republican violence. With all due respect, I don't need to be lectured by Ted Cruz."

Cruz hit back at Christie Tuesday, saying his comments were factually wrong and adding that he "disagreed" with Christie's choice to attack other Republicans.

"Well listen, I like Chris Christie, I have repeatedly praised Chris Christie -- indeed, I've repeatedly and vocally defended Chris Christie from what I think are unfair and ridiculous attacks and charges on the whole Bridgegate thing, which I've said is water under the bridge," Cruz said on the Mike Gallagher Radio.

"You know, he can choose to say what he wants to say, you know -- I do appreciate his kind efforts to highlight that I have consistently worked hard to elect conservatives to Congress," said Cruz. "It is interesting his oppo research guys got the facts wrong, because I did not actually get involved in Lamar Alexander's race."

Christie was citing Cruz's connections to the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF), a group known for supporting primary challenges to Republican incumbent senator when he made the comments. SCF never actually endorsed Alexander's primary opponent and Cruz did not endorse in the race.

"But, you know, at the end of the day, if he or anyone else wants to attack their opponents, they can choose to do that," concluded Cruz. "I disagree with that choice. I am going to sing Chris Christie's praises, I'm gonna sing Donald Trump's praises, and I'm going to focus on the issues that matter, which is turning this country around, which is fighting to restore the Constitution, to defend our liberties, to bring back jobs, and growth, and opportunity, and to restore America's leadership in the world. That's what the American people want, not a bunch of self-centered politicians bickering like children in Washington."

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Clinton Promises Political Legacy: Better Democratic Midterms, New Democratic Coalition

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Over and over again, since the start of this campaign, Hillary Clinton has told voters that, above all else, she is a proven “fighter.” At an organizing event here on Tuesday, a young woman stood to ask how, then, Clinton planned to fight for change that not even President Obama had been able to achieve.

In a striking, at times blunt reply, Clinton criticized her party’s approach to midterm elections as inferior to Republicans’ — and promised to leave behind as her legacy in the White House a well-built coalition of engaged, committed Democrats.

Clinton, now three months into her campaign, cast herself as a president who would communicate “the importance” of midterms, strengthen state parties, and spend the next 10 years developing a “deep bench of young people” in the Democratic Party who won’t “just complain” about problems — but get into politics and fix them.

“That’s what I want to be a part of seeding,” she told voters in Johnson County, a liberal pocket of the state that supported Obama and John Edwards over Clinton the last time she caucused here. Obama, a former community organizer, won Iowa eight years ago with the support of his own coalition of volunteers and activists.

“I will be leaving a very strong, committed group, here in Iowa, across the country, who will get up every day and not just complain — not just yell at the TV… not just fire off angry tweets or something else that expresses your opinion — but will become involved in the political process,” said Clinton. “If we don’t show up and we don’t vote, we can’t complain. And if we don’t like what the other side does, there’s not much we can do when the election is over, other than say ‘next time…’”

Building that “village,” as Clinton put it, required success in the midterms.

“Here’s one of the differences between our party and the other party,” Clinton said, speaking before a crowd of about 350 in the Iowa City Public Library. “They know the importance of midterm elections, because they show up. And we don’t.”

“I don’t understand all the reasons for that,” Clinton added. But the last two Democratic presidents, she said, both suffered a massive defeat in Congress two years into the first term: Bill Clinton lost the House after raising taxes on the wealthy and going up against the National Rifle Association, and Obama after passing the Affordable Care Act and implementing his plan for economy recovery.

“I’m going to be the kind of president who also will keep talking to the American people about the importance of showing up in the midterm elections,” Clinton said.

“Otherwise we will go backward.”

The Clintons, both frequent surrogates on the campaign trail in 2014, were said to be taken aback when Republicans gained as many seats as they did. Shortly after the election, Bill Clinton said Democrats lost in part because they lacked a "national advertising campaign” — and, specifically, a “coherent economic message.” (Obama, then in one of the most unpopular periods of his tenure, did not play a particularly active role on the campaign trail on behalf of his party.)

On Tuesday, Clinton described 2014 as “heartbreaking,” singling out Bruce Braley, the Iowa Democrat who failed to succeed Tom Harkin in the U.S. Senate.

“I want to run for president, and I want to bring as many Democrats with me to Washington as I possibly can. I want to help rebuild the Democratic Party in Iowa,” she said. “You can’t have a loss like having Tom Harkin retire, and not be really motivated to not get the other Democrats in there who will stand with me.”

The network of activists, office-holders, and dedicated voters would, Clinton suggested, spring in part out of her current campaign. (Her strategists have invested in a robust organizing strategy across the four early states, including Iowa.)

“The first thing I would say is we need to elect more Democrats. Okay?” Clinton said to applause from the crowd. “It is not just enough to elect more members of the Senate and more members of the House in Washington. We need more members in the state senate. We need more members in the state house. We need more Democrats in county offices across Iowa and across every other states.”

This campaign, she reminded the crowd in closing, would be her “last rodeo.”

“I believe that we can leave not just the country in good shape for the future — but we can get a deep bench of young people to decide they want to go into politics to continue the fights that we’re going to be waging” as a party, Clinton said.

“When I ride off into the sunset in whatever year that will be…”

Clinton stopped. “Golly,” she said. “2025… Wow!”


O’Malley’s Latest Attempt At Gaining The Progressive Advantage: A College Debt Proposal

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Once again, the former governor of Maryland is giving the left exactly what it wants. Will it be enough to move the needle against Bernie Sanders?

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WASHINGTON — Martin O'Malley wants every student in America to have the chance at a debt-free college education, and on Wednesday he's rolling out a proposal he said can make that happen in five years. The plan draws heavily from O'Malley's time as governor of Maryland, as well as taps directly into the hottest policy debate in the progressive community in a way that's earning O'Malley praise from the left over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

It's the third time O'Malley has rolled out a policy agenda that's drawn accolades from the wonky end of the progressive movement. O'Malley's climate change agenda — based in a promise to end the use of fossil fuels over the next 35 years — was heralded by the left as the "standard" by which all other campaigns should be judged. After the shooting in Charleston, O'Malley was the only Democrat in the race to specifically call for a ban on assault weapons as part of a promise to make gun control a central focus on his campaign.

The college plan is another progressive hero moment for O'Malley. The aggressive plan focuses on turning public schools into hubs for low-cost, accessible higher education and spending federal dollars to make a college degree a debt-free prospect for anyone who wants one. O'Malley promises to trim the cost of college from multiple angles, urging schools to provide education for less money, redesigning how student financing works and using taxpayer funds to offset tuition increases and restore money slashed from education budgets by states.

Before it was even formally announced, progressives were heralding the plan as yet another liberal standard from O'Malley.

"Martin O'Malley's belief that debt-free college must be accessible to all students, and must apply to all public colleges and universities, is spot on and we look forward to seeing the plans of others," Adam Green, co-founder of PCCC — which is expected to announce its own debt-free college plan at the annual Netroots Nation progressive confab next week — told BuzzFeed News in an email.

Green said he hoped O'Malley's rivals will unveil plans that rival the former Maryland governor's. For now, the debt-free plan puts O'Malley in the progressive spotlight, even against Sanders.

"To her credit, Hillary Clinton has mentioned debt-free college multiple times on the campaign trail, and Americans await a bold policy speech on debt-free college in the near future," Green said. "We hope Bernie Sanders and others endorse this game changing goal of debt-free college as well."

O'Malley's college plan is smart politics as he tries to overcome terrible poll numbers and beat out Sanders become the progressive standard-bearer against Democratic frontrunner and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The goal of debt-free college education, once a pie-in-the-sky progressive aim on par with single-payer health care or the effective end of fossil-fuel consumption, is likely to be a main plank Democratic education platforms in 2016. The Journal of Higher Education cataloged the phenomenon last month, noting progressive thinktank Demos and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee have been leading the effort to make presidential candiates believe cheaper higher education equals millenial votes. Sanders has proposed making public education tuition-free, an expensive prospect even progressives have dismissed as untenable. Clinton has signalled her interest in debt-free college and is expected to announce her plan soon.

Supporters noted that O'Malley's plan is already drawing attacks from Republicans. According to New Hampshire reporter Paul Steinhauser, Jeb Bush dismissed it as "more free stuff' on the trail Wednesday.

O'Malley has a personal story to tell when it comes to college debt that also separates him from the field. He and his wife, Katie, are carrying an eye-popping college debt of his own, in the form of federal loans taken to fund the college educations of his two daughters who only recently graduated college. Grace, 24, attended Georgetown and Tara, 23, the College Of Charleston. (O'Malley has two sons, Jack, 12, and William, 17, who have yet to start needing college tuition.) The total debt carried by O'Malley and his wife to pay for their daughters' education is $339,200, spread over nine loans. Eight loans come from the still-active government-backed Direct Parent Plus program and one comes from the old Federal Family Education Loan Program ended in 2010. The interest rate on the loans range from 6.16% to 8.5%.

That's a lot of federal college loans for a family to carry.

"That figure is high," Mark Kantrowitz, Publisher of Edvisors.com told BuzzFeed News in an email. "Six-figure Federal Parent PLUS loan debt is just as rare as six-figure student loan debt. Less than 1% of parents take on that much debt."

Kantrowitz said a parent debt load of that size reflects a family choosing to pay for college solely through parent loans instead of combining the debt load with Stafford loans carried by the student. It's also due to the higher-than-average cost it takes to send a student to a school like Georgetown or pay out-of-state tuition at a prominent public school like the College of Charleston. It's not a common debt, but O'Malley said it reflects the situation of many families facing college costs, albeit through the uncommon path of a former two-term governor.

Many families choose to use a home equity line for loans as large as the O'Malleys. But that was not an option for the former first family of Maryland.

"In our case, given the unique circumstances of my public service over the last eight years, we had no home. We sold our home like eight years ago," O'Malley told BuzzFeed News in a phone interview from Providence, Rhode Island, where O'Malley was raising money before heading back to New Hampshire for more campaigning.

"So as we were looking at this, this was the route that we chose to go in terms of financing this," O'Malley said. "Not unlike a lot of other families, we've invested most of what we have in our kids. And we're going to continue to do that and be paying off these loans for many years to come, please God, if we're healthy enough to continue to earn."

With his personal experience when it comes to college costs and the political window for attacks on college costs wide open, O'Malley's plan is an ambitious one: His goal is to create debt-free higher education for all in-state students at public colleges and universities in five years. The implementation is half presidential bully pulpit and half government spending: O'Malley wants all states to freeze tuition and restore slashed education budgets, in part with a federal dollar-for-dollar matching program that would help states put more money into higher ed.

The plan would likely not have a direct effect on his own loans, which went to pay for educations at an expensive private university and for an out-of-state student at a state school. In the interview, O'Malley said his plan will still allow parents and students to choose more expensive schools if they feel the debt is worth it.

But O'Malley wants schools to do their part to make education cheaper as well. His plan calls on state schools to create new education programs that cut costs, and create credit hours that can be carried from school to school, a program based he said on his efforts to reduce higher education costs in Maryland.

"I'm the one candidate in our party who's actually done this on a state basis," O'Malley said. "It wasn't by waving a magic wand, it was by making the investment and it was by partnering with our institutions of higher education on things like course redesign and more blended learning approaches."

The tweaks O'Malley proposes begin at the high school level.

"There are states that are really moving out and moving forward in dual enrollment, so that more high school seniors graduate with college credit…Aligning college readiness so kids aren't put into tons of remedial classes racking up more expense," he said. "I'm talking about also doing more for those returning students, moms and dads who may need more access to childcare in order to complete their degree. This is a bit of an ecosystem and it requires collaboration across those three public institutions, state, federal, and university."

The eventual aim: tuition at four-year state schools that is10% of state median income (5% for two-year schools). Expansion of work study programs and pell grants will cover non-tuition costs under O'Malley's five-year proposal. O'Malley isn't discussing how to pay for his education plans yet, but his campaign's deputy policy director, Kalen Pruss, told BuzzFeed News O'Malley will be more specific about the costs and the funding he plans for them as his programs are revealed. O'Malley has favored higher taxes on the wealthy throughout his campaign.

The reduced costs and widespread availability of a debt-free college education will boost graduation rates, O'Malley said. His plan calls for a 25% increase in the college completion rate using federal dollars to incentivize schools that find ways to get more of their students finished in two or four years.

But after watching his progressive plans for the environment and gun control — not to mention his vocal opposition President Obama's trade agenda and promise to separate money from politics — fail to result in the big crowds Sanders enjoys, does the college plan have what it takes to finally get the left excited about O'Malley's presidential bid?

O'Malley took only subtle shots at Clinton and Sanders in the interview, his general tack on the trail since he kicked off his campaign. He insisted that, eventually, the supporters he needs to make a dent in Clinton's poll numbers will come. Sanders is a self-described Democratic Socialist, and has so far failed to expand his support base beyond white liberals. Asked directly if Sanders could ever win the presidency, O'Malley fell back on his standard talking points.

"Look, that's...look, that's a decision that will be up to the people to make," O'Malley said. "For my part, I have ideas to offer, I have 15 years of executive experience and a very strong record for having not only progressive values but setting progressive goals and getting things done. So at the end of the day, it's going to be up to the people of our party to decide who they wish to nominate. But the office is for chief executive and I believe that in the fullness of time, those skills… is what's going to matter most to people who attend their caucus or when they vote in the New Hampshire primary."

Mike Huckabee: "There's Really No Such Thing As A Palestinian"

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“You have Arabs and Persians. And there’s such complexity in that. But there’s really no such thing. That’s been a political tool to try and force land away from Israel.”

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Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee once said at a campaign stop during his 2008 run for president that the Palestinian people did not exist. Huckabee, who is currently running for president and has been a vocal critical of President Obama's policies on Israel said speaking of the Palestinian people was really "a political tool to try and force land away from Israel."

"Basically, there really is no such thing as — I need to be careful about saying this, because people will really get upset — there's really no such thing as a Palestinian," Huckabee said at the 2008 campaign stop while speaking to two Orthodox men. "There's not."

Huckabee was responding to a question from one of the men about if a Palestinian state said should exist outside Israel. Huckabee affirmed he believe it should.

Huckabee made similar comments earlier this year when argued a two-state solution is "irrational and unworkable" and that "here's plenty of land in the world" outside Israel for a Palestinian state.

"You have Arabs and Persians," Huckabee continued at the 2008 appearance. "And there's such complexity in that. But there's really no such thing. That's been a political tool to try and force land away from Israel."

Huckabee added he thought a Palestinian state could be made out of land in Egypt, Syria, or Jordan.

"My point is, if that's the issue, if its real estate, if you look at a map, and say here is how much Israel has and here is how much the Arab states hold, there is plenty of land. Let them take it out of Egypt. Let's take it out of Syria. Let 'em take it out of Jordan."

Rubio On The New York Times: People "See Through" Their "Agenda"

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“When a paper with an editorial policy such as the New York Times’ has made us their target, in some ways, it shows that we’re on to something very positive in our message.”

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Marco Rubio continued his criticism of The New York Times on Tuesday for what he argues is their ideologically-motivated coverage of him, saying that Americans "see through" "the agenda behind some of these articles."

Speaking on an Iowa radio show, the Republican presidential candidate took aim at the paper for stories on his history of financial troubles, traffic violations, and, most recently, his unpopularity in Cuba, the homeland of his parents.

Rubio suggested that the negative quotes about him in the Cuba story were inevitable, given that Cuban people "would be punished" "if they said the opposite."

"As I said, obviously, it's a free country, they have a right to write whatever they want," the senator from Florida said, "but you go to a closed society like Cuba where people are rewarded for following the government line, of course you're going to get comments like that, but it is what it is."

Rubio then said that, in spite of the negative coverage, it "gives me comfort" that "people can see through that now."

"Ultimately, it's part of the process, but what really gives me comfort is I know that people can see through that now," he said. "I mean, we've reached the point in America where people understand that there's an agenda behind some of these articles, and particularly when they're all coming from the same source over and over again."

In the interview, Rubio further contended that the Times' perceived dislike of him "shows that we're on to something very positive."

"It's fine," he said. "Ultimately, I trust greatly in the wisdom of the American voter to make up their decisions and in fact when a paper with an editorial policy such as the New York Times' has made us their target, in some ways, it shows that we're on to something very positive in our message."

The comments built on Rubio's strategy of addressing the Times articles head on, and attempting to spin them into advantages for his campaign.

Following the story on his finances, he made a fundraising pitch saying that the paper thought he was "not rich enough to be president." And after the story on his relationship to Cuba, he tweeted "#nicetry":

On Wednesday, however, his byline appeared in the Times' op-ed section, atop a piece advocating against the Obama administration's decision to re-establish formal diplomatic relations with Cuba.

But even there, Rubio included a subtle shot. Obama's move, he wrote, would enrich "the Castro family and other relatives," as Americans tourists "flock to Cuba," "tempted by this newspaper's idealized version of hip Havana."


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Did Donald Trump Read The Washington Post Story About His Immigrant Employees?

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The Washington Post ran a story that the Republican presidential candidate seems to have mis-read or maybe like… not read.

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The Washington Post ran a story on Monday night detailing how immigrant workers at the site of a Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., were "wary" of their employer.

On Tuesday, that man, Donald Trump, said that he was "on the front page of the Washington Post because I'm building a big hotel and we have a lot of immigrants — and, uh, legal immigrants — working in the building."

"I love the Mexican people," Trump seemed to be saying to radio host Jeff Kuhner, when he was apparently interrupted by noises from a cell phone. "I have many Mexican people working for me. In fact, if you read today's Washington Post, I'm on the front page of the Washington Post because I'm building a big hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue and we have a lot of immigrants — and, uh, legal immigrants — working in the building."

Trump's sunny portrayal of the construction project and Post article would seem to stand in contrast to the content of that article. The piece examines the reaction of immigrants working on the hotel since the real estate mogul has come under heavy criticism for saying in his presidential announcement speech that the people crossing America's border with Mexico were "bringing drugs" and were "rapists."

"Do you think that when we're hanging out there from the eighth floor that we're raping or selling drugs?" asks one worker quoted in the story. "We're risking our lives and our health. A lot of the chemicals we deal with are toxic."

Meanwhile, the Post reports that some workers it spoke to "acknowledged that they remain in the country illegally."

In the interview, when Trump was finished noting that his "subcontractors" had hired immigrants who were "air conditioning people and the sheetrock and the electricians," and that "we're sort of all immigrants, Jeff," he reiterated his controversial argument.

"The Mexican government is sending over their worst people," he said. "They're pushing them over the border. They're sending criminals, they're sending rapists, they're sending drug dealers."

Donald Trump In 1999: "I Believe In Universal Health Care...It's An Entitlement" From Birth

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“I’m very liberal when it comes to health care.”

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Donald Trump, the reality TV host and real estate mogul running for the Republican presidential nomination, once said we should make health care an entitlement and that health care coverage should be universal.

Speaking with CNN host Larry King in 1999 when he was flirting with a run for president on the Reform Party ticket, Trump said he was "quite liberal" when it came to health care.

"I said I'm conservative, generally speaking, I'm conservative, and even very conservative," Trump told King in response to a question about a "patients' bill of rights."

"But I'm quite liberal and getting much more liberal on health care and other things. I really say: What's the purpose of a country if you're not going to have defensive and health care?'

Trump added believed in "universal health care."

"If you can't take care of your sick in the country, forget it, it's all over. I mean, it's no good. So I'm very liberal when it comes to health care," he said. "I believe in universal health care. I believe in whatever it takes to make people well and better."

Asked if he thought it was an entitlement, Trump affirmed he did indeed believe it was one from birth.

"I think it is. It's an entitlement to this country, and too bad the world can't be, you know, in this country. But the fact is, it's an entitlement to this country if we're going to have a great country."

Speaking with The Advocate that year, Trump said he'd fund his universal health care plan with an increase in corporate taxes.

"I would put forward a comprehensive health care program and fund it with an increase in corporate taxes," Trump said.

In his 2000 book, The America We Deserve, Trump also spoke favorably of the Canadian health care system and said he "we need, as a nation, to reexamine the single-payer plan, as many individual states are doing."

On Dateline NBC that year, Trump also mentioned he was "totally for choice" when it came to abortion.

"I hate the concept of abortion," said Trump. "I hate—, I hate anything about abortion, and yet, I'm totally for choice. I think you have no alternative, too.

Here's the transcript of the King interview:

KING: Patients' Bill of Rights: You mentioned health care as one of the social issues; you for it?

TRUMP: I think you have to have it, and, again, I said I'm conservative, generally speaking, I'm conservative, and even very conservative. But I'm quite liberal and getting much more liberal on health care and other things. I really say: What's the purpose of a country if you're not going to have defensive and health care?

If you can't take care of your sick in the country, forget it, it's all over. I mean, it's no good. So I'm very liberal when it comes to health care. I believe in universal health care. I believe in whatever it takes to make people well and better.

KING: So you believe, then, it's an entitlement of birth?

TRUMP: I think it is. It's an entitlement to this country, and too bad the world can't be, you know, in this country. But the fact is, it's an entitlement to this country if we're going to have a great country.

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