July 05, 2016

No Charges For Hillary Clinton In FBI Email Inquiry | Trump Doubles Down On Star Tweet

July 05, 2016/ Anne Enke

FBI recommends no criminal charges in Clinton email probe The Washington Post

FBI Director James B. Comey said Tuesday that his agency will not recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server as secretary of state but called Clinton and her staff “extremely careless” in handling sensitive material.

The announcement means that Clinton will not have to fear criminal, legal liability as her campaign moves forward, though Comey leveled sharp criticism at the past email practices of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and called into question many of the defenses she has raised in recent weeks.

The FBI director said those who acted as Clinton and her staffers did were “often subject to security or administrative sanctions,” though in comparing her case with similar investigations in the past, the bureau did not find any of the aggravating factors that typically lead to the filing of criminal charges.

Sanders: Democratic Party Platform Doesn't Go Far Enough

As expected, Bernie Sanders says the language currently in the Democratic platform around the TPP - saying that the party is split around this issue - is not satisfactory for Sanders, who is demanding an outright rejection of President Obama's trade deal. Obama has said "no way", which is why the Hillary Clinton delegates voted for the 'compromise' language. Bernie's op ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer says this is not negotiable on his end -- the Democratic platform must reject it. Bernie also wants even stronger language around the $15/hr wage.

Related: Bernie Sanders just won a string of concessions from the Democratic party VOX

HERE IS THE DRAFT OF THE 2016 DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM

Bernie made good progress on the goal of a $15 minimum wage and lost on TPP and fracking. There is an accommodation on TPP with the statement that the party holds multiple views. Platform says health care for all is a right, medicare should be expanded to states not currently offering it, and a public option for health care should be explored. Note, we've published several articles hows how to get to universal health care through the current system without a big fight and with a government-sponsored public option that will be cheaper than the insurance companies. Most pundits believe that over time, the govt will win.

Entire platform pdf is below.

http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/dnc_platform.pdf

Clinton's Massive June Fundraising Haul: Nearly $70 Million Politico

Hey Berners.It's not $27 but $48 is the average contribution in Hillary's campaign to date, boosted by a whopping $70 millon haul in June. Of that total $40.5 million went to Hillary's campaign and $28 million went to the DNC. To date, Hillary has raised $90 million for down ballot Democrats.

"Our first month of general election fundraising proved to be the best of the campaign," campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement. "Thanks to the continued support of nearly 1.6 million people, we have been able to help Democrats build out an organizing infrastructure across the country that will mobilize millions of voters and help elect progressive candidates up and down the ballot."

Potential Clinton VP Perez still supports trade deal Politico

Labor Secretary Tom Perez refuses to abandon his support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal opposed by Hillary Clinton. Will this position invalidate him for serious consideration as a VP candidate? Or does his expertise on labor issues and trade help him become an explainer in chief for Democrats.

The Democratic Party is deeply divided over TPP, with President Barack Obama and many congressional leaders supporting the agreement and both Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders opposing it. Still, it seems insane that America would quit trading and exporting, which often sound like the position of Bernie Sanders.

Perez said the TP trade deal does more to protect American workers and the middle class than any prior deal and he's happy to take credit for his achievements.

"Absolutely," Perez said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday when asked whether he supports the trade deal. "Absolutely what we have done in the negotiations with Mexico and with Vietnam are I think some of the most far-reaching protections that we've seen in a labor agreement. And that's the work that I have done and I'm proud of that work we've done."'

Related and Just IN!: An Open Letter to Jared Kushner, From One of Your Jewish Employees The Observer

Note: Dana Schwartz is an entertainment reporter at The Observer, a New York media outlet owned by Donald Trump's son-in-law and Ivanka's husband Jared Kushner.

Donald Trump and the Jews, explained VOX

Donald Trump set the Internet on fire Saturday, Tweeting a meme accusing Hillary Clinton of being “the most corrupt candidate ever.” A typically Trump Tweet, the post would have gone largely ignored except for its graphic design: It featured a Star of David superimposed on a bed of money.

Further sleuthing by MIC's Anthony Smith traced the meme to the 8Chan forum /pol/, a known hotbed of “alt-right” internet activism and a flourishing culture of overt racism and anti-Semitism. The original author is believed to have previously Tweeted an image of a swastika made from Hillary Clinton heads.

As of Tuesday July 6, 2016 the Trump campaign insists that the visual is a sheriff's badge and has no connection to Israel of the Jewish people.

Can Hillary Overcome Her Trust Problem? The Washington Post

I'm getting exhausted with this entire topic of Hillary's trust problem, frankly. I've probably heard the media narrative over 40 times today alone.

But the comments about Joe Biden campaigning for Hillary are noteworthy, especially because he's dropped more than one flip comment about her candidacy.

"Biden, in an NPR interview Sunday, said a goal in campaigning for Clinton was to “vouch” for her. The two will appear together Friday in Scranton, Pa., which is Biden’s beloved home town and also where Clinton’s father grew up. Her story of the family lace factory there is a staple of her stump speech.

“The hardest thing is vouching. When you vouch for them you say ‘I’m putting my reputation on the line. I believe this person is a good person, has character,” Biden said in the interview for NPR’s “Weekend Edition.” “You’re putting your rep on the line. You’re saying, ‘I think this person has character,’ and that’s what I’m prepared to do for Hillary.”

Hillary Clinton Headlines July 5, 2016

Can Bernie Sanders Take Yes For An Answer? by David Corn Mother Jones

Republican women organize to support Clinton CNN

Clinton to play Atlantic City card against Trump at campaign stop Politico

Trump blasts NBC's 'Meet the Press' The Hill

Eric Trump: Biased media the worst part of society The Hill

Sanders' Supporters Can't Quite Say Goodbye LA Times

Major GOP donor Paul Singer says Trump would cause a depression CNBC

Republican Women Organize to Support Clinton CNN

Clinton Dominates Trump On the Ground Politico

'This is a historic day': California lawmakers send governor sweeping gun control package LA Times

July 01, 2016

Bernie Sanders Wants Patty Murray's Healthcare Head Seat If Dems Take Senate

July 01, 2016/ Anne Enke

Clinton Ally Stands Between Sanders and Chairmanship Dream The Hill

Senator Brass Balls Sanders wants to unseat Sen Patty Murray (D-Wash) as chair of the Health Committee if Dems retake the Senate. Yesiree! The Vermont Independent who won't endorse Hillary Clinton and has nothing but vile words for his Senate colleagues thinks Murray should roll over and play dead because Senator Brass Balls wants her chair . . . you know the one she's worked for.

What Bernie wants, Bernie thinks he should get.

1) Given that Bernie totally screwed Hillary on single-payer health care when she was First Lady and he in the House; and 2) Sanders couldn't be bothered to consult with Planned Parenthood or NARAL in ALL the years he submitted his health care proposal to Congress - we don't trust Sanders on women's health care. As a result of his isolationist way of working in Congress, Senator Brass Balls defunded critical health services for ALL women in his single-payer health care plan that never had ONE co-sponsor. And he did it for over a decade. Middle class and up women would have had to pay for these services -- including much birth control -- out of our pockets, along with abortion or morning after pills. And poor women would just have babies because Bernie's male-centric brain doesn't give a damn about women's reproductive health care. Senator Brass Balls doesn't get pregnant.

Thankfully, Sen. Patty Murray has no intention of rolling over and playing dead for Sir Brass Balls.

"Murray says she loves the Health panel. The alternative, taking over the Appropriations Committee, is not as enticing as it used to be given today's fierce battles over spending and the abolishment of earmarks.

Murray is signaling to colleagues that she’s very happy in her current role and would relish the chance to work with Clinton on major issues.

“She loves the work she is doing on the [Health] Committee to fight for policies that help women, students, families, seniors, workers and the economy — and there is a whole lot more that she’d like to get done,” said her spokesman, Eli Zupnick."

Why Hillary Clinton's Student Debt Idea Is Smart TIME

"One of the most interesting economic solutions proposed by Hillary Clinton recently on the campaign trail is that the financial burden of education be eased for future entrepreneurs. Under her proposal, college graduates who start a business may end up being able to get their student loans deferred, interest-free, for up to three years as they launch new ventures. Those who locate in “distressed communities” or start a social enterprise also could ask the government to forgive as much as $17,500 in loans after five years in business.

{ . . . }

Start-ups are a key driver of productivity. But the birthrate of startups has been in decline since the 1970s. Since then, it has dovetailed with a shift in how the financial sector business model works — it no longer invests primarily in new business, but rather buys up and trades existing assets, and funding for small and mid-sized start ups is still scarce (while increasing monopoly power on the part of large firms squashes new ones, as Robert Reich and others have recently written.)

{. . . }

This is a big deal in a country in which labor mobility has traditionally given us a leg up economically over Europe and other nations. I think Clinton’s idea to tie together entrepreneurship and student debt forgiveness is a great one, and a good way to make some of Bernie Sanders’ most popular ideas more doable. I hope to hear more about portable benefits, another key idea that could help bolster entrepreneurship, from her soon."

Note: Rana Foroohar is an assistant managing editor at TIME and the magazine’s economics columnist. She’s the author of Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance and the Fall of American Business.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton Met Amid Email Investigation NPR

What were they thinking!!!

"The former president, who was waiting to depart the state, boarded Loretta Lynch's government aircraft shortly after she landed in Arizona for a community policing event. Lynch later told reporters there the conversation centered on "his grandchildren."

"It was primarily social and about our travels," including golf he played, Lynch said.

The attorney general insisted, "There was no discussion of any matter pending for the department or any matter pending for any other body."

The Justice Department and FBI are investigating the security of Hillary Clinton's private email server, which she used to conduct official business as secretary of state. There's no public sign Hillary Clinton has been interviewed by federal agents, but the matter is growing ever more sensitive, as she prepares to secure the Democratic presidential nomination at her party's convention next month."

Most American Christians Believe They're Being Persecuted The Atlantic

Large numbers of American Christians believe they are subject to religious discrimination in their own country. A new report from the Public Religion Research Institute and Brookings confirms that almost half of Americans say discrimination against Christians is as big of a problem as discrimination against blacks, gays and other groups. Three-quarters of Republicans and Trump supporters hold this view, shared also by nearly eight out of 10 white evangelical Protestants. Among white evangelical Protestants, six in 10 believe that America is no longer a Christian nation -- a huge increase from 2012.