Coleman Young II: What "Take Back The Motherland" Really Means

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GOP Rep. Hardy: People With Disabilities Are Drains On Society

I had 3 children: one was summa cum laude and two were magnum cum laude and the other didn’t need an education, he works for Raytheon and is smarter than all the rest because he works hard. He builds things that are genius and some people have that ability and I’m grateful [inaudible] I don’t know where that came from. But they all work hard. They’re raising their own families. They’re doing their own thing. They will not be a drain on society, the best they can. Hopefully they never have somebody be disability that causes them to have to utilize that.

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Bernie Sanders Questions Mick Mulvaney On Repeal Of Estate Tax

I asked Trump's budget director a very simple question: Why is it more important to give the Walton family, the wealthiest family in America, a $52 billion tax break than to fund programs that provide health care to millions of Americans?

What do you think of his answer?

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Rep. Kennedy on GOP repeal bill

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Tennessee lawmaker suggests banning food stamp recipients from buying high-calorie junk, sweets

A conservative Tennessee lawmaker wants more government oversight — for food stamp recipients’ diets.

State Rep. Sheila Butt introduced a bill Thursday that would ban shoppers from buying junk food, sweets and other high-calorie snacks with public assistance dollars.

“When you’re receiving taxpayer dollars, it’s not money that you’ve have earned. It’s money that other people have earned and is redistributed to you. Strings come along with that,” the Republican said in a statement announcing her bill.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/proposed-tenn-law-bans-food-stamp-recipients-buying-junk-article-1.2946475

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#NoDAPL: "Land Of The Free" Protects Thieving Corporation

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States opposed to Obama more dependent on federal government

States that voted against President Obama twice are more dependent on the federal government, according to an analysis of new data released by the Pew Charitable Trusts on Monday.

All told, the average state that voted against Obama twice relied on federal funding for an average of 33.8 percent of its budget, the report found.

Among the 27 states that voted for Obama twice, federal grants made up 29.9 percent of the average state budget.

The report shows that seven years after the beginning of the economic recovery, states across the country are more reliant on federal dollars to cover their costs than before the recession.

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/293706-states-opposed-to-obama-more-dependent-on-federal-government

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Kaine's crime-busting past may hurt Clinton's outreach to blacks

Democrat Hillary Clinton's pick of Tim Kaine as her vice presidential running mate could hamper her efforts to reach out to African-American voters because of Kaine's past embrace of crime-fighting strategies that have driven up the U.S. prison population and are unpopular in the black community.

The now-defunct Project Exile that Kaine backed was so unusual it was championed by Republicans and Democrats alike and by both the top U.S. gun lobby group and gun-control advocates. But the federal program launched in 1997 in Richmond, Virginia, was also criticized at the time as a racially biased initiative that condemned young black men to lengthy prison terms.

Clinton has come under fire herself from black activists for her past support for tough-on-crime policies of the 1990s now blamed for a surge in U.S. prison population and heightened tensions between law enforcement and black communities.

One of her fundraisers got disrupted earlier this year by activists who asked her to “apologize for mass incarceration.”

Clinton named Kaine as her running mate late on Friday, making what is considered a safe choice for her battle against Republican presidential rival Donald Trump.

As Richmond mayor from 1998 to 2001, Kaine, 58, was a vocal supporter of Project Exile, crediting it with reducing the city's murder rate.

Its goal was to literally live up to its name by making illegal gun possession a federal, not a state, crime, which allowed prosecutors to send convicted felons, most of them black, to a distant federal penitentiary for at least five years.

Sam Sinyangwe, co-founder of Campaign Zero, a group focused on curtailing police violence, said Kaine's choice could exacerbate Clinton's problems rallying support of African-Americans, particularly younger people.

"To select somebody like (Kaine) is not a sign of good leadership potential in a president," Sinyangwe said.

Nicole Lee, a civil-rights lawyer and activist in Washington, D.C. who is African-American, also expressed concern.

“Project Exile broke black families," she said. "This is not a benign thing to be for. These measures were not used against white kids in the suburbs with guns, they were used against black kids in the cities.”

DRAMATIC TIMES

To defeat Trump in the Nov. 8 presidential election, Clinton needs high turnout among blacks and other minority voters to offset Trump's popularity among white voters.

During the 1990s, she supported tough-on-crime initiatives backed by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, but now vows to "end the era of mass incarceration."

Her campaign is trying to walk a political tightrope after the killings of two black men by police and the shooting deaths of police officers in Texas and Louisiana. She has offered support for the Black Lives Matter movement, while also strongly condemning the killings of police officers.

Officials who were in Richmond during Kaine's mayoral tenure believe the community, ravaged by the crack-cocaine epidemic and an escalating murder rate, had to take dramatic steps. Amy Dudley, a spokeswoman in Kaine's Senate office, said the senator stood by the program, believing that it reduced gun violence.

Jerry Oliver, the police chief at the time and an African-American, said the program focused on black communities out of necessity. “We had to be where the problems were,” he said.

The National Rifle Association, the nation’s biggest gun lobby, was an early proponent of Project Exile as was the gun-control advocacy group Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

As Richmond's first white mayor in more than a decade, Kaine was widely credited for helping to bridge racial divisions in the city, but Project Exile drew fire from defense lawyers and community advocates who argued that the program unfairly targeted African-Americans.

Kevin Ring, vice president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a Washington advocacy group lobbying against federal sentencing minimums, said that Kaine, like Clinton, will have to demonstrate to black voters that he has "evolved" on the issue.

"There are some that will be bothered. There will be questions," Ring said.

Kaine supports legislation that would roll back some mandatory minimum federal sentences and give judges more discretion, although his office says he still supports firm sentences for illegal gun possession. Kaine's backing of Project Exile also makes him odd bedfellows with Trump, who has made law and order a central theme of his candidacy. Trump has called for the program's revival and his campaign website said it was "tremendous."

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-kaine-idUSKCN103012

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Bernie Sanders on College

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Bill Maher rubs California’s prosperity in the GOP’s face: ‘Scoreboard, b*tches!’

With California en route to becoming the world’s fifth-biggest economy — “Thanks, England!” he quipped — Bill Maher closed Real Time on Friday by gloating over the economic failures gripping other states thanks to their own governors.

“After Arnold [Schwarzenegger] left office, we eliminated what scientists would call variables — in this case, the Republicans,” he explained. “Democrats from governor on down control every office and voting body in this state. So we can really study what happens when liberal policies are tried unimpeded. And the only thing I have to say to Republicans about that is: scoreboard, b*tches.”

While the GOP argued that “cap-and-trade” policies would lead to a surge in utility prices, Maher argued, the fact was that California boasted some of the country’s most affordable electric bills.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/07/bill-maher-rubs-californias-prosperity-in-the-gops-face-scoreboard-btches/



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MDP Women's Caucus Excludes Poor Women and Their Issues, Again

Originally published October 10, 2015.

Once again, the Michigan Democratic Party is having an absolutely fabulous #MDP Toll Fest.

Michigan Democratic Women's Caucus screening attendees

"What is a Toll Fest?", you may ask.  Allow me to explain.

A Toll Fest is when an elite group charges a fee, typically not a nominal one, to access entry into the group.  If you do not pay the fee, your voice is excluded.

Toll Fests are closed systems designed to exclude any social media exposure or input.

Think of it as a roaring groupthink party where they celebrate the fact that they came up with a national agenda once again without engaging the majority of the population it is suppose to be representing.

The event is in Detroit, the largest concentration of voters and poverty in the State of Michigan.

The event also does not seem to understand that the highest population of children in poverty rate in the industrialized world is in Detroit, where women are the primary caregivers.

The entry fee to the National Federation of Democratic Women Midwest Regional Conference and Issues Conference is $40, $50 with lunch.

Do not dare to even ask for daycare.  "The nerve!"

No hardship exceptions are offered but it does not matter.  Everyone knows poor people do not vote.

Join the Michigan Democratic Women's Caucus 

for the

National Federation of Democratic Women Midwest Regional Conference and Issue Conference

Saturday, October 24

8:00 AM to 4:30 PM

COBO Convention Center

Detroit, MI 

For more information and to purchase tickets click here.

Speakers include:

Jennie Blackton, Democratic Media Consultant and Award-Winning Writer (One Day at a Time)

Renee Branch Canady PhD, Every Woman's Business: Policy that Promotes Women, Infant, Child Health & Well Being

A'shanti F. Gholar, DNC

Christine Greig, Michigan State Representative

Anne Pope, Why the 1965 Voting Right Act Still Matters

Paid for by the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee, 606 Townsend St., Lansing, MI 48933,www.michigandems.com. Not authorized by any federal candidate or candidate committee.

Forward To A Friend

Michigan Democratic State Central Committee
606 Townsend St.
Lansing MI 48933 United States

Learn more: BEVERLY TRAN: MDP Women's Caucus Excludes Poor Women and Their Issues, Again http://beverlytran.blogspot.com/2015/10/mdp-womens-caucus-excludes-poor-women.html#ixzz4D5D2X0yC
Stop Medicaid Fraud in Child Welfare 


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Dr. Cornel West calls out Democratic Platform Committee "nays" out for ignoring the rights of 29 million Americans without health insurance:

The Democratic Platform Committee REJECTED adding single payer to the party platform this week. 
Watch 

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Governor’s threat could end food stamps in Maine: Recipients on ‘a steady diet of Mars Bars and Mountain Dew’

Maine's residents would no longer receive food stamps if Gov. Paul LePage (R) delivers on a threat to end his state's administration of the program. In a letterto the Obama administration last week, the governor wrote that beneficiaries were wasting public money on "a steady diet of Mars bars and Mountain Dew" and that he did not want his name associated with the program.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/22/the-governor-just-threatened-to-end-food-stamps-in-maine/


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Clinton Enlisted State Employees to Steer Funds to Clinton Foundation Partner

Hillary Clinton enlisted top State Department officials to help steer money to a partner organization of her family’s foundation, newly released emails show.

In September 2010, the then-secretary of state emailed two State Department officials asking them to “follow up” with representatives of the Norwegian government who had expressed interests in donating to an effort called the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

“The Norwegian FM [foreign minister] told me Norway would join the Alliance and we should coordinate with his UN Rep. Will you pls follow up?” she wrote.

http://freebeacon.com/politics/clinton-enlisted-state-employees-to-steer-funds-to-clinton-foundation-partner/

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Hillary Clinton wore a $12,495 Armani jacket during a speech about inequality

Hillary Clinton took a lot of flak on Monday after a report surfaced that the presidential candidate wore a Giorgio Armani jacket worth more than $12,000 during a speech in April about inequality.

Clinton, who was well-known for her vast pantsuit collection, has upgraded her wardrobe during her most recent bid for president to appear more relatable, according to the New York Post.

Social media users don't seem to be buying it, however.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/06/hillary-clinton-wore-an-armani-jacket-during-a-speech-about-inequality.html


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Clinton’s Speech Shows That Only Sanders Is Fit for the Presidency

Jeffrey Sachs, former candidate for President of the World Bank

Hillary Clinton’s recent foreign policy speech was an attack on Donald Trump but was also a reminder that Clinton is a deeply flawed and worrisome candidate. Her record as Secretary of State was one of the worst in modern U.S. history; her policies have enmeshed America in new Middle East wars, rising terrorism and even a new Cold War with Russia. Of the three leading candidates, only Bernie Sanders has the sound judgment to avoid further war and to cooperate with the rest of the world.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-sachs/-clintons-speech-shows-th_b_10306592.html

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Hillary's Appeal To The Family Rights Community

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Hillary's Appeal To The Family Rights Community

If Secretary Hillary Clinton refuses to discuss her work in child welfare, well, Legally Kidnapped and I will do it for her!

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LIVE: Bernie Sanders Vatican Press Conference After Vatican Visit 4/15/2016 [FULL SPEECH HD]

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Gov. LePage and Republican allies say they will never allow senior housing

During a town hall meeting in Orono on Wednesday night, Governor Paul LePage declared that he will continue to defy the will of voters and block a bond approved at referendum last year that would provide affordable housing for Maine seniors. LePage said obstruction of the bond would continue throughout the remainder of his term in office.

http://mainebeacon.com/gov-lepage-and-republican-allies-say-they-will-never-allow-senior-housing/
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