KoKo
KoKo's Journal"Bernie Sanders and the Widening Political Spectrum"--Jeff Cohen of "Roots Action"
Bernie Sanders and the Widening Political Spectrum
Uploaded on May 23, 2016
Jeff Cohen of RootsAction.org says Sanders has broken through mainstream media and proven the existence of the progressive left by running as a Democratic candidate
"Sanders and Class Struggle in the Democratic Party"--TRNN with Paul Jay
Sanders and Class Struggle in the Democratic Party
May 19, 2016 On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Sanders supporters Bill Curry and Jonathan Tasini discuss the fight in Nevada and the significance of the battle between Sanders and Wasserman Schultz
Published on May 18, 2016
On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Sanders' supporters Bill Curry and Jonathan Tasini discuss the fight in Nevada and the significance of the battle between Sanders and Wasserman Schultz
Readers Please go to the Link for Full Transcript at:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=767&Itemid=74&jumival=16363
"Sanders and Class Struggle in the Democratic Party"--TRNN with Paul Jay
Sanders and Class Struggle in the Democratic Party
May 19, 2016 On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Sanders supporters Bill Curry and Jonathan Tasini discuss the fight in Nevada and the significance of the battle between Sanders and Wasserman Schultz
Published on May 18, 2016
On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Sanders' supporters Bill Curry and Jonathan Tasini discuss the fight in Nevada and the significance of the battle between Sanders and Wasserman Schultz
Full Transcript at:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=767&Itemid=74&jumival=16363
Seizing Chance...Sanders Chooses his "Bold Progressive 5 Picks" to Shape DNC Platform
Lauren McCauley, staff writer--Common Dreams--Monday, May 23, 2016
Though compromised allotment falls short of Sanders' suggestion, Vermont Senator doesn't waste opportunity to make progressive choices
Seizing on the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) reluctant concession allowing him to appoint five members to the committee that writes the party platform, Bernie Sanders on Monday announced a suite of picks that included activists across the progressive sphere.
Sanders' appointees to the 15-member Platform Drafting Committee include: racial justice activist and scholar Dr. Cornel West, 350.org co-founder and noted environmentalist Bill McKibben, Native American activist Deborah Parker, Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), and James Zogby, a pro-Palestinian scholar as well as founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI).
The announcement came roughly two weeks after Sanders sent a letter to DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) accusing her of stacking the party's three standing committees, including the drafting committee, with "Clinton loyalists."
According to the Washington Post, party officials and the two Democratic candidates "worked out" a compromise "based on the number of popular votes each has received to date." Under the agreement, frontrunner Hillary Clinton would be allotted six members and Sanders five, while Wasserman Schultz will name four.
The final selections were made "in consultation with the campaigns and the DNC from larger slates of 12 and 10 suggested by the campaigns," the Post reports.
The deal falls short of Sanders' recommendation that each campaign choose seven members for the Drafting Committee and the 15th member would jointly picked by the two campaigns. Nonetheless, it is an improvement over the standing rule, under which the DNC chair would consider a list of ten names from each candidate, choose four from each and then appoint an additional seven.
"We believe that we will have the representation on the platform drafting committee to create a Democratic platform that reflects the views of millions of our supporters who want the party to address the needs of working families in this country and not just Wall Street, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry and other powerful special interests," Sanders said in a statement.
The list of progressive appointees was welcomed widely. Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein noted on Twitter that two of Sanders' picks "were arrested for peaceful civil disobedience during [the] Obama years," referring to West and McKibben.
As for the remaining appointees, the Post reports:
The Clinton campaign’s choices are Wendy Sherman, a former top State Department official and Clinton surrogate; Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and longtime Clinton confidante; Rep. Luis Guttierez of Illinois; Carol Browner, a former former director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy; Ohio State Rep. Alicia Reece and Paul Booth of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union.
Wasserman Schultz also named former California Rep. Howard Berman; California Rep. Barbara Lee and author and executive Bonnie Schaefer.
The platform announcement comes amid a growing rift between the Sanders campaign and the DNC, which has been accused of deliberately rigging the system in Clinton's favor.
Over the weekend, Sanders threw his weight behind Tim Canova, who is running a progressive challenge to Wasserman Schultz's House seat, and said that if he wins the presidency that the chairwoman "would not be reappointed."
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/23/seizing-chance-sanders-makes-bold-progressive-picks-shape-dnc-platform
NBC: Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe Under FBI Investigation For Possible Campaign Violations
Politics
May 23 2016, 5:29 pm ET
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe Under FBI Investigation For Possible Campaign Violations
by Pete Williams--NBC News
The FBI is investigating whether Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's 2013 campaign accepted illegal contributions, law enforcement officials confirmed to NBC News.
Federal officials say for the past several months, the FBI has been looking at whether McAuliffe's 2013 campaign for governor of Virginia accepted political contributions that were forbidden by federal law.
McAuliffe is a one-time board member of the Clinton Global Initiative, the foundation set up by former President Bill Clinton and likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
The former chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2000 to 2005, McAuliffe was also a co-chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.
Records show more than 100 donors contributed to both the foundation and McAuliffe's campaign.
Federal officials say investigators are looking at those overlaps and are especially interested in contributions from Wang Wenliang, a Chinese politician. The investigation was first reported by CNN.
Contributions by foreign nationals in U.S. elections are barred, but Wang's spokesperson says he has permanent U.S. resident status.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/plea-change-guccifer-hacker-who-says-he-breached-clinton-server-n578766
"Sounds of Silence"....Once Again...as We Move Forward...
The Sounds of Silence:New Version for Sanders. Remembering my radicalization of the Simon & Garfunkle version is called to emotion from this version...which builds as one listens.
[Disturbed] - The Sound of Silence - Lyrics in Description
Published on Apr 16, 2016
A tribute to Bernie Sanders and the song.
Where is the JOY in Candidates in this Campaign?
Remember the Passion and Joy of the Obama Campaign?
Where is it in this Campaign following Obama?
The Only Joy I have seen is with Bernie Sanders. Others may differ...but, does anyone feel the Obama Momentum in this Campaign between Trump and Hillary/Bill ...WITHOUT Bernie Sanders in the race?
Moving Forward? Hillary/Bill vs Trump?
Some might trash me for including Bill in the equation. But just this past week, Hillary said he would be in charge of her Economic policy for American's who are Struggling! So...that puts Bill in as a Co-President taking care of Domestic Policy.
But...is it Joyful? It seems to me the Repubs are pretty Joyful over "Trump for Change" and as enthusiastic in voting as we all were for Obama.
How do we deal with that when there are so many on the Left of the Dem Party who voted for Obama because he was such an incredible Breaking of Barriers Candidate with odds against him more than any other Presidential Candidate that I can remember, since Kennedy had to explain WHY that "being a Catholic" wouldn't mean he would Govern by listening to The Pope! Obama had to deal with a "Birther" RW Movement trying to discredit him.
But, Obama broke all barriers against Racial discrimination and managed to be elected with JOY! Is it enough that Hillary/Bill would be the First Female President when we have examples of Female Government Leaders who've turned out to be nothing different than their Male counterparts when it comes to Governing. But, they ran on their own and not with their husbands in tow.
I always think of Margaret Thatcher as the Ultimate Feminist Success...but, there are so many more who have run into problems later on. Angela Merkle has so far survived...but, when one gets to the level of "Head of a Country"...then the Women and Men are judged by performance and Legacy is what goes down in the history books.
SO...Where is the JOY (without Bernie Sanders) in this Race for the 2016 Nomination?
Ahhh...Those Pesky Income Tax Returns...Can't wait for Trump's returns...if he Ever Releases.
Clinton Foundation refiles tax returns
It is correcting errors that came to light during Hillary Clinton's campaign.
By Josh Gerstein and Kenneth P. Vogel
Updated 11/16/15 10:57 PM EST
----------
When POLITICO raised questions earlier this year about the omission from those disclosures of some paid speeches by former President Bill Clinton, officials said the fees for those speeches went to the foundation and were treated as payment for a service rendered on behalf of the foundation. Clinton aides said that as a result the payments did not need to be disclosed even though the forms require listing payments directed to charities in lieu of honoraria.
The foundation also filed its 2014 return Monday, disclosing that money the charity took in from speeches by the Clintons surged in 2014 to $3.6 million.
In a statement, the foundation appears to acknowledge that for at least three years, its tax returns reported speech income in a manner inconsistent with financial disclosure forms Hillary Clinton filed as secretary of state.
However, in a statement Monday, the foundation acknowledged that from 2010 to 2012, such payments were recorded in the organization’s tax filings as donations to the charity. “President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton have supported the Foundation by giving speeches on its behalf. In 2010, 2011, and 2012, this funding was listed under the statement of revenue as part of other charitable contributions,” the statement said.
The foundation said its 2013 return filed last year treated speech payments differently, recording them as revenue.That treatment is more accurate and comports with what speech sponsors were told in contracts and correspondence, the statement said. “Consistent with this treatment as a fee-for-service and not a donation, the Foundation did not send any donor acknowledgement letters to these speech hosts,” the foundation said.
The newly filed 2014 return and amended returns for the previous three years break out “speech revenue” on a separate line and categorize it as a payment for a service, not a donation.
The figures show speech-related payments to the foundation totaled about $1.1 million in 2010, dropped slightly to about $980,000 in 2011, before ticking up markedly to nearly $1.5 million in 2012 and $1.8 million in 2013--and then doubling in 2014.
However, those sums are still just a fraction of what the Clintons made personally on speeches in recent years. Hillary Clinton pulled in almost $10.5 million in speaking fees last year, while her husband made $9.7 million, before expenses, according to tax returns that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign released in April.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/clinton-foundation-refiles-tax-returns-215959
How Democrats Manipulated Nevada State Party Convention Then Blamed Sanders For Chaos
by
Kevin Gosztola
?itok=YXt57KM_
Days after a convention in which leaders incited chaos and disorder, the Nevada State Democratic Party demonized supporters of Bernie Sanders in a letter written to the Democratic National Committee.
“We believe, unfortunately, that the tactics and behavior on display here in Nevada are harbingers of things to come as Democrats gather in Philadelphia in July for our National Convention,” declared Bradley S. Schrager, the state party’s general counsel. “We write to alert you to what we perceive as the Sanders campaign’s penchant for extra-parliamentary behavior — indeed, actual violence — in place of democratic conduct in a convention setting, and furthermore what we can only describe as their encouragement of, and complicity in, a very dangerous atmosphere that ended in chaos and physical threats to fellow Democrats.”
The letter written by leadership of the Nevada State Democratic Party appears to be an attempt to control the narrative, so that citizens throughout the United States view what happened at the convention as the result of “violent” Sanders delegates, who had no respect for the rules, and not as the result of anti-democratic conduct by the state party.
Nevada State Democratic Party leaders “claim that the Sanders campaign has a ‘penchant for violence,'” Sanders said in a statement. “That is nonsense. Our campaign has held giant rallies all across this country, including in high-crime areas, and there have been zero reports of violence.”
“Our campaign of course believes in non-violent change and it goes without saying that I condemn any and all forms of violence, including the personal harassment of individuals. But, when we speak of violence, I should add here that months ago, during the Nevada campaign, shots were fired into my campaign office in Nevada and apartment housing complex my campaign staff lived in was broken into and ransacked.”
The Nevada State Democratic Party held its caucus on February 20, and Hillary Clinton won more pledged delegates. However, Nevada has a tiered system, where there are county-level conventions prior to the state convention. Delegates must show up, and when they don’t, it produces an outcome, like what happened in Clark County, which flipped from having more Clinton delegates to more Sanders delegates at the county convention. This increased interest among Sanders supporters, who saw the state convention as a final opportunity to pick up more delegates for Sanders to send to the national convention.
According to several individuals, who were present, the Nevada State Democratic Party, led by chairwoman Roberta Lange, engaged in the following during the 15-hour convention:
MUCH MORE...DETAILED REPORT at:
http://commondreams.org/views/2016/05/18/how-democrats-manipulated-nevada-state-party-convention-then-blamed-sanders-chaos
Fact Check: Hillary Clinton still spinning emails-- Published on May 11, 2016 CNN's Jake Tapper tak
Fact Check: Hillary Clinton still spinning emails--
CNN's Jake Tapper takes a look at Hillary Clinton and a comment she made recently about her email practices.
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