OCTOBER 26, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


WELL, I KNEW THIS WAS COMING JUST BY THE COMEDY OF ERRORS THAT HAS CAUSED SO MUCH AGONY AMONG MEXICAN FAMILIES SINCE THIS STORY FIRST BURST OPEN. SEEING IT ON PAPER, THOUGH, IT IS SHOCKING. I WISH TRUMP HIMSELF HAD BEEN INCLUDED HERE, BUT OF COURSE NOT. STILL, WHAT DID HE KNOW, AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?

“DHS DECLINED TO COMMENT.” OF COURSE, THEY DID.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/413405-watchdog-sues-trump-administration-over-family-separation-records
Watchdog sues Trump administration over family separation records
BY LYDIA WHEELER - 10/26/18 04:14 PM EDT

PHOTOGRAPH – MOTHER AND CHILD © Getty

A government watchdog group is suing the Trump administration for failing to create records linking immigrant children to their parents while separating them at the border.

In the lawsuit filed Friday against the Department of Homeland Security and DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) accused the administration of violating the Federal Records Act.

The 23-page complaint before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia also alleges the administration failed to establish an adequate agency-wide records management program.

“Indeed, rarely has a records management failure had such catastrophic consequences: DHS ripped thousands of children away from their parents, failed to make and preserve adequate documentation of individuals taken into its custody, and, consequently, has been unable to reunify each of the families it separated,” CREW argues in the filing.

The lawsuit comes after the Washington Post reported earlier this month that President Trump is considering a new separation policy.

“The Trump Administration’s haphazard implementation of the Zero Tolerance Policy paired with DHS’s failure to meet basic record-keeping requirements mandated by federal law has had catastrophic consequences on the lives of thousands of immigrants seeking entry to our country, even threatening the permanent separation of children from their parents,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement.

“Rarely, if ever, has an agency’s violation of its statutory record keeping obligations had such grave implications. With the administration considering reinstating a new form of their failed policy, it is crucial that they be compelled to follow the law, which makes this lawsuit even more urgent.”

DHS declined to comment.


“LISTED UNDER THE “MAKE” SECTION OF THE REPORT, DESCRIBING THE NATURE OF THE CLOTHING, WAS THE PRESIDENT’S NAME — “DONALD TRUMP.” THIS MAN MUST BE INSANE. THE “LOGIC” HERE IS NONEXISTENT. I’M SO GLAD THEY CAUGHT HIM, AND QUICKLY TOO. I WANT TO SEE 48 HOURS DO A DOCUMENTARY ON THIS STORY, WHAT THE CLUES WERE, HOW THEY CAPTURED HIM – THE WHOLE BALL OF WAX.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mail-bomb-suspect-cesar-sayoc-custody-allegedly-sending-pipe-bombs-n924856
Pipe bomb suspect Cesar Sayoc is a registered Republican and a Trump fan with a criminal record
Mail bomb suspect has a criminal history and had worked as a bouncer in strip clubs, according to his cousin.
YOUR VIDEO BEGINS IN: 00:25
Florida man charged with sending explosive packages
OCT. 26, 201803:20
Oct. 26, 2018 / 12:00 PM EDT / Updated 7:58 PM EDT
By Pete Williams, Rich Schapiro, Adiel Kaplan and Corky Siemaszko

VIDEO -- BREAKING NEWS – SERIAL BOMB SUSPECT ARRESTED FOR MAILING 14 DEVICES

The Florida man charged Friday with sending more than a dozen pipe bomb packages to prominent critics of President Donald Trump was a bulked-up, down-on-his luck former stripper with a right-wing bent who had been living in his van.

DNA evidence played a role in the arrest of 56-year-old Cesar Altieri Sayoc, whose past criminal history includes an arrest for making a bomb threat — and who, according to a cousin, also worked as a bouncer in a number of strip clubs and described black people during a 2014 conversation using a racist term in Italian slang.

"I said, ‘What do you hate for?’” recalled the cousin, Lenny Altieri — who noted that Sayoc is part Italian and part Filipino. "He got very upset with me and that was the last time we spoke."

"I couldn’t understand why he’d say something like that," Altieri added. “He’s multi-racial himself."

Image: Cesar Sayoc, Jr.Prior mugshot of Cesar Sayoc.

Sayoc was hit with multiple federal charges, including making "threats against former presidents," in connection with the pipe bombing campaign that could send him to jail for up to 48 years. Nobody was hurt, but the bombs were real, officials said.

"These are not hoax devices," FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

Earlier, the suspect's white van, which had pictures of Trump and the presidential seal plastered to the windows, was seized by the officials and hauled off to a secure facility in Plantation, Florida.

In Washington, Trump praised the FBI and Secret Service for the swift arrest.

"It’s like a needle in a haystack," Trump said. "And they have done an incredible, incredible job."

A registered Republican, Sayoc appeared to attend a Trump rally in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2016. His Facebook page and Twitter accounts contained several postings in support of Trump.

There were also several on his Facebook pages critical of George Soros, the liberal philanthropist who also was targeted with one of the package bombs earlier this week. The account handles were equally ominous — “Killgeorge Soros” and “Killall Socialist.”

VIDEO -- Social media footprint sheds new light on Cesar Sayoc Jr. OCT. 26, 2018 03:39

A Facebook spokesperson said Sayoc's page was taken down after it was flagged.

"In line with our policies, as our community standards explain, we do not allow praise or support for horrendous acts like these," the spokesperson said. "We also do not allow the suspect to maintain a presence on our site, so we’ve removed his account."

Sayoc has a criminal record in Florida and was arrested in 2002 for making a bomb threat, according to Miami-Dade County court records. He pleaded guilty. There were also two arrests, one in 1992 and the other in 2014, for petit theft.

In the later theft case, Sayoc tried to walk out of a Walmart with a shopping cart filled with $239 worth of merchandise, according to an arrest affidavit.

In 2015, Sayoc was convicted of stealing a heavy rolling briefcase and a garment bag from Walmart worth $58.

Sayoc also had a misdemeanor arrest on his record in North Carolina, where he was charged in 1999 for possession of stolen car, records show. And in 1995, he was charged in Minnesota with theft and possession of crack cocaine.

In May 2015, Sayoc also said he that he was the victim of a robbery. According to a Broward County Sheriff’s report obtained by NBC News. The report says that 11 items of clothing worth roughly $7,000 were taken from Sayoc.

Listed under the “make” section of the report, describing the nature of the clothing, was the president’s name — “Donald Trump.”

The 2002 mug shot of Cesar Sayoc when he made a bomb threat in Miami. Miami-Dade Police Department

The suspect also appeared to have money troubles. Records revealed he had a property foreclosed on in 2009 and filed for bankruptcy in 2012. At the time, he was living with his mother and employed as a grocery store manager, records show.

But of late, Sayoc had been living in his van and showering at the gym where he works out, a Florida-based cousin told NBC News.

Sayoc played soccer for one semester at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1983. "He was a good kid and a hard worker," former teammate Philip Drosdick said.

But Drosdick said their relationship took a bizarre turn after he left UNCC for the University of Central Florida and Sayoc followed. He said Sayoc suspected he had stolen his favorite jacket and took revenge by sneaking into his room, grabbing one shoe of every pair he had as well as his mattress, several jackets and pants, and his $350 surfboard.

Drosdick said he found most of his stuff in a shed. "I've not seen Cesar or my surfboard since then, " he said.

Records show that Sayoc also lived for a time in New Jersey, Michigan and Brooklyn, New York.

On Facebook, Sayoc also claimed to be a booking agent with the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. A spokesperson for the tribe told NBC News that Sayoc was not a member and had never been employed at the casino.

It was not immediately clear if Sayoc has Native American ancestry. But he named the two businesses he operated for a time Native American Catering & Vending and Proud Native America One Low Price Drycleaning, according to Florida business records.

On his LinkedIn page, Sayoc listed himself as Cesar Altieri and claimed to have worked for Chippendales. After word of this leaked out, the male striptease dance troupe quickly issued a statement declaring that Sayoc "has never been affiliated in any way with Chippendale USA, LLC."

Sayoc grew up in North Miami Beach with his two sisters and was thrown out of his house as a teenager, the cousin, Lenny Altieri, said.

He described him as a "loose cannon" and a "lost soul" who was estranged from his family and had been abusing steroids.

Image: Cesar SayocCesar Sayoc Jr. at a Trump rally.via Facebook

"He's been in the strip clubs since he was 22, that was his life," Altieri said. "He was a male dancer and he wanted to be a wrestler. He was taking steroids. He was all buffed up. ... He was built like a rock."

Another cousin, who lives in another state, told NBC News she was stunned by Sayoc's arrest.

"Oh my God," the woman, who asked not to be identified, said. "He's always been a very nice, thoughtful person. I don't know anything about this. It's shocking."

The cousin said that she hadn't seen Sayoc for two decades but that he called her recently after her father died.

"It was mostly just small talk," she said. "How's your family, that kind of thing. I don't really know that much about him. We have a very big family."

Brandy Zadrozny, Donna Mendell, Courtney McGee, Ken Dilanian, Hannah Rappleye, Tom Winter and Tim Stelloh contributed.


CAN WE SAY THAT THIS STEROID EATING MAN, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT IS KNOWN TO CAUSE EXTRA AGGRESSION IN MEN, WAS DIRECTLY CAUSED BY TRUMP’S WORDS TO DO THIS? NO, BUT WE CAN’T SAY HE WASN’T EITHER. MENTALLY DISTURBED PEOPLE ARE OFTEN INFLUENCED STRONGLY BY THE OUTSIDE WORLD IN WAYS THAT A HEALTHIER PERSON WOULDN’T BE. ONE OF OUR TASKS IN THE JOB OF GROWING UP IS TO OUTGROW SUCH THINGS. TEENS ARE VERY INFLUENTIAL OVER EACH OTHER, BUT USUALLY AS WE MATURE THAT DECREASES. THERE IS STILL A POTENTIAL FOR MASS HYSTERIA UNDER SUFFICIENT STRESS WITH THE AVERAGE PERSON, THOUGH, LEADING TO THINGS LIKE LYNCHINGS. TRUMP IS PARTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INCREASED CRIMINALITY AND HOSTILITY SINCE HE CAME INTO POWER JUST BY THE TONE HE SETS. I BELIEVE THAT A PRESIDENT SHOULD BE SANCTIONED FOR NEGATIVELY INFLUENCING THE COUNTRY BY WORD OR DEED.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/413431-foxs-shep-smith-chris-wallace-spar-over-trump-responsibility-after-mail-bomb
Fox's Shep Smith, Chris Wallace spar over Trump responsibility after mail bomb suspect charged
BY JOE CONCHA - 10/26/18 06:14 PM EDT

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith sparred with "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace on Friday over whether President Trump's rhetoric should be linked to the explosives mailed to more than a dozen Democratic figures this week.

Smith began the segment by noting that all of the figures who had the pipe bombs mailed to them, including former President Obama and 2016 Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton, have exchanged fierce criticism with Trump.

“You just can’t ignore the politics of this, even if you wanted to,” Smith said. “These are people the president has gone after rhetorically. These are people this guy targeted. It goes to the tone and tenor of the political discourse and the words that the president uses in his rallies.”

Wallace argued there was no direct link between Trump and the alleged actions of the suspect, Cesar Sayoc Jr., who was arrested and charged in connection to the mailed explosives. Sayoc was taken into custody along with a van with stickers and decals supportive of Trump, and he was shown in footage attending at least one Trump rally.

Wallace pointed to the 2017 shooting at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Va., when a shooter targeted GOP lawmakers. The shooting left House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and three others wounded.

“I don’t think you can draw any particular link or any responsibility on the part of the president for this action,” Wallace argued. "I mean, as [White House press secretary] Sarah [Huckabee] Sanders said and just repeated by [Fox News White House correspondent] John Roberts, a Bernie Sanders supporter shot up the congressman at the baseball practice. Is Bernie Sanders responsible for that?"

"Nobody is saying he's responsible," Smith said. "The rhetorical discourse has devolved over time and the president says we need to unify. Some of that begins with the rhetoric, does it not?"

"It would certainly be good, but I think it’s separate and apart from the actions of this guy," Wallace replied. "This is a twisted person."

After some extended crosstalk, Wallace accused Smith of holding the president responsible for Sayoc's alleged actions.

"I think that it’s really incorrect to hold the president either by implication or directly responsible in any way for the misdeeds of a person that is a psychopath," Wallace repeated.

"Nobody did that, Chris. Don’t say I did," Smith insisted. "All I said is when the rhetoric gets loud, the crazies come out sometimes."

"Let me just say, it’s a separate issue about the political rhetoric in this country and it’s unfortunate and I think it’s a very bad thing," Wallace would add later. "But I think it’s very dangerous to draw links between that and links of any sort between that and criminal activity."

"History will decide what the rhetoric has done in this society," Smith declared.

"I’ll wait for history," Wallace replied.

"I’ll wait for it, too," Smith said in ending the segment. "I hope you have a good weekend."

On Friday, Sayoc was charged with five federal crimes for allegedly sending packages containing explosive devices.


THERE IS A GOOD DEAL OF DETAIL OF INTEREST HERE, PLUS THE TYPICAL TRUMPIAN REFERENCES TO THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA BEING TRULY RESPONSIBLE.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/10/25/pipe-bombs-packages-deniro-clinton-obama-schultz-what-we-know/1759676002/
What we know about the 10 potential pipe bombs sent to De Niro, Biden, Clinton, Obama
USA TODAY NETWORKAshley May, USA TODAY Published 8:17 a.m. ET Oct. 25, 2018 | Updated 10:40 a.m. ET Oct. 25, 2018

Two weeks before national midterm elections, a series of suspicious and potentially explosive packages addressed to high-ranking Democrats were intercepted.

And early Thursday morning, New York Police were responding to a "suspicious package" that was sent to the building that houses the Tribeca Grill, a restaurant started by Robert De Niro, and his Tribeca Film Center. Two similar packages addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden were intercepted in Delaware.

On Wednesday, packages, including those addressed to former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, contained pipe bombs. At least seven packages, not including the device in Tribeca, were sent to multiple locations in the New York and Washington, D.C., areas, and Florida.

As of Thursday morning, exactly how many dangerous packages had been sent and who sent them wasn't clear. Here's what we know now:

How many packages were intercepted?
At least seven bombs were sent to various locations and intercepted since Monday. The FBI said that number could grow, as they investigate other suspicious packages Thursday, including the one addressed to De Niro's restaurant and two addressed to Biden.

Where were packages sent?
Hillary Clinton's home in Westchester County, New York
Former President Barack Obama, intercepted in Washington
Former CIA Director John Brennan, sent to CNN’s offices in New York City
California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters
Florida's Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (a package discovered at her office was addressed to former US Attorney General Eric Holder)
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at his Manhattan office
Billionaire George Soros, in the mailbox at his Bedford, New York, home
Former Vice President Joe Biden, two packages were intercepted in Delaware
Robert De Niro's New York restaurant
More: NYPD responding to new report of suspicious package

More: Officials search for package addressed to Biden after devices sent to CNN, Clintons, Obamas
What was in the packages?

Most of packages were mailed in manila envelopes, affixed with six Forever stamps and a computer-printed address label showing a return address for "Debbie Wasserman Shultz," a misspelled name for the Florida Congresswoman, according to the FBI.

Wednesday afternoon, the FBI said at least five of the packages with bubble wrap interior have what appear to be pipe bombs inside.

Was anyone hurt?
None of the intercepted bombs detonated and no one was hurt.

What is Trump saying?

"No nation can succeed that tolerates violence," Trump said Wednesday at a Wisconsin rally. "The language of moral condemnation and destructive routine, these are arguments and disagreements that have to stop. Those engaged in the political arena must stop treating political opponents as being morally defective."

But then, he also pointed a finger at media, saying it has a "responsibility to set a civil tone."

More: Trump tones down attacks, calls for civility after devices mailed to Democrats, CNN

He tweeted Thursday morning: "A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News," the post reads.


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!

7:18 AM - Oct 25, 2018
136K
110K people are talking about this


THIS IS A GREAT PRE-ELECTION INTERVIEW FROM 2015, CALM AND INFORMATIVE. FUNNY HOW THE ISSUES ARE STILL CURRENT.

https://splinternews.com/bernie-sanders-invest-in-jobs-and-education-rather-th-1793852006
Bernie Sanders: 'Invest in jobs and education, rather than jails and incarceration.'
Felix Salmon
10/20/15 6:00am

Fusion senior editor Felix Salmon sat down with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders in Los Angeles last Wednesday, the day after the first Democratic presidential debate, to talk about economic policy.

PHOTOGRAPH – SANDER SPEAKING

Fusion senior editor Felix Salmon sat down with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders in Los Angeles last Wednesday, the day after the first Democratic presidential debate, to talk about economic policy.

That day, at least, fresh off his strong performance in front of 15 million people, Sanders was not in policy-wonk mode. Instead, he had one big message that he wanted to convey: The rich and powerful have far too much control of America, and it’s time the country was run not for them but for the 99%.

Q: Thank you for doing this. As an Englishman, I’m glad to see proud socialists running for president. Do you believe in redistribution of wealth?

A: Yeah. I think what’s happened is that there has been mass redistribution of wealth in this country for the last 30 years. The problem is it’s gone from the middle class to the top one-tenth of 1%. And I think we have to redistribute it back to working families and the middle class so that they can have a decent standard of living.

Q: So we’ll take the wealth from the rich and redistribute it to the middle classes?

A: It’s a little more complicated than that. But what we have seen in the last 30 years is the percentage of wealth owned by the top one-tenth of 1% double—double!—while the percentage of wealth owned by the middle class has significantly shrunk to the tune of many trillions of dollars. And we have to deal with that.

Q: So would you believe in a wealth tax?

A: A variety of a wealth tax. What I certainly do believe is that we have to have a strong estate tax so that when billionaires pass on, they don’t leave all of their money to their kids and perpetuate a very distorted class society. I believe we have to end these tax havens that exist in the Cayman Islands and elsewhere by which large corporations make billions of dollars a year in profits and just stash their money there and don’t pay a nickel in federal taxes. I think we need a progressive income tax so that we don’t have a situation where—as Warren Buffett reminds us—billionaires end up paying an effective tax rate lower than truck drivers or nurses. So I think there is a lot to be done in making our tax system fairer. And that’s based on the fact that today almost all of the new income and wealth being created is going to the top 1%.

Q: In terms of a system which has given the income and the wealth to the privileged, and being able to turn that around—do you believe in reparations at all?

A: No. The issue right now is this is what I do believe in: I believe that we have got to raise the minimum wage in the country to a living wage, which I think is $15 an hour over the next several years. Real unemployment in this country is over 10%, which means to me that we have to create millions of decent-paying jobs, and we can do that most effectively by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, by hiring teachers and not by firing teachers. We need pay equity for women workers, who should not be making 79 cents on the dollar compared to men. We need to especially focus on youth unemployment because Hispanic youth unemployment in this country is 36% and underemployment. African-American unemployment and underemployment is 51%. We end up having more people in jail than any other country on earth. So I think I would rather invest in jobs and education, rather than jails and incarceration.

Q: So you’re investing in youth jobs, you’re investing in infrastructure. Who’s your treasury secretary who’s going to be driving all this?

A: Well, there are a lot of great people out there, but I’ll tell you who it’s not. It’s not going to be some guy who worked on Wall Street representing the major financial institutions in this country. Under Democratic administrations and Republican administrations, those are the guys who, by and large, have held major financial positions—major positions in the Treasury Department.

Q: So no Bob Rubin in your administration?

A: Let me be—OK, you got the scoop on this: Bob Rubin will not be my secretary of treasury. And you can quote me on that.

Q: I wasn’t expecting that he would be. But you believe in postal banking?

A: Yeah, I think that’s a great idea. In fact, I just spoke to a postal union this morning. I want to see our post office be reinvigorated. And one of the ways that I think we can help not only the U.S. Postal Service, but help a lot of low-income people—if you are a low-income person, it is, depending upon where you live, very difficult to find normal banking. Banks don’t want you. And what people are forced to do is go to payday lenders who charge outrageously high interest rates. You go to check-cashing places, which rip you off. And, yes, I think that the postal service, in fact, can play an important role in providing modest types of banking service to folks who need it.

Q: So Walmart should get a banking license as well, for the same reason?

A: Well right now we’re focusing on the U.S. Postal Service.

Q: Walmart’s a great bank in Mexico.

A: Right now in the United States we’re focusing on the U.S. Postal Service.

Q: So in terms of banking, you last night talked a lot about bringing back Glass-Steagall, repealing Gramm-Leach-Bliley. What’s the purpose for that? You want to break up the banks. What’s the reason for that?

A: If you’re talking about creating an economy that works for the middle class and not just the top 1%, I think we have to rethink our current financial system and the way Wall Street functions. What we want are financial institutions who know the communities in which they function, who are prepared to make affordable loans to small and medium-sized businesses so that they can grow and create jobs. What we have right now is a situation where the largest six financial institutions in this country, Wall Street companies, have assets about equivalent to about 60% of the GDP of the United States of America. They issue two-thirds of the credit cards, about 35% of the mortgages, they are extraordinarily big. And in fact, the top three are much bigger today than they were when we bailed them out because they were too big to fail. So bottom line here is you want financial institutions who are part of the communities. Not, as is currently the case, on Wall Street—an island unto itself whose only purpose in life is to make as much money as it can for itself, no matter how they do it.

Q: So it sounds to me you’re not really or even mainly talking about just separating commercial banking from investment banking as we had in Glass-Steagall, but you’re talking about breaking up the banks along geographic grounds so that they become much more—

A: It’s not geographic. We’re talking about re-establishing Glass-Steagall, and you’re looking at a guy who as a member of the House Financial Committee—Services Committee—was a leader in the opposition of deregulating banks and in opposition to ending Glass-Steagall. So I think we do want to bring back Glass-Steagall, but we want to go further.

Q: But you voted for the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which was the big deregulation.

A: Yeah, I know. Of the many, many votes that I cast. I was a leader. I think the record is very clear in doing that. OK, how are we doing here? Because we have to get going fairly soon.

Q: OK, talk to me very quickly, then, about the financial transactions tax. Is that just a way of raising revenue or did stock market speculation—was that part of the crisis?

A: It deals with both issues. It will damper excessive speculation on Wall Street, which is not a good thing. But at the same time it will raise very substantial sums of revenue, and what we have done is targeted that revenue to make certain that young people, in this country, will be able to go public colleges and universities tuition-free.

Q: Let me ask you about the currency manipulation that you say China is doing. You want to impose a fee on that? How does that work?

A: Well, what I want to do is to deal with the reality that today we have a massive trade deficit with China. And you’re looking at a guy who helped lead—unsuccessfully, unfortunately—the effort, the permanent normal trade relations with China. So what I think is we have to rethink our trade relations with China, which are now grossly working against the interest of American workers. What we have seen in recent years is a significant reduction in the number of manufacturing jobs in this country—factories being shut down and then being sent to China. And that has got to end.

Q: If you want to save manufacturing and improve exports, that means the dollar’s too strong, right? We need a weaker dollar?

A: Well, what it means is we need a trade policy in this country which works for American workers.

Q: As opposed to international workers? Because if it helps international workers—

A: It’s not that we don’t care about international workers. We need trade agreements that work for all workers and not just the CEOs of large corporations. OK, thank you very much.


SANDERS IS LIKE THE ENERGIZER BUNNY. DOES HE EVER STOP?

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/412464-sanders-thanks-iowa-voters-for-giving-momentum-to-progressive-agenda
Sanders thanks Iowa voters for giving momentum to progressive agenda
BY NAOMI JAGODA - 10/21/18 08:08 PM EDT

PHOTOGRAPH – SANDERS SPEAKING © Greg Nash

AMES, IOWA — Speaking in Iowa on Sunday ahead of a possible 2020 presidential run, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) thanked voters in the state for showing that his progressive policy ideas resonate with the public.

Sanders narrowly lost the 2016 Democratic Iowa caucuses to Hillary Clinton, a result that he called a “tie” that fueled his campaign that year. Sanders ultimately lost the nomination to Clinton but received millions of votes.

“Why it was important in terms of what Iowa did in that very first caucus, is that it showed the American people that the ideas that we were talking about were not radical ideas or extremist ideas or ideas that were outside of the mainstream,” Sanders said at a rally at Iowa State University.

“So it started off in Iowa and it went to New Hampshire and it went across the country. And ideas that just three years ago were perceived to be radical and extremist ideas are now ideas that are supported by the vast majority of the American people. Thank you Iowa,” he added.

Sanders spoke about several of his policy ideas that have gained traction in recent years, including a $15-per-hour minimum wage, tuition-free public college and "Medicare for all."

He said he understands that people may have voted for President Trump in 2016 because they felt like they were being ignored by Washington but that Trump is a “pathological liar.”

“This president has no political beliefs,” Sanders said. “He is [an] opportunist of the worst kind.”

Sanders also criticized Trump for “using his bully pulpit to try to divide us up.”

“I say to President Trump that this country has struggled for too many decades, for too many centuries, in the fight against racism and sexism and homophobia and religious bigotry. We have fought too hard against people who are trying to divide us up,” Sanders said. “President Trump, we are not going backwards, we are going forward as one people.”

Sanders campaigned at the event for J.D. Scholten, the Democratic nominee seeking to unseat GOP Rep. Steve King in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, and Deidre DeJear, the Democratic nominee for Iowa secretary of state.

Sanders, Scholten and DeJear all encouraged the attendees, many of whom were college students, to vote in the midterm elections and to get their friends and family members to do so as well.

“If we did nothing more than have people 30 years of age or younger vote in the same percentages as the general population, we can transform the United States of America,” Sanders said.

King criticized Sanders on Twitter earlier in the day.

Scholten responded to King’s tweets, criticizing King for not debating him.

Scholten faces an uphill battle in the race, which the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates “likely Republican.”

But he said Democrats can win in rural areas by reaching out to people and proving that they will fight for them.

“We live in the land of ‘if you build it, they will come,’” he said. “If you build the right campaign and earn votes, get out there and earn votes, they will vote for you. If you build the right campaign that creates buzz, Sen. Bernie Sanders will come.”

Scholten was introduced at the event by Hill.TV anchor Krystal Ball, who has a PAC that endorsed the Democratic congressional candidate.

The rally in Ames came at the end of Sanders’s trip to Iowa to campaign for Scholten. Earlier on Sunday, he participated in a town hall with Scholten that was focused on Social Security and marched in Iowa State’s homecoming parade. He also held a rally with Scholten Saturday in Sioux City.

Sanders is in the middle of a nine-state tour ahead of the midterms. Prior to the stops in Iowa, he was in South Carolina, another state with an early nominating contest in 2020.

Sanders isn’t the only potential Democratic presidential candidate who has been spending time in Iowa in recent days. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) was also in Iowa this weekend, and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) will be in the state on Monday and Tuesday.

Scholten’s campaign said about 800 people attended the rally in Ames.

After the rally, Scholten said he’s grateful for Sanders’s help. The congressional candidate said he hasn’t had time to think about whether Sanders is going to run for president again, but added that “if he wanted to, I think it’s there for him.”


THIS OFFER BY MEXICO IS A GREAT HELP, EVEN IF ITS’ ONLY A RESPITE. SURELY THE USA ISN’T THE ONLY PLACE TO LIVE, AND BEING IN A SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRY SOUNDS TO ME LIKE A GOOD IDEA FOR THEM.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45999610
Migrant caravan: Mexico offers temporary work permits
OCTOBER 26, 2108 7 minutes ago

PHOTOGRAPH -- A number of children are travelling with the migrant caravan

Mexico has offered temporary work permits to migrants who register for asylum, as a big caravan of Central American migrants makes its way through the country toward the US.

The plan also envisages temporary ID cards, medical care and schooling.

But to qualify, migrants must remain in Mexico's southern Chiapas and Oaxaca states.

The US has warned that about 800 troops may be sent to the US-Mexico border to stop the migrant caravan.

"I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency," US President Donald Trump said earlier this week. "They [migrants] will be stopped!"

The president also threatened cutting aid to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

The caravan set off from Honduras several weeks ago.

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What about Mexico's plan?

The scheme, announced by President Peña Nieto, covers Central Americans who have officially asked for a refugee status in Mexico or are planning to do so in the nearest future.

It is called Estas en Tu Casa ("This is Your Home" in Spanish).

Image copyrightAFP/GETTY IMAGES
Image caption

Many from the migrant caravan are forced to sleep rough during their journey
"Today, Mexico extends you its hand," President Nieto said.

But he added: "This plan is only for those who comply with Mexican laws, and it's a first step towards a permanent solution for those who are granted refugee status in Mexico."

The plan envisages:
Temporary ID cards and work permits
Medical care
Schooling for migrants' children
Housing in local hostels

But President Nieto failed to explain what would happen to the migrants if they chose to carry on regardless.

The Mexican authorities are coming under increasing pressure from the Trump Administration to find a solution to this caravan, the BBC's Central America correspondent Will Grant in the town of Arriaga, Chiapas, reports.

The authorities are trying to tread a balance between placating the US and giving a green light to travel to potential future caravans, our correspondent adds.

Where is the caravan now?

The caravan is presently in Arriaga.

Most migrants said they had no intention of changing their plans to head to the US.

"The majority plan to cross the border. And that's my intention, too," Jose Santos, from Honduras, told the BBC.

"Because, yes, while life here is calmer than at home, it's still not like the US where it would get better. That's the goal: to have a better life."

Meanwhile, Anna Lisset Velazquez, also from Honduras, told the BBC: "It's a kind offer - but it's not the plan that we have, to stay here halfway up."

However, another migrant described Mr Nieto's proposal as a decent "plan B".

"Because we can't go back to Honduras. So, as a second choice we'd be better off here," Greville Juan Villanova said.

A spokesman for the United Nations said more than 7,000 people had joined the migrant caravan as of 22 October, citing estimates from the International Organization for Migration.

But the group has split up, which makes it difficult to determine the exact number.

The migrants say they are fleeing persecution, poverty and violence in their home countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Can they migrate legally?

On Thursday, Mr Trump once again urged the migrants to stay away, tweeting: "To those in the Caravan, turn around, we are not letting people into the United States illegally."

VIDEO: Media captionTrump and the facts about the migrant caravan

Many of the migrants say they plan to seek asylum in the US.

There is a legal obligation under international law to hear asylum claims from migrants who have arrived in the US if they say they fear violence in their home countries.

But in June, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that victims of domestic abuse and gang violence would no longer generally qualify for asylum in the US.

Those seeking asylum must be fleeing due to a serious fear of persecution in their home country. Under international law, these are considered refugees.

If an asylum seeker enters the US illegally, they are still entitled to a hearing of their claim.

Economic migrants are those seeking a better quality of life - and even if they are fleeing devastating poverty, they are not considered refugees and do not have the same protections.

The mid-term elections are less than two weeks away and critics say Mr Trump has used the threat of illegal immigration to fire up his supporters.