Daily Kos

Trump celebrates new Israeli town 'Trump Heights.' It does not actually exist

Daily Kos Staff

Monday June 17, 2019 · 6:30 PM PDT

2019/06/17 · 18:30

TOPSHOT - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and US President Donald Trump speak upon the latter's arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on May 22, 2017, as part of his first trip overseas. / AFP PHOTO / Jack GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images) — Is it going to have a golf course? It's gotta have a great golf course, one that serves chocolate cake on every green.

Last night Donald Trump proudly tweeted the announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a new town named in Trump's honor in the Golan Heights. "Trump Heights" features an enormous gold-trimmed sign on a lush green strip of artificial turf.

There's a bit of a catch, however. The town does not exist. No location has been selected for building the town. No funding for construction has been allocated, and even stating the town will probably be built "someday" is likely stretching things. Talking Points Memo reports, “The head of the Golan caucus in the Israeli Knesset, Zvi Hauser went even further: ‘Anyone who reads the fine print of the ‘historic’ decision understands that this is a conceptual decision. There is no funding. There is no planning. There is no location and there is really no committed decision.’”

In other words, the Enormous Gold-Trimmed Sign is the sole component of the Israeli Prime Minister's birthday gift to Trump, and even it has no actual plot of land it can be planted on. It's likely headed for warehouse storage. It will be up to the next government to either make good on Netanyahu's pledge or, more likely, auction off the sign for use as miniature golf course prop.

None of this is likely to bother Trump. Within three weeks you can expect him to have commissioned a new plaque identifying the fictional Israeli town of Trump Heights as the location of one of the most bloody battles in the American Civil War. So many good men on both sides lost their lives that day. At this location. Wherever it is.

Texas Baptist pastor who advocated executing women for abortion faces child sexual assault charges

Jen Hayden

Daily Kos Staff

Monday June 17, 2019 · 6:00 PM PDT

2019/06/17 · 18:00

Stephen Bratton, a 43-year-old recently former Southern Baptist pastor in Cypress Station, Texas, has been charged with repeatedly sexually assaulting a teenage relative over several years. From the Houston Chronicle:

Stephen Bratton, who resigned from Grace Family Baptist Church in Cypress Station last month, was charged Friday with continuous sexual abuse of a child, Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland said Saturday. The 43-year-old is accused of inappropriate touching that escalated to “sexual intercourse multiple times a day or several times a week” from 2013 to 2015, Gilliland said.

Bratton seemed to have a keen interest in controlling women’s bodies and their health care. Because, of course he did.

Bratton has been an outspoken pro-life advocate, making national news recently for supporting a failed bill that would have made it possible to criminally charge women who terminate their pregnancies.

Bratton didn’t merely want to prosecute women for abortion, he supported a bill that have made abortion a capital felony and could even carry the death penalty for women.

The Houston Chronicle reports Bratton confessed to his wife, who called his fellow church leaders. To their credit, they notified police the same day and took steps to immediately dismiss him and excommunicate him.

Unfortunately, Bratton paid a $50,000 bond and was released.

Neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin faces deplatforming via bankruptcy after judge awards $4.1 million in lawsuit

David Neiwert for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff

Monday June 17, 2019 · 5:30 PM PDT

2019/06/17 · 17:30

Neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin falsely claimed radio host Dean Obeidallah was a Muslim terrorist.

While the national conversation about ridding social media of white-nationalist and other far-right-extremist content focuses around “deplatforming” such voices, the more traditional route for combating such material—suing the bejeesus out of the people who inflict harm on innocents in the name of spreading their hate—continues apace.

A federal judge in Columbus, Ohio, last week awarded $4.1 million in damages to radio host/comedian Dean Obeidallah, a Muslim American, in his lawsuit against Andrew Anglin, publisher of the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer. Anglin’s site had published a series of posts in June 2017 accusing him of masterminding the terrorist attack against an Ariana Grande concert a month before.

As Obeidallah detailed in the suit, the day after he had published a piece at The Daily Beast calling out Donald Trump for refusing to use the words “white supremacist terrorism,” Anglin began a campaign of harassment against him in which he urged his readers to “confront” the writer. He also published a series of fake tweets allegedly written by Obeidallah celebrating the attack and claiming responsibility for it.

Mitch McConnell says he doesn't know why Jon Stewart is 'bent out of shape' over 9/11 victims fund

Jen Hayden

Daily Kos Staff

Monday June 17, 2019 · 5:00 PM PDT

2019/06/17 · 17:00

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 11: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks during a news briefing after the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon June 11, 2019 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. McConnell said the Senate plans to take up a funding bill to address the humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Last week Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was noncommittal about whether he would support the permanent reauthorization of the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund. The fund enables 9/11 first responders, surviving families, and others battling deadly ailments such as cancer—like the teachers and children who attended school near the toxic World Trade Center site—to receive basic benefits and most importantly, health care.

Incredibly, there has not been a long-term fund established and year after year, surviving first responders, many of whom are battling end stage cancers, make the trek to Washington, D.C. to fight for their own care. Former talk show host Jon Stewart has been a champion for these survivors and last week he got a standing ovation after his impassioned testimony to Congress. The very next day the House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to move a bill forward that would permanently authorize the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund. Next it will go to the full House for a vote and then onto Mitch McConnell’s graveyard of bills in the Senate.

Stewart specifically called out Mitch McConnell for blocking progress on a long-term solution for nearly a decade, saying, “In terms of getting the 9/11 bills passed, Mitch McConnell has been the white whale of this since 2010.” Stewart appeared on Fox News on Sunday to drive home that point that 9/11 responders are dying, seven in the last week alone, while Mitch McConnell plays games.

Supreme Court leaves double jeopardy rule in place, leaving Manafort open to state prosecution

Kerry Eleveld

Daily Kos Staff

Monday June 17, 2019 · 4:30 PM PDT

2019/06/17 · 16:30

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 15: Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse for a hearing on June 15, 2018 in Washington, DC. Today a federal judge revoked Manafort's bail due to alleged witness tampering. Manafort was indicted last year by a federal grand jury and has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him including, conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, and being an unregistered agent of a foreign principal. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court reaffirmed a longstanding double jeopardy rule Monday that allows people to be tried by both state and federal prosecutors for the same crime. The case had been closely watched as an indicator of whether former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort might be able to escape state prosecution if Donald Trump were to pardon his federal convictions. NBC News writes:

The 7-2 ruling was a defeat for an Alabama man, Terance Gamble, convicted of robbery in 2008 and pulled over seven years later for a traffic violation. When police found a handgun in his car, he was prosecuted under Alabama's law barring felons from possessing firearms. The local U.S. attorney then charged Gamble with violating a similar federal law. Because of the added federal conviction, his prison sentence was extended by nearly three years.

Even though the Fifth Amendment guarantees that no person will be "twice put in jeopardy of life or limb" for the same crime, an alliance of liberal and conservative judges found that facing state and federal charges for a similar offense doesn't violate the Constitution.

2020 Democratic candidates mark DACA's anniversary with pledges to protect Dreamers

Gabe Ortiz

Daily Kos Staff

Monday June 17, 2019 · 4:00 PM PDT

2019/06/17 · 16:00

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 16: Luz Chavez, DACA recipient and United We Dream member speaks at the America Welcomes Event with a Statue Of Liberty Replica Shows Solidarity With Immigrants & Refugees at Union Station on May 16, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for MoveOn.org)

Last weekend marked the 7th anniversary of the Obama administration announcing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a victory led by undocumented immigrant youth. Under the program, Dreamers have been able to apply for two-year worker permits, protection from deportation, and get some peace of mind.

But under the Trump administration, the program has been under relentless attack, throwing the lives of hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who have known no other place but the U.S. as home into limbo. In a number of tweets and statements, a number of Democratic candidates for president pledged to take steps to protect undocumented youth and their families.

Foreign Affairs Committee secures low-profile oversight wins against Trump

Kerry Eleveld

Daily Kos Staff

Monday June 17, 2019 · 3:30 PM PDT

2019/06/17 · 15:30

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 23: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol July 23, 2018 in Washington, DC. Pelosi, Rep. Adam Schiff (L) (D-CA) and Rep. Eliot Engel (R) (D-CA) have introduced a resolution condemning U.S. President Donald Trump's statements during the recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) — Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Adam Schiff (L) and Rep. Eliot Engel (R) introduced resolutions in 2018 condemning Donald Trump's statements alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.

House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Eliot Engel isn't a key player in the impeachment debate, nor is his panel holding contempt votes or subpoenaing information. Instead, in a show of rare bi-partisan comity, he and his GOP counterpart on the committee have managed to secure critical wins against Donald Trump away from the spotlight.

When we learned from former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that Trump got totally played by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, that little nugget of information came from an 8-hour sitdown Engel and ranking GOP member, Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, conducted with Tillerson.

As Politico notes, the committee also conducted a hearing to examine the Trump administration's sale of arms to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. Engel also sponsored a measure opposing the Trump administration's plan to lift sanctions on key Putin ally, Oleg Deripaska, which drew the support of 136 House Republicans even though it fell short of passage in the Senate.

According to Engel, much of the committee's relative cohesiveness is driven by shared misgivings over the mysterious Trump-Putin bond. “People are concerned to know the relationship between Putin and Trump,” Engel told Politico. “We’re working our way there.”

Bipartisanship or not, the Trump administration has still blocked Engel's committee from obtaining transcripts of Trump’s and Putin's conversations. That rejection came several months ago and Engel is still weighing whether to proceed with a subpoena.

Engel's panel may be working its way there but at some point he will have to pull the trigger on taking a more aggressive posture. Wins may be wins, but they’re not moving the needle if the public doesn’t know they happened.

Cartoon: The 2020 census

Nick Anderson for Comics

Community

Monday June 17, 2019 · 3:00 PM PDT

2019/06/17 · 15:00

Sign up for my new editorial cartooning newsletter. It’s Free! Also, check out a video of me drawing this cartoon (and some brainstorming sketches):

Congress makes minimum wage history, going the longest without an increase since 1938

Laura Clawson for Daily Kos Labor

Daily Kos Staff

Monday June 17, 2019 · 2:30 PM PDT

2019/06/17 · 14:30

MIAMI, FL - NOVEMBER 10: Cecelia O'Brien (R) joins other workers to protest outside a McDonald's restaurant on November 10, 2015 in Miami, Florida. The protesters are demanding action from state legislators and presidential candidates to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since July 24, 2009. That’s coming up on a decade, but it’s already hit an infuriating milestone: June 16 marked the longest the minimum wage had gone without an increase since 1938, when the U.S. passed its first minimum wage. Because Republicans are happy to have the minimum wage be a poverty wage—and it is a wage so low that a full-time job is not enough to pull a family of two above the poverty threshold.

The Economic Policy Institute’s David Cooper lays out what workers have lost in the near-decade since the last increase: $7.25 in July 2009 was equivalent to $8.70 now. That means a minimum wage worker has seen their purchasing power drop by 17%, or the equivalent of more than $3,000 a year. And still Republicans stand in the way of a raise.

The good news is that many states—31 of them, plus the District of Columbia—have raised their minimum wages above the federal level, and in some cases well above it. Already in 2019 alone, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, and Connecticut have passed laws gradually raising the wage to $15 an hour, while Nevada and New Mexico are on their way to $12. But that doesn’t excuse congressional inaction, let alone congressional inaction on a historic, record-shattering level. Democrats have proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, but it won’t happen as long as Republicans are in a position to block it.

'Catastrophic': Trump's next round of tariffs will wallop American consumers, retailers

Kerry Eleveld

Daily Kos Staff

Monday June 17, 2019 · 2:00 PM PDT

2019/06/17 · 14:00

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before departing for a trip to Iowa, on the South Lawn of White House, Tuesday, June 11, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The last round of tariffs Donald Trump imposed on Chinese goods mostly targeted commercial products, shielding consumers from sticker shock on the good they buy every day. But the next round of tariffs on another $300 billion of Chinese goods will hit Americans right where it counts.

The New York Times reports that retailers are warning the Trump administration what disaster it will be for their businesses as well average America households as they watch the prices of goods like toys, clothes, and footwear spike.

Brick-and-mortar retailers, which have already been squeezed by the online market, are hoping to put on the brakes since the administration hasn't yet set a hard date for the new tariffs. China, for instance, produces almost 70% of the shoes bought in the U.S. Matt Priest of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America called the amount of harm the new tariffs could cause "catastrophic."

Not only will the bottom lines of retailers suffer, but their revenue losses could also result in more job losses in an industry that already closed some 6,000 stores just last year, a number that will likely rise this year, according to Coresight Research.

The overall worry, say economists, is the possibility that any tariffs that so directly affect consumers could push the economy into a recession. “It’s Economics 101 that as prices rise, people will spend less," Deutsche Bank economist Torsten Slok told the Times, noting that consumer spending accounts for around 70% of GDP.

For now, major retailers like Gap Inc. and Kohl’s are hoping Trump either has a sudden change of heart or suffers a severe memory lapse, because the strength of the U.S. economy is now heavily dependent on the whimsy of one man.

White House already attacking Democrats ahead of bipartisan meeting on spending deal

Laura Clawson

Daily Kos Staff

Monday June 17, 2019 · 1:30 PM PDT

2019/06/17 · 13:30

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 11: U.S. President Donald Trump (2R) argues about border security with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (R) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as Vice President Mike Pence sits nearby in the Oval Office on December 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

It’s hard to imagine this going well: Congressional leaders from both parties are set to meet with the White House about the upcoming must-pass spending bill, even as Senate Republicans and Team Trump are struggling to get on the same page about it. As Republican Sen. Richard Shelby said, Senate Republicans are “basically close to the same page” with the White House, which is to say, nowhere near on the same page. This will be the first such bipartisan meeting since Donald Trump walked out of a May 22 meeting in a snit because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had dared to say he was “engaged in a cover-up” of Russian election interference.

Further undermining chances that this will go well is the fact that, as Democrats push for funding for domestic priorities, the White House is trying to pretend that Democrats, rather than the Republican tax cuts, are to blame for a rising deficit. “Unless Democrats show a willingness to negotiate and come off their unrealistic and unaffordable spending increases, then these meetings are just summer theater and things won’t change much,” an administration official told Politico. Which, screw you, because again, your tax cuts are to blame for the rising deficit, and Trump is constantly pushing to spend billions more on the military.

So while congressional Democrats and Republicans alike want to reach an agreement and avoid either a government shutdown or automatic cuts to both military and domestic spending, it’s all too likely that the White House plan is to block any chance at a deal and then blame Democrats, essentially using a bipartisan meeting as a pretext for doing so. (Though since that hasn’t gone so well for them in the past, you’d think they’d maybe find a new tactic.)

Trump's undocumented workers are crashing his 2020 kick-off to expose his 'cruelty and hypocrisy'

Gabe Ortiz

Daily Kos Staff

Monday June 17, 2019 · 1:00 PM PDT

2019/06/17 · 13:00

Former Trump National Golf Club employee Victorina Morales (L) and US Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman take part in an interview with AFP in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC on February 5, 2019. - For more than five years, Victorina Morales made Donald Trump's bed, cleaned his toilet and dusted his trophies as a housekeeper at one of his golf clubs -- without legal status to reside in the United States..On Tuesday night, the 46-year-old from Guatemala took her place as a Democratic lawmaker's guest for the president's State of the Union address to Congress, where she hoped to be a powerful symbol of the undocumented migrants his administration has demonized. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) — Former Trump housekeeper Victorina Morales sits with Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey.

Even though Donald Trump has basically been running for reelection since the first day of his presidency, he’s traveling to Florida on Tuesday to formally announce his 2020 campaign. There, he’ll be joined by his base supporters—and by a group of people he and his administration have taken pains to publicly discuss as little as possible.

At least six immigrants who worked at Trump’s resorts are expected to participate in a press conference ahead of Trump’s announcement, the NY Daily News reports, to advocate for a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants like them—and to continue exposing his “cruelty and hypocrisy,” specifically regarding the Trump Organization’s exploitation of undocumented labor.

“No one knows better than Trump himself that immigrants are hardworking individuals who support a multitude of industries across the country,” said attorney Anibal Romero, who represents dozens of immigrants who worked at Trump’s businesses, “including his restaurants, golf courses, wineries and hotels.” While at least one of the former workers who will be in Florida, former housekeeper Sandra Diaz, has since been able to gain legal status since being employed at Trump’s New Jersey golf club, others, like former housekeeper Victorina Morales, continue to remain undocumented.

Morales worked so closely to Trump that she cleaned his makeup off his clothes. She and others have described being loyal, hard workers who simply wanted to work to provide the best for their families. They kept his golf greens trim, and the living quarters of the Trump family clean and beautiful. Companies would be lucky to have them. But in return, they were abused, threatened, and exploited by the Trump Organization. In fact, dozens from at least five golf courses have been fired following reporting on the organization’s hiring practices.

It’s a fact that immigrants are the backbone of American industries. Trump should know it, because he employs them, but he’d rather use them as human pawns as a political issue. His former workers, however, are not staying silent. “[N]o one knows better than the undocumented workers who worked for Trump, how urgent it is for Congress to pass humane and sensible immigration laws,” Romero continued, “so that immigrants can continue contributing to their communities and to our nation, just like they did for Trump and his family.”

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