News — Page 14

Bernie Sanders Arrest Photo Proves He Walks the Walk

February 19, 2016 by PublicSkeleton Leave a Comment

Bernie Sanders Arrest Photo Proves He Walks the Walk
by Daryl Parsons

(Feb. 19, 2016 22:00) Some people may think having a photograph of you being arrested may lead to undesirable publicity, shame, and ridicule. However, in the case where the photograph shows Bernie Sanders getting arrested for demonstrating during the civil rights movement, well, that is another story.

“The black-and-white photo shows a 21-year-old Sanders, then a University of Chicago student, being taken by Chicago police toward a police wagon. An acetate negative of the photo was found in the Tribune’s archives, said Marianne Mather, a Chicago Tribune photo editor.”

Talking about having a proven record.

Elizabeth Warren’s Social Contract: ‘There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own’

February 18, 2016 by PublicSkeleton Leave a Comment

(Feb. 18, 2016 21:45 ET) Since Bernie Sanders’ rise in the polls after putting up tough competition in Iowa and in New Hampshire against the purported “inevitable” contender Hillary Clinton, there has been a lot of talk about who Sanders’ running mate may be.

Many have contemplated Sen. Elizabeth Warren as an ideal candidate who has sported parallel stances on issues the Sanders campaign has been touting during his campaign.

Only speculation can be derived as to why Warren has not outwardly “endorsed” Sanders.

Perhaps she is allowing her supporters to make up their own minds and determinations by looking at her stances on the issues, and not who she may be endorsing for the presidency.

The impassioned Warren, while campaigning in August 2011, made some impacting remarks captured on video and then subsequently posted on YouTube the following month in September.

One of Warren’s most resonating quotes from that Andover, Mass., meeting, “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody,” has left a favorable impression with her supporters.

You can watch the 2-minute video and read a transcript of that meeting below.

Video:

Transcript:

From 00:55:
There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own.
Nobody.
You built a factory out there – good for you.
But I want to be clear.
You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for.
You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate.
You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for.
You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory,
and hire someone to protect against this because of the work the rest of us did.
Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea.
God Bless!
Keep a hunk of it.
But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.

Elizabeth Warren, August 2011

Elizabeth Warren: “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own” by Lucy Madison, CBS News

Filed Under: Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, Media, News, Politics, Uncategorized, Video Tagged With: bernie sanders, Campaign 2016, Election 2016, Elizabeth Warren, nobody in this country got rich on his own, presidential race 2016

Susan Sarandon: ‘I don’t vote with my vagina’

February 18, 2016 by PublicSkeleton Leave a Comment

(Feb. 18, 2016 19:00 ET) In case you missed it, actress Susan Sarandon has endorsed and is voting for Sen. Bernie Sanders to be the next president of the United States. Sarandon has been a stanch supporter of Sanders, and has spoken at many of his rallies.

In January Sarandon spoke at a Sanders rally in Brooklyn, N.Y. She said she has fallen in disfavor of some women.

Speaking to a large crowd Sarandon explained, “I don’t vote with my vagina,” she said. “It is so insulting to women to think that you would follow a candidate just because she’s a woman.”

“He (Sanders) is just right on. Every single thing he has said was prescient, strong and brave.”

Filed Under: Bernie Sanders 2016, Media, News, Politics, Video Tagged With: bernie sanders, Campaign 2016, endorsement, Susan Saradon

Super-PAC’s Composition Reveals Donors, Contributors and Operators Behind Them

February 17, 2016 by PublicSkeleton Leave a Comment

Super-PAC’s Composition Reveals Donors, Contributors and Operators Behind Them
By Daryl Parsons

(Feb. 17, 2016 22:30 ET) In today’s article in the Intercept, “Hedge Fund Billionaires Fund Super PAC Ad Against Bernie Sanders and Minimum Wage Hike,” information about the donors, contributors and operators behind the Super PAC provides perspective and context to their mission and add campaigns.

By drawing attention to the underlying structure of these Super PACs, beyond the mere fact that they are directed at a particular candidate, helps the public’s understanding of them, contributes designing counter-information campaigns against them.

Since the term “Super PAC” has been used over and over during this year’s presidential election cycle. It’s easy to quickly roll one’s eyes and be dismissive about them. As a result, the true nature of any one particular Super PAC gets overlook. All these bad actors behind the Super PAC are then able to secretly continue their agenda as “business as usual.”

In Jilani’s article specific details of the Super PAC now launching add campaigns against presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders has been brought to light. By exposing the true inner structure of this particular Super PAC, it actually provides a great background to refer to when coming into contact with the media communications they put out into the public forum. There should be public registries, obviously online, where each Super PAC is required to disclose their contributors, membership and mission statement.

Though Citizens United Supreme Court case permits these Super PACs to operate as of now, disclosures of their inner structure is also part of the discussion. The public then will have all of the information about the Super PAC’s messages, both their media products, as well as their base structural foundation.

At the end of the day, researching information about any of the underlying Super PACs which have been activated during this election cycle provides context to the messages contained in their media campaigns. At the end of the day, the louder the distorted message put out by targeted Super PAC campaigns, the louder the counter-information campaign is heard addressing the inaccuracies, special interests, and any other information in the Super PACs media package which were not disclosed at the time it was released.

Filed Under: Bernie Sanders 2016, News, Politics Tagged With: Campaign 2016, campaign finance reform, presidential race 2016, Super PAC

Trump Hints Going Independent

February 15, 2016 by PublicSkeleton Leave a Comment

Donald Trump Floats Idea of a Third-Party Run Again
by ABCNews
(Feb. 15, 2016 13:41 ET) –At a town hall today in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Donald Trump floated the idea — without explicitly threatening to do so — that he may run as an independent candidate.

Trump attacked the Republican National Committee, saying it “better get its act together” and it “does a terrible job.” Trump said he believes the RNC treated him unfairly.

While Republicans, Obama Duke It Out, Supreme Court Justice Confirmation History Tells All

February 15, 2016 by PublicSkeleton Leave a Comment

(Feb. 15, 2016 07:25 ET)–There were several issues created when Justice Antonin Scalia died Saturday. Mainstream media reports for the most part focused on how the GOP would interfere with any nominee submitted by President Obama being that this is his last year in office.

Then there were the reports that mentioned President Obama’s intention to not delay moving forward with nominating a replacement.

Eventually, the reporting broke away from that rut, broadening into more substantive areas such as; 1) what the usual length of time was for nominations to be confirmed; and 2) what was the history of nominees submitted during the last year of a presidents term.

Below is a breakdown prepared by The New York Times which begins to address the first question regarding the length of time to confirm. The other question, regarding the practice and history of last year nominations, was not fully discussed, “. . . few presidents have successfully filled vacancies announced in their final full year.”

How Long Does it Take to Confirm a Supreme Court Nominee? (Feb. 13, 2016), The New York Times

Filed Under: Campaign 2016, News, Politics Tagged With: bernie sanders, Campaign 2016, presidential race 2016, Supreme Court

Bernie Sanders is winning over voters from Clinton Republicans

February 14, 2016 by PublicSkeleton Leave a Comment

Bernie Sanders is winning over voters from Clinton Republicans
by Reno Berkely, The Inquistr

(Feb. 14, 2016) –Bernie Sanders is winning over voters from all walks of life, and it appears that he may even be converting Donald Trump supporters. Folks who have identified as Republicans for years have made the switch, citing Bernie’s honesty, integrity, and unwavering stance on issues.

“Despite consistent deception and dirty tactics from the Clinton campaign and the DNC, Sanders has conducted his campaign with the same poise, honesty, financial integrity and commitment to the underprivileged he has demonstrated during his entire political career. Even if I don’t agree with Sanders on every issue, I’d rather have a president I can respect unequivocally.”

Sanders Civil Rights Photographs Tell History, Setup Future

February 14, 2016 by PublicSkeleton Leave a Comment

Sanders Civil Rights Photographs Tell History, Setup Future
By Daryl Parsons
(Feb. 14, 2016 04:28 AM ET)– A number of old civil rights photographs have been circulating around the internet which appear to show Senator Bernie Sanders engaged in various marches, sit-ins and other demonstrations.

In an effort to help shed some light on the validity of these photographs, which are really interesting to look at, and which demonstrate an enhanced air of integrity for Sanders, included in this post are a number of links which discussing these photographs in more depth.

The photographs have also been used to discredit claims that Sanders was not as active as he said he was during the civil rights movement.

Congressman John Lewis this week made scathing remarks during a Congressional Black Caucus PAC news conference where he rebuked Sanders’ participation in civil rights activities in the 60s.

Social media began circulating photographs showing Sanders involved in various marches, sit-ins and demonstrations. One photograph actually shows Lewis, Sanders and his wife, who Lewis had his arm around for the picture.

After these photographs circulated over the internet, within days Lewis recanted hsi remarks about Sanders’ limited civil rights movement involvement and “clarified” his remarks.

Photographer Says Disputed 1962 Photo Really Does Show Bernie Sanders

Filed Under: News, Politics Tagged With: bernie sanders, Campaign 2016, Civil Rights Movement, civil rights photographs, Congressman John Lewis, John Lewis

What to Know: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, No. 08-205, 558 U.S. 310 (2010)

February 13, 2016 by PublicSkeleton Leave a Comment

(Feb. 13, 2016 21:45 EST) Because the US Supreme Court case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, (2010), has been receiving so much attention throughout this presidential election cycle, here is a consolidated list of links which help those wishing to understand the case more than just its title.

Hillary Clinton has advocated, for unknown reasons, that the Citizens United case became to be because it involved an attack campaign against her.

Why she would want to take credit for something which drastically caused our campaign finance system to become corrupted, is unknown.

The gist of the case involves a movie produced by an anti-Hillary-Clinton entity. The movie was to cause people to not want to elect Hillary Clinton.

There were provisions in a law which required various disclosures when campaign related speech was being paid for and used against a political candidate. That, is what Hillary Clinton was at the time.

The producers of the movie then filed an action in court seeking an injunction to keep the law requiring disclosure from being applied to them.

Accordingly the case, originally launched in 2008, eventually cycled its way through the courts system all the way to the Supreme Court. When in 2010, the court, in a 5-4 split decision, ruled in Citizens United’s favor.

Below are some interesting links for reference.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, No. 08-205, 558 U.S. 310 (2010)

Wikipedia Overview

Opinion of the Court.

Taking Back Our Democracy: Responding to Citizens United and the Rise of Super PACs, ACLU, Washington, DC, (July 24, 2012)

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA, McCain–Feingold Act, Mar. 27, 2002)

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA, McCain–Feingold Act, Pub.L. 107–155, 116 Stat. 81, enacted March 27, 2002, H.R. 2356) is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaigns. Its chief sponsors were Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and John McCain (R-AZ). The law became effective on 6 November 2002, and the new legal limits became effective on January 1, 2003.[1]

Filed Under: Campaign 2016, News, Politics Tagged With: bernie sanders, campaign finance reform, Citizens United, Election 2016, Hillary Clinton, Supreme Court

US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Dies (79)

February 13, 2016 by PublicSkeleton Leave a Comment

US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Dies
by Daryl Parsons

(Feb. 13, 2016 20:00 ET) United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in Texas today comes at a time when the Citizens United case, of which Scalia was part of the majority opinion, allowed corporate money to infiltrate the political process.

This has been an issue of much debate during the 2016 presidential race where campaign finance reform has been at the forefront of issues discussed.

In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, No. 08-205, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), the opinion of the court was split 5-4, with Justice Scalia making up part of the five justices ruling in favor of the case.

Of the nine total Justices, the breakdown included Justices Kennedy, Roberts, Alito, Thomas, and Scalia for the majority opinion. Dissenting opinions were held by Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Justice Sotomayor.

Scalia’s replacement is expected to set off political resistance over the course of the next year within which time an appointment may fill the slot.

Case Summary

Facts of the case
Citizens United sought an injunction against the Federal Election Commission in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to prevent the application of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) to its film Hillary: The Movie. The Movie expressed opinions about whether Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton would make a good president.

In an attempt to regulate “big money” campaign contributions, the BCRA applies a variety of restrictions to “electioneering communications.” Section 203 of the BCRA prevents corporations or labor unions from funding such communication from their general treasuries. Sections 201 and 311 require the disclosure of donors to such communication and a disclaimer when the communication is not authorized by the candidate it intends to support.

Citizens United argued that: 1) Section 203 violates the First Amendment on its face and when applied to The Movie and its related advertisements, and that 2) Sections 201 and 203 are also unconstitutional as applied to the circumstances.

The United States District Court denied the injunction. Section 203 on its face was not unconstitutional because the Supreme Court in McConnell v. FEC had already reached that determination. The District Court also held that The Movie was the functional equivalent of express advocacy, as it attempted to inform voters that Senator Clinton was unfit for office, and thus Section 203 was not unconstitutionally applied. Lastly, it held that Sections 201 and 203 were not unconstitutional as applied to the The Movie or its advertisements. The court reasoned that the McConnell decision recognized that disclosure of donors “might be unconstitutional if it imposed an unconstitutional burden on the freedom to associate in support of a particular cause,” but those circumstances did not exist in Citizen United’s claim.

Source: oyez.org (Accessed Feb. 13, 2016 20:00 EST)

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