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Kirsten Gillibrand Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 23, 2017 31 Comments
The lesson Democrats appear to have learned from losing to Donald Trump is that they need to move further to the left. We see that in the roll-out of a pathetic new slogan focusing on language invoking FDR's New Deal. As first reported by Jeff Stein at Vox, the slogan is ... (I'm embarrassed for the Dems to even have to type it, it's so bad) ...
"A Better Deal: Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Wages"
Stein further notes that the slogan is "the result of months of polling and internal deliberations among the House Democratic caucus." Democrat activists/journalists are not loving it:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 09, 2017 17 Comments
I always suspected that the junior Senator from California would make a very memorable addition to that august body. Little did I realize she would adopt an edgy, late-night comedy approach to political analysis upon assuming Barbara Boxer's former seat.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) dropped the “f-bomb” while discussing the GOP's ObamaCare repeal and replacement plan at a public event in San Francisco over the weekend.

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 25, 2017 23 Comments
In the span of just two weeks, we've been told that Chelsea Clinton is writing a children's book, has been named to the board of directors at Expedia, and that she's being given an achievement award for some reason. Are you seeing a pattern yet? Tell us she's not being groomed to run for office. There's more, too. Ann Friedman writes at the Los Angeles Times:
Just like her mother, Chelsea Clinton never gets a break This week, Variety magazine announced that it would honor former first daughter Chelsea Clinton at its Women in Power luncheon with a “Lifetime achievement award.” The news spread quickly among both Trump supporters and left-leaning Clinton detractors who believe that the family’s tone-deafness cost them the election. Chelsea accepting such an award at the tender age of 37 confirmed the “out-of-touch elite” narrative once and for all.

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 18, 2017 31 Comments
Has there ever been someone with so few real life accomplishments who got handed such great opportunities as Chelsea Clinton? You may recall her six-figure gig at NBC a few years ago. Now she's moving on to another green pasture, this time at Expedia. CNN reports:
Expedia names Chelsea Clinton to board of directors In a public filing posted Friday, the travel site said it named Clinton -- the daughter of Hillary Clinton -- as a member of its board on Thursday.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 15, 2017 10 Comments
Wednesday, the Senate voted to confirm General H.R. McMaster as a National Security Advisor to President Trump. National Security Advisor's do not typically require Senate approval, but Senate confirmation is required when three and four-star generals change jobs or assignments. McMaster will remain in active duty. Trump selected McMaster after Mike Flynn resigned last month.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 12, 2017 17 Comments
The Senate Armed Services Committee passed a waiver by a vote of 24-3 allowing Gen. James Mattis to serve as President-elect Donald Trump's Secretary of Defense. Becuase he retired from the Marine Corps in 2013, he needed the waiver to bypass a rule stating an individual must be out of the service for seven years before serving a new appointment. Only Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand, Richard Blumenthal, and Elizabeth Warren voted against the waiver. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said the committee should pass the legislation "because the U.S. is at war and the Trump administration needs Mattis as quickly as possible."

Posted by New Neo on July 13, 2016 12 Comments
Hillary Clinton has never adequately explained her decision to use an alternate and insecure email system. Her initial excuse (wanting to use one device) turned out to be untrue, and people have speculated ever since on the real reasons. But no one---not even Hillary herself---has ever offered a possible reason that was altruistic. Unlike the case of Jason Brezler, in which his motive was decidedly selfless.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 25, 2016 10 Comments
D.C. Democrats are discussing Debbie Wasserman Shultz's fate as DNC Chairwoman. The Hill reported Tuesday that Wasserman Schultz may be fired as DNC Chair before the national convention in July.
Democrats backing likely presidential nominee Hillary Clinton worry Wasserman Schultz has become too divisive a figure to unify the party in 2016, which they say is crucial to defeating presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump in November.

Posted by David Gerstman on May 16, 2016 9 Comments
There continues to be fallout from the profile of Obama adviser Ben Rhodes that appeared in Sunday's New York Times magazine last week. Much of discussion of the article has surrounded who demonstrated bad faith, the Obama administration or Samuels. There are two targets of the criticism. In the MSM and left-leaning media the villain is David Samuels for writing a hatchet job on the administration. In the right-leaning media the villain is the administration for lying about the nuclear deal with Iran. But the question of dishonesty or bad faith is less important than the system Samuel described. From the administration's view, the article was, according to Lee Smith, "a victory lap," a boast of how they bested their political opponents and mastered the media. Little attention has been paid to exactly how the "echo chamber" Ben Rhodes boasted about actually worked.

Posted by Jake Goldberg on April 06, 2016 4 Comments
Our generation is enduring a crisis, yet very few of us are actually aware of its existence. On April 4, 2011, the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education (OCR) released what has come to be known as the “Dear Colleague” letter (DCL). As a preface, Title IX is a federal statute that forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, and OCR is an office within the Department of Education that is tasked with enforcing Title IX on federally funded colleges and universities. Therefore, this bureaucratic office holds authority over the vast majority of college student’s schools. A violation of OCR policy could result in the loss of federal funds that are vital for any school’s operations, so OCR often issues guidance to colleges and universities on how to maintain compliance. DCL is one such issuance of guidance. So where is the crisis?

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 01, 2015 7 Comments
Hillary Clinton met with all of the female Democrat senators Monday who happily endorsed her. Well, almost all the female Democrat senators. One rather important Massachusetts lawmaker was missing. Sam Frizell reports at Time:
Warren Absent From Clinton Fundraiser With Female Senators A meeting of female Democratic senators backing Hillary Clinton’s campaign Monday had one glaring omission, but no one mentioned it. In fact, some in the room seemed to suggest that it wasn’t happening. Thirteen of the 14 women from Congress’ upper chamber met for a fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Washington. Not joining them was Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has not yet endorsed Clinton’s campaign.

Posted by David Gerstman on August 09, 2015 15 Comments
The approach of the President Barack Obama and his administration to the nuclear deal with Iran has been one of knocking down straw men and vilifying opponents of the deal as beholden to lobbyists, following mindless partisanship, and working against America's national security. These are "dog whistle" remarks, which have brought out a rather nasty response Sen. Chuck Schumer's (D - N.Y.) decision last week to oppose the deal. The administration's nastiness even earned condemnation from Tablet Magazine:
This use of anti-Jewish incitement as a political tool is a sickening new development in American political discourse, and we have heard too much of it lately—some coming, ominously, from our own White House and its representatives. Let’s not mince words: Murmuring about “money” and “lobbying” and “foreign interests” who seek to drag America into war is a direct attempt to play the dual-loyalty card. It’s the kind of dark, nasty stuff we might expect to hear at a white power rally, not from the President of the United States—and it’s gotten so blatant that even many of us who are generally sympathetic to the administration, and even this deal, have been shaken by it.
But I think it's a mistake to think that Obama's strategy is counterproductive because it won't build support for the deal.

Posted by Jared Samilow on August 09, 2015 21 Comments
With each passing day, it looks more certain that Obama will get his way on Iran. The Republicans in Congress will not persuade enough of their blue colleagues to defy Obama. Not that this comes as a surprise. The President has run circles around Republicans for as long as anyone can remember. Why should now be any different? But even Obama’s luck can run out eventually. A report suggests that a senior French diplomat is having second thoughts; there are whispers that other European leaders may be seeing the light. We can wistfully ponder the possibilities Congress might open up if, by some miracle, that light reaches its Democratic precincts. As it were, the sensible alternative to no deal is actually not war, but no deal. Full stop. John Kerry may hold forth that no deal spells war. But what he really means is that only those who want war could possibly oppose him. It’s a primitive scare-tactic.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 06, 2015 16 Comments
The Huffington Post is reporting that Chuck Schumer will come out against the Iran Nuke Deal:
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the chamber's third-ranking Democrat, plans to announce his opposition to the nuclear deal negotiated by the U.S., Iran, and five world powers tomorrow, three people familiar with his thinking tell The Huffington Post. Schumer's move will come a day after New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Schumer's fellow New York senator, Kirstin Gillibrand, announced their support for the deal. That momentum is blunted by Schumer's pending announcement. Backers of the deal had hoped that if Schumer decided to oppose the deal, he would hold off until the last minute.
(added) Schumer made the announcement Thursday night, as reported by CNN:
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, an influential Jewish Democrat who's poised to assume leadership of his party in the Senate, will oppose President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, he announced on Thursday evening.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 15, 2015 18 Comments
Tuesday brought with it a devastating news cycle. Video footage showed a Planned Parenthood doctor munching on salad, sipping red wine, casually chatting about harvesting baby hearts and livers for cash. Towards the end of the video footage, the undercover videographers approach Planned Parenthood President, Cecile Richards (Daughter of Former Texas Governor Ann Richards), identifying themselves as employees of an organ harvesting organization. Richards says of the baby part harvesting abortion doctor, "she's amazing." Since the horrifying footage was released, Planned Parenthood claimed the video was "heavily edited," and "falsely portrays Planned Parenthood’s participation in tissue donation programs." Meanwhile, the company buying aborted baby body parts from planned parenthood appears to have taken their website down, according to Life News. Richards personally sounded off on Twitter defending Planned Parenthood and also quoting... Jane Austen? We decided to take a cursory look at those Richards supports and those that support Richards' work. This list is by no means exhaustive.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 12, 2015 8 Comments
So far, two first-term GOP senators have declared their presidential candidacy (Cruz and Paul), with Rubio set to do so Monday. On both sides of the aisle, there are a lot of questions and concern as people wonder what these first-termers have accomplished.  This is, of course, a fair question to ask, but to be equally fair, we should take note of Harry Reid's lockdown of the Senate for the past six years. Not only were Republican senators unable to accomplish much in Reid's Senate, but neither were Democrat senators (some of whom lost their seats as a result, at least in part).  The National Review reported in January of last year:
The New York Times reported last week on Reid’s “brutish style” and “uncompromising control” over the amendments process in the Senate. Why are more people finally catching on to Reid’s flagrant disregard for Senate customs? In part because conservatives aren’t the only ones complaining. Democrats such as Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota — who wants to repeal Obamacare’s medical-device tax — and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York — who has waged a highly publicized campaign to reform the way the military handles sexual-assault cases — have been denied votes on their proposed amendments to various bills. Gillibrand had hoped to attach her sexual-assault amendment to the defense-appropriations bill that passed in December, but no amendments were allowed. Klobuchar has called for “a more open amendment process” because she’d like a vote on repealing the medical-device tax.
We all watched as frustrated politicians on both sides of the aisle complained that there were more than 300 bills "sitting on Harry Reid's desk," so it seems less than reasonable to focus on legislative accomplishments by first-term GOP senators who were apparently very busily working on legislation that then ended up mired down by Reid.  Even House Dems were urging Reid to pass their bills in the Senate.  To no avail.
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