Tag: Kirsten

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Gillibrand Slams McConnell For Harming SCOTUS “Almost Irreparably”

At a town hall in New Hampshire, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand blasted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying by blocking President Obama’s Supreme Court pick Merrick Garland, McConnell had harmed the U.S. Supreme Court “almost irreparably”

Senator Gillibrand addressed a whole host of issues at the New Hampshire town hall (which Yours Truly strongly recommends that any Democrat watch) most notably her long record in Congress for fighting corruption/getting money out of politics. However it was her answer as to how she would handle the U.S. Supreme Court if elected President that caught Yours Truly’s attention the most.

When asked by the town hall moderator whether she would be in favor of term limits for federal Supreme Court justices, Sen Gillibrand emphatically said “Yes” adding;“I think what has happened by this President[Trump] and Mitch McConnell is the extreme politicization of the court. I’ve never seen it worse than it is today and the fact that Mitch McConnell denied the vote and the hearing on Merrick Garland is outrageous and I don’t think we’ve recovered from it….It was a stolen justice….. I think they[Trump and McConnell] have harmed our courts almost irreparably.”

It cannot be left unsaid that even though Senator Gillibrand came into the 2020 Dem presidential nomination contest as one of the top contenders, her campaign has not lived up to its billing. As a matter of fact most Democrats will agree that she has seriously under-performed especially given the fact that she almost failed to make the cut for the recent debate. There is a divergence of opinions among cable TV pundits as to why Sen Gillibrand’s campaign has not caught fire yet. As for Yours Truly, the answer to that is very simple. For Sen Gillibrand to become a top-tier presidential candidate, her campaign should tone down a little on the uber-feminist message and instead focus on her real and provable congressional record of fighting corruption in Washington. Simply put, if Senator Gillibrand becomes the anti-corruption candidate— going after lobbyists, lamenting the swamp, and even going after Trump’s elusive tax returns–the future is bright for her presidential campaign.

Bottom line, even though she gets very little credit from grassroots Democrats (especially post-Al Franken), Sen Gillibrand has been a Dem stalwart with a stellar congressional record to prove it. Yours Truly strongly believes that in the coming months, especially if she keeps touting her anti-corruption record, she will become a top-tier presidential candidate. And while you are at it Sen Gillibrand, keep slamming Mitch McConnell over his Supreme Court chicanery. McConnell bashing is an absolute win win among grassroots Democrats.

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You may reach the author via email at author@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com

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The Real Reason I.C.E Should Be Abolished

After the Trump Administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy which called for the separation of migrant children from their parents upon apprehension at the southern U.S. border, there have been increasing calls including by a senior U.S. Senator, for the abolition of DHS’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Calls for the abolition of ICE went on overdrive when a previously little known Progressive Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez scored a stunning upset victory in the NY14 Democratic primary, unseating the 4th ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Ocassio-Cortez made abolishing ICE the central theme of her campaign, so naturally her stunning upset win has been read by many to mean there is groundswell support among grassroots Democrats for the abolition of ICE

Left out of the ICE abolition debate however is what Yours Truly believes should be the real reason ICE should either be abolished or severely investigated;–That ICE which most Americans associate with going after people in the U.S. illegally, is now also terrorizing legal permanent residents (green card holders) and naturalized  U.S. citizens with illegal surveillance for their political statements on social media(Twitter, Facebook). Even more troubling is that these outright unconstitutional practices by ICE(First Amendment violations) have been widely reported in the media yet Congress remains silent. The troubling practices at DHS-ICE have been likened to the infamous “Cointelpro” tactics employed by the FBI in the 1960s to target black civil rights activists.


To be very clear, Yours Truly is not saying the evil child separation policy of the Trump Admin is not reason enough for Dems to call for the abolition of ICE. What Yours Truly is suggesting is that Congressional Dems, especially Senators need to start hammering DHS/ICE over its unconstitutional surveillance of legal permanent residents and naturalized citizens for their political speech and then add the evil child separation policy as the reason the agency needs to be abolished. Put another way, Dems should argue that ICE is already flagrantly and routinely violating the constitutional rights of permanent residents and naturalized citizens, and that this coupled with the evil child separation policy, should be sufficient grounds for its abolition–the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

Bottomline the real atrocities at ICE have not yet been exposed enough to convince the public that time has come to disband the agency. Dems will be better advised to first push for hearings/investigation into ICE’s unconstitutional practices towards legal permanent residents and naturalized citizens and then call for its abolition for the evil child separation policy. When the truth about ICE’s illegal practices are finally put on full display to the public,  abolition will be a very easy sell.

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You may also reach the author directly via email at author@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com

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Extended #Dem2020Poll

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Mueller Warns That Russia Still Interfering With U.S. Elections

Special Counsel Robert Mueller

In a troubling Bloomberg piece, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller  says the same Russians who interfered with the 2016 U.S. elections are busy trying to interfere with the upcoming midterms 2018. TeamMueller reportedly made this argument in a court filing trying to get a protective order on certain evidence they’ve collected related to TrumpRussia investigation. The lawyers for one of the companies Mueller has indicted in the TrumpRussia investigation, Concord Management, has requested the judge to release the evidence Mueller has against their client–a standard/routine criminal defense procedure


Team Mueller is arguing that releasing such evidence while TrumpRussia investigation is still ongoing will not only weaken their investigation into other players, but could also give Russian intelligence agencies an advantage which they can use to attack midterms 2018 and beyond. Whether TeamMueller’s legal arguments will prevail  in court remains to be seen but the important takeaway for Democrats/DNC is that Mueller’s worries are yet another reminder to Dems not to be complacent over election security issues. Grassroots Democrats, including Yours Truly have been screaming for stronger action by Dems on election security issues, especially as it relates to unverifiable voting machines

There are encouraging signs that Congressional Dems are beginning to listen to the election security cries of grassroots Dems as evidenced by the recent introduction of “PAVE”(Protecting American Votes & Elections) Act by Dem Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Ed Markey, D-Mass., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore, Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass

While this is clearly very encouraging news, Dems must not stop there. Dems must not only scrutinize voting machines but also look deeper into this so-called “Trump phenomenon” where Trump supposedly favors an underdog candidate in a GOP Primary and all of a sudden they become the favorite, as was the case in South Carolina with Rep Mark Sanford’s loss. Think about that folks–if the fear is that Russians interfered in 2016 and they are still interfering today, why is it such a giant leap of faith to assume that the so-called “Trump Phenomenon” is not a phenomenon at all? Are these primary wins verifiable? If not, will the 2018 midterm results be verifiable–auditable paper trail? These are the type of questions Democrats/DNC need to start asking and asking forcefully as we approach midterms 2018 and beyond. It is not a crime to pester the GOP Secretaries of State with these kinds of questions 

Grassroots Democrats are extremely excited about Dem chances in midterms 2018. It will be sad if after all that we end up with very questionable election results which nobody can verify all because the election security/voting machine questions that needed to be asked were never asked by the right people–Democratic Party establishment/DNC/Media–especially where, as here, grassroots Dems have been screaming about voting machine security all along.

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