Tuesday, December 29, 2015

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New Iran sanctions fight looms in 2016


Despite President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran that provides a gradual easing of decades of crippling economic sanctions, senators are fighting to renew a vital law that would preserve the sanctions option should Iran renege on its end of the bargain.
The Hill reports that senators plan to move soon on a proposal to extend what’s known as the Iran Sanctions Act, which is set to expire next year. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, told the newspaper his colleagues have floated the possibility of tackling the issue in January or February.
But the debate could put the Obama administration in a tough spot.
Iran already is on high alert over any U.S. moves that could be perceived as a violation of the nuclear agreement – which trades sanctions relief for steps to roll back Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran surely would howl at any congressional attempts to keep broad sanctions legislation in force, even if specific sanctions are being lifted. But U.S. lawmakers say it’s vital for the U.S. to retain the leverage to re-trigger those sanctions if Iran cheats – and that would mean extending the sanctions law.  
In a letter earlier this month to President Obama, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. – who along with Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., introduced the Iran Sanctions Relief Oversight Act of 2015 -- warned that Iran will “continue to test the limits of international order.”
Their bill would extend the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 for another decade.  In the letter to Obama, Menendez said that “lending” his support to the legislation would be a “good start.”
While facing congressional pressure to get tough on Iran, the Obama administration is working on a separate track to assuage Iran’s concerns over a separate set of visa restrictions approved by Congress.
That controversy stems from tightened security requirements for America’s visa waiver program, which allows citizens of 38 countries to travel to the U.S. without visas. Under changes in the newly signed spending bill, people from those countries who have traveled to Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan in the past five years must now obtain visas to enter the U.S.
Top Tehran officials complained the changes violate the terms of the nuclear deal, which says the U.S. and other world powers will refrain from any policy intended to adversely affect normalization of trade and economic relations with Iran.
In response, Secretary of State John Kerry assured the Iranian government that the changes will not interfere with the implementation of the nuclear deal, and suggested the administration could simply bypass the rules for Iran. 
Kerry’s letter drew a rebuke from GOP lawmakers who accused the administration of trying to “placate” the regime.
Meanwhile, lawmakers from both parties have approached the administration with concerns about Iran’s compliance in the wake of Iran firing a medium-range ballistic missile in October, in apparent violation of U.N. sanctions. Iran also reportedly launched another ballistic missile in November.
Cardin and 20 other Democratic senators voiced concern about those tests – and the lack of action from the U.N. Security Council -- in a letter to Obama on Dec. 17.

Low-polling GOP candidates insist there’s time for a turn-around


The GOP presidential field that rolled into the 2016 election cycle like a crowded bus already has dropped a few passengers, but the remaining 13 appear committed to staying on board at least through the next debates and the first two contests.
Just three of them have double-digit numbers in an average of national polls, with front-runner Donald Trump gobbling up more than a third of primary support. On the other end, candidates such as Rick Santorum and George Pataki have failed to garner even 1 percent.
Though Santorum has never been among the 2016 front-runners and did not compete in any of the five prime-time debates, he indicated Monday he’s thinking back to his 2012 performance – when he won the Iowa caucuses – as he approaches the same contest on Feb. 1.  
“I feel like I did four years ago,” the former Pennsylvania senator told FoxNews.com. “We’re headed to Iowa tomorrow to make contact with as many people as we can. … I don’t think that many people have made up their minds. We’re at a point now where serious people are going to make decisions about serious candidates.”
Santorum also said he’s on all the state ballots, has a solid national organization and a “good slate of delegates” across the country.
“I feel better about this year than I did at this time for 2012,” he said.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is in a similar situation -- having won Iowa in his 2008 presidential bid. But this time Huckabee, a social conservative like Santorum, is polling at about 2 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics average.
“Not one person in all of America has even voted,” Huckabee said Sunday, amid speculation over whether he and other low-polling candidates might drop out before the Iowa caucuses – or even the next GOP debate, set for Jan. 14 and hosted by Fox Business Network.
Huckabee, too, drew some inspiration from Santorum’s 2012 Iowa finish.
“Santorum won. He was in … sixth place out of the seven candidates, five days out from the caucuses,” he told “Fox News Sunday,” while pointing out that he still has campaign operations in all 99 Iowa counties. “This idea that this is all sewed up or fixed, I've been in that state enough to know it's just not quite like that yet.”
Still, Huckabee and many other candidates are essentially caught in the Trump vortex -- continuing to cede poll numbers to the media-savvy billionaire businessman, which forces them into the lesser-watched, second-tier debates, erodes their name recognition and diminishes fundraising power.  
The criteria for who gets onto the main stage in the upcoming FBN debate is based on national polls as well as polls in Iowa and in New Hampshire, which on Feb. 9 holds the second primary of the cycle.
The debate, sanctioned by the Republican National Committee, will be in South Carolina’s North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center and will focus on economic, domestic and international policy issues.
The prime-time debate will feature candidates who by Jan. 11 place in the top six in national polls or in the top five in Iowa or New Hampshire polls.
The remaining candidates will be invited to the early debate.
Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul, who has been in all of the televised, main-stage debates but continues to drop in the polls, says he will not participate if forced into the early Fox Business debate.  
GOP candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich suggested Sunday that his strategy is to have a respectable showing in Iowa, where social conservatives do well, then finish high in New Hampshire, where voters are more closely aligned to his moderate positions.
“I have to do well enough there,” he told ABC News. “And I think I will … catch fire. And if I catch fire, I think the sky is the limit.”
Poor showings in both or either of the first two primaries can doom a campaign.
Trump insists he’ll fight to the finish.
"I will never leave the race," he declared to The Washington Post earlier this month.
Trump is closely followed in the polls by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who leads slightly in Iowa, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Both appear to have enough voter support and money to extend their campaigns well beyond New Hampshire, which is followed by the South Carolina and Nevada contests and then a swing across the South, where Cruz appears to be plotting a surge.
Cruz has about $65 million in campaign and outside money, compared with Rubio who has about $33 million in combined funds, according to OpenSecrets.org.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who was the early GOP favorite, now has roughly 4 percent in the national RealClearPolitics average. However, he leads the entire 2016 presidential field in fundraising -- $103 million in campaign money and $24.8 million in outside money, the OpenSecrets site shows.

Chicago mayor cuts Cuba vacation short to address weekend police shooting


Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Monday he plans to cut his family vacation in Cuba short and return to the city to work on reforming the Chicago Police Department in wake of another deadly police shooting in which one person was killed by accident when police responded to a domestic disturbance call.
Kelly Quinn, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said in a statement to the Chicago Tribune Emanuel left for Cuba on Dec. 18 and wasn’t’ expected to return until Saturday but decided to return on Tuesday after officers responding to a domestic disturbance shot and killed Quintonio LeGrier, 19, and Bettie Jones, 55. Police said Jones was “accidentally” shot.
While Mayor Emanuel has been in constant contact with his staff and Interim Superintendent (John) Escalante, he is cutting his family trip short so that he can continue the ongoing work of restoring accountability and trust in the Chicago Police Department," Quinn said in a statement.
The shooting deaths take place days after the Justice Department opened a civil-rights investigation into Chicago police practices. It was the first deadly police shooting since the release of the video footage showing Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting and killing 19-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014.
The pressure has increased on Emanuel ever since the release of the McDonald video. Protests calling for his resignation have occurred daily since November, with critics alleging that Emanuel didn’t release the video over political reasons. McDonald was reelected as the city’s mayor in April.
The mayor has responded with a flurry of activity to stem the outcry, mixing short-term changes and long-term promises, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“The changes we have made in recent weeks are just a beginning—not an end,” Emanuel has said.
One of the most vocal critics of Emanuel has been Rev. Al Sharpton who said it was “unbelievable” that Emanuel didn’t return immediately to Chicago after the most recent shooting this past weekend.
“I think he’s gone beyond the point where he can even govern with the trust of the people,” Sharpton said on MSNBC’s “The Morning Joe.” Sharpton also called for Emanuel’s resignation, echoing almost daily protests around the city.
In the last month, Emanuel has fired his police chief and the head of the group that investigates police shootings in Chicago and formed a group to look at how to reform the department.
Emanuel, in all likelihood, will have three more years to get things right in Chicago, despite the out pour of anger in the city. The Wall Street Journal reported the city doesn’t have a process to recall him.
The mayor’s former political director, Thomas Bowen, told the Journal Emanuel is responding to the growing concerns of residents and people see him taking action.
“They see their political figures responding to the problem,” Bowen added.

Oregon bakery owners pay more than $135G in damages over refusal to make cake for gay wedding


The owners of an Oregon bakery who denied service to a same-sex couple have paid more than $135,000 in state-ordered damages – months after refusing to do so – according to state officials Monday.
Aaron Klein, co-owner of Sweet Cakes, by Melissa, dropped a check off for $136,927.07, according to the Bureau of Labor and Industries. The payment includes interest. Klein also paid $7,000 earlier this month.
Damages were award in July for emotional suffering caused by the bakery which refused to make a wedding cake for Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer more than two years ago. The bakers said they refused to make the cake because of their religious beliefs.
The dispute goes back to January 2013 when Bowman-Cryer came into the shop with her mother for a cake-tasting appointment. However, Aaron Klein told the women that the bakery didn’t do cakes for same-sex weddings. The women filed complaints with the state and triggered a national debate over claims of religious beliefs against anti-discrimination laws.
Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian awarded the damages nearly six months ago, saying the owners had violated the women’s civil rights by discriminating on the basis of their sexual orientation. They were also slapped with a gag order that prohibited them from speaking publicly about their refusal to participate in or bake wedding cakes for same-sex marriages.
Aaron and his wife Melissa filed an appeal of the ruling and were defying the order to pay the damages before Monday. Tyler Smith, an attorney representing the Kleins, told The Oregonian that his clients have not abandoned their appeal of Avakian’s order. Smith said it was in their clients’ best interests to pay now rather than wait for the appeal date, which is slated for next year.
The Oregonian reported the state has received a total of $144,000 from the Kleins. Charlie Burr, an agency spokesman, told the paper the payment might be more than what they owe.
"We have been in touch with their lawyers throughout the process," Burr said. The amount might differ because of the accruing interest, according to the paper.
A 2007 Oregon law protects the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people in employment, housing and public accommodations. The state ruled it also bars private businesses from discriminating against potential customers.

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