Clinton to deliver economic speech Monday, with tax policy at issue

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton is set to give a major economic speech Monday, after weeks of deferring about her plans to improve the U.S economy including whether she’ll raise taxes.

The focus of her economic agenda will be to increase middle class income and wages. And she will argue that stagnant paychecks is the biggest challenge facing the U.S. economy.
Clinton's campaign on Saturday provided a preview of her speech, which will also include the argument that the real income of everyday Americans must rise steadily alongside corporate profits and executive compensation.
Clinton declined in a CNN interview earlier this week to say whether she would raise taxes on big corporations or the country’s highest wage-earners, as primary challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders has proposed.
“I think we have to grow the economy faster and fairer,” she said. “So we have to do what will actually work in the short term, the medium term and the long term. … then, I’ll look forward to the debate.”
While top-tier Republican candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has called for an annual growth rate of 4 percent, Clinton will assert that the nation's economy should not be judged by a specific growth figure but rather by how much income increases for middle-class households.
"For a typical working American, their income has not been rising anywhere near as fast as it should be rising, and that is the challenge we face," said David Kamin, a New York University law professor who has advised Clinton's campaign. "It's not a new problem, and it's going to take a holistic vision."
The Clinton campaign said the former first lady and New York senator in her speech at The New School, a university in New York City, will point to economic progress during her husband's two terms in the 1990s and more recently under President Obama.
But she will aim to identify ways of improving upon the uneven nature of the nation's recovery since the Great Recession, bolstering wages even as the unemployment rate has fallen to a seven-year low of 5.3 percent.
Clinton is also expected to begin outlining a series of specific economic proposals this summer on issues like wage growth, college affordability, corporate accountability and paid leave.
In Clinton's approach to the economy, more Americans would share in the prosperity and avoid the boom-and-bust cycles of Wall Street that have led to economic turbulence of the past decade.
Clinton, who is seeking to become the nation's first female president, is also expected to address ways of making it easier for women to join the workforce.
Clinton will attempt to meet the demands of liberals within her own party who are wary of her willingness to regulate Wall Street while inspiring confidence among a larger electorate who will judge her policies if she wins the Democratic nomination.
Progressives encouraged Elizabeth Warren to seek the presidency, but the Massachusetts senator, who has railed against Wall Street and corporate excesses, declined to run. Many of those same liberals are now packing large gatherings held by Sanders, who has made economic inequality the chief plank of his campaign.
Alan Blinder, a Princeton University economist and former economic adviser to Clinton’s husband, President Bill Clinton, said she has expressed interest in policies to curb excessive risk on Wall Street, such as a financial transactions tax on high-frequency trading, taxes on large Wall Street banks based on their risk profile and eliminating the so-called carried interest loophole that allows managers of hedge funds and private equity firms to pay a lower tax rate than most individuals.
Clinton has said she will take nothing for granted in the primary contest, but the economic message will allow her to begin contrasting herself with Republicans.
In recent speeches, she has portrayed the Republican presidential field, including Bush as supportive of "top-down" economic policies and large tax breaks for the wealthy.
"They're back to the trickle down, cut taxes on the wealthy and everything will be fine," Clinton said last week in Iowa. "This will be the biggest economic debate, because they know the only way they can win the White House back is to somehow convince voters that what we have done didn't work."

Iran's supreme leader calls for continued anti-US struggle

Iran’s supreme leader called for the continued struggle against the U.S. Saturday even as negotiations at Iran’s nuclear talks make headway.

The negotiations entered their 15^th day Saturday with no indications of a major breakthrough after three more extensions and four targets for a deal, and diplomats said it remained unclear whether an agreement could be reached by Monday, Iran and the world powers’ latest deadline.
Iran and the U.S. have both threatened to walk away from the table unless the other side made concessions. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments suggests Tehran’s distrust of Washington will persist whether a deal gets done or not. His remarks are likely to add skepticism over the outcome of the long negotiations.
Iran’s state-run Press TV cited Khamenei as calling the U.S. an “excellent example of arrogance.” It said Khamenei told university students in Tehran to be “prepared to continue the struggle against arrogant powers.”
Khamenei’s comments have appeared to be a blow to U.S. hopes than agreement will lead to improved relations with the country and possible cooperation against Islamic rebels.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani indicated talks could go either way.
"We behaved so skillfully that if talks won't succeed, the world would accept that Iran is for logic and dialogue and never left the negotiating table ... and if we succeed by the grace of God, the world will know that the Iranian nation can resolve its problems through logic," his website quoted him as saying.
The supreme leader’s comments also come after it was learned Saturday that the Islamic Republic’s spies have been seeking atomic and missile technology in neighboring Germany as recently as last month.
Iran’s illegal activities have continued since talks between Iran and the P5+1 - the five permanent members of the UN Security Council as well as rotating member Germany - began with a Joint Plan of Action in 2013, according to German intelligence sources. The JPOA was intended to stop Iran’s work on a nuclear weapon until a comprehensive agreement is reached.
"You would think that with the negotiations, [Iranian] activities would drop," a German intelligence source said. "Despite the talks to end Iran’s program, Iran did not make an about-turn."
With a final agreement to restrict Iran’s nuclear program set for Monday, the intelligence data from Germany raises disturbing questions about the success of the deal.
Tehran has sought industry computers, high-speed cameras, cable fiber, and pumps for its nuclear and missile program over the last two years, according to German intelligence sources. Germany is required to report Iran’s illegal procurement activities to the UN.
On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Secretary of State John Kerry met again this time with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini present. Of the chief diplomats of the six countries negotiating with Iran, British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond and Foreign Ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany and Laurent Fabius of France also are already in Vienna. Kerry spoke by telephone to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The Chinese and Russian foreign ministers have said they will come to Vienna if a deal appears close.
Friday, Kerry suggested that some progress had been made, telling reporters that the “atmosphere is very constructive,” but stressing that “Very difficult issues” remained to be resolved. Since the start of the current round 15 days ago, Kerry has said twice that the neogtiations couldn’t be open-ended and warned that the U.S. was prepared to call an end to the talks.
Any deal is meant to clamp long-term and verifiable restrictions on Iranian nuclear programs that are technically adaptable to make weapons in exchange for sanctions relief for Tehran.
The scope of access to U.N. inspectors monitoring Iran's nuclear program remains a sticking point. The Americans want no restrictions. Iranian officials say unrestricted monitoring could be a cover for Western spying. Diplomats say Iran's negotiators have signaled a willingness to compromise, but hardliners in Iran remain opposed to broad U.N. inspections.
Another unresolved matter is Iran's demand for a U.N. arms embargo to be lifted as part of sanctions relief, a stance supported by Russia and China but opposed by the U.S. and some Europeans.
The current round was supposed to conclude on June 30, but was extended until July 7, then July 10 and now July 13. The sides had hoped to seal a deal before the end of Thursday in Washington to avoid delays in implementing their promises.
By missing that target, the U.S. and Iran now have to wait for a 60-day congressional review period during which President Barack Obama can't waive sanctions on Iran. Had they reached a deal by Thursday, the review would have been only 30 days.
Iran is unlikely to begin a substantial rollback of its nuclear program until it gets sanctions relief in return.

Germany reportedly preparing for Greece exit from eurozone

Germany has reportedly began preparing for Greece to be rejected from the eurozone, as the European Union faces less than 24 hours to save the country from collapse.

Greece failed to give its creditors in the 19-country eurozone proof that it can deliver on its promises to implement tough austerity and reform measures in return for billions more in bailout money.
Finance ministers canceled a European Union summit meeting Sunday in an effort to do everything it takes to get a deal done or to decide to eject Greece from the eurozone.
Should a deal fall through, The Telegraph reports the German government has prepared to negotiate a temporary five-year euro exit, giving the country humanitarian aid while it makes the transition. The plan backed by Germany’s finance ministry gives Greece two options: either submit a proposal to make drastic changes such as placing 50 billion euro in a trust fund of sorts to pay off its debts and have Brussels take over its public administration or agree to a temporary exit from the eurozone.
German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said it was the only options Greece has in the matter as creditors voiced mistrust with Athens, a week after the Greek government held a referendum in which it urged voters to reject bailout conditions that it now has signed up to.
Early Saturday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras got the backing from Parliament on a package of economic reforms and further austerity measures, in hope that it would convince European creditors to back a third bailout of the country.
Still, the measures proposed, which include changes long-demanded by creditors, such as changes to pensions and sales taxes, weren't enough to unlock an agreement in Brussels. Following months of deteriorating relations, creditors are demanding firm legislative action to back up the proposals at the very least.
However, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble lashed out against the Greek government, saying it will have to do a lot more than just say it wants to reform if it’s going to get more money.
"We will definitely not be able to rely on promises," he said. "We are determined to not make calculations that everyone knows one cannot believe in."
The Telegraphs reports there is an open revolt among the eurozone’s 19-member states as a group of small creditors threatening to reject the rescue plan.
Finland is on the brink of withdrawing its negotiating mandate from the government, which would force creditors to set an emergency voting procedure to pass a new rescue deal. Finland’s True Finns party has threatened to bring down its young government if it supports a new Greek deal, according to the paper.
"It's still very difficult but work is still in progress," Jeroen Dijsselbloem said, the eurozone’s top official said leaving the meeting.
One of the few supports Greece has in its fight to secure more money is France. Ministers have urged smaller, poorer eurozone countries to help Greece, according to The Telegraph.
French Finance Minister Michel Sapin is hoping to get confidence again to be able to agree to a rescue plan for Greece. He called the latest proposal a “brave” step forward.
The eurozone ministers have to give their blessing to Greece's bailout request to the European Stability Mechanism. Traditionally, eurozone ministers agree by mutual consensus, though in exceptional circumstances a unanimous vote may not be needed.
Greece has received bailouts totaling 240 billion euros in return for deep spending cuts, tax increases and reforms from successive governments. Though the country's annual budget deficit has come down dramatically, Greece's debt burden has increased as the economy has shrunk by a quarter.
The Greek government has made some form of debt relief a priority and will hope that a comprehensive solution will involve European creditors at least agreeing to delayed repayments or lower interest rates.
Tsipras has made much of the need for a restructuring of Greek debt, which stands at around 320 billion euros, or a staggering 180 percent or so of the country's annual GDP. Few economists think that debt will ever fully repaid. Last week, the International Monetary Fund said a restructuring was necessary for Greece.

Sanctuary City Cartoon

All Trump all the time: How The Donald achieved media domination

Donald Trump has gone from dominant to inescapable.
Somewhere between my interview with Trump and Katie Tur’s MSNBC interview with Trump and Anderson Cooper’s interview with Trump and the Washington Post’s front-page story about Trump, I came upon this breaking news: “The Simpsons” have put out a promo making fun of…Trump.
Hillary Clinton granted her first national television interview, to CNN, and even she has been overshadowed by Trump.
Let’s face it, Trump’s presidential candidacy is no longer a political story. It’s a cultural phenomenon. We’re all living in Donald’s world now.
Clicking around the web, I happened on these headlines:
New York Times: “G.O.P. Leaders Struggle to Rein In Donald Trump.”
Politico: “Donald Trump, Clickbait.”
Huffington Post: “Donald Trump Acts Like Total Jerk During Interview”
And: “Jeb Bush Responds to Donald Trump’s Comments About His Mexican-American Wife”
National Review: “Donald Trump: Not Telling It Like It Is.”
Salon: “The Daily Donald: GOP Now in Full Panic Mode As Trump Runs Wilder.”
The Daily Beast: “Donald Trump Makes Me Want to Die.”
Okay, this is getting serious.
To back up a bit, it’s clear the media establishment completely and totally underestimated Trump when he first jumped into the 2016 race. Fox’s Mara Liasson predicted his coverage would plummet after that first day—which she has now admitted was spectacularly wrong.
Next, much of the media treated Trump with great snark—either openly dismissing him or reporting on his exploits with a wink—until he shot up to second place in the Republican polls (and now first place in a survey in North Carolina).
In the next phase, plenty of pundits used the uproar over Trump’s remarks on illegal Mexican immigrants including criminals and rapists to portray him as the epitome of the Republican Party—despite the fact that he’s hardly an establishment figure and given tons of dough to Democrats.
As companies right and left were dropping The Donald, the press asked every Republican candidate what they thought about Trump’s controversial comments. His rivals were tepid at first, but soon divined that they could grab headlines by denouncing Trump—which generally led to him smacking them back in Rick Perry-needs-new-glasses mode, thus producing more media fodder.
By yesterday, it seemed that the Republican Party really had become worried about Trump, not least because he was consuming most of the available media oxygen.
The Washington Post ran a front-page piece headlined “GOP Leaders Fear Damage to Party’s Image As Donald Trump Doubles Down”:
“There is little they can do about the mogul and reality-television star, who draws sustenance from controversy and attention. And some fear that, with assistance from Democrats, Trump could become the face of the GOP.”
The story quoted sources as saying that RNC Chairman Reince Priebus had a 45-minute call with Trump and, on the subject of immigration, repeatedly asked him to “tone it down.”
Which brought this rejoinder from @RealDonaldTrump:
“Totally false reporting on my call with @Reince Priebus. He called me, ten minutes, said I hit a ‘nerve’, doing well, end!”
Although in a subsequent call to the Post’s Robert Costa, Trump backed off the falsehood charge, saying that Priebus told him, “You know, if it would be possible, maybe you could tone it down just a little bit, but you are who are you, and I know you have to do what you have to do. ”
Trump is a media master who knows how keep stoking a story by doubling and tripling and quadrupling down. And the press is now happy to play along for ratings and clicks, turning the campaign coverage into The Daily Donald.

Joint Chiefs nominee appears to side with Romney on Russian threat

The general chosen by President Obama to replace the Pentagon’s top military officer has put the administration in an awkward position after remarks Thursday in which he called Russia "the greatest threat to our national security" -- a stance taken by 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and lambasted by the president during the 2012 campaign.
Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, nominated to replace Gen. Martin Dempsey as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the comments in response to a question by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., at Dunford's confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“My assessment today, Senator, is that Russia presents the greatest threat to our national security,” Dunford told lawmakers.

“So if you want to talk about a nation that could pose an existential threat to the United States, I’d have to point to Russia."
- Gen. Joseph Dunford

“In Russia we have a nuclear power. We have one that not only has the capability to violate the sovereignty of our allies and to do things that are inconsistent with our national interests, but they’re in the process of doing so,” Dunford said.
“So if you want to talk about a nation that could pose an existential threat to the United States, I’d have to point to Russia. And if you look at their behavior, it’s nothing short of alarming,” Dunford said.
Dunford’s views align with Romney's, who during the 2012 presidential campaign labeled Russia “the number one geopolitical foe” of the United States, a remark that Obama mocked during the third presidential debate.
“The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because, you know, the Cold War’s been over for 20 years,” Obama told Romney.
The Obama campaign even used the quote as part of a campaign ad in which Romney’s comments were dismissed by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who said Romney was “showing little understanding of what is going on in the 21^st century.”
Dunford’s comments also drew criticism from the White House Thursday, with Press Secretary Josh Earnest calling the nominee’s views out of line with the President’s national security team.
“Certainly, General Dunford is somebody who has spent a lot of time thinking about these issues and has his own view, but I think that he would be the first to admit that that reflects his own view and doesn't necessarily reflect the consensus analysis of the President's national security team,” Earnest said.
However, the Pentagon adopted a more conciliatory tone, without directly endorsing Dunford’s comments.
“Russia certainly represents significant security challenges to not just U.S. national interests but to the national interests of our allies and partners in Europe,” Defense Dept.  press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters Friday.
“We are mindful of the security challenges that Russia continues to pose on the European continent. Nobody is turning a blind eye to that,” Kirby said.

Walmart to ‘melt’ class rings bearing Confederate flag rather than complete orders ( Nazism at Work.)

Nazism at Work? If you don't like something just do away with it.

An Arkansas woman who went to pick up the class ring she ordered from Walmart left disappointed, after store officials told her the retailer's new policy barred them from turning the item over -- because it bore an image of the Confederate flag.

Elaine Glidewell told KFSM someone from the store in Fort Smith called her to pick up the ring she'd ordered for her nephew, but when she arrived on Tuesday, a clerk told her she couldn’t have it. The ring had been ordered before Walmart stopped selling items bearing images of the flag, in the wake of controversy that stemmed from a racially-charged shooting in South Carolina.
“I wanted to cry,” Glidewell told KFSM, adding that the store clerk said the ring would be "melted."
Glidewell said she paid $320 for the ring and was going to present it to her nephew, who recently graduated. He had expressed interest in a design that bore a Rebel mascot that incorporates the Confederate battle flag. She got her money back, but no ring.
“They wouldn’t let me have the ring. It had a note on it, was in a plastic bag, it said do not sell. It was signed by the store manager,” Glidewell said.
Brian Nick, spokesman for Walmart, told FoxNews.com Glidewell was denied the ring because her transaction came after the retailer made a “business decision” to stop selling items with the Confederate flag on it.
“The decision was made several weeks ago not to sell products promoting the confederate flag and this item fell under that category and the associate made the right choice and did not complete the sale,” Nick said.
Nick said the ring might have slipped through the cracks because a third party manufactured it, and the store did not realize the Confederate flag was on the ring until an associate went to sell it.
“Because there was a little bit of time I think that’s probably the reason it was noticed a few weeks after,” Nick said.
Nick said the store put Glidewell in touch with a manufacturer, who can get her a new ring, but Glidewell says it was that particular piece she wanted.
“I would give anything to have that ring. Anything. Just because it means so much to him,” Glidewell said.

Illegal immigrant nabbed in Calif. cold case killing in homeless camp

An illegal immigrant from Mexico doing time in a federal prison for unlawfully reentering this country is set to appear before a judge next week over his alleged involvement in the killing of a homeless woman 18 years ago in California.
Linda Louise Archer, 43, was beaten to death Aug. 16, 1997, in her campsite off Highway 101 near Castillo Street.
On Thursday, the Santa Barbara Police Department announced that the suspected killer, Manuel Salmeron Manzanares, 36, formerly of Santa Barbara, was arrested on suspicion of murder last month upon his release from federal custody.
The key to cracking what had been classified a cold case was DNA evidence submitted to the California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services laboratory -- and on Feb. 4, 2013, DNA from the Archer case was found to match that of a profile in the FBI's Combined DNA Index System.
"The matched profile was that of Manzanares, a federal inmate in custody for illegally re-entering the United States after previously being deported as a convicted felon," according to a statement from Santa Barbara Police Sgt. Riley Harwood.
The convict was scheduled to be released and deported to Mexico this year.
As part of the investigation, in July 2014, Detective Andy Hill interviewed Manzanares. "The investigation indicates that Manzanares is responsible for the murder of Linda Archer," according to police.
On May 11, Hill obtained a warrant for Manzanares' arrest and, upon his release from federal prison June 12, he was taken into custody in the Archer case and booked at County Jail.
The case grew cold when an inmate at Corcoran State Prison told authorities he killed Archer. That turned out to be false, a story likely intended to make himself appear tough to other inmates.
As for how Manzanares wound up in local custody, Harwood told the News-Press his department works with federal authorities, unlike departments in so-called "sanctuary cities."
"The normal state of affairs is for local, state and federal agencies in the criminal justice system to work with each other. We pick up the phone and talk. In this case, ICE informed us that Manzanares was in custody," he said.
Manzanares is set to appear in Santa Barbara County Superior Court July 16.