Sen. Harry Reid calls on Grayson to drop out of Senate race

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Friday called for U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson to drop out of the race for a Senate seat in Florida, but Grayson angrily denounced the move and said he has no plans to follow Reid's suggestion.
Reid said in a statement that Grayson claims to be progressive but seems to have "no moral compass." He said Grayson used his office to unethically promote a hedge fund that until recently had been based in the Cayman Islands.
"His actions aren't just disgraceful to the Democratic Party, they disgrace the halls of Congress," Reid said.
Grayson, who is from the Orlando area, is running in the Democratic primary to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
Grayson's business activities have come under scrutiny for the past several months. The New York Times on Thursday reported that Grayson promoted his international travels, some with congressional delegations, to solicit business for a hedge fund he controlled.
Reid's decision to take sides in a Democratic primary is unusual. But the Democratic establishment has been getting behind U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, seeing him as the stronger general election candidate in a swing state.
Grayson in his own statement said Reid is relying on a "false and misleading hyped story to try to pressure me out of this race."
"I never used my Congressional office to advance any business interest or for personal gain, and to say so is utterly deceitful," he added. "I resent the attack on my `morality,' and I question the morality and judgment of any elected official, much less one in my own party, who would sink so low as to engage in such a smear."
Grayson, a liberal firebrand who has said the GOP health plan was to hope people die quickly, has contended he is the only true Democrat in the race and has taken his own flurry of shots at Murphy.
Republicans have four major candidates: U.S. Rep. Ron Desantis, a tea party favorite backed by conservative groups; U.S. Rep. David Jolly, a former Washington lobbyist and congressional aide; Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera; and businessman Todd Wilcox, who has never run for political office.
Carlos Beruff, a wealthy Manatee County homebuilder, is also likely to jump into the GOP primary.

'Deafening silence:' Obama, 2016 Dems mum on recent police deaths

A Fargo police officer fatally shot responding to a routine domestic disturbance call. A 25-year police veteran killed while trying to serve a warrant outside Atlanta. These are just the latest tragedies of cops murdered while performing their sworn duty -- "to protect and serve."
But while President Obama and the Democratic candidates vying to succeed him are putting America's police departments on trial in the court of public opinion in response to a rash of deadly police shootings, the murder of police officers on America's streets is being met with a “deafening silence.”
“I cannot recall any time in recent years when six law enforcement professionals have been murdered by gunfire in multiple incidents in a single week,” National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund CEO Craig W. Floyd said in a statement Friday. “Already this year there have been eight officers shot and killed, compared to just one during the same period last year and represents a very troubling trend."
The relative silence on officer deaths contrasts with the Democratic candidates’ often fiery language on police brutality against African Americans. When it came to the issue of law enforcement at Thursday night’s Democratic debate, the candidates focused almost exclusively on “police reform.” Vermont Sen. Sanders said he’s “sick and tired” of seeing unarmed black people shot by police, likening heavily equipped departments to “occupying armies” – a reference to Ferguson, Mo. and elsewhere. Hillary Clinton hit similar points.
This, amid a rash of violence against police across the country. Jason Moszer, the police officer in Fargo, N.D., was shot during a standoff with a domestic violence suspect Wednesday and died from his injuries the next day. Police Maj. Greg Barney, separately, was shot dead at an apartment complex outside Atlanta, Ga.
So far in 2016, eight officers have been shot to death, with most of those deaths occurring in the past week, way up from this time last year.
Violence against police peaked in 2011 with 72 officers killed as a result of felonious incidents, the highest since 1994. It dropped to 27 deaths in 2013, but nearly doubled to 51 officers killed in 2014.

Law Enforcement Officers Killed in the Line of Duty | FindTheData

After two Maryland sheriff’s deputies were fatally shot earlier this week, Attorney General Loretta Lynch did meet with officials from the Major County Sheriff’s Association at their winter meeting in Washington.  She said in a statement she was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy, calling it an “appalling and senseless crime, carried out against two dedicated guardians of the public.”
But on the campaign trail, anti-police violence is essentially a non-issue, even as candidates are quick to speak out on the alleged mistreatment of civilians at the hands of cops -- often before the facts of the situation are fully known.
Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County, Ariz, told FoxNews.com the recent trend can be traced to Obama’s premature comments about the 2009 arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates, who was briefly arrested after trying to break into his own house after losing his keys. Though the more complex aspects of the case were not yet known, Obama said “the police ... acted stupidly” and pointed to past discriminations against blacks and Latinos by police.
“That’s his lens on how he sees our heroes and our protectors,” Babeu, who is also a Republican congressional candidate, said. “That’s who he is and Clinton is lockstep in with him.”
“There is an absolute deafening silence from the leaders of our country [on anti-police violence], and it tells us where we are at this time in our society,” he said.
The choice of emphasis for the two 2016 presidential hopefuls can perhaps be tied to their bid to woo a more diverse electorate in Nevada and South Carolina.
Clinton has ramped up rhetoric protesting police brutality in recent weeks, and she used strong language in her speech in New Hampshire after Tuesday’s primary.
“We still have to break through the barriers of bigotry. African American parents shouldn’t have to worry about their children being harassed, humiliated and even shot for the color of their skin,” she said.
Sanders, who has been struggling to grow his appeal among black Democrats, has also jumped on the issue. Notably in August, when asked about the execution of a Texas police officer, Sanders called it “an outrage” but quickly pivoted to anti-black violence by cops.
“On the other hand, what we also have to understand, it is not acceptable in this country when unarmed black people get dragged out of cars or get shot,” Sanders said, although he did not specify an incident.
The Democratic candidates also have been careful in addressing these issues as they interact with members of the Black Lives Matter movement. In July, then-candidate Martin O’Malley was forced to apologize after telling protesters at a Netroots conference “All lives matter.” The seemingly benign statement caused booing from the audience; O’Malley apologized and went on to say “black lives matter” a number of times at Democratic debates. He never repeated the term “all lives matter.”
Sanders had a run in with BLM activists as well, when in August he had activists steal his microphone, as he was forced to stand to one side as they listed their demands and made a statement.
On the Republican side, candidates are speaking more about violence against police. Front-runner Donald Trump has called the police the “most mistreated” people in America.
“By the way, the police are the most mistreated people in this country, I’ll tell you that — the most mistreated people,” Trump said in January at the Fox Business debate in South Carolina.

Trump Cartoon

State Dept. IG subpoenaed Clinton Foundation in 2015

If the shoe fits, wear it.

The Clinton Foundation was subpoenaed last fall by State Department investigators for records relating to charity projects that might have come before the department when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, a source confirmed Thursday.   
The development was first reported by The Washington Post. A representative for the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation confirmed the details to Fox News.
The Post first reported that the State Department inspector general subpoena sought documents on foundation projects that might have needed approval from the department during Clinton’s tenure in charge.
The subpoena also reportedly sought records on Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
Abedin has come under scrutiny for serving for several months in 2012 in multiple roles – working for the department and the foundation, as well as Clinton herself and a consulting firm
And multiple media reports over the past year – seized upon by Republicans -- have raised questions about whether foundation donors used their contributions to seek influence with the State Department.
The Clinton presidential campaign has rejected such assertions. Meanwhile, questions about Abedin’s role and the foundation largely have been overshadowed by the controversy over Clinton’s use of a personal server and email system while secretary. That matter is under investigation by the FBI.
According to the Post, the scope and status of the IG inquiry that prompted the subpoena is not clear. A foundation official told the newspaper that the foundation is not the focus.

Cruz campaign pulls ad over appearance by adult film actress

Ted Cruz's latest political ad turned out to be too hot for TV. 
The Texas senator's campaign confirmed late Thursday that it had pulled a commercial hitting Florida Sen. Marco Rubio over illegal immigration because one of the actresses had previously appeared in pornographic films.
The actress in question, Amy Lindsay, described herself as a Christian conservative and a Republican in an interview with Buzzfeed News late Thursday. She also tweeted her displeasure that the video was pulled from the airwaves.
Cruz campaign spokesman Rick Tyler said Lindsay had responded to an open casting call for the ad.
"Unfortunately, she was not vetted by the production company," Tyler said. "Had the campaign known of her full filmography, we obviously would not have let her appear in the ad."
An Internet Movie Database page in Lindsay's name lists her as appearing in several movies with titles like "Carnal Wishes" and "Insatiable Desire". She is also listed as having appeared in the TV series "Star Trek: Voyager" and the 1996 film adaptation of Henry James' novel "The Portrait of a Lady."
Lindsay's acting background was first reported by the Daily Caller.
The ad, titled "Conservatives Anonymous" featured a faux self-help session in which voters lamented their past support for Rubio.
"I voted for a guy who was a Tea Party hero on the campaign trail then he went to D.C. and played patty cake with Chuck Schumer and cut a deal on amnesty," one of the participants, a middle-aged man, tells the group.
The group moderator asks him: "Does that make you angry?"
"Angry? No, it makes me feel dumb for trusting him," the middle-aged man says.
Lindsay played a woman who tells another group member, "Maybe you should vote for more than just a pretty face next time."
Responding to the ad before it was pulled, Rubio accused Cruz of changing positions on a pathway to citizenship and other immigration issues, telling Fox News: “He's willing to say or do anything to win an election.”
“He portrays himself as some sort of immigration purist," Rubio added. "The bottom line is when immigration reform was being debated in Washington, Ted Cruz was a passionate spokesperson on behalf of legalizing people that are in this country illegally, so he either wasn't telling the truth then or he isn't telling the truth now."

AP FACT CHECK: Clinton, Sanders on health care, donors and more

In their latest debate, Hillary Clinton glossed over the big-money donors juicing her White House ambitions while Bernie Sanders offered disputed numbers behind his plan for a government-financed health system.

A look at some of the claims in the Democratic presidential debate and how they compare with the facts:

CLINTON: "We have more than 750,000 donors and the vast majority are giving small contributions. ... We both have a lot of small donors."

THE FACTS: Her presidential run is being supported by wealthy donors in ways that Sanders' is not.

Last year's fundraising reports show that Sanders raised fully 72 percent of his campaign money from people who gave $200 or less, while for Clinton those donors accounted for just 16 percent of her funds.

Clinton stretched when putting herself in Sanders' league when it comes to grassroots financing. She said they are both getting small donors and that "sets us apart" from Republican candidates. But her rate of small-dollar contributions isn't that much different than that of some of the GOP contenders.

She also minimized the impact of the super political action committee supporting her effort, saying the group was founded to help President Barack Obama and she has no say over its operations. But no candidate can control the super PACS that are devoted to helping their candidacies, yet they can be vital in White House efforts because they can raise unlimited money and spend heavily on advertising and other help.

Although Priorities USA may have formed to help Obama, it's now steered by her trusted advisers. In fact, Guy Cecil, a former Clinton staffer, was brought in to lead the group last year as a signal to her supporters that they could trust Priorities USA to serve her well.

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BERNIE SANDERS: "Our Medicare-for-all, single-payer proposal will save the average middle-class family $5,000 a year."

HILLARY CLINTON: "The numbers don't add up."

THE FACTS: More detail and analysis are needed on Sanders' plan for cradle-to-grave government-financed health care for all. But two early assessments suggest that the accounting comes up short.

The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the tax increases in Sanders' plan would only cover about 75 percent of what Sanders says it will cost, creating a $3 trillion hole in the federal budget over 10 years.

Emory University economist Kenneth Thorpe says the proposal also underestimates the cost of having the government provide doctors' services, hospitalization, long-term care, and vision and dental care -- all without premiums, copays or deductibles.

According to Thorpe, the Sanders plan falls short by about $11 trillion over 10 years. He says the income and payroll tax increases required to pay fully for the proposal would mean 71 percent of those who now have private insurance would pay more.

Thorpe served in the administration of Bill Clinton, handling economic estimates of the former president's failed health care overhaul plan. He says he has no involvement with the Hillary Clinton campaign.
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SANDERS: "A male African-American baby born today stands a one-in-four chance of ending up in jail. That is beyond unspeakable."

THE FACTS: Sanders, like Clinton in an earlier debate, exaggerated the rate of incarceration for black males.

A 2003 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics said, "About 1 in 3 black males, 1 in 6 Hispanic males, and 1 in 17 white males are expected to go to prison during their lifetime, if current incarceration rates remain unchanged." But that was only a projection. The report went on to say that at the time, 16.6 percent of adult black males had actually ever gone to prison, or 1 in 6.

Since then, the incarceration rate for black men has actually gone down instead of up, according to the Sentencing Project.
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CLINTON: "He wrote a foreword for a book that basically argued voters should have buyer's remorse when it comes to President Obama's leadership and legacy. And I just couldn't agree -- disagree more with those kinds of comments."

THE FACTS: Sanders didn't write a foreword to that book, "Buyer's Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down," by Bill Press.

Instead, he contributed a blurb that's on the back cover and says nothing about Obama: "Bill Press makes the case why, long after taking the oath of office, the next president of the United States must keep rallying the people who elected him or her on behalf of progressive causes. That is the only way real change will happen."

An out-of-context excerpt of that blurb is selectively placed at the top of the front cover: "Bill Press makes the case ... read this book," which suggests that Sanders is cheerleading the case by liberals that Obama has not been liberal enough. But that was not reflected in what Sanders wrote.

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SANDERS: "There's not one Republican candidate for president who agrees that climate change is real."

THE FACTS: Not so. Some of the GOP front-runners are clearly skeptics on climate science, but not all the party's candidates can be lumped together on this topic. Jeb Bush, in an email interview with Bloomberg BNA in July, wrote that "the climate is changing," adding, "I don't think anybody can argue it's not. Human activity has contributed to it."

And at a 2012 fundraising event, Ohio Gov. John Kasich said, "This isn't popular to always say, but I believe there is a problem with climates -- climate change in the atmosphere."

Two of the top GOP leaders in national polls -- Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz -- have been blunt and dismissive of man-made global warming.

Differences Undefined? Clinton, Sanders unite in police criticism amid testy debate

The Commie and the Demo.

While Hillary Clinton launched her harshest debate attacks yet on Bernie Sanders Thursday in a clear attempt to distinguish their differences to voters, the Democratic candidates spent almost as much time uniting in their criticism of America’s criminal justice system, the financial sector and more.
The debate fell at a time when Sanders is trying to build his momentum after his big New Hampshire win, while Clinton is trying to regain hers.
As Sanders pointedly reminded her, “You’re not in the White House yet.”
But the candidates at times offered a similar message. This was evident as they vociferously called for an overhaul of local police departments that they suggested are unfair to black people.
“We need fundamental police reform,” Sanders said, adding he’s “sick and tired” of seeing unarmed black people shot by police. He likened heavily equipped police departments to “occupying armies.”
Clinton, meanwhile, echoed those themes, joining Sanders in calling for sentencing reform while saying the country’s “systemic racism” goes deeper and must be addressed – in education, housing and the job market.
“We are seeing the dark side of the remaining systemic racism that we need to root out,” she said.
The comments were part of each candidate’s revived appeal to minority voters, a key voting bloc as the Democratic presidential primary heads to South Carolina.
But even as they stressed those issues, differences were laid bare at the PBS-hosted debate in Milwaukee. And Sanders came prepared to counter Clinton’s attacks, showing a feistier side than he did at their last showdown.
When Clinton used her closing remarks to suggest Sanders was taking shots at President Obama, Sanders called it a “low blow” and countered: “One of us ran against Barack Obama. I was not that candidate.”
He even underscored his critique of Clinton’s foreign policy by pointing to a book where Clinton said she was mentored by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
“I am proud to say that Henry Kissinger is not my friend,” Sanders said, calling him “one of the most destructive” American diplomats.
Clinton fired back that “we have yet to know” who Sanders listens to on foreign policy.
“Well, it ain’t Henry Kissinger,” Sanders said.
The two also clashed sharply over Sanders’ high-cost, big-government plans.
“We are not England. We are not France,” Clinton said.
Clinton accused Sanders of pushing programs that would grow the federal government by 40 percent. She suggested his health care promises “cannot be kept “and will be far more costly than he admits.
“We should level with the American people,” she said.
She also said Sanders’ plans would upend ObamaCare – though Sanders said he would not “dismantle” it.
“That is absolutely inaccurate,” he said, when she claimed his plans would leave many people worse off.
“In my view, health care is a right of all people … and I will fight for that,” Sanders said, adding it would take “courage.”
Clinton also criticized Sanders for voting against a 2007 immigration reform bill backed by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Sanders explained that the bill had a guest-worker program that progressive groups opposed.
“I think Ted Kennedy had a very clear idea of what needed to be done,” Clinton said.
Yet the candidates agreed in their joint criticism of the Obama administration’s recent deportation raids.
Sanders, meanwhile, once again hammered Clinton for her Wall Street ties, suggesting the financial sector’s big donations are meant to buy influence.
“Let’s not insult the intelligence of the American people. People aren’t dumb,” Sanders said. “Why in God’s name does Wall Street make huge campaign contributions? I guess just for the fun of it.”
They sparred on the issue as Sanders touted the fact he’s “the only candidate up here” who has no super PAC supporting him. A super PAC backing Clinton, he said, recently raised $15 million from Wall Street.
Clinton countered by noting that Obama took Wall Street donations too, but “when it mattered, he stood up and took on Wall Street.”
“Let’s not in any way imply here that either President Obama or myself would in any way not take on any vested interest,” she said, calling for more regulation of the financial sector.
The showdown comes as Clinton tries to reset the race, which heads next to Nevada and South Carolina. Her narrow victory in Iowa and resounding defeat in New Hampshire have raised fresh questions about her candidacy, which at one point was seen as a sure thing for the Democratic nomination.
Publicly, the Clinton campaign is voicing confidence. The campaign has been refocusing on the battle to lock down minority voter support, asserting that with their help, the former secretary of state can easily make gains against Sanders. But Sanders is at the same time making a bid to expand his own support beyond rural, white voters -- who largely decide Iowa and New Hampshire.
While the Clinton campaign is banking on minority voters as it heads into South Carolina and other delegate-rich states down the primary calendar, Tuesday’s contest exposed serious problems for her. She lost in New Hampshire across almost every demographic, including women.

government land management cartoon

For Real!

Official: Top Clinton aides also handled ‘top secret’ intel on server

The End is Near?

EXCLUSIVE: At least a dozen email accounts handled the “top secret” intelligence that was found on Hillary Clinton’s server and recently deemed too damaging for national security to release, a U.S. government official close to the review told Fox News.  
The official said the accounts include not only Clinton’s but those of top aides – including Cheryl Mills, Huma Abedin, Jake Sullivan and Philippe Reines – as well as State Department Under Secretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy and others.  There is no public evidence they were authorized to receive the intelligence some of which was beyond Top Secret.
A second source not authorized to speak on the record said the number of accounts involved could be as high as 30 and reflects how the intelligence was broadly shared, replied to, and copied to individuals using the unsecured server.
“My contacts with former colleagues and current active duty personnel involved in sensitive programs reveal a universal feeling that the HRC issue is more serious than the general public realizes,”  Dan Maguire,  a former strategic  planner with Africom, and with 46 years combined service, told Fox.  “Most opine they would already be behind bars if they had apparently compromised sensitive information as reported.”
Without access to the actual e-mails, Maguire said it was hard to ascertain what damage might have been done by the disclosure of human spying intelligence and secret material.
“Either way, the intelligence community is undoubtedly conducting damage assessments and evaluating the viability of any ongoing operation that may have been exposed to unauthorized personnel. The vulnerability of HRC’s server to foreign government hacking cannot be overlooked - even the DCI, John Brennan, has been the target of hackers,” he said.
Former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey told Fox, “It is counterintuitive to suggest that they (Clinton’s aides) all had authorization and access through a non-secure server to information of that sensitivity.”
The State Department recently confirmed that the messages in question include the most sensitive kind of intelligence. On Jan. 29, Fox News first reported that some emails on Clinton’s server were too damaging to release in any form. The State Department subsequently announced that 22 “top secret” emails were being withheld in full; these were the messages being handled by more than a dozen accounts.
Pressed on whether a damage assessment was being done, State Department Spokesman Mark Toner said, “To your broader question – what is being done to -- as you said spillage – I can’t speak to those efforts today. We’re aware obviously of those concerns.  We are taking steps, but I don’t have any more details to provide.”
Aside from this week’s letter confirming the FBI investigation is focused on Clinton’s server, the Bureau has not publicly acknowledged whom it has contracted or interviewed.
Kennedy recently told the House Benghazi Select Committee that he knew about Clinton's personal email from the beginning, but did not understand the "scope" of its use for Clinton’s government business.  
Kennedy's testimony now appears to conflict with emails released through the Freedom of Information Act that show he routinely sent and received government business from the Clintonemail.com account.
Toner said Kennedy learned about Clinton’s arrangement later. “He did not have knowledge of the computer server that she had set up [for] personal email or computer server she'd set up at her residence,” he said.
However, on the official State Department website, Patrick F. Kennedy’s biography says that he has worked for the department since 1993 and, in his current position as Under Secretary for Management,  he is responsible for the “people, resources, budget, facilities, technology, financial operations, consular affairs, logistics, contracting, and security for Department of State operations.”

Moderate Kasich rejects call to go 'real conservative' in SC

CHARLESTON, S.C. –  Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich vowed Wednesday to stick to his moderate message, as he arrived in South Carolina drawing sizeable crowds following a strong second-place finish in New Hampshire.
“People told me that when I get to South Carolina, I gotta go real conservative,” Kasich told an overflow crowd at a town hall event in downtown Charleston. But he said, “I gotta go with what I think.”
Nearly 100 people, include many with a military background, filled the small second-floor office, challenging Kasich with such questions as how he would improve health care for veterans and help returning vets find jobs.
Kasich argued that the agency must get rid of the bureaucracy that has created so many problems, but he stopped short of calling for privatization or closure.
“Government has to move into the 21^st century,” Kasich said.
The event was the second of three on Wednesday in the Charleston area for Kasich.
In the morning, he attended another town hall-type event at a pizza restaurant in Mount Pleasant. Kasich adviser Scott Milburn said requests to attend the event went from 60 to 300 after the New Hampshire GOP primary where Kasich placed second.
Front-runner Donald Trump won the primary, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz placed third. Kasich invested much of his time and resources in New Hampshire, and whether his good showing there will translate into enough fundraising to keep his campaign going – and whether his appeal extends beyond New Hampshire -- remains to be seen.
“You get close to winning and everybody shows up,” he said Wednesday, before heading to a final event for the day in nearby Huger. “I don’t expect to get out. I’m looking forward to the Deep South. I expect we’re going to be here for a long, long time.”

Sanders aims to boost appeal among minority voters after NH win

Sen. Bernie Sanders, within hours of scoring a decisive New Hampshire victory over Hillary Clinton, was moving quickly to confront perhaps his campaign’s biggest challenge: proving his appeal can extend beyond rural, white voters.
The Hillary Clinton campaign, looking to downplay its loss Tuesday night, was quick to point out that far more diverse states are up next on the primary calendar. Campaign manager Robby Mook boasted in a memo that Clinton enjoys “high levels of support” among black and Hispanic voters.
It was no coincidence that on the day after his win, Sanders held a one-on-one breakfast meeting with the Rev. Al Sharpton at a Harlem landmark, where they discussed issues that affect the African-American community around the country.
“I think it is very important that he sent the signal that on the morning after a historic victory...he would come to Harlem and have breakfast with me,” Sharpton said.
Sharpton said the two men talked at Sylvia's Restaurant about affirmative action, police brutality and the water disaster in Flint, Mich. He added that he and various heads of national civil rights organizations plan to meet with Clinton next week – and won’t endorse a candidate until later.
Sanders also made sure, in his Tuesday victory speech, to include African-Americans and Latinos as part of his campaign message.
“When we talk about transforming America, it means ending the disgrace of this country having more people in jail than any other country in the world, disproportionately African-American, and Latino,” he said. “Not only are we going to fight to end institutional racism, and a broken criminal justice system, we are going to provide jobs and education for our young people, not jails and incarceration.”
While Sanders’ message about addressing income inequality and fixing a “corrupt” campaign finance system has found broad appeal, polls suggest Clinton continues to enjoy substantial support from minority communities in South Carolina, which holds the next primary, and beyond. Those voters are part of what is considered Clinton’s so-called “firewall,” which Sanders wants to break through.
“The question has always been can he expand out to blacks, Latinos,” Democratic strategist Joe Trippi said. “That’s the test.”
The Clinton campaign minces no words in suggesting that once states with a bigger minority population vote, Clinton will recover.
“The nomination will very likely be won in March, not February, and we believe that Hillary Clinton is well positioned to build a strong – potentially insurmountable – delegate lead next month,” Mook said in a memo Tuesday night, noting the electorates in the first two contests are largely rural/suburban and white.
But Clinton, who won New Hampshire in 2008, still lost across virtually every voting group Tuesday including women, exit polls show.
The exit polling showed Sanders won among women, 55-44 percent; among moderates, 58-39 percent; and among voters under 50 by a huge margin.
Sanders won across voters of every education level and every income level – except for those making over $200,000, among whom Clinton had the edge.
The major demo won by Clinton Tuesday night was the over-65 bloc, which backed her 55-44 percent.
Overall, Sanders won the state, 60-38 percent.
Clinton still leads heavily in the polls in critical states like South Carolina and Florida, and it’s unclear whether Sanders will be able to transfer his momentum from the Northeast – his home turf – to the South.
While non-Hispanic white residents make up more than 91 percent of the New Hampshire population, Census figures show they make up just 62 percent of the overall U.S. population – meaning minority voters will be a bigger factor going forward.
In New Hampshire, though, exit polls show Clinton only won the state’s small non-white demographic by a single percentage point.

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy arrested by FBI in Oregon

Is the United States Government getting to big for their Britches?

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, the father of the jailed militia leader whose followers have occupied a federal wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon for the past 40 days, was arrested by FBI agents in Portland, Ore. late Wednesday as he stepped off a flight from Las Vegas.
Bundy's arrest was confirmed on the website of the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, which said he had been booked in to the Multnomah County Detention Center shortly before 11 p.m. local time.
The FBI also confirmed Cliven Bundy's arrest but declined to provide a reason or other details, saying further information would be released by the U.S. Attorney's office in Las Vegas Thursday.
The Oregonian newspaper reported that Bundy faces charges related to the 2014 standoff between federal agents and militia members on his Nevada ranch. The charges include conspiracy to interfere with a federal officer, the same charge lodged against two of Bundy's sons, Ammon and Ryan, for their role in the ongoing standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
The four remaining holdouts occupying the refuge said earlier Wednesday that they would turn themselves in Thursday morning.
Ammon Bundy's lawyer, Mike Arnold, told The Oregonian that Cliven Bundy was considering joining a news conference held by Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore to discuss the ongoing occupation. Fiore spent most of Wednesday night talking to the remaining militia members as federal agents surrounded the refuge.
"It's terribly unfortunate the timing of his arrest, given all the progress Assemblywoman Fiore made this evening," Arnold said. "He was arrested without incident and without violence. That should give [the militia members] comfort in their decision tomorrow
The Bureau of Land Management said at the time of the 2014 standoff that Bundy owed over $1 million in fees and penalties for trespassing cattle on federal property without a permit over 20 years. Bundy refuses to acknowledge federal authority over public lands.
The standoff began after the BLM impounded Bundy's cattle that were found on federal property. However, federal agents later backed down and allowed Bundy's supporters to turn the cattle loose.

Kasich Cartoon

New Hampshire will go down as the place where Hillary Clinton's campaign lost its way

Hillary Clinton still believes in vast right-wing conspiracy

Political prognostication is an uncertain art, never more so than in the New Hampshire primaries of 2016.   On the eve of the elections, equipped as I am with all the most scientific polling and profoundest opinions of the professional pundits, I still wouldn’t place a bet on the electoral outcome of the race.
On other hand, I’d be willing to put a few dollars on the proposition that, when the history of the 2016 presidential race is written, the past week in New Hampshire will go down as the place where the Clinton campaign lost its way.
Bernie Sanders didn’t do her in. She did it herself, with two unforced  errors.
The first error was her transparently false attempt to recast herself as a bank-busting progressive.  This gave rise to a very public airing of a very inconvenient fact: After leaving the State Department, Hillary got rich selling her services to the highest bidder.
Not all of the $21 million Hillary got for speechmaking and private audiences came from Wall Street companies. But almost two million did.  What did Hillary do for the money?  Why was she worth a quarter of a million dollars an hour?  Did the bankers pay her for leadership bromides (there is no ‘I’ in team!) or valuable insights?  Come on.  She could have serenaded them with the original score of Cats for all they cared. That money was Wall Street venture capital, an investment in access and influence in a Hillary Clinton presidency.
Progressives know this of course, and they despise her for believing they are stupid enough to fall for her act. That’s why they holler ‘liar’ when her face shows up on TV.  Some will vote for her on in November, if she gets there, but they won’t turn out in the Obama-like numbers required for victory.  
Hillary’s second mistake in New Hampshire was boasting that she gets things done  (in contrast to Bernie, a mere dreamer).  This invites the public to focus on her record and opens a door that leads to an empty trophy room.
After graduating from Yale Law School, Hillary flunked the Washington, D.C. bar exam. Her legal career in Arkansas tracked the rise of her husband in state politics. She became an associate at the Rose law firm after Bill was elected attorney general; and a partner when he became governor.
As first lady, Bill Clinton entrusted her with his health care policy. Her team produced an unworkable plan that went nowhere.  She spent the rest of her White House years travelling the globe as a good will ambassador, wrote books about children and her cat, and directed the (unsuccessful) defense of her husband against charges of sexual harassment.
In the Senate, Hillary was hard working but undistinguished.
Her main accomplishment was getting federal aid for New York after 9/11— not exactly a heavy lift.  She is mostly remembered (negatively by progressives) for voting in favor of the Iraq War, a decision she now calls a mistake.
In 2008, Hillary went into her first presidential race as a very well financed front runner.  She mismanaged the campaign and lost to a little known first-term senator.
As Barack Obama’s Secretary of State, Hillary presided over a series of diplomatic blunders.  She declared a Russian “reset” that never happened.  She was a cheerleader for the disastrous ‘Arab Spring’ and the Muslim Brotherhood government that took power in Egypt. She was a key architect of the “lead from behind” invasion of Libya that ended in chaos.
What did Hillary really do as secretary of state? She logged a lot of miles. She says she was “in the room” for the decision to kill Usama bin Laden although it wasn’t her call. And lately she has been saying that she set the table for the Iran nuclear deal. If true, this would be a dubious achievement. And, if she is taking credit for things that happened after she left State, there is the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rise of ISIS to account for.
Before New Hampshire there were plenty of people, not all of them Democrats, who accepted Hillary’s “experienced and competent” image without thinking much about it.  But this week she decided to stake her claim to the White House on her ability to get things done. That invites a skeptical second look. Coupled with her unconvincing progressive remake, this could leave her without a political identity or a credible electoral selling point.

'White guilt' video shown to high school students irks community

An animated film designed as a lesson in “racial discourse” for students at a Virginia high school has led to backlash from community members who’ve taken issue with not-so subtle references to so-called white privilege throughout the video.
“They are sitting there watching a video that is dividing them up from a racial standpoint. It's a White guilt kind of video,” Don Blake, whose granddaughter attended the assembly where the video was shown, told told WWBT. “I think somebody should be held accountable for this.”
Officials at Glen Allen High School in Henrico said in a statement that the video, “The Unequal Opportunity Race,” was a presentation involving “American history and racial discourse.”

"I think somebody should be held accountable for this."
- Don Blake

They added, “A segment of the video was one component of a thoughtful discussion in which all viewpoints were encouraged. As always, we are welcoming of feedback from students and their families, and we address concerns directly as they come forward.”
As the video begins, four athletes take their marks at the start of a race. While two white athletes immediately take off at the sound of the starting gun, two non-white athletes must remain in the starting block while a red light blocks their path. The non-white athletes are bombarded with words such as “slavery,” “broken treaties,” “genocide” and “segregation.” The white athletes continually run around the track, getting older as their batons – marked with a money symbol – grow larger and larger. Eventually they hand the baton off to a younger white athlete running beside them.
More than a minute into the animated video, the non-white athletes finally get to start the race. But as soon as they begin running, the pair is beset by rocks, potholes, sharks and rain clouds symbolizing “standardized tests,” “discrimination” and the “school to prison pipeline.” The white male athlete, holding a water bottle marked “Yale,” eventually wins the race without even having to run – he takes his place on a fast-moving conveyor belt as the word “privilege” follows him. He crosses the finish line just ahead of the white female.
As the four-minute film ends a message flashes across the screen: “Affirmative action helps level the playing field.”
Radio personality Craig Johnson said the discussion should not be focused on skin color.
“The reality of it, it’s over. The aftermath of it is poverty pimps that will not let it die,” Johnson told WWBT. “Dr. [Martin Luther] King gave his life so that America would be a pace where we are judged by the content of our character, not the color of our skin.”

Sanders, Trump and more. Fasten your seatbelt, America, this is gonna be one heckuva ride

New Hampshire is over! After decades of hosting the first in the nation primary New Hampshire, rocked the political world and set in motion an election that is as unpredictable as any in modern times.
Tuesday night, the voters of New Hampshire kicked off what may be the longest and most uncertain election in my five decades of watching and participating in presidential politics.
There was no surprise at the top of the polls with the results, it was only the size of their landslide victories. The liberal winner Senator Bernie Sanders, the Socialist, running for the first time as a Democrat, won overwhelmingly and crushed the alleged inevitable nominee Mrs. Clinton by more than 20 points. Sanders cannot be dismissed and now is a real contender.
The size of Sanders’ victory will make establishment Democracts very nervous about Hillary's  long term viability.
As expected, Donald Trump, former Democrat, one time independent, and now Republican, carried the GOP side by two to one and again has to be viewed as the frontrunner.
The amazing thing is that Trump has barely touched his wallet or run a real campaign yet he has managed to crush all comers.
He will certainly run a serious campaign now and the Republican presidential nomination is a real possibility.
As often happens in New Hampshire, many voters, 4 in 10, didn't make up their minds until the last hours.
Late deciders often make the difference in an election and Tuesday night in New Hampshire after they heard and saw it all they did it again.
Granite State voters punished Marco Rubio for his weak debate performance on Saturday and they rewarded  John Kasich for his "one state all or nothing campaign" by voting him into second place.
The governor from the critical battleground state of Ohio, (Republicans can't win without it) is now positioned to be the establishment candidate. His strength is that he probably knows more than anyone in the race about domestic budget policy and military affairs. His weakness is that he needs to really expand his fundraising capacities and political operation. He has nothing going on in South Carolina.
Kasich also will be the target of conservatives who see him as a "RINO" (Republican In Name Only) and simply too liberal.
The greatest danger for any candidate is when momentum catches up to a lack of organization. That’s when failure is a real possibility.
The governor could be a strong general election candidate but he has to first survive the Republican only primaries.
That’s a tough challenge.
Iowa winner Ted Cruz, while spending little money and being badly outspent by his opponents in New Hampshire, proved again that he is the true conservative and is a long term challenger especially as the race heads south.
Jeb Bush, with his 90-year-old mother in tow, spent a fortune in a state that has a long history with the Bush family but he still could do no better than fourth place. There’s not much of a future left for him.
Rubio is wounded and needs a major state win to get back in the game. Florida, where Trump is leading overwhelmingly, may turn out to be Rubio’s Waterloo. He must win his home state on March 15 – which is a winner take all contest, if he is to go on.
Christie won no delegates Tuesday night and ran seventh. He has no money and needs to throw in the towel and return home to a state that he has been out of for more than 400 days in the last two years.
The same is true for Carly Fiorina and Dr. Ben Carson, who has fallen from the top to the bottom of the pack in record time. It's time to go home.
In the meantime, if I would have predicted a year ago that Sanders and Trump were going to be the winners of the New Hampshire primary, Fox News would have kicked me off the air and I would have been a laughingstock in the pundits club.
Of course I didn't predict it because like all of you I had no idea. And as we move on, I have no idea who is going to win either party's nomination or ultimately the presidency.
I am handicapped by fifty years of knowledge and experience, which is totally irrelevant in this election.
Also get ready for the outrageous promises you’re going to hear from both sides. They will challenge your wildest imagination.
Buckle up your seat belt because this is going to be one heck of a ride!

Trump, Sanders win New Hampshire -- and 2016 battle moves south, west

Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders scored decisive victories in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary – as Ohio Gov. John Kasich surged into a second-place finish and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was fighting to stay in the race with Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush for third.
After months of campaigning in the snow, the battle for the South now begins -- and the runners-up will be looking for new life, and in some cases survival, as the winners celebrate.
“We are going to make America great again,” the victorious Trump told cheering supporters Tuesday night. “We are going now to South Carolina. We are gonna win in South Carolina!”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, though, is staying behind -- returning to his home state after a disappointing sixth-place finish with a mere 8 percent of the vote. He told supporters he planned to make a decision Wednesday on the way forward with the viability of his campaign now in serious doubt.
The rest head to the Palmetto State, each facing a unique challenge: Trump aims to hold his front-runner status after cementing it in New Hampshire on the heels of his Iowa loss. Kasich, while getting a big boost out of Tuesday’s contest, will look to demonstrate he can play beyond New Hampshire. And as Cruz and Bush look to build on their performance, Rubio is vowing to improve after a rocky debate seemingly disrupted his momentum.
"That will never happen again," Rubio told supporters Tuesday, referring to his Saturday debate performance.
On the Democratic side, meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is facing the prospect of losing her front-runner status if Sanders can close his polling gap in South Carolina and beyond.
The Vermont senator voiced confidence at his victory rally Tuesday night.
“Tonight we serve notice to the political and economic establishment of this country,” Sanders said. “Now it’s on to Nevada, South Carolina and beyond.”
The Clinton campaign tried to cast the candidate’s primary loss in the best light, saying in a memo that the outcome was “long expected” and prospects for future victories remain “very good.”
“I want to say I still love New Hampshire and I always will,” Clinton told supporters at a Tuesday night rally. “Now we take this campaign to the entire country. We are going to fight for every vote in every state.”
For the winners of both contests Tuesday night, New Hampshire was a comeback after each came in second last week in Iowa.
Trump won decisively, towering over the Republican field with 35 percent of the vote after 92 percent of precincts had reported results early Wednesday. Sanders was crushing Clinton 60-38 percent with 93 percent of precincts reporting in the Democratic race.
Kasich clocked in second with about 16 percent, while the battle for third remained a fierce contest.
With 12 percent of the vote, Texas Sen. Cruz had nudged ahead of former Florida Gov. Bush and Florida Sen. Rubio, who both had 11 percent. However, the margin between the three was still too narrow to project who would finish third, fourth and fifth in the Republican race.
Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina finished seventh with 4 percent of the vote, while retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson finished eighth with 2 percent.
For Kasich, his time in the state appeared to pay off and the second-place finish gives a major boost to his campaign, especially after he finished a distant eighth in Iowa last week.
It also dealt a blow to Rubio, whose strong, third-place finish in Iowa eight days ago gave him momentum that lasted until Saturday, when Rubio stumbled in the debate amid withering attacks from Christie.
The closeness of the race for third, fourth and fifth places still might end up prolonging the Republican nominating contest because it complicates the establishment’s efforts to coalesce around a single consensus candidate.
Yet the person who tripped up Rubio in Saturday’s debate, Christie, was mired in single digits in Tuesday's race, leaving him to weigh his options back home.
Exit polls suggest Trump was aided in large part in the state by independents. They showed 36 percent of the state’s influential independents were backing Trump, leading the field among that bloc.
On the Republican side, Trump led virtually every poll in the state in the run-up to the contest.
And on the Democratic side, Clinton consistently trailed Sanders going into Tuesday’s contest. But the margin of victory for both Sanders and Trump was substantial.
Clinton herself has pushed back on reports that the campaign may be looking at a shake-up in the near future – but the speculation is sure to mount following her Granite State loss.
From here, the campaigns head next to Nevada and South Carolina, which hold the next two contests before Super Tuesday at the beginning of March.

Sanders Clinton Cartoon

Senate report: Illegal immigrants benefited from up to $750M in ObamaCare subsidies

Illegal immigrants and individuals with unclear legal status wrongly benefited from up to $750 million in ObamaCare subsidies and the government is struggling to recoup the money, according to a new Senate report obtained by Fox News.
The report, produced by Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, examined Affordable Care Act tax credits meant to defray the cost of insurance premiums. It found that as of June 2015, “the Administration awarded approximately $750 million in tax credits on behalf of individuals who were later determined to be ineligible because they failed to verify their citizenship, status as a national, or legal presence.”
The review found the credits went to more than 500,000 people – who are illegal immigrants or whose legal status was unclear due to insufficient records.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed to FoxNews.com on Monday that 471,000 customers with 2015 coverage failed to produce proper documentation on their citizenship or immigration status on time – but stressed that this does not necessarily mean they’re ineligible.
“Lack of verification does not mean an individual is ineligible for financial assistance, but only that a Marketplace did not receive sufficient information to verify eligibility in the time period outlined in the law,” CMS spokesman Aaron Albright said.
The Senate report also accused the administration of lacking a solid plan to get that money back – and predicted that in the end, the IRS will be “unable to fully recoup the funds.”
“The information provided to the Committee by the IRS and HHS reveals a troubling lack of coordination between the two agencies ... and demonstrates that the IRS and HHS neglected to consider how they would recover these wasteful payments,” the report says.
Under the law, the feds can dole out these payments on a temporary basis if a recipient’s legal status is unclear, but are supposed to cut off funding and coverage if the recipient does not later come up with the paperwork. Up to a half-million “ineligible” people, according to the report, applied in this way -- with their credits paid in advance to the insurers. The IRS, though, is supposed to get overpayments back from the individuals themselves.
The Senate report, based on a review launched by committee Chairman Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., derisively describes this approach as “pay and chase.”
In other words, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pays credits and subsidies to the insurance companies on behalf of the applicants – and the feds then “chase” after any overpayments to ineligible people once they are discovered.
“This ‘pay and chase’ model has potentially cost taxpayers approximately $750 million,” the report says. The 500,000 individuals in question have been removed from coverage, according to the findings, as the government seeks to get the money back.
The Senate report says the IRS and HHS initially failed to coordinate on a plan for recouping funds, and claimed that a subsequent plan from the IRS to recoup the money is still “ineffective and insufficient.”
In a July letter to Johnson, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen assured that the agency is “committed to identifying and efficiently addressing” improper payments. He reiterated that anyone “not lawfully present” who enrolls for ObamaCare coverage “must repay” the advance premium credit payments, and would be breaking the law if they don’t.

Wife of ISIS leader charged in US in death of American hostage Kayla Mueller

WASHINGTON –  The wife of a senior Islamic State leader who was killed in a U.S. raid last year has been charged in federal court with holding American Kayla Mueller hostage and with contributing to the aid worker's death, the Justice Department said Monday.
Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar, also known as Umm Sayyaf, admitted after her capture last May that she and her husband kept Mueller captive along with several other young female hostages, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case. U.S. officials have said that while in custody, Mueller was repeatedly forced to have sex with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group
The criminal complaint, filed in federal court in Virginia, charges Umm Sayyaf with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terror organization, resulting in death.
The case comes one year after Mueller was confirmed dead by her family and the Obama administration, though it's not clear when or if Umm Sayyaf will be brought to the U.S. to stand trial. The 25-year-old Iraqi woman, who was captured last year, is currently in Iraqi custody and facing prosecution there. Her husband, Abu Sayyaf, a former Islamic State minister for oil and gas, was killed last May in a Delta Force raid of his compound.
"We fully support the Iraqi prosecution of Sayyaf and will continue to work with the authorities there to pursue our shared goal of holding Sayyaf accountable for her crimes," Assistant Attorney General John Carlin, head of the Justice Department's national security division, said in a statement. "At the same time, these charges reflect that the U.S. justice system remains a powerful tool to bring to bear against those who harm our citizens abroad. We will continue to pursue justice for Kayla and for all American victims of terrorism."
Mueller, from Prescott, Arizona, was taken hostage with her boyfriend, Omar Alkhani, in August 2013 after leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria, where he had been hired to fix the Internet service for the hospital. Mueller had begged him to let her tag along because she wanted to do relief work in the war-ravaged country. Alkhani was released after two months, having been beaten.
According to the FBI affidavit, Mueller was transferred in September 2014 along with several other female captives from an Islamic State prison to the Sayyafs. The couple at times handcuffed the captives, kept them in locked rooms, dictated orders about their activities and movements and showed them violent Islamic State propaganda videos.
After her capture last year, according to the affidavit, Umm Sayyaf admitted she was responsible for Mueller's captivity while her husband traveled for Islamic State business.
The Justice Department's case echoes earlier assertions from U.S. intelligence officials, who had told Mueller's family that their daughter was repeatedly forced to have sex with al-Baghdadi.
According to the affidavit, Umm Sayyaf said that al-Baghadi would occasionally stay at her home and that he "owned" Mueller during those visits, which the FBI says was akin to slavery.
A Yazidi teenager who was held with Mueller and escaped in October 2014 said al-Baghdadi took Mueller as a "wife," repeatedly raping her when he visited. The 14-year-old Yazidi girl made her way to Iraqi Kurdistan, where she talked to U.S. commandos in November 2014. Intelligence agencies corroborated her account and American officials passed it on to Mueller's parents in June 2015.

Bill Clinton ramps up attacks on Sanders as NH primary nears

Bill Clinton has transformed from grandfatherly statesman to attack dog in a matter of days, aggressively going after Bernie Sanders on the campaign trail as the Vermont senator poses a rising threat to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's bid.
“When you’re making a revolution, you can’t be too careful about the facts,” Clinton said at a Milford, N.H., event Sunday, a swipe at Sanders’ call for political upheaval.
He followed up Monday at an event at Manchester Community College,  accusing Sanders of demonizing anyone who disagrees with him.
“We can’t get in a place where we’re so mad that we demonize anyone who is against us, where we can’t have an honest discussion about health care, where anyone who is on the other side is part of a mystical ‘establishment,’” Clinton said.
The tone marks an abrupt change from how the former president has conducted himself on the stump so far. Until this past weekend, his remarks largely were limited to talking about his wife’s biography, punctuated by tales of their dating life and how she has made everything she touches better.
But with New Hampshire's primary just days away and Sanders holding a strong lead, the former president's role has changed.
At Sunday’s event, Clinton painted Sanders as a foolhardy candidate whose proposals aren’t paid for and whose supporters include misogynists.
“People who have gone online to defend Hillary and explain why they supported her, have been subject to attacks that are literally too profane often, not to mention sexist, to repeat,” Clinton said.
Sanders has since disavowed such attacks against Clinton, saying “it's disgusting.”
On health care, Clinton accused Sanders of not having a plan that was properly accounted for.
“The New Hampshire I campaigned in really cared that you knew what you were doing, and how it was paid for,” Clinton said.
“For 20 years, Hillary’s opponent had a different plan, which he called single payer but it’s really 51 payer as states have to pay 14 percent of it,” Clinton said, before accusing Sanders of dropping the plan within 48 hours after he was questioned about it.
“Is [that] good for America? I don’t think so.” Clinton said.
Bill’s barbs have allowed the former secretary of state to take a softer stance against Sanders, telling supporters in Manchester that “Senator Sanders and I share a lot of the same goals,” before saying the difference between the two is the ability to get things done.
“I haven’t just talked, I haven’t just given speeches, I’ve passed legislation,” she said.
The former president’s latest barbs have echoes of 2008, when Clinton acted as attack dog against then-Sen. Barack Obama. Criticizing Obama’s claims on his Iraq war stance, Clinton called it the “biggest fairy tale” -- a put-down that was interpreted as a broad-brush slam on Obama’s quest to become the country’s first black president.
Later in South Carolina, Clinton got the name “hatchet man” for his attacks on Obama.