'Green New Deal' details emerge, as Ocasio-Cortez preps big reveal of WW2-level mobilization

New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday unveiled new details on the so-called "Green New Deal" she plans to introduce in a matter of days, as she worked behind-the-scenes to rally congressional support for the proposal that could cost as much as $7 trillion.
Ocasio-Cortez, who is set to unveil the plan with Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, told her fellow representatives in a letter that the Green New Deal calls for a "national, social, industrial and economic mobilization at a scale not seen since World War II."
"Next week, we plan to release a resolution that outlines the scope and scale of the Green New Deal,” Ocasio-Cortez said in the letter, adding that the country's near-total economic transformation should take approximately ten years.
To raise awareness for the measure, Markey announced Monday he had invited Varshini Prakash, the co-founder of the Sunrise Movement environmentalist group, to be his guest at President Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday night. (Several other Democrats announced guests apparently intended to highlight their opposition to various Trump administration policies, while Trump himself extended invites to the family of a couple allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant and a child bullied at school for having the last name "Trump.")
The Green New Deal proposal would lead to national net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, according to Ocasio-Cortez's letter, “through a fair and just transition for all communities and workers,” while also generating millions of “good, high-wage jobs." Details of the letter were first published by Bloomberg.
ANALYSIS: GREEN NEW DEAL IS MOST RADICAL LEGISLATION IN DECADES
Through it all, the Green New Deal would additionally “promote justice and equity by preventing current and repairing historic oppression to frontline and vulnerable communities," according to Ocasio-Cortez.

December 10, 2018 - Washington, DC, United States - Protesters seen holding placards during the Sunrise Movement protest inside the office of US Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to advocate that Democrats support the Green New Deal. (Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images via ZUMA Wire)

On Twitter Monday, Ocasio-Cortez reposted a claim from one of her advisers, Robert Hockett, arguing that "in this case, size matters" and that "the problems the Green New Deal addresses require solutions where bigger is better, imperative, and paraodixcally, more affordable."
Hockett is a lawyer and law professor, and is not an expert in environmental policy.
Several analysts, meanwhile, have cautioned that the liberal firebrand is in over her head, even though the as-yet vague and uncertain details about the Green New Deal render a precise calculation impossible at the moment. Physicist Christopher Clack told The Hill that the cost would easily be into the trillions.
“It’s a daunting task, and I’m not sure that the authors of the Green New Deal fully comprehend how much they’ll need,” Clack said.
Institute for Energy Research president Tom Pyle was more blunt: “One hundred percent renewable energy defies the laws of physics. It would be impossible to achieve.”
And Paul Bledsoe, a strategic adviser at the Progressive Policy Institute, said progressives were overcompensating. “I understand the value of aspirational goals,” Bledsoe said. “My personal view is, that undermines the credibility of the effort.”
Nevertheless, approximately 70 Democratic lawmakers have so far tentatively endorsed a Green New Deal plan, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has vowed to address climate change, has not publicly signed onto the plan, even though scores of progressive activists -- joined by Ocasio-Cortez -- staged a sit-in at her House office late last year, demanding action on the climate.
While there is no legislative text yet available for the Markey/Ocasio-Cortez proposal, a draft circulated by Ocasio-Cortez last week called for a committee to be formed to create a plan, and lays out a framework that includes eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing and agriculture, while “dramatically” expanding energy sources to meet 100 percent of power demand through renewable sources.

FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2018, file photo, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., joined by from left, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio., and Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., speaks to media at Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, to announce her nomination by House Democrats to lead them in the new Congress. Pelosi has appointed Castor to lead a special committee on climate change that replaces one eliminated by Republicans in 2011. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

To cover what would presumably be a gargantuan cost, it envisions financing by “the federal government, using a combination of the Federal Reserve, a new public bank or system of regional and specialized public banks, public venture funds and such other vehicles or structures that the select committee deems appropriate, in order to ensure that interest and other investment returns generated from public investments made in connection with the plan will be returned to the treasury, reduce taxpayer burden and allow for more investment.”
CRENSHAW, OCASIO-CORTEZ TRADE BARBS ON WEALTH TAX, NFL PROTESTS
As it stands, any such proposal would be almost certainly dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled Senate, and also possibly the House -- where it is not clear if a majority of Democrats would back a plan.
Even if Congress managed to pass a version of the Green New Deal, the White House could veto the legislation, and a two-thirds majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate would be needed to override the veto.
The Trump administration has made clear it would not accept Ocasio-Cortez's proposals. In January, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders derided Ocasio-Cortez's recent claim that the world will end in 12 years due to climate change, and suggested the Trump administration has little need for the progressive firebrand's thoughts in general.
"I don't think we're going to listen to [Ocasio-Cortez] on much of anything -- particularly not on matters we're gonna leave in the hands of a much, much higher authority -- and certainly, not listen to the freshman congresswoman on when the world may end," Sanders told Fox News' "Hannity."
Speaking at an event commemorating Martin Luther King Day that month, Ocasio-Cortez asserted that climate change constituted "our World War II" and added: “Millennials and people, you know, Gen Z and all these folks that will come after us are looking up and we’re like: ‘The world is gonna end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change and your biggest issue is, how are we gonna pay for it?'"
But conservative commentators have argued that most proposed solutions to global warming would do more harm than good, and also have accused climate activists of crying wolf. In 2006, a NASA scientist and leading global warming researcher declared that the world had only 10 years to avert a climate catastrophe -- a deadline that has come and gone.
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

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Border Patrol agent killed while on duty in Texas: officials

Customs and Border Patrol Agent Donna Doss, 49, was killed Saturday night while on patrol in Abilene, Texas, officials said. (Banks County Sheriff’s Office)

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent died while working in Texas on Saturday, officials said.

Agent Donna Doss, 49, was helping state police near Interstate 20 in Abilene just before 9 p.m., the agency said in a news release.

BORDER AGENTS REPORTEDLY DISCOVER 60-FOOT TUNNEL TO MEXICO AT SOUTHERN BORDER
While she assisted, Doss was "struck and killed by a passing vehicle" and died at the scene.
Doss served the agency for more than 15 years, after beginning duty in November 2003.
“Agent Doss died while performing her duty, protecting the community and the United States," Del Rio Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Matthew Hudak said. "Our heart, prayers, and support go out to Agent Doss’ family in this time of need."

Regional bloc plans pressure campaign against Venezuela’s Maduro

February 4, 2019

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) – A major bloc of Latin American nations and Canada will discuss on Monday how to maintain pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to hold new elections as he faces widespread calls to resign after last year’s disputed presidential vote.
Sources briefed on the matter said that the 14-nation Lima Group looked set, though, to hold off imposing further sanctions on the Maduro government when it meets in Ottawa.
Most group members say Maduro should quit in favor of opposition leader Juan Guaido – who declared himself interim president last month – and are calling for a new presidential election in the troubled OPEC nation.
The United States, which is not a member of the group, also wants Maduro gone.
“How can we continue to support the opposition to keep the pressure up on the regime and push for new elections? Certainly that’s something we’ll be looking at,” said a Canadian government official.
Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse and the exodus of millions of Venezuelans, said in an interview that aired on Spanish television channel Antena 3 on Sunday: “We don’t accept ultimatums from anyone,” adding: “I refuse to call for elections now – there will be elections in 2024.”
Maduro, who has maintained the critical support of the military, has said Guaido is staging a U.S.-directed coup against him.
Monday’s meeting in Ottawa will also discuss how to aid the people of Venezuela, including through immediate humanitarian assistance, said the office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Last month, the Lima Group announced a travel ban on senior Venezuelan officials and a freeze on their foreign assets.
The Canadian source, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation, declined to comment when asked whether more punitive measures could be imposed.
Two sources briefed on the talks said such an announcement was unlikely for now.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration last week issued sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA in a move likely to cut revenues for a country hit by medicine shortages and malnutrition.
Trump, in an interview that aired on Sunday, said military intervention in Venezuela was “an option.”
Trudeau spoke on Sunday to Guaido and the two “discussed the importance of the international community sending a clear message regarding the illegitimacy of the Maduro regime,” Trudeau’s office said.
The challenge for participants is that Mexico, a member of the Lima Group, opposes any measures to oust Maduro, who also has the backing of Russia, China and Turkey.
While European Union governments will soon move to recognize Guaido as interim president, members are set to use cautious language for fear of setting a precedent for political crises, said diplomatic sources.
That does not sit well with nations such as Columbia, which neighbors Venezuela.
“The most important issue now is to get Europe in line and to deepen the isolation of Venezuela and its backers,” said a government official in Bogota, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fmr VA. Gov. Terry McAuliffe Predicts Gov. Northam Will Resign

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam pauses during a news conference in the Governor’s Mansion in Richmond, Va., on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. Northam is under fire for a racial photo that appeared in his college yearbook. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

 

 

 

 

Former Democrat Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe predicts Ralph Northam will step down from office.
During an interview Sunday, McAuliffe stated as soon as the blackface and Klansman photo came out, it left no room for Northam to continue serving as governor of Virginia.
The former governor added, “Well, first he said it was Friday night. And if it wasn’t him in the photo, he should have said that on Friday. I have no idea what was going on in the governor’s office on Friday. I just — if you aren’t instinctively, you know if you put black paint on your face. You know if you put a hood on. And so if it isn’t you, you come out with it immediately and say this is not me. So I can’t understand what’s going on.”
McAuliffe also said at this point, it doesn’t matter if “Northam” is in fact – the one in the picture or not, and added this chapter needs to be closed in order for the state to move forward.
Additionally, McAuliffe said the State’s Lieutenant Governor, Justin Fairfax, will do a great job of bringing the people of Virginia back together.

 

 

Northam has unscheduled staff meeting amid calls for resignation: report

 

Gov. Ralph Northam, D-Va., met with key staff members for an unscheduled staff meeting on Sunday before the Super Bowl and is apparently considering his next move after a photo emerged showing a man in blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan garb in his 1984 medical school yearbook page, a report said.
Northam resisted calls to resign a day earlier-- insisting that he did not appear in the yearbook photo, which contradicted his earlier remarks when he apologized for the picture. The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that resignation is an active consideration, and called the meeting emotional. The paper reported that there is another meeting set for Monday.
Northam reportedly spent much of the day inside his home meeting with close advisers who—to at least some degree—have differing opinions on how to proceed. Some want the governor to fight through and work to rebuild his image. Pam Northam, the state’s first lady, wants her husband to continue to fight, the paper reported, citing two sources.
Northam's office did not immediately respond to an email from Fox News early Monday.
Some high-profile Democrats would prefer he rebuilds his image after leaving office. Hillary Clinton and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Saturday tweeted out that he needs to step aside.
The Virginian-Pilot released the photo on Friday from Northam's 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. The Post reported that the images first appeared on Big League Politics, a conservative website.
Earlier in the week, Northam made headlines over comments about abortion that he said were taken out of context. He was on a radio program where he described a hypothetical situation where an infant who is severely deformed or unable to survive after birth could be left to die.
"So in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen, the infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother," the former pediatric neurologist said while on WTOP to discuss the Repeal Act.
That prompted accusations from prominent Republicans that he supports infanticide. Northam tweeted later: "I have devoted my life to caring for children and any insinuation otherwise is shameful and disgusting."
Northam, in regards to the photo outrage, said he plans on continuing to lead.
"If we get to the point where we feel that we’re not effective, that we’re not efficient, not only for our caucuses, but the Commonwealth of Virginia, then we will revisit this and make decisions," he said on Saturday.

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Thousands gather in Caracas to rally support for Interim Pres. Juan Guaido

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has declared himself the interim president of Venezuela, greets supporters as he arrives at a nationwide demonstration demanding the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. Guaido said humanitarian assistance will begin flowing into the crisis-wracked country within the next few days, despite Maduro’s objections. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

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Thousands of Venezuelans take to the streets in Caracas to protest against embattled President Nicolas Maduro.
Saturday citizens rallied in support of self-declared Interim President Juan Guaido, where he delivered a speech to the people.
There, he said humanitarian aid is on the way for citizens, and called on the military to not intervene in its delivery or distribution.
Further, Guaido said the protests will continue, until all of his supporters achieve freedom from the Maduro regime.
Meantime, supporters of Maduro gathered to hear him deliver remarks, where he agreed to hold early elections for the National Assembly.
“On the agenda, the Constituent Assembly has a constitutional, historical and political evaluation to call for early parliamentary elections this very year,” said Maduro. “I am in agreement. That the legislative power be re-legitimized by the country and that we go toward free elections with a guarantee and may the people decide for a new National Assembly. Do you agree? I agree and I stand by that decision.”
Maduro’s remarks come after the U.S. declared Guaido as the legitimate leader, while European Union member states are expected to follow suit next week.
Saturday marked the anniversary of former president Hugo Chavez entering office, who served from 1999 to 2013.