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Texas Gov. Abbott ‎calls for convention on Constitution, proposes amendments

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott looked for Republican support on Friday for calling the first constitutional convention since 1787, a new priority for his administration that has blocked state laws over gay marriage, abortion restrictions and voting rights.
Abbott hopes his weight as the leader of the nation’s largest conservative state can revive momentum in an enduring, yet unattainable dream of some Republicans. Abbott’s vision includes an outline of new state protections that would nullify federal laws and weaken the Supreme Court as well as a federal balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
One of his nine proposals would require a supermajority of seven justices — out of nine — to invalidate any state law. The plan spanned nearly 70 pages, according to the Dallas Morning News.
"The Supreme Court is a co-conspirator in abandoning the Constitution," said Abbott, the state's former attorney general and a former Texas Supreme Court justice. "Instead of applying laws as written, it embarrassingly strains to rewrite laws like Obamacare."
The nine proposed amendments include:
·         Prohibit Congress from regulating activity that occurs in one state
·         Require Congress to balance its budget.
·         Prohibit administrative agencies from creating law
·         Prohibit administrative agencies from pre-empting state law
·         Allow a two-thirds majority of the states of override a Supreme Court decision
·         Require a seven-justice super-majority vote for Supreme Court decisions that invalidate a democratically enacted law
·         Restore balance of power between the federal and state governments by limiting the former to the powers expressly delegated to it in the Constitution
·         Give state officials the power to sue in federal court when federal officials overstep their bounds
·         Allow a two-thirds majority of the states to override a federal law regulation.
Texas has been named as a defendant in major cases before the Supreme Court. The court will hear oral arguments over the state’s abortion crackdown in March. The restrictions would leave the state with fewer than 10 abortion providers, down from 40 in 2012.
Abbott unveiled his plan to a friendly audience of conservative policymakers in Austin, but outside, others called the prospect of a convention far-fetched.
"There is no remote possibility that is going to take place," said Lino Graglia, a conservative professor of constitutional law at the University of Texas at Austin. "Just to get any constitutional amendment is virtually impossible."
Abbott’s opponents were quickly dismissive about his plan. Texas Democratic Party Deputy Executive Director Manny Garcia said the governor’s priorities were misguided.
“America added 292,000 new jobs in December. But under Abbott, Texas fell to sixth in job creation, remains the uninsured capitol of the nation, wages and incomes remain far too low for hardworking families, our neighborhood schools are still underfunded, and college education is slipping out of reach,” Garcia said in a statement. “Texas families deserve serious solutions, not Tea Party nonsense.”
The American Civil Liberties Union also urged Abbott to not “mess with the Constitution.”
Over the last 40 years, 27 states have endorsed the idea of an assembly at one time or another, including Texas at a time when the state was run by Democrats. Convention proposals were also introduced or discussed in about three dozen legislatures last year. An assembly needs approval from 34 legislatures.
Shortly after Abbott took office last year, the Texas Legislature failed to endorse a more narrowly focused convention on conservative ideals. Some Republicans blamed the defeat on fears of a "runaway" convention that would take on myriad issues. Abbott said he wants Texas lawmakers to give their support next time around in 2017.
Earlier this week, Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio said if elected president he will advocate for the states to call a constitutional convention to impose term limits on members of Congress. He says creating term limits must come from a grassroots movement because members of Congress will never do it themselves.
The United States has not held a constitutional convention since George Washington himself led the original proceedings in Philadelphia in 1787.

Sanders calls Bill Clinton's affair 'totally disgraceful and unacceptable'

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Friday night that former President Bill Clinton, now stumping on the campaign trail for wife Hillary Clinton, committed a “totally disgraceful” act in having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Sanders’ remark was in response to a question at an Iowa town hall meeting, not part of a speech.
However, the Vermont senator had until this point in the primary season largely avoided saying anything negative related to the front-running Hillary Clinton, expect to attack her on policy issues.
“Look, Hillary Clinton is not Bill Clinton," Sanders said Friday. “What Bill Clinton did, I think we can all acknowledge, was totally, totally, totally disgraceful and unacceptable. But I am running against Hillary Clinton. I’m not running against Bill Clinton.”
But Sanders continues to trail Clinton by roughly 20 percentage points in national polls and needs to at least compete with her in first-in-the-nation primary state Iowa, which votes Feb.1 and where he once led Clinton. And he needs a solid showing in New Hampshire, which votes Feb. 9 and where he now trails by about 4 points.
Front-running 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and others have increasingly criticized Bill Clinton’s extra-marital past since his wife announced last month that he would stump for her starting in January. The Trump campaign has argued that its attacks are in response to the Clinton campaign accusing Trump of being sexist.
In Iowa, where Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist, trails Clinton by rough 13 points, he nevertheless stuck Friday to his campaign strategy of distinguishing himself from Clinton and Republicans on the issues of income inequality and the so-called “disappearing middle class.”
“So what I am doing is contrasting my record with Hillary Clinton’s record, and they are very, very different records,” he said. “But I am not going to get into the personal stuff. … I’ve never run a negative TV ad in my life.”

'Occam’s Razor': NY Rep. Israel's retirement explanation smells like a truth

“Occam’s Razor” isn’t some teenage slasher flick from the “Halloween” or “Scream” genre. It’s a philosophical, mathematical and scientific tenet that asserts that the simplest, most-obvious explanation of events is often the correct one.
Named after Middle Ages philosopher and Franciscan friar William of Ockham (despite the spelling difference), most people who toil on Capitol Hill probably wouldn’t recognize Occam’s Razor if it sliced a gaping wound in their forearm.
But that’s the nature of politics. Often the reasons for various Washington political phenomena are stacked with intrigue, Machiavellian skullduggery and conspiracy.
One can only imagine the torrent of political theories that filtered through the Capitol this week when Rep. Steve Israel -- a New York Democrat,  top lieutenant to House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi and potential candidate to succeed her or House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer down the road -- unexpectedly announced his retirement from Congress.
“It has been an incredibly humbling opportunity to serve my community,” Israel declared in a statement. “I will miss this place and the people I have had the privilege to serve.”
That’s the customary, bathos, boilerplate that accompanies many congressional departures.
But he also spoke of an opportunity to write a “second novel.” His previous book, “The Global War on Morris,” mocked the extremes of government surveillance. In a brief chat, Israel joked about replacing Daniel Murphy (who just signed with the Washington Nationals) at second base for his beloved New York Mets. Still, Israel says he’s fed up with fundraising and “call time.”
This is a peculiar but essential political liturgy in which lawmakers carve out wide swaths of their day to hunch over a telephone and dial for dollars. The ritual is necessary -- especially in a possible swing district like Israel’s in an expensive media market -- just to stay competitive.
There is no practice that lawmakers abhor more than call time. Members of Congress sometimes grouse about the enhanced interrogation methods that the United States uses on detainees at Guantanamo Bay. But call time is so brutal it surely rivals waterboarding as inhumane treatment under the Geneva Convention.
Israel took to the New York Times to pen an Op-Ed about the practice. He wrote that talking to customer service with a cable company is a more enjoyable version of call time than what members of Congress have to deal with.
But Israel’s station in Congress was a little different from most. Surely something more was afoot than call time when he announced he was quitting.
Israel was believed to have an inside track on navigating the House Democratic Caucus leadership ladder -- perhaps after the eventual retirement of Pelosi, California, and/or Hoyer, Maryland.
In 2009, Israel was just hours away from announcing a primary challenge to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. Then-New York Gov. David Paterson, also a Democrat, appointed Gillibrand to succeed Hillary Clinton who became secretary of State.
Fox was told at the time that Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer, N.Y., and Bob Menendez, N.J., asked President Obama to intervene to clear the field for Gillibrand in the primary.
Israel never ran against Gillibrand.
As a result, Israel settled back into the House. In late 2010, Pelosi tapped him to head the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the national organization charged with getting Democrats elected and reelected to the House.
After Democrats failed to win back the House in 2012, Pelosi told Democrats she would only stay on as leader if Israel would serve another term as DCCC chairman.
Much has been documented over the years about a rivalry between Pelosi and Hoyer -- two native Marylanders vying to lead Democrats in the House. When Pelosi became speaker, she contrived a position for another lawmaker from Maryland, Rep. Chris Van Hollen.
Pelosi made Van Hollen “assistant to the speaker.” Some viewed Pelosi’s move as a rebuke to Hoyer. And over the years, political observers estimated that she might have been engineering a course for Van Hollen to succeed her in the Democratic ranks, potentially leapfrogging Hoyer.
But that talk waned once Van Hollen decided to run for the Senate seat of retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.
And much like Pelosi designing a special position for Van Hollen, she concocted a unique leadership post for Israel to hone the Democrat’s messaging.
Israel is 57. Pelosi is 75. Hoyer is 77.
With Van Hollen out of the picture, Pelosi’s maneuver seemingly gave Israel a special place in the Democratic ranks. Here was a roadway for Israel to perhaps succeed Pelosi or at least matriculate in leadership should vacancies eventually occur.
That’s what made Israel’s retirement announcement so vexing.
In a presidential year in New York, an incumbent Democrat like Israel would still have a decent shot to his seat this fall -- even though he underperformed Obama by nine points on the 2012 ballot. The 2018 midterm is another story.
Plus, it’s a real challenge for the Democrats to regain the majority in the House until after the 2020 census.
Israel’s abrupt retirement announcement Tuesday evening just as lawmakers jetted back into Washington for the first time this year launched shockwaves throughout the Capitol.
“I’m very surprised,” said House Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Rep. Joe Crowley, New York.
“It was unexpected,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Xavier Becerra, California. “Say it ain’t so, Joe.”
About the only member of the House Democratic leadership who wasn’t taken aback was Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina.
“I’ve been watching his demeanor change the past few weeks,” Clyburn said. “I’m a very observant guy.”
It’s not unprecedented for lawmakers to return to Washington after the holidays and time with family and decide to cash it in, though Israel is said to have mulled this decision for months.
Just this week, two other senior lawmakers announced their retirements in addition to Israel: Reps. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga. But that post-holiday factor didn’t halt the congressional rumor mill from spinning into a frenzy to explain Israel’s decision.
Surely there was something more.
Some theories which reverberated through the building late Tuesday:
Was there scandal?
Maybe it’s his health.
Israel fell out of favor with Pelosi and needs the money from the book contract, suggested one senior aide.
Israel’s retirement means Pelosi is leaving.
Israel's retirement means Pelosi isn’t leaving.
There was no shortage of conjecture.
Not a lot is aboveboard on Capitol Hill. That’s why everyone in Congress goes all Grassy Knoll when an announcement like Israel’s explodes like a bombshell.
Or, in the case of Steve Israel, perhaps one can apply Occam’s Razor.
The simplest, most-obvious explanation is often the most accurate.
Maybe it just about the call time. The desire to write another book. And that’s that. Occam’s Razor doesn’t score a lot of credibility in a conniving joint like Capitol Hill.
Sure there could be a tough re-election in 2018 to say nothing of 2016. And maybe the fact that Pelosi and Hoyer don’t appear to be departing anytime soon amplifies the decision.

In State of Union, Obama to leave empty seat to honor gun victims, underscore gun control effort

President Obama will keep an empty seat next to the first lady on Tuesday when he gives his State of the Union address, to represent victims of gun violence, according to the White House.
Obama, who is trying to reduce gun violence by issuing a series of executive orders to tighten federal gun laws, announced the symbolic gesture Friday when talking on the phone with fellow supporters of more stringent gun-ownership laws.
A White House official said the president told the supporters the open seat in first lady Michelle Obama’s viewing box was for “the victims of gun violence who no longer have a voice -- because they need the rest of us to speak for them.”
Presidents have long invited prominent individuals and average Americans to sit with the first lady, often as a way to underscore a theme.
Obama, in his final 11 months of office, says he’s using his White House powers to change gun laws because Congress has failed to act.
The State of the Union addresses are given in the House chambers. And as an apparent attempt to express his dissatisfaction with Congress, Obama also said the open seat should serve to “remind every single one of our representatives that it’s their responsibility to do something about this,” the official said.
Obama intends to tighten the guns laws with a 10-point plan that side-steps Congress and focuses on requiring small-scaler sellers to get a federal license and submit background checks on potential buyers.
His tried unsuccessfully to get Congress to pass comprehensive legislation to tighten gun-control laws in the wake of the 2012 shooting massacre at the Sandy Hook elementary school, in Newtown, Conn.
And his new effort is also facing strong opposition from Republicans, the National Rifle Association and even some Democrats who say it's up to Congress to enact new policies on firearms.
The other parts of Obama’s executive action include having the FBI hire 230 more employees to process background checks. He’s also directing federal agencies to research smart gun technology to reduce accidental shootings and asking Congress for $500 million for mental health care.
Obama also want to better track lost guns and prevent trusts or corporations from buying dangerous weapons without background checks.

obama heatlh care cartoon

Obama vetoes health law repeal bill

President Obama on Friday vetoed legislation to repeal most of his signature health care law, saying the bill would do “harm” to millions of Americans.
The move was widely expected, after Republicans for the first time succeeded in sending an ObamaCare repeal bill to the president’s desk. The legislation that Obama vetoed also would cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
While Congress may try to override, Republicans do not currently have the votes to do so.
Republicans, though, say they met two goals by passing the bill: keeping a promise to voters in an election year, and showing their ability to repeal the health law if a Republican wins the presidency.
“This is the closest we have come to repealing ObamaCare,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Thursday.
As the next step, Ryan wants to work on a proposal to replace the health care law. As he said in a statement Wednesday, the goal is to lay the groundwork for repealing and replacing the law should a Republican win the presidency this November.
“It clears the path to repealing this law with a Republican president in 2017 and replacing it with a truly patient-centered health care system,” he said. “We will not back down from this fight to defend the sanctity of life and make quality health care coverage achievable for all Americans.”
Though Republicans tried dozens of times to pass a full or partial repeal bill, they were only able to get this one to Obama’s desk because the Senate passed their version under special rules that protected it from a Democratic filibuster. The House followed suit this week.
Still, it takes a two-thirds threshold to override a presidential veto. In the House alone, Republicans are shy of that amount by nearly 50 votes.
In a lengthy written statement explaining his veto, Obama on Friday said the bill would “reverse the significant progress we have made in improving health care in America,” warning that it would increase the number of uninsured.
“Rather than refighting old political battles by once again voting to repeal basic protections that provide security for the middle class, Members of Congress should be working together to grow the economy, strengthen middle-class families, and create new jobs,” he said.
Republicans argue that the legislation is harming the economy, and wrongly forcing Americans to buy insurance.

Obama faces new criticism on refugee program after 2 terror arrests

The arrest of two Iraq-born refugees on terror-related charges has recharged Capitol Hill calls for the Obama administration to pull back on plans to welcome thousands more refugees from Middle East warzones. 
“It is disturbing, though not surprising, that terrorists have succeeded in exploiting our refugee system to come to the U.S. and aid ISIS,” Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said Friday.
Officials announced the arrests on Thursday, in California and Texas; it’s unclear if they’re related.
One of the criminal complaints accused 23-year-old Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, of Sacramento, Calif., of traveling to Syria to fight alongside terrorist organizations and lying to government investigators about it. He originally came to the U.S. from Syria in 2012. Investigators said he discussed plans to return, and wrote that he was "eager to see blood."
Almost simultaneously in Houston, authorities announced the arrest of Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, 24, on charges of attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
Republicans, in Washington and on the campaign trail, seized on the arrests to renew their push for immediate security changes to minimize the risk of ISIS and other fighters exploiting the expanded refugee program.
“While I commend the FBI for their hard work, these arrests heighten my concern that our refugee program is susceptible to exploitation by terrorists,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said in a statement. He touted House-passed legislation that would require top security officials to certify to Congress that every refugee accepted is not a security threat.
Smith proposed going further, and temporarily halting “all admission and resettlement of refugees until we can verify that every single ‘gap’ in our security screening has been addressed.”
Smith also is pushing legislation to protect states that refuse to participate in the resettlement program, and to halt the resettlement entirely until the administration submits reports on safety and costs to Congress.
On the campaign trail, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was quick to cite the arrests in calling for changes.
Speaking in Iowa, he called for a retroactive review of all refugees who have come to the United States from what he calls "high-risk countries."
“We need to systematically examine the national security threats,” the Republican presidential candidate said.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, while saying he could not discuss the specifics of the two latest terror-related cases, on Friday defended the refugee program as secure.
“No one’s allowed to short-circuit this system,” Earnest said, adding that refugees are subject to the “most rigorous screening” of anyone entering the U.S. He said this includes a “careful review of biographic and biometric information,” in-person interviews and other steps.
The Paris and San Bernardino terror attacks last year already had complicated the administration’s plans to take in more refugees, particularly from Syria.
Obama wants to accept at least 10,000 Syrian refugees into the U.S. in 2016 – the decision followed mounting international pressure for the U.S. to do more to shoulder the burden of the refugee crisis that has spilled into countries like Lebanon and Jordan, and nations across Europe. Heart-breaking images of children and families struggling to flee the violence in Syria fueled those calls – but U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have voiced concerns about whether the government can properly vet applicants, particularly from war-torn Syria where effective background checks are difficult to conduct.
Officials at the state level also have tried to fight back against the administration’s plans, and revived their concerns after the two latest arrests.
"This is precisely why I called for a halt to refugees entering the U.S. from countries substantially controlled by terrorists," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. "I once again urge the President to halt the resettlement of these refugees in the United States until there is an effective vetting process that will ensure refugees do not compromise the safety of Americans and Texans."
According to the complaint, Al-Jayab traveled to Syria from Chicago via Turkey in November 2013. He remained in Syria until the following January and fought alongside several terror groups, including Ansar al-Islam, which merged with ISIS in 2014 after Al-Jayab had returned to the United States. He settled in Sacramento following his return to the U.S.
U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said in a statement that while Al-Jayab posed a potential safety threat, “there is no indication that he planned any acts of terrorism in this country.”
In the Texas case, the indictment of Hardan states that beginning in May 2014, Hardan "did unlawfully and knowingly attempt to provide material support and resources ... training, expert advice and assistance, to a foreign terrorist organization, namely the Islamic State of Iraq."
The indictment claims that Hardan, who arrived in the U.S. in 2009 and became a legal permanent resident in 2011, concealed his association with ISIS on his citizenship application in August 2014 and lied about receiving machine gun training when he was interviewed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.