Full statement on Trump declining to participate in Fox News/Google Debate

As many of our viewers know, FOX News is hosting a sanctioned debate in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday night, three days before the first votes of the 2016 election are cast in the Iowa Caucus. Donald Trump is refusing to debate seven of his fellow presidential candidates on stage that night, which is near unprecedented.
We’re not sure how Iowans are going to feel about him walking away from them at the last minute, but it should be clear to the American public by now that this is rooted in one thing – Megyn Kelly, whom he has viciously attacked since August and has now spent four days demanding be removed from the debate stage. Capitulating to politicians’ ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards, as do threats, including the one leveled by Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski toward Megyn Kelly.
In a call on Saturday with a FOX News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a ‘rough couple of days after that last debate’ and he ‘would hate to have her go through that again.’ Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees.
Trump is still welcome at Thursday night’s debate and will be treated fairly, just as he has been during his 132 appearances on FOX News & FOX Business, but he can’t dictate the moderators or the questions.

Trump stands by debate boycott decision, announces veterans event

Donald Trump stuck by his decision to skip the upcoming Fox News/Google presidential primary debate, claiming in an interview Wednesday night with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that he had been “used” and mistreated. 
“I don’t like being taken advantage of,” the billionaire businessman and Republican primary front-runner said, repeatedly telling O'Reilly that he'll instead hold a veterans event at Drake University while his GOP rivals debate.
Trump has taken heat from conservative commentators as well as his Republican primary rivals for his decision to boycott the Thursday night debate. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz earlier said that if Trump is “afraid” to face questions, “that does not bode well for what kind of commander-in-chief you'd make.” Cruz also challenged Trump to a one-on-one debate, a suggestion Trump later brushed aside with a sarcastic tweet referencing Cruz's Canadian birth.
Trump rejected his rivals'  criticism, insisting he’s won every debate to date and is willing to do more going forward.
“I’ll do other debates,” he told O'Reilly, but then complained that, “We’re going to go on forever with these debates.”
Despite O'Reilly's attempt to convince Trump to reconsider his debate boycott, Trump held fast to his decision while insisting, “I’m not walking away.”
The Republican candidate, meanwhile, announced the details of an alternative event he plans to host Thursday night, to raise money for veterans groups. He said he’ll host the event, being described as a “special event to benefit veterans organizations,” at Drake University in Des Moines.
Late Wedneday night, super PAC “Keep the Promise” — which supports Ted Cruz — offered to contribute $1.5 million to veterans’ charities if Trump accepts Cruz’s one-on-one debate challenge. There was no immediate response from the Trump campaign.
Trump’s comments are the latest in a fast-paced volley of accusations surrounding the upcoming debate.
For days, Trump has revived his criticism of one of the moderators, Fox News host Megyn Kelly, alleging that she had treated him unfairly at the Fox News debate in August.
That led to an exchange of media statements between Trump and Fox News representatives, after which Trump decided Tuesday night to boycott. Trump pointed to those media statements, as well, in explaining his decision not to attend Thursday’s debate.
He has continued to criticize both Kelly and Fox News itself in the wake of his decision.
Early Wednesday morning, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the boycott had “nothing to do with Megyn Kelly.” But a half-hour later, Trump again went after Kelly on Twitter, calling her a “lightweight reporter.” And, he continued his attacks during his appearance on "O'Reilly."
Whether Trump’s decision helps or hurts his campaign in Iowa and beyond remains to be seen.
Other candidates suggested Trump’s absence might help give the rest of those on stage a better chance to be heard.
“It’ll give us more time to talk,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told Fox News. “And that’ll be good for me and good for the other people on the stage.”
Christie, too, ripped Trump for his decision, saying: “You gotta show up.”
Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes has defended Megyn Kelly amid the criticism from Trump, saying she’ll “absolutely be on the debate stage.”
Fox News also issued a statement after Trump’s decision saying Lewandowski had threatened to ramp up the attacks.
“In a call on Saturday with a FOX News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a ‘rough couple of days after that last debate’ and he ‘would hate to have her go through that again,’” the Fox News statement said late Tuesday.
“Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees,” the statement added.
The Fox News/Google prime-time debate is set for Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa, at 9 p.m. ET – the same time as Trump’s veterans event.
Addressing the matter on “The Kelly File” Tuesday night, Kelly said: “I’ll be there. … The debate will go on with or without Mr. Trump.”

Tax Sells? Sanders, Clinton both pitching tax hikes in Dem primary

Benjamin Franklin is credited with the observation that nothing is certain “except death and taxes.”
Bernie Sanders would probably agree, and then some. In an election season marked by populist anger, his plan to raise at least $19.58 trillion in higher taxes over 10 years -- almost 20 times the tax hikes Hillary Clinton proposes -- has not dulled his rise.
And, despite the anti-tax fervor of the Tea Party wave a few years ago, neither Democratic candidate seems shy about pushing an aggressive tax plan in their presidential primary battle.
"Raising taxes in the Democratic primary is a vote winner," said Grover Norquist, of the anti-tax Americans for Tax Reform.
Sanders, for one, was defiant about his proposed tax hikes at a CNN town hall on Monday.
"I start off with the premise that in the last 30 years ... there's been a massive redistribution of wealth in this country," Sanders said. "It's gone from working families, trillions of dollars, to the top one-tenth of 1 percent."
Sanders is beating Clinton by nearly 15 percentage points in New Hampshire, and is virtually tied with her in Iowa, in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average. His popularity largely is attributable to his message about the need for wealth redistribution.
The Vermont senator seemingly has tapped into a tried-and-true socialist formula in times of economic hardship -- blaming private-sector corporations and the wealthy. "What this campaign is about is to say to profitable corporations who, in some years don't pay a nickel in taxes, to the wealthiest people in this country who sometimes have an effective tax rate lower than truck drivers or nurses, yes, you are going to start paying your fair share of taxes," he said.
That message especially rings true for young Democrats, a demographic group burdened with college debt and poor job prospects, and heavily represented in the public sector.
"So much of the Democratic activist base are government employees or people who get government grants,” Norquist explained. “So when he talks about raising taxes, his enthusiasts ... are hearing they will not be paying higher taxes. They think they will be getting more money."
Clinton has steered clear of a broad-based policy to increase taxes on the middle class, while partially tapping into Sanders’ class warfare rhetoric. In a January Democratic debate, she tried to explain their distinctions on taxes: "I'm the only candidate standing here tonight who has said I will not raise taxes on the middle class. I want to raise incomes, not taxes, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that the wealthy pay for debt free tuition, for child care, for paid family leave."
Kyle Pomerleau, of the Tax Foundation, said Clinton’s proposals are “closer to what the Obama administration has proposed."
"More targeted higher-end tax increases on investment income, also high-income earners rather than broad tax increases for all Americans," he said.
Here’s how the plans stack up.
Among Clinton’s proposals:

• The New College Compact to limit the cost and debt of a college education. Costing $350 billion over 10 years, she says it would be paid for by limiting certain tax breaks for high-income taxpayers.
• A $275 billion infrastructure plan, paid for through business tax reforms.
• Clinton also promises to expand ObamaCare. She wants to lower co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses, as well as reduce the cost of prescription drugs. But she has not spelled out specifically how such programs would be paid for.

Among Sanders’ tax proposals, many meant to help pay for a government-run health care system that replaces ObamaCare:

• Business health care premium tax: $6.3 trillion over 10 years
• Ending tax-free status of employer health insurance: $3.1 trillion
• Wall Street speculation tax: $3 trillion
• Individual health care premium tax: $2.1 trillion
• Social Security tax hike: $1.2 trillion
• Marginal income tax rate increase: $1.1 trillion
• Corporate offshore income tax: $1 trillion
• Capital gains tax hike: $920 billion
• Payroll tax hike: $319 billion
• Estate tax: $243 billion
• Ending tax deductions: $150 billion
• Energy tax: $135 billion
• Carried interest tax: $15.6 billion

Sanders says that while taxes would rise under his plan, health costs would drop.
Sanders’ home state of Vermont also had such a plan  for a state-run, single-payer system, but Gov. Peter Shumlin shelved it in late 2014 after learning how much it would cost in new taxes.

Megyn Kelly Cartoon

Wounded Warrior Project reportedly accused of wasting donor money

The charity for wounded veterans, the Wounded Warrior Project, is facing accusations of using donor money toward excessive spending on conferences and parties instead of on recovery programs, according to a CBS News report. 
Army Staff Sergeant Erick Millette, who returned from Iraq in 2006 with a bronze star and a purple heart, told CBS News he admired the charity’s work and took a job with the group in 2014 but quit after two years.
"Their mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors, but what the public doesn't see is how they spend their money," he told CBS News.
Millette said he witnessed lavish spending on staff, with big “catered” parties.
"Going to a nice fancy restaurant is not team building. Staying at a lavish hotel at the beach here in Jacksonville, and requiring staff that lives in the area to stay at the hotel is not team building," he told CBS News.
According to the charity's tax forms obtained by CBS News, spending on conferences and meetings went from $1.7 million in 2010, to $26 million in 2014, which is the same amount the group spends on combat stress recovery.
Two former of employees, who were so fearful of retaliation they asked that CBS News not show their faces on camera, said spending has skyrocketed since Steven Nardizzi took over as CEO in 2009, pointing to the 2014 annual meeting at a luxury resort in Colorado Springs.
"He rappelled down the side of a building at one of the all hands events. He's come in on a Segway, he's come in on a horse,” one employee told CBS News.
About 500 staff members attended the four-day conference in Colorado, which CBS News reported cost about $3 million.
Wounded Warrior Project declined CBS News' interview requests for Nardizzi, but instead sent Director of Alumni and a recipient of their services, Captain Ryan Kules, who denied there was excessive spending on conferences.
"It's the best use of donor dollars to ensure we are providing programs and services to our warriors and families at the highest quality," he said.
Kules added the charity did not spend $3 million on the Colorado conference, but he was not there and was unable to say what it did cost. He also told CBS News that the charity does not spend money on alcohol or engages in any other kind of excessive spending.

Full statement on Trump declining to participate in Fox News/Google Debate

If Trump is not going to be there I will probably not watch it. The ones that do will find it Boring.

As many of our viewers know, FOX News is hosting a sanctioned debate in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday night, three days before the first votes of the 2016 election are cast in the Iowa Caucus. Donald Trump is refusing to debate seven of his fellow presidential candidates on stage that night, which is near unprecedented.
We’re not sure how Iowans are going to feel about him walking away from them at the last minute, but it should be clear to the American public by now that this is rooted in one thing – Megyn Kelly, whom he has viciously attacked since August and has now spent four days demanding be removed from the debate stage. Capitulating to politicians’ ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards, as do threats, including the one leveled by Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski toward Megyn Kelly.
In a call on Saturday with a FOX News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a ‘rough couple of days after that last debate’ and he ‘would hate to have her go through that again.’ Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees.
Trump is still welcome at Thursday night’s debate and will be treated fairly, just as he has been during his 132 appearances on FOX News & FOX Business, but he can’t dictate the moderators or the questions.

Trump campaign says candidate won’t participate in Fox News/Google debate

Donald Trump’s campaign said Tuesday night that the Republican primary front-runner does not plan to participate in the upcoming Fox News/Google debate, shortly after the debate lineup was announced. 
Trump’s campaign confirmed the decision to Fox News.
The Republican presidential candidate already had said he probably would not be going, accusing Fox News of “playing games” with him. Trump has cited concerns with one of the debate moderators, Megyn Kelly – but apparently made his decision not to attend following press statements from Fox News.
Trump, though, took heat for his decision not to attend from his closest rival in the polls, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who accused Trump of being "afraid of Megyn Kelly."
“If Donald is afraid to defend his record, it speaks volumes,” Cruz said in a radio interview with Mark Levin, challenging Trump to a one-on-one debate.
The Fox News/Google debate is set for this Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa. It would mark the first GOP presidential primary debate that Trump has not attended.
His campaign put out a statement Tuesday night confirming the candidate “will not be participating in the FOX News debate and will instead host an event in Iowa to raise money for the Veterans and Wounded Warriors.”
Addressing the matter on “The Kelly File,” Kelly later said: “I’ll be there. … The debate will go on with or without Mr. Trump.”
Despite his complaints, he had easily qualified as one of the eight candidates in the prime-time event.
Fox News announced the candidate lineup for that debate earlier Tuesday evening, and the qualifying participants were:
Trump; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; Ohio Gov. John Kasich; and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
The participants qualifying for the earlier, 7 p.m. ET debate were:
Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum; and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.
The lineup reflects a polling boost for Paul, who did not qualify for the most recent Fox Business Network prime-time debate earlier this month, and declined to participate in that program’s evening event.
This time, Paul suggested he’ll attend, saying the campaign is “very excited” about qualifying for the main stage.
Meanwhile, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes has defended Megyn Kelly amid the criticism from Trump. He issued a statement earlier to The Washington Post saying, “Megyn Kelly is an excellent journalist, and the entire network stands behind her. She will absolutely be on the debate stage on Thursday night."
Megyn Kelly has withstood Trump’s eruptions since the August debate, when he accused her of purposely attacking him. As part of Trump’s explanation for not participating in Thursday’s debate he called the “Kelly File” host a “lightweight” and “third-rate reporter.”
Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski even threatened to ramp up the vicious verbal attacks Trump has repeated since the first August debate.
“In a call on Saturday with a FOX News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a ‘rough couple of days after that last debate’ and he ‘would hate to have her go through that again,’” a Fox News statement said late Tuesday.
“Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees,” the statement added.
READ THE FOX NEWS STATEMENT ON TRUMP DECLINING TO PARTICIPATE IN FOX NEWS/GOOGLE DEBATE
Trump, speaking earlier in Iowa, said he’d probably raise money for veterans instead of doing the event. And speaking with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Trump said he “didn’t like the press releases Fox put out.”
The Fox News/Google debate in Des Moines this Thursday will be the candidates’ last before next week’s Iowa caucuses – which kicks off the Republican presidential nominating process.
In the run-up, the candidates are ramping up their ad spending and shoe-leather campaigning, while going after each other in the process.
After clashing at the most recent GOP debate, Iowa front-runners Trump and Cruz have only turned up their attacks in recent days – particularly as Trump regains his Iowa lead over Cruz in most polls. The race, though, remains close. The latest Quinnipiac University poll showed Trump leading Cruz just 31-29 percent in Iowa.
Cruz said Tuesday that “no state is a must-win for us.” But the reality is his campaign is fighting hard for an Iowa victory, as Trump maintains a huge polling lead in the next contest: the New Hampshire primary.
One new ad from a Cruz-supporting super PAC is accusing Trump of being aligned with Democrats on “government-run health care.” Another from the Cruz campaign returns to the well of criticizing Trump’s “New York values,” while playing a clip of him saying, “How stupid are the people of Iowa?”
Trump, meanwhile, called Cruz a “liar” in an MSNBC interview Tuesday.
“Nobody likes him,” Trump said, attempting to draw a contrast with his own business experience by saying Cruz can’t make a deal with anybody.
The debate on Thursday will be moderated by Fox News anchors Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace.
The candidate lineup was decided based on the results of national, New Hampshire and Iowa polling – released before 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
To qualify for the prime-time debate, a candidate had to place in the top six in an average of recent national polls, or in the top five in an average of recent Iowa or New Hampshire polls. ‎The evening debate features other candidates who received a minimum 1 percent in at least one recent national poll.

Oregon militia leader Ammon Bundy, 7 others arrested after gunfight kills 1, injures 1

The leader of a group of armed protesters who had occupied a federal wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon for 24 days was arrested along with four others Tuesday after a traffic stop prompted gunfire that left one person dead and another injured.
The FBI and Oregon State Police arrested Ammon Bundy, 40, his brother Ryan, 43, Brian Cavalier, 44, Shawna Cox, 59, and Ryan Payne, 32, at around 4:25 p.m. local time on U.S. Highway 395.
Three other people were arrested separately. The FBI said Joseph O'Shaughnessy, 45, and Peter Santilli, 50, were arrested in the nearby town of Burns, Ore. Hours later, authorities said Jon Ritzheimer, 32, turned himself into the Peoria, Ariz. police department.
The FBI said all eight face a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats.
Neither the FBI nor Oregon State Police released details about what set off the gunfire at the traffic stop. One of those arrested, described only as a man, suffered non-life-threatening wounds and was treated at a hospital, the agencies said.
Another man "who was a subject of a federal probable cause arrest" was killed in the shootout. The Oregonian reported that the deceased man was 55-year-old Robert Finicum. The paper cited Finicum's daughter in making the identification. Authorities said no other information about the deceased would be released pending formal identification by the local medical examiner's office.
The protesters were heading to a public meeting in the town of John Day, about 70 miles north of Burns, to address local residents about the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge when the traffic stop took place, law enforcement officials told Fox News.
The Oregonian newspaper reported several hundred people had gathered at the John Day Senior Center on Tuesday evening and were told the "guest speakers" would not be appearing.
The Harney County Hospital in Burns was placed on lockdown out of concern that the protesters may cause a disturbance there.
Ammon Bundy's group, calling itself the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, seized the refuge's headquarters on Jan. 2 in protest of what they viewed as onerous federal land restrictions, as well as the prison sentences of two local ranchers convicted of setting fires. Law enforcement officers converged on the wildlife refuge after the arrests and were expected to remain at the site throughout the night; it was unclear how many people, if any, remained in the buildings.
Ammon and Ryan Bundy are the sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a high-profile 2014 standoff with the government over grazing rights.
Many residents of Harney County, where the refuge is located, have been among those demanding that Bundy leave. Many sympathize with his criticism of federal land management policies of public lands but opposed the refuge takeover. They feared violence could erupt.
Ammon Bundy recently had begun traveling into Grant County to try to drum up more sympathy for his cause.
"I am pleased that the FBI has listened to the concerns of the local community and responded to the illegal activity occurring in Harney County by outside extremists," Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a written statement. "The leaders of this group are now in custody and I hope that the remaining individuals occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge will peacefully surrender so this community can begin to heal the deep wounds that this illegal activity has created over the last month."
The state police said it would investigate the officer-involved shooting, with help from the Deschutes County Major Incident Team and the Harney County District Attorney's Office.