Establishment Republicans Cartoon

Republicans vow no vote, hearing on Obama Supreme Court pick

Key Republican senators vowed Tuesday not to vote or even hold a hearing on any Supreme Court nominee by President Obama to fill the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia -- a move likely to put the replacement process in a holding pattern, for now. 
Though some GOP lawmakers appeared to waver in recent days in their opposition to considering a nominee, party leaders largely united Tuesday.
First, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his party will not permit a vote. Then, every GOP member of the Senate Judiciary Committee penned a letter pledging not to even hold a hearing until the next president is sworn into office.
"[W]e wish to inform you of our intention to exercise our constitutional authority to withhold consent on any nominee to the Supreme Court submitted by this President to fill Justice Scalia’s vacancy,” they wrote in the letter to McConnell.
“Because our decision is based on constitutional principle and born of a necessity to protect the will of the American people, this Committee will not hold hearings on any Supreme Court nominee until after our next President is sworn in on January 20, 2017.”
When Republicans might ease their opposition is unclear. While the Judiciary Committee members want to wait until January, McConnell said Republicans won’t permit a vote on a nominee but would “revisit the matter” after November.
While McConnell acknowledged Obama can nominate a replacement, he said Republicans have a right to nix it -- and indicated he was also inclined to refuse a courtesy meeting with a nominee.
“Presidents have a right to nominate just as the Senate has its constitutional right to provide or withhold consent," the Majority Leader said in a speech on the Senate floor. "In this case, the Senate will withhold it."
“No hearing, no vote,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. told reporters after a meeting with McConnell.
"We believe the American people need to decide who is going to make this appointment rather than a lame-duck president," said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, also a member of the committee.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest called the Republicans' stance "unprecedented" but seemed to hold out hope that the Senate could hold hearings, pointing to a handful of lawmakers he said had expressed a willingness.
Democrats would appear to have few options. One of them, though, is for Democrats to try to force a floor vote on a nominee. It would still take 60 votes, however, to even proceed down that path, a steep climb considering Democrats have just 46 seats.
Republicans were fueled in part Tuesday by past remarks from Democrats who appeared to take a similar stance.
In McConnell's speech, the GOP Senate leader cited a 1992 speech by Vice President Joe Biden, who was then a Delaware senator, in which he said “once the political season is underway and it is, action on a Supreme Court nomination must be put off until after the election campaign is over.”
Although Biden was talking only hypothetically and there was no vacancy in 1992, Republicans have pointed to the speech as evidence of Democrats’ hypocrisy, and accused Biden of changing his tune depending on which party occupies the White House.
Scalia’s death on Feb. 13 has sparked a major political firestorm over whether Obama’s nominee for the seat on the court should even be considered with Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. accusing McConnell of taking his cue from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump – who told a debate audience the chamber should “delay, delay, delay.”

Nevada entrance polls show Trump winner among Hispanics

Hispanic voters in Nevada solidly backed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Tuesday night's Nevada caucuses, Fox News entrance polls showed. 
Despite Trump's hardline stance on immigration, especially illegal immigration, entrance polls found that the billionaire was supported by 45 percent of Hispanic voters. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was supported by 28 percent of Hispanic voters, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz garnered 18 percent of the Hispanic vote.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich earned 4 percent of the Hispanic vote, while retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson received 3 percent.
"You know what I really am happy about, because I've been saying it for a long time," Trump told supporters in his victory speech early Wednesday. "46 percent with the Hispanics ... number one with Hispanics!"
Despite the impressive-seeming result, Hispanic voters only made up 8 percent of Republican caucus-goers in Nevada. By contrast, 19 percent of caucus-goers in Saturday's Democratic contest were Hispanic.
The Fox News entrance poll was comprised of surveys of 1,573 Republican voters at 25 precincts across Nevada.

Federal court ruling could pave way for Clinton subpoena in email case

A federal court ruled on Tuesday that a watchdog group could request testimony from Hillary Clinton’s State Department aides in connection with her private email server, a decision that could eventually lead to a subpoena for Hillary Clinton.
D.C. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan granted a motion for discovery filed by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that is suing the U.S. State Department for records related to Clinton’s time as secretary of state.
Judicial Watch is seeking information about whether Clinton and her aides intentionally dodged public records laws by using a private email server. The organization said it would ask to depose former State Department officials as part of the discovery process.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, called the judge’s decision “a major victory for the public’s right to know the truth about Hillary Clinton’s email system.” He also said it may eventually be necessary for Clinton to testify.
“Our proposed discovery, which will require court approval, will include testimony of current and former officials of the State Department,” said Fitton. “While Mrs. Clinton’s testimony may not be required initially, it may happen that her testimony is necessary for the Court to resolve the legal issues about her unprecedented email practices.”

Trump wins Nevada GOP Caucus

Donald Trump dominated once again Tuesday night, scoring what Fox News projects to be a convincing victory in the Nevada Republican Caucus — a third straight win that builds upon his momentum heading into Super Tuesday and delivers a sharp warning to his rivals and the party establishment that time may be running out to slow his march to the nomination.
The battle was still under way for second place. Incoming returns show Florida Sen. Marco Rubio holding an edge over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, but it was too early to call.
With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Trump led with 45 percent, followed by Rubio at 23 percent and Cruz at 21 percent.
Far behind are retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Before a cheering crowd of supporters in Las Vegas, Trump teased those who predicted he wouldn’t do well in this contest and others.
“Now we’re winning, winning, winning,” Trump said. “Soon, the country is going to start winning, winning, winning.”
This is the third win in a row for Trump, who earlier this month won South Carolina and New Hampshire -- after placing second in Iowa. His winning streak gives him significant momentum as he heads into Super Tuesday next week, the biggest prize of the campaign so far.
More than a dozen states hold primaries or caucuses that day, awarding nearly 600 delegates – or more than four times the number that have been awarded in the first four states combined.
Entrance polls in Nevada showed Trump was buoyed in the state by support from a range of groups, including Hispanics and evangelicals. And he dominated among caucus-goers saying they prefer an outsider.
As Trump builds his base, Rubio and Cruz are still fighting to cut into Trump's lead, with diminishing opportunities to do so.
Rubio has enjoyed some momentum after his second-place finish Saturday in the South Carolina primary. But even as he wins over endorsements from "establishment" figures, the Florida senator has yet to notch his first election victory, raising continuing doubts over whether he could be a successful Trump alternative.
He did get one high-powered vote on Tuesday, though -- a spokeswoman said Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval cast his ballot for Rubio.
Cruz, meanwhile, is trying to shake doubts about his campaign and recover after a tough stretch where his campaign repeatedly was accused of "dirty tricks" -- and he fired his top spokesman over one of the incidents.
Cruz, at his watch party in Vegas, maintained he’s still the best candidate to go up against Trump – and the Democratic nominee. In a knock at Rubio, he noted only two candidates, him and Trump, have won one of the first three contests and said voters will have a “clear choice” next Tuesday.
“One week from today will be the most important night of this campaign,” Cruz said.
Cruz won the Iowa caucuses, but has struggled to follow that up since. He finished third in South Carolina, despite an electorate full of the kind of evangelical voters who thus far have carried his campaign.
Trump charged into Nevada with unrelenting attacks on Cruz’s character.
"There's something wrong with this guy," Trump said at a Las Vegas rally Monday night. On Tuesday, he called Cruz a "soft, weak, little baby" who lies.
Polls had shown him leading in the state, but polling in the state is sparse and the contest is often unpredictable. Mitt Romney won the last two GOP caucuses in Nevada.
Nevada’s voting took place in schools, community centers and places of worship across the state. There were some reports of long lines and even caucus volunteers wearing campaign attire – specifically pro-Trump.
But state Republican officials said it’s “not against the rules for volunteers to wear candidate gear.” Further, one GOP official told reporters looking at complaints on Twitter to “take a deep breath,” saying the state was looking at high turnout and enthusiasm.
The caucus marked the first Republican election in the West, and the fourth of the campaign.
Trump's rivals concede they are running out of time to take him on. The election calendar suggests that if the New York billionaire's rivals don't slow him by mid-March, they may not ever. Trump swept all of South Carolina's 50 delegates, giving him a total of 67 compared to Cruz and Rubio who had 11 and 10, respectively, heading into Nevada.
Nevada’s 30 delegates will be awarded to candidates in proportion to their share of the statewide vote so long as they earn at least 3.33 percent.
Rubio and Cruz have been laying into each other viciously in recent days, an indication they know Trump can be slowed only if one of them is eliminated.
Rubio -- who finished third in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire -- had already left Nevada, preferring to campaign in Minnesota and Michigan. In recent days, he has also picked up support from such Republican establishment heavyweights as Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch.
"We have incredible room to grow," Rubio told reporters during a Monday night news conference on his campaign plane.

Black Panther Cartoon

Cruz fires top campaign spokesman over Rubio Bible video

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Monday he’s fired campaign communications director Rick Tyler, after his top spokesman promoted a video that wrongly depicted Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as trash-talking the Bible. 
The Texas senator announced that he's asked for the resignation at a press conference Monday afternoon.
“We are not a campaign that is going to question the faith of another candidate. Even if it was true, our campaign should not have sent it. That’s why I’ve asked for Rick Tyler’s resignation,” Cruz said in Nevada, ahead of the state's GOP caucuses on Tuesday. “The standards of conduct in this campaign have been made absolutely clear.”
Tyler originally had linked to a story showing a video of Rubio walking by a Cruz staffer and Cruz’s father Rafael, who were reading the Bible in a hotel lobby. The original subtitles on the video showed Rubio saying to the staffer, “Got a good book there, not many answers in it.”
But after Tyler linked to the story, Rubio communications director Alex Conant tweeted out the same video with what he says are the correct subtitles -- and they tell a very different story.
In them, Rubio actually says of the Bible, “All the answers are in there.”
Conant called the move “another dirty trick” by the Cruz campaign.
Cruz on Monday said it was a “grave error in judgment” – but at the same time accused Rubio of exploiting the controversy for political advantage and to distract from his own record.
“We are going to stay focused on issues and substance and record,” he said.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, delighted in the news, taking to Twitter to slam the “dirty tricks”
“Ted Cruz has now apologized to Marco Rubio and Ben Carson for fraud and dirty tricks. No wonder he has lost Evangelical support!” Trump tweeted.
Rubio also had criticized the Cruz campaign last week for using a doctored image of Rubio supposedly shaking hands with President Obama. This, after the Cruz campaign also faced accusations of spreading false rumors on Iowa caucus night that Ben Carson was dropping out -- when in fact Carson had only announced he was going to Florida to pick up some fresh clothes.
Cruz has described the Iowa caucus incident as a simple mistake, blaming it on a media report regarding Carson's travel plans.
Tyler, meanwhile, told Fox News earlier Monday that he made a mistake.
"I posted in haste, I should not have done it," Tyler told Fox News' Martha MacCallum. "It was a mistake and I would not knowingly post something I knew to be false."
Tyler also apologized Sunday on Facebook, noting the Cruz staffer in the video said Rubio made a “friendly and appropriate remark.” (The source of the original report, The Daily Pennsylvanian, has nevertheless stuck by its original transcript of Rubio's remarks.)
Tyler is a long-time political strategist. He served as spokesman for Newt Gingrich for 12 years, and also worked on political campaigns for former Rep. Ron Paul and former Rep. Todd Akin.

Georgia Supreme Court hears KKK bid to 'Adopt-A-Highway'

Does the Ku Klux Klan have a constitutional right to "adopt a highway"?
That question was at the center of a high-profile battle Monday before the Georgia Supreme Court, where the Klan is challenging the state's refusal to let it participate in the popular Adopt-A-Highway program.
The hate group, with the American Civil Liberties Union by its side, is casting its bid as a free speech issue.
“The government cannot be a censor of free speech,” Alan Berger, an attorney for the International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, said.
But the Georgia Department of Transportation has resisted the KKK's efforts ever since 2012 to join the program.
For its part, GDOT maintains it should be allowed to exclude certain groups from the program -- and stands by its claim that the KKK’s “long rooted history of civil disturbance” would “cause a significant public concern.”
Monday’s arguments centered around Georgia's claim of so-called sovereign immunity – a legal doctrine that shields the state from civil suit or criminal prosecution. The state had appealed a lower court decision by Judge Shawn LaGrua, who ruled Georgia was not protected against the KKK suit because the group claimed the discrimination involved a violation of its constitutional rights.
“The state denied the application, not because of safety hazard or some other compelling government interest, but because the state disagrees with what the KKK represents,” Maya Dillard Smith, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, told FoxNews.com. “It is precisely this kind of government action the Constitution prohibits.”
While Smith admits that many people who hear about the case have a “visceral reaction” to it, she warns its outcome could have a dangerous ripple effect.
“What may seem as chipping away only at the KKK’s free speech right, will, in fact, open Pandora’s box and create legal precedent that justifies curtailing the free speech rights of religious evangelicals, abortion protestors and even Black Lives Matter supporters and opponents,” she said.
A judgment is not expected for a couple of months, Berger told FoxNews.com following Monday's oral arguments. In the meantime, GDOT has suspended Adopt-a-Highway applications.
This isn’t the first time a state has gone rounds with the white supremacist group.
In 1994, Missouri tried to block the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan from participating in its Adopt-A-Highway program.
The group -- which excludes anyone who is black, Jewish, Mexican or Asian -- had requested a half-mile section of road on Interstate 55, one of the routes that had been used to bus black students to school as part of desegregation efforts near St. Louis.
The state denied the KKK’s request.
In that case, lawyers for the state unsuccessfully argued that it had a right to control its own speech and that allowing the Klan to participate would violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s ban on racial discrimination in federally funded programs.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case, thereby forcing the state to allow the group to take part in its “Adopt-A-Highway” program. However, the state later kicked the group out, saying it failed to do its job and pick up the litter on its adopted stretch of highway.
In 2009, the National Socialist movement, a neo-Nazi group, tried to adopt another stretch of road in Missouri. In response, officials renamed the part of the highway after Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a man had who fled Nazi Germany and later became a popular civil rights advocate.
In 2005, two green signs popped up on a rural road in Oregon that seemed to suggest the American Nazi Party was participating in that state’s Adopt-A-Highway program. Complaints poured in after the signs were featured on a local newscast. One sign was even vandalized.
In an email to The Spokesman-Review, the group’s leader Rocky Suhayda denied involvement in the program, saying the group “would never pick up garbage along a highway in this toilet-bowl of a country.”