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From Omar to Ocasio-Cortez, outspoken House freshmen creating friction with Dem leaders
A brash batch of freshmen Democrats including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., captured the hearts and imagination of the Democratic Party’s activist wing with an agenda combating climate change and income inequality and beyond. But the influence and attention they are quickly amassing, as well as high-profile stumbles along the way, are creating tensions with party leaders -- which exploded in full public view this week.
After a drumbeat of bipartisan criticism toward Omar over comments she made about the influence of pro-Israel lobbyist groups that were seen as anti-Semitic, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the rest of the House Democratic leadership team issued a remarkable rebuke on Monday, calling her “use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel’s supporters... deeply offensive.”
"We condemn these remarks and we call upon Congresswoman Omar to immediately apologize for these hurtful comments," a statement said.
Omar, who has made a number of controversial comments, "unequivocally" apologized, while reaffirming the "problematic role" of lobbyists. She had initially sparked the controversy by saying Republican anger at her criticism of Israel was “all about the Benjamins baby.”
But the incident is the latest sign of growing tensions between a tight-knit group of female freshmen and the party brass.
Ocasio-Cortez’s launch of the Green New Deal last Thursday turned a once-fringe idea pushed by hard-left activist groups like Justice Democrats into a mainstream party policy. Top 2020 Democrats like Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif, signed on to the non-binding resolution and trumpeted their support for the enormous government overhaul of the nation's economy, transportation and energy usage.
But the far-reaching proposal, formalized in the resolution, hit turbulence as reporters either discovered, or were given by Ocasio-Cortez’s office, two FAQs that included radical ideas such as phasing out air travel and giving economic security to those “unwilling” to work.
After an Ocasio-Cortez policy adviser appeared on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” saying the document was a fake (remarks retweeted by Ocasio-Cortez), her team backtracked. Over the weekend, Saikat Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff, admitted that the FAQ was genuine -- just not ready for public consumption.
“An early draft of a FAQ that was clearly unfinished and that doesn’t represent the GND [Green New Deal] resolution got published to the website by mistake,” Chakrabarti tweeted. “But what’s in the resolution is the GND.”
UNION LEADERS WARN GREEN NEW DEAL MAY LEAD TO POVERTY: 'MEMBERS ARE WORRIED ABOUT PUTTING FOOD ON THE TABLE'
One version was published on Ocasio-Cortez's website before being taken down, while another version was published by NPR.
But the gaffe not only opened up Ocasio-Cortez to mockery but also the 2020 candidates who signed onto the proposal -- even if they didn’t sign onto the FAQs. President Trump said at a rally Monday that it "sounds like a high school term paper that got a low mark."
But while Republicans mocked the Green New Deal, other Democrats were also compelled to push back. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, was asked about the FAQ’s goal of replacing planes with trains, and was not impressed.
“That would be pretty hard for Hawaii,” she laughed.
Last Wednesday ahead of the release, Pelosi appeared to dismiss the plan.
“It will be one of several or maybe many suggestions that we receive,” Pelosi told Politico last week. “The green dream or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is, but they’re for it right?”
Pelosi took a more conciliatory tone on Thursday, saying: “Quite frankly, I haven’t seen it, but I do know it’s enthusiastic and we welcome all the enthusiasm that is out there.”
Meanwhile, one House Democrat told The Washington Post that he and other liberal members have privately expressed their frustration over the botched rollout.
It marks the latest in a series of headline-grabbing moments from the new class of Democrats. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., on the day she was sworn in, said of Trump that "we're going to impeach the motherf---er." Last week, Omar appeared to call for the full defunding of the Department of Homeland Security over the Trump administration's immigration policies, promising "#Not1Dollar for DHS" -- although she later clarified that she wants no further increase of funding for DHS, rather than a cut.
Foreshadowing a possible Democratic battle going forward, Ocasio-Cortez was the sole Democrat last month to vote against a Democratic bill to re-open the government, citing funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Ocasio-Cortez and a number of other Democrats have called for ICE to be abolished.
Strategist Brad Bannon told Fox News that the new wave of energetic, more radical Democrats shows the shift in the electorate from baby boomers to millennials.
“With all her flaws, Ocasio-Cortez is good for the Democratic Party, because she reflects the growing power of millennials in politics, and the tension between her and Pelosi is good for the party,” he said.
KLOBUCHAR DOWNPLAYS GREEN NEW DEAL AS 'ASPIRATIONAL,' ADDRESSES BINDER-TOSSING REPORT
He said, however, that the recent stumbles hurt the party, and that he expects more senior Democrats to try and rein in lawmakers like Ocasio-Cortez.
“I think they will try and rein her in, yes, is the short answer. And basically, I think what they're telling her and her friends is that it’s fine to raise these issues but you have to be careful how you do it,” he said. “If you’re going to introduce a Green New Deal, make sure you’ve dotted the ‘i’s and crossed ‘t’s before you do it.”
But he didn’t doubt Pelosi’s power to use the energy that the freshmen bring to her advantage: "Pelosi is a master legislative tactician and the thing about Pelosi is she knows how to use and channel energy of younger members. I think she looks set to do that.”
Other strategists warned that, with 2020 Democrats under pressure to go along with these policies, it could drag the party into unelectable territory next year.
“If we’re going to be competitive in 2020, the Democrats need a message that is more reflective of the mainstream of the country,” Doug Schoen, a Fox News contributor and former adviser to President Bill Clinton, said.
He went on to say that items like the Green New Deal are “at best aspirational, rather than necessarily prescriptive.”
“It raises doubt in people’s minds about the seriousness and practicality of the Democratic Party,” he said. “Further, some of the anti-Israel and frankly anti-Semitic comments raise doubt about the entire commitment of the Democratic Party to Israel and the sort of traditional values, that approach [to] politics we longtime Democrats have come to expect from our party.”
That stance saw some agreement from moderate Democrats. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., head of the Problem Solvers Caucus, told The Washington Post that the Democratic Party “has to be open and recognize that.”
“And if we don't and insist that everyone takes a hard line view on everything, (a) I don't think that's going to attract votes in the next election, and (b) it puts our majority at risk," he said.
Democratic leaders and centrists are likely to face more pressure to act against the left-wing newcomers going forward -- particularly as Republicans sense an opening. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, with the slightest of grins, told reporters Tuesday that he was planning on bringing the Green New Deal to a vote in the Senate: "Give everybody an opportunity to go on record and see how they feel about the Green New Deal."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Meanwhile, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom" that House Democrats should remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee given her inflammatory remarks on Israel.
"That's something Nancy Pelosi should do immediately," he said.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Gregg Re contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/omar-ocasio-house-freshmen-leaders
Looking good right now...
Aphria Inc. (APHA)
9.42 ^ 0.37 (4.09%)
Forgot the pocket knife though...
If you want to believe AOC...LOL
The basics right???...
LOL so true
Morning P_S_H
You as well...have fun...I'm already there...LOPL
Give her time...
Not there yet...felling pretty miserable but staying at work...it shall pass.
with 53 Repukes in the Senate...if it passes...we can kiss this Country goodbye
Hahaha...good to see the snow blindness hasn't sapped you of your sense of humour...Hmmm slushee...haven't had one in ages...thanks for the idea...by the weekend I might need one...
We're all gonna die! Right?
By Randolph Parrish
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Joan of Arc of the modern left, has made some predictions:
Millennials, and Gen Z, and all these folks that come after us, are looking up and we're like 'the world will end in 12 years if we don't address climate change', and your biggest issue is how are we gonna pay for it?
...and...
Millions and millions will die.
So we all have twelve years to live. To pay off our mortgage. To see the kids off to college (don't worry; they won't graduate, and it won't be their fault; carbon poisoning will get them long before their final exams). We may as well splurge and buy the last new car we'll ever need.
She isn't the first. Before climate change reared its ugly head (or thundercloud) to exterminate us, there was the threat of population explosion:
The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate.
–Paul Erlich, The Population Bomb
I guess we survived the '70s.
Then there were all those aerosol cans destroying the ozone layer — death by radiation and skin cancer. Global cooling resulting in a new and terrible Ice Age. Al Gore proclaimed every other year that we had only ten years left. (Give him credit: he'll eventually be right if he lives long enough.)
The question that is never answered is, Who says?
According to some researchers, the Earth can support a population of 50 billion or more. And fossil fuel, which was supposed to run out sometime soon (50 years, give or take), now, like June, seems to be bustin' out all over.
So who says the end is at hand?
Saying "the end is near" used to be the province of preachers on street corners. They had a specific terminus in mind: the return of the messiah Jesus to reign in Jerusalem.
That's not quite what the global alarmists have in mind. But it does bring out one point: none of the alarmists seems to consider what role a deity (or the Deity) may play in the upcoming demise of our planet.
If the globe is just a hunk of rock hurtling unguided through space, and humans are nothing but another jumbled life form that evolved from the primordial swamp, then our fate isn't very important. We may live or become extinct without affecting any vast eternal purpose. In fact, the sooner our extinction, the better, according to some proponents.
But if there is a Creator (a theory never addressed by the alarmists), then perhaps there are quite different plans for our future.
In the novel The Mudlark (1949), the author puts an address into the mouth of the British Prime Minister, Mr. Disraeli:
But Mr. Malthus ... proved that in time the human race would outstrip the capacity of all the lands of the earth. I am not a born mathematician; I make no attack on this abstraction. But to meet such a condition, if it ever arises, I place my faith in the ingenuity of Man, which I doubt that even Mr. Mathus could have calculated to its ultimate extent; and I place my faith, if the House pleases, in that which confounds all mathematics — the Divine Providence of the Loaves and Fishes.
The screenwriter of a wonderful sword-and-sandal epic of the fifties (Sign of the Pagan, 1954) has Pope Leo reply to Attila the Hun (played to perfection by Jack Palance), when the latter claims that it is written that Rome will fall to him, "Written by whom? Who can write or who can know what is in the mind of God?"
To wit, that seems an appropriate response to all of our modern prophets of the end of humanity and the world: is it so written? Really? How do you know? Who told you? When, and by whom?
Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/02/were_all_gonna_die_right.html#ixzz5fPuyFD8E
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook
McConnell to bring Green New Deal to vote, forcing 2020 Dems to go on record on radical plan
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that the Senate will vote on the Green New Deal – endorsed by nearly all top 2020 Democratic presidential candidates – in an effort to force Democrats to officially go on the record for the radical proposal.
“I’ve noted with great interest the Green New Deal,” McConnell told reporters. “And we’re going to be voting on that in the Senate. We’ll give everybody an opportunity to go on record and see how they feel about the Green New Deal.”
The Green New Deal proposal, concocted by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has been widely mocked following the chaotic rollout and circulation of a now-infamous FAQ document about the plan.
The radical proposal, which aims to transform the U.S. with a New Deal-type of mobilization in a bid to combat climate change, came under scrutiny after revelations that the FAQ document included passages promising a job to “all people of the United States” – including those “unwilling to work” – and essentially getting rid of the air travel industry.
COTTON SAYS MEDIA WAS 'STALIN-LIKE' IN OCASIO-CORTEZ GREEN DEAL COVER UP
“We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast,” the now-deleted document also read.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mcconnell-to-bring-green-new-deal-to-vote-forcing-2020-democrats-to-officially-sign-their-name-onto-radical-plan
But McConnell’s move to bring the plan to a vote on the Senate floor will be a key test for Democratic presidential candidates such as Sens. Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, who are running on the progressive platform in 2020.
Nothing happening in Pre
Another week like yesterday and I'll be out
Damn that Rap Music...it has just piled on you...morning EZ...for what it's worth...I had ice on my window this morning...
Duel 1...18,19
Duel 2...9,22
GLTA
Duel 1...18,19,48
Duel 2...9,12,22
GLTA
Grins...
Excellent now use the over 10 billion confiscated from him for the wall.
Sure hope so...now the Boss is offering me 4 hours to make up so I don't have to use PTO...Hmmmm time away from Di to make up hours...Nahhhhh
Hey it's always been a hit here...except with my Ex...LOL
Looking better...now not far to go...but promise me...if I don't get out at about 13.50-14.00 kick my azz
I am thanks...allergies kicking in big time...and headache back...
(( I'm just going to shut up ))
ROFLMAO...I'll believe that when I see it...and I know how it's going with Stuffie and went with my Mom...and before that my FIL...he had it on his head...
Grrr was getting error when I tried to get in
Actually quite scary whe you think about it...it was suggested I get a shot when Mom had Shingles but did I??...hell no...need to think about this more...
I am...thanks...
And then there is...Trust no one...
Not sure what it was...all I had eaten was two hard boiled eggs and coffee...not a pretty sight...top of my list as well...probably lost a few pounds yesterday though...LOL
Sooo yo saying the indoor plumbing isn't working??
I'm feeling guilty about our good weather here...it will get cold tonight (For us) ...down to 35...then up to 70 soon for a few days...hang in there buddy...if it doesn't get better soon...I'll come up there and we go hunting for...Phil
Hope you don't have to get out in it...you do have one of those 30' retractable leashes for Lily right??
You can stay in the house and still let her do her stuff
Yes at work now...feeling much better thank you.
From my weather radar it looks like you have light snow all around you...looks like Yaktrax time for you...hope you don't have to be anywhere...
Sorry for my disappearance yesterday...I got sick at work...not of work but at work ...vomiting and severe headache...so went home...crackers and a nap before DiTime...and then...Time to Die...stretched out on the recliner coach and crashed...
Hope you hunkered down and both Ms EZ and Lily are safe...well you too...just saying...good morning
Happy belated Birthday TH...I'll sing you the family birthday song I made up...the kids loved it...
Happy Birthday...Oh Happy Birthday
Grief misery and despair...
People dying everywhere
Happy Birthday...Oh Happy Birthday
Your one year closer to.............DEATH
Happy Birthday
Sounds like you had a great weekend...glad the Church is still intact
We have a lot to be grateful for...woot woot
Dude...haven't had time to breathe since I started taking calls...WTF???...peeps think it's cold out??...LOL
I'll look at it when I get a chance today...hope it is better than the last news...
Hmmm why not Detroit built??
And not too long before it is replacing carriers on the beat...
Three assembly facilities in China will employ about 200 people, Wang said. The one planned for Madison Heights should need about 50 by the end of the year. He expects to begin hiring late in the second quarter. The company will hold a job fair. You can get information at www.4-bot.com and info@4-bot.com.
NOW make an offer for APHA...
Just save some time and send it to me please...
Well done yesterday
Morning K...just saying...
President Trump poked fun at Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Sunday for vowing to tackle climate change as she kicked off her 2020 presidential campaign in a snowy, freezing Minneapolis park.
"Well, it happened again," Trump wrote on Twitter Sunday evening. "Amy Klobuchar announced that she is running for President, talking proudly of fighting global warming while standing in a virtual blizzard of snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Bad timing. By the end of her speech she looked like a Snowman(woman)!"
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-pokes-fun-klobuchar-climate-change-stance-as-she-announces-candidacy-in-snow