Freddie Stubbs
Freddie Stubbs's JournalSenate leaders nearing trade deal
Source: The Hill
Senate Finance Committee leaders said Thursday they were inching closer to an agreement on legislation that will speed trade deals through Congress.
Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the panel’s top Democrat, each said they were nearing completion of months of tough negotiations to produce a trade promotion authority bill.
“We’re not quite there but will be very soon,” Hatch said ahead of the start of a committee hearing Thursday morning.
Wyden concurred, saying that these had been “very challenging negotiations but I do believe we are close to finding common ground.”
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/trade/239058-senate-leaders-nearing-trade-deal
Kane fires aide who testified in leak probe
HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane on Wednesday fired a top aide who testified last year in the leak investigation that led a grand jury to recommend criminal charges against her.
Kane fired James Barker, the chief deputy attorney general for appeals and legal services, her office confirmed. He was escorted out of the office by agents.
Kane's spokeswoman, Carolyn Myers, could not explain the reason for the dismissal, but said Barker's ouster had "absolutely nothing" to do with his testimony in the leak case. She said it was part of a "restructuring" of the office's criminal division, but did not explain what that entailed.
Reached for comment Wednesday night, Barker, 53, said he was given "no reason whatsoever" for his firing. "I didn't do anything wrong," he said, adding: "I had no idea this was coming, and any notion of a restructuring within the criminal law division is news to me." He would not elaborate.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20150409_Kane_fires_aide_who_testified_in_leak_probe.html#81KO7xCJO5xCsTLU.99
‘Decertify’ liberal group bashing Patrick Murphy, St. Lucie County Democratic chair urges
Source: Palm Beach Post
There’s a nasty fight within the Florida Democratic Party over Rep. Patrick Murphy‘s establishment-backed 2016 U.S. Senate bid and an official party organization that has been attacking Murphy and urging outspoken liberal Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando to get in the race.
The Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida, which is chartered as an official branch of the state party and says it has about 200 members, organized a Monday conference call to accuse Murphy of being a “Wall Street Democrat” who isn’t far enough to the left on key issues.
The caucus renewed its attacks Tuesday when Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn joined a growing list of elected Democrats supporting Murphy.
St. Lucie County Democratic Chairwoman Celeste Bush is calling for the Florida Democratic Party to “decertify” the Democratic Progressive Caucus and to strip one of its leaders, Nancy C. Jacobson, of her status as one of Florida’s 10 Democratic National Committee representatives. Bush sent a mass email Tuesday calling it “disgraceful” for an official party organization to attack a Democratic candidate and to be “working so obviously in league with a potential rival.”
Read more: http://postonpolitics.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2015/04/08/decertify-liberal-group-bashing-patrick-murphy-st-lucie-county-democratic-chair-urges/
RAHM EMANUEL TOPS CHUY GARCIA FOR CHICAGO MAYOR
Source: CBS Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) — Thrown into a bruising run-off election, Rahm Emanuel scored a hard-fought win for a second term, defeating Jesus “Chuy” Garcia on Tuesday, thus ending a mayoral campaign never before seen in Chicago.
With nearly two thirds of the vote counted, Emanuel held a 56 percent to 44 percent edge over Garcia. CBS 2 exit polling data projected the final margin to be 54 percent to 46 percent.
Emanuel, politically damaged by his decision to close more than 50 Chicago Public Schools and fighting the perception that he was out of touch with voters and only focused on pleasing well-healed business connections, failed to win 50 percent of the vote in February’s election.
That result led to the first ever run-off election in Chicago, with the Chicago Teacher’s Union, angered over the school closings, providing much of the momentum to Garcia, especially in the early days following February’s first round.
Read more: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/04/07/rahm-emanuel-tops-chuy-garcia-for-chicago-mayor/
Harry Reid, Jon Tester steer early money to Patrick Murphy Senate campaign
Source: Palm Beach Post
PACs controlled by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Jon Tester were among the early contributors to Rep. Patrick Murphy‘s 2016 Senate campaign, putting an early establishment imprimatur on the 32-year-old congressman’s bid.
Reid’s Searchlight Leadership Fund and Tester’s Treasure State PAC gave $5,000 apiece to Murphy, according to Murphy’s campaign. A PAC affiliated with Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., also contributed $5,000 and PACs linked to Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., gave $2,500 apiece.
Support from Democratic leaders is important for Murphy, who isn’t well-known outside his Palm Beach-Treasure Coast House district and hopes to ward off a potential Democratic primary challenge from high-profile liberal Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando.
Murphy announced his candidacy March 23. His campaign says it raised $750,000 in the week after his announcement, bringing his fundraising total for the first quarter of 2015 to $1.25 million when money from Murphy’s House re-election campaign is added in. Murphy began this month with $1.6 million in cash on hand.
Read more: http://postonpolitics.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2015/04/03/harry-reid-jon-tester-steer-early-money-to-patrick-murphy-senate-campaign/
Warren: 'I'm not going to run'
Source: The Hill
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Tuesday that she is not going to run for president in 2016.
"I’m not running, and I’m not going to run," Warren said on NBC's "Today," seeking to end speculation among progressives that she might challenge likely front-runner Hillary Clinton.
"I’m in Washington. I’ve got this really great job, and a chance to try and make a difference on things that really matter."
Progressive groups like MoveOn.org and Democracy For America are working to draft Warren into the race. Polls show former Secretary of State Clinton would be the clear favorite, but liberal groups have raised concerns about her Wall Street ties and say Warren could push the debate to the left on crucial issues.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/237460-warren-im-not-going-to-run-in-2016
Until now she was simply saying that she was not running, but refusing to say if she would run.
Warren: Schumer has fought 'on the front lines' with me
Source: The Hill
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said she has fought “side by side” with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on a range of issues, as she heaped praise on the New Yorker who appears poised to become the top Democrat in the Senate.
Warren dismissed the idea that Schumer was too closely affiliated with the financial industry in a recent NPR interview, undercutting the notion that she could lead any liberal discontent with Schumer due to his ties to the financial industry.
Warren credited Schumer with being one of the first lawmakers to embrace the idea of a consumer watchdog agency that was Warren’s idea. That idea would eventually become the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Warren said that Schumer was critical in making that a reality.
“Chuck was one of the first people to support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” she said on WBUR’s “Here & Now.” “He’s been out there on the front lines.”
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/237393-warren-schumer-has-fought-on-the-front-lines-with-me
Durbin endorses Chuck Schumer for Senate leader, easing path for New Yorker to succeed Reid
Source: Washington Post
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) on Friday endorsed his rival, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), to become the next Senate Democratic leader, clearing the path for what is likely to be an easy transition in leadership when Sen. Harry Reid steps down from the job.
Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in leadership for the past decade, said he has decided to back Schumer for the top position and will instead seek reelection to his current post.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Durbin said that a 2 a.m. conversation with Reid, the Senate minority leader, led him to believe that the Nevada Democrat was about to announce his plan to retire at the end of 2016. As the Senate continued in its marathon budget debate, Durbin found Schumer and pulled him to the side of the chamber.
"I don't think Harry's going to run," he told Schumer, according to Durbin's account Friday. "I think you've earned this."
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/03/27/durbin-endorses-chuck-schumer-for-senate-leader-easing-path-for-new-yorker-to-succeed-reid/
Cruz: Menendez probe politically motivated
Source: The Hill
Des Moines, Iowa -- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) suggested Saturday that the Justice Department’s criminal corruption charges against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) are political retribution against the New Jersey Democrat for opposing the White House’s negotiations with Iran.
Cruz made the allegations to a throng of reporters jammed into the corner of a tent outside the Iowa Ag Summit in Des Moines without even having been asked about the Menendez criminal charges.
“The announcement this week by the Justice Department that they were bringing charges against Bob Menendez — I will point out that the timing seems awfully coincidental that … in the very week that Bob Menendez showed incredible courage to speak out and call out President Obama for the damage that his policy is doing to our national security … the Justice Department announces they’re moving forward with the criminal prosecution,” Cruz said.
“It raises the suggestion to other Democrats that if you dare part from the Obama White House, that criminal prosecutions will be used potentially as a political weapon against you as well,” he added.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/234966-cruz-menendez-probe-politically-motivated
ESPN's Keith Olbermann suspended after calling Penn State students 'pitiful' on Twitter
Source: The Daily Collegain
A day after the Penn State Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon raised more than $13 million to help fight pediatric cancer, ESPN personality Keith Olbermann called the Penn State student body "pitiful" on his personal Twitter account.
Now, after receiving a heavy dose of backlash from not only the Penn State community, but also from others around the country, Olbermann was suspended by the network and publicly reprimanded in an issued statement.
"We are aware of the exchange Keith Olbermann had on Twitter last night regarding Penn State. It was completely inappropriate and does not reflect the views of ESPN," the network said in a statement. "We have discussed it with Keith, who recognizes he was wrong. ESPN and Keith have agreed that he will not host his show for the remainder of this week and will return on Monday.
"The annual tradition of THON and the efforts of the students of Penn State to fight pediatric cancer should be applauded."
Read more: http://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports/article_8c1ce608-bc52-11e4-a621-9b3f3132b5b8.html
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