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Miles Mogulescu

Pelosi’s Anti-Impeachment Stance Makes Less and Less Sense

Speaker Pelosi’s continued refusal to allow the House to open impeachment proceedings against President Trump is becoming increasingly incoherent. And her continued assertion that her decision is not about politics is becoming downright unbelievable. How is it credible to claim, as Pelosi has, that Trump has committed crimes serious enough to put him in jail, but not serious enough to commence the Constitution’s main remedy for addressing Presidential wrongdoing: impeachment? The only coherent reason for her resistance is that she fears the politics of impeachment, not the process – and therein lies the rub. It’s politically irresponsible for Democrats to claim Trump has broken the law and betrayed the Constitution, then not hold impeachment hearings. This only makes Democrats appear weak and unprincipled. And appearing weak and unprincipled is bad politics, especially when voters want authenticity and accountability.

300 Children Removed From 'Appalling' Border Jail

Almost 300 migrant children removed from Texas facility described as 'appalling'. NBC: "Almost 300 migrant children have been removed from a border patrol facility in Texas after media reports of lawyers describing “appalling” and potentially dangerous conditions, Department of Homeland Security officials told NBC News. Lawyers who recently visited two Texas facilities holding migrant children described seeing young children and teenagers not being able to shower for days or even weeks, inadequate food, flu outbreaks and prolonged periods of detention. The children who were removed were being held at a border station in Clint, Texas. Some were wearing dirty clothes covered in mucus or even urine, said Elora Mukherjee, the director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. Teenage mothers wore clothing stained with breast milk. None of the children had access to soap or toothpaste, she said."

Congress Dithers On Deportation

Congress flails after Trump’s deportation ultimatum. Politico: "Lawmakers are stumbling in their efforts to address the border crisis before bolting for the holiday recess, dimming long-shot hopes that Congress can meet President Donald Trump’s two-week deadline to stave off his threatened mass deportations. House Democratic leaders spent Monday night fighting off a last-minute liberal rebellion to tank their $4.5 billion emergency spending package, with progressive lawmakers demanding changes to the bill that complicate the chamber's plans to deliver money to the border before leaving town Thursday for a week-long recess. 'We cannot continue to throw money at a dysfunctional system,' Rep. llhan Omar (D-Minn.) said as she left a tense meeting in Speaker Pelosi's office late Monday, voicing opposition to the current plan. 'We are not just asking for simple changes to be made into this bill, but to go back to the drawing board and really address this from a humanitarian issue.' Democratic leaders are now mulling tweaks to the bill that would spell out a standard of care for all children to receive humane treatment, a response to recent news reports that showed children in detention facilities in wretched conditions, some without access to diapers, soap or a toothbrush. The House is still expected to vote on the bill Tuesday, according to lawmakers and aides."

70 Arrested at NYT HQ In Protest of 'Climate Emergency'

70 arrested outside NYT demanding paper treat climate like the crisis it is. NYT: "Hundreds of people descended on the headquarters of the New York Times on Saturday to demand the "paper of record" drastically improve its coverage of the global climate crisis and specifically demanded its reporters refer to the situation as a 'climate emergency' in alignment with what the world's scientific community is warning. Coordinated by Extinction Rebellion NYC, 70 people were reported arrested after the group staged a sit-in on Eight Avenue in midtown Manhattan in order to bring attention to the failure of the paper—and that of the journalism industry overall—to adequately report on the global urgency of skyrocketing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, rapidly warming oceans, and all the associated perils that result. The group hung banners in front of the Times building as well as from the Port Authority Bus Terminal on the other side of the street. Standing on the street corner, scores of people repeated the chant: 'Report the urgency, this is a climate emergency!'"

Oregon GOP Lawmakers Refuse To Vote, Threaten Violence

Anti-government militias say they will protect Republican lawmaker who threatened police. ThinkProgress: "Anti-government militias have vowed to protect an Oregon GOP lawmaker who threatened to shoot state police trying to bring him back to the capitol to pass legislation this week. On Thursday, Republican state senators walked out of session at the Oregon state capitol over disagreements on a cap and trade climate bill. Later that day, 11 of them failed to appear for a roll call on the Senate floor, which prompted Gov. Kate Brown (D) to order the state police to bring them in to finish voting on the bill. 'The Senate Republicans have decided to abandon their duty to serve their constituents and walk out,' Brown said in a statement. 'It is absolutely unacceptable that the Senate Republicans would turn their back on their constituents who they are honor-bound to represent here in this building.'"

Conservatives Want SCOTUS To End Affordable Housing

Conservaties are nudging SCOTUS to dismantle affordable housing. The INtercept: "This month, the Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative law firm based in California, made moves on one of those fronts, asking the Supreme Court to take up a case challenging the constitutionality of inclusionary zoning — a popular tool cities and states employ to increase affordable housing and promote residential integration. Inclusionary zoning generally works by requiring real estate developers to reserve a certain number of units in new housing complexes for tenants who live on more modest incomes; some jurisdictions also allow developers to alternatively pay a fee so the city can construct more affordable housing elsewhere. Conservatives argue that the policy effectively violates a provision of the Fifth Amendment that says private property cannot be taken without just compensation. This is the Pacific Legal Foundation’s third attempt to bring an inclusionary zoning challenge before the Supreme Court. Its previous efforts, in 2015 and 2017, were both dismissed, but legal experts say that with Kavanaugh now seated on the high court, it is more likely the case will find an audience — and be resolved in favor of conservatives."

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